OF SIKH FAITH FROM GURU NANAK’S TERE BHANE SARBAT DA BHALA TO GURU GOBIND SINGH’S DEH SHIVA BAR MOHE EHE
By Col Daljeet Singh Cheema (Retd)
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THE GREAT GURU NANAK believed that Truth was the highest of all, yet there was one thing that was higher still. I was Truthful Living. Sikh religion is a dynamic faith which believes in righteous living. The gurus has to face a lot of tribulations which they faced steadfastly. Ethics is another word for truthful living. And for truth. ,the righteous have to turn real time fighters. The progression of Sikh faith from a spiritual tradition to a martial race has been capably traced by Col D.S. Cheema in this article. – Editor
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Sikh faith was founded by Guru Nanak in 1500 as a religion to promote Oneness of God, Universal Brotherhood, love, compassion and peace. However, the last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) though a literary giant, a patron of poets, a lover of music and endowed with qualities of compassion, love and affection towards the poor and impoverished, converted Sikhs in to saint-soldiers; he envisioned two qualities in his Khalsa, that of a saint who has faith in all-prevailing Divine spirit of God and a soldier who stands up against injustice of any kind with anyone. The Guru is one of the most charismatic and attractive personalities of history and is revered by Sikhs all over the world because he fought tyranny of the Mughals and created the Khalsa. His life was forged in fire with all odds stacked against him, yet he did not deter from the path of righteousness and taught the oppressed to have courage to fight the tyrant. Let’s trace this arduous journey of Sikhism for more than two centuries.
It is generally believed that Sikhs have made a lot of history but have failed to record it faithfully since Sikh history has not been well-documented; only 5-6 men including Dr Ganda Singh, Bhai Vir Singh, Dr Gokul Chand Narang and Dr N K Sinha of Calcutta University have written some facts which lead us to believe that rise of Sikhism was in fact, the rise of nationalism in Punjab culmination in the formation of Sikh kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Not many details are available about the transformation of peace-loving followers of Guru Nanak to the aggressive soldiers of Guru Gobind Singh.
The real change in attitude of Sikhs started with the first martyr of Sikhs, Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606), the fifth Guru. He was a contemporary of Emperor Akbar who respected him because the Guru was an unusually gifted and prolific writer and had become the most quoted poet of Punjab. Akbar’s son Jehangir, a fanatic Muslim, did not approve of the Guru’s teachings and got him murdered by torture in Lahore, though the Guru maintained confluence of both Muslim and Hindu religions when he said, “Koi Bole Ram Ram Koi Khudaai, Koi Sewai Gusaian Koi Allaye”. Jehangir wrote in his autobiography, Tuzuk-i-Jehangiri, “I should put an end to him (Arjan Dev), or he should be converted to Islam. I ordered that his children be handed to Murtaza Khan, property be confiscated and he should be put to death with torture”. Guru Arjan Dev lived a short life of just 46 years, but he made a major impact on not only Sikh history but history of India. The final transition came with the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur(1621-1675) the ninth Guru. Hindus during Aurangzeb’s time were being persecuted to convert to Islam and their temples were being demolished and the community looked up to the Guru to protect them from the tyranny of Aurangzeb. He was ill- advised by Ulemas and Maulvis that he should convert all Brahmins first as they were the learned people and the exponents of Hindu religion. The Guru asked Brahmins to convey to Aurangzeb that they were ready to convert to Islam if their Guru did so, as such, the focus shifted to converting Guru Tegh Bahadur in to Islam. When he refused, he was martyred and for this sacrifice at the altar of dharma, he is also called Hind-di-Chaadar. His son, Gobind Rai became the tenth Guru at the tender age of nine and when he saw the severed head of his father which was brought to Anandpur by a devout follower for cremation, he decided to stand up to the might of the Mughal Empire. He had very clearly understood that if he wanted to carry forward the legacy of Nanak’s faith, he must fight the Mughals. He created the Khalsa in 1699 for this purpose and fired his followers with martial fervor. He fought 14 battles against the Mughals and Hill Chiefs and in the process, his two older sons were martyred in a battle and the younger two were bricked alive.
Guru Gobind Singh justified the transition of Sikhs in a letter, Zafarnamah, addressed to Emperor Aurangzeb, “When all other means have failed, it is righteous to draw the sword.” His concept of God, thus, underwent a drastic change. In his ode to Goddess Chandi, he asked Lord Shiva to grant him the most befitting end to a warrior’s life, in this manner:
O Lord, these boons of Thee I ask,
Let me never shun a righteous task,
Let me be fearless when I go to battle.
Give me faith that victory will be mine,
Give me power to sing Thy praise,
And when comes the time to end my life,
Let me fall in mighty strife.
All Gurudwaras in army units sing with great faith and pride, , “Deh Shiva Bar mohe ehe” which is part of Chandi Charitar Ukti Bilas, a section of the Dasam Granth written by Guru Gobind Singh.
Author:
Col D S Cheema is a Distinguished Scholar on the Consortium of IAE. He has authored 19 books and is faculty at National Centre for Good Governance LBSNAA Musoorie and many other universities.