By Saran Singh, Editor, the Sikh Review, Calcutta
Tradition has it that Jesus Christ was betrayed by the infamous Judas Iscariot for 30 pieces of silver, On the threshold of 21st century, the Sikh religion is witness to the sad spectacle of some scholars being willing to sell Guru Nanak’s faith in return for state honors and populist accolade as well as doctoral degrees and scats in universities, even for invitation to international conferences as “authorities” on the Sikh doctrine.
It is perhaps understandable, if unpardonable, when a foreign scholar driven by evangelical zeal, questions the authenticity of Guru Nanak’s parables embodied in Janam Sakhis, or casts doubts on the great Guru’s crusading journeys to preach his monotheist mission of unity of God and brotherhood of man. Once in a while, a McLeod may seek to undermine the religion of the Gurus by overemphasizing caste and clan and seeking to create confusion about the Sikh identity, But it is far more delicious when seasoned Sikh scholars like Pyar Singh and Pashaura Singh, perhaps unwittingly, become party to incipient efforts to cast doubts on the holy scripture of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, there is apparently no end to this perversion, A venerable institution like the Encyclopedia Britannica invites someone like Khushwant Singh to write on the Sikh religion, when the aging Sardar happens to be a self-confessed agnostic who has lost all traces of a reverential attitude. His exact words: “I turned my back on religions after having studied most of them. Came to the conclusion that they have done more harm than good to humanity…” Intellectual arrogance is no new phenomenon, nor is it the exclusive preserve of Sikh scholars, Contemporary academe everywhere, particularly in India, is the happy hunting ground of ambitious and egotistic men and women.
When Socrates (470399 BC) swallowed hemlock in final atonement he simply demonstrated the inviolability of the basic truths, In so far as Sri Guru Granth Sahib embodies God’s revealed scripture for all mankind, any amateurish attempt al subversion is sin: Sant ke dukhan mathoe malin, Sant ke dukhan sobha te heen.”
That is, one who hurts the spirit of Saint Prophet must have a perverted mind; one who causes such hurt is robbed of all glory. Gurbani dwells times without number on the spirit of humility in the disciple as being an essential prerequisite of the spirit of inquiry, Inquiry that presumes and preconceives is bound to be lost in the quicksand’s of dialectics. Such research is a sterile exercise irrespective of laser printed treatises and glittering testimonials. Such a scholar is, in the words of Shakespeare, “a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the siage, and then is heard no more” and in according to Sri Guru Granth: Nanak Lekhey ik gal, hor haumen jakhna jhakhna: i.e., be reft of reverence and humility, such research is merely a transient foray into the realm of egocentricity.
The coherence of the Sikh doctrine rests in direct proportion on the Sikh community’s commitment to the gospel of Guru Granth Sahib. Theologian and poet philosopher Raghbir Singh Bir(18961974) consistently wrote about the Guru Granth as the fons-et-origo of the Sikh religion, the bridge that brings together the entire human race as one global family, as the timeless reality that underpins the Sikh ethos. By casting shadows of doubt on its textual content or arrangement, the scholar, howsoever well meaning, fails his own soul and traduces the ideology even as he plays into the hands of external agencies that are out to undermine that ideology.
From the perspective of the last half a century one can easily perceive how virulent have been the attacks on Sikh ideology and moral tradition. The intrusion of Radha Soamis, the State support for The Nirankari sect, the backdoor manipulation of the Jathedars and the stage-managed “‘Sarbat Khalsas,” of the planting of counteragents among Sikh militant outfits, even mollycoddling of careerist officers of the IAS and IPS and, lately, the remote control of autonomous Sikh institutions like the Guru Nanak Foundation the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, Bhai Vir Singh Sadan, etc. should be warning enough. The god Mammon doubtless exercises perennial appeal. The Indian Establishment has designs far deeper than what meets the eyes. Instead of alerting the Sikh nation to these dangers and giving it a sense of direction, a few Sikh scholars have succumbed and abdicated their whole moral purpose.
Fortunately for the world and for the Sikhs, the Gurus’ monotheism is rooted in a Just God who punishes wrongdoers as surely as He Saves the souls of the righteous. No one can escape the consequences of his/her actions. The Seventh Guru Har Rai, celebrated for his great compassion, punished his own son, Ram Rai for blasphemy banishing him forever from the House of God. In Sikh ideology man’s destiny depends on the merits of his personal conduct a moral principle that is integral to a measure of social coherence, justice and harmony.
The Just God is also the merciful God. It is when the scholar or the Secker attempts (0 appraise the infinite beauty of Gurbani with the finite tools of intellect that he runs afoul of the Divine Grace. The Guru unveils the mystery in the heart, not in the head. Gurus’ testament tells us that the impulse to believe comes from the very heart and core of the Secker: “Man to jots Arup hai, apna mul panchhan.”
Faith is the repository of everything that we may ever know, an admission of mystery, hope and fear, pleasure and pain and, eventually, of being a part of the Infinite our kinship with the Divine, much like the kinship of the drop of the water with the ocean, The key question today is whether the Sikhs are well served by the few men of letters who (“Likh vechai Nau”) barter the Divine message for petty favors on speculative and ephemeral premises, Or, whether we ought to turn to the majority of those who look at the spiritual message of Guru Granth Sahib, its poetic beauty, its ecstasy and rhythms that soothe the bruised souls, coming in melodious notes and trailing clouds of glory. Let us repose our faith in this ennobling quality of Gurbaniand develop the capacity to wonder and meditate and bless all mankind for whom the Gurus lived and died.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 23, 1993
