Quiz - Sikh strangulation

When writing his report on the development of Sikh politics, who made the following observation: “The activities of Hindus have, therefore, been constantly directed to the undermining of Sikhism both by preventing the children of Sikh fathers from taking pahul and by reducing professed Sikhs from their allegiance to their faith. Hinduism has strangled Buddhism, once a formidable rival to it and it has already made serious inroads into the domain of Sikhism.”

a) Mr. D. Petrie
b) Emperor Akbar
c) Lepel Henry Griffin
d) Max Arthur Macauliffe

Scripture and weapons...

Pehle shāstar se maro. Jo bach jai, to shastar se maro...
First attempt to destroy (all religions and movements that are a danger to Brahmins) should be through re-interpretation of their theology and scripture. If that does not work, then physical destruction of the enemy with weapons is a must.

This is attributed to Ādī Shankarāchāryā (788-820 C.E.), a Brahmin well versed in the Vedic tradition, who led the movement to completely annihilate Buddhism from South Asia.

Does it sound familiar? The difference with the Sikhs and Sikhī is that complete annhilation or assimilation has not taken place yet. But its getting awfully close! And the strategy of scripture and weapon attack as espoused by the Brahmin seems to have morphed into a cyclic tactic. Why? Well, look back at the major events of our past.

The post-Banda Singh Bahadur and pre-Misl period, physical destruction was attempted by the ruling elite (with connivance with Brahminical forces) because the Guru's scripture and theology was intact. Don't forget that prior attempts to dilute Sikh thought by Dhīrmalīe, Rāmrāīe, Masands, etc. had already taken place, so attack on scripture and theology was indeed attempted first. Then Misl period and the Sarkār-e-Khālsā period (aka Ranjit Singh rule) the Sikh literary canon had been severely tampered with (gurbilas, janamsakhis, rahatname, and others). Thankfully the Singh Sabhā period brought an end to that. Then post-partition of Panjāb (1947 onwards), when Sikhs were destined for 2nd class citizen status in Bharat, once again a physical annhilation was attempted in the 1980's and 1990's. Although there was tremendous loss of quantity, the quality seemed to have survived to some extent.

But alas, now it is clear and evident that the attack on our scriptural canon and theology is in full swing. The whole concept of Sikhī is under attack once again and sanction for this is being announced in the highest echelons of Sikh leadership. I will not give specific details, I leave it up to you to decipher the situation by reading and asking for yourselves.

Anonymous' - a post of your own.

Well, I didn't want to post this, but I couldn't resist. I actually got quite a few comments on my last two posts both officially and informaly. But apparently this mr. or mrs. anonymous found my usage of non-alphanumeric characters as quite horrendous and reprimand worthy.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " (Customs + traditions + history) = Sovereign = Pan...":

What is this "*(^%^! "? What do you have on mind? On one side you talk big about being a Sikh and on the other hand you talk so loose that you have inappropriate words in your head that you yourself don't like to put in words..... I know, I know you will give Why Anonymous stuff.... Why dont you just bar Anonymous comments.... I'm pretty sure this one won't make it to your blog as it will meet the moderator's knife.

Then a few days went by where I didn't pass through any comments because I was travelling and mr. or mrs. anonymous seemed to be getting anxious to see the comment published:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " (Customs + traditions + history) = Sovereign = Pan... ":

What happened to my comment on your use of "*(^%^!".... You are a big hypocrate I came across....

I could go off on a philosophical rant in defense or in offense. But I would rather be short and sweet. The nit picking of Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous is as narrow minded and missing the point as it would be if I picked on his/her spelling of the word "hypocrate". Neither of us are getting each other's point!

(Customs + traditions + history) = Sovereign = Panth

OK, one more before I hit the sack!
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The trend in my writing has been to share what I truely believe and that is that the Sikh or Khalsa is an inherently sovereign entity. If there is one modern Sikh writer who has been able to articulate the inherent sovereign sense of the Khalsa it is Sirdar Kapur Singh. In order to even comprehend what he is talking about it is necessary to know our "immemorial customs", cherish and practice our "long-established traditions" and live with examples from "the facts of the history of the Sikhs". Here is how Sirdar Kapur Singh explains the Khalsa's status in world politics:

“The Panth stands for the Sikh religion as well as the invisible mystic body of the committed Sikhs who profess it and who thus represent the Will of God on Earth. It is to this Panth that all true Sikhs owe their allegiance and it is in the name of this Panth that true Sikhs are expected to sacrifice their all on this earth. This political concept of the Panth sharply distinguishes it from the current political convictions that hold that economic activity and considerations are the sole concern and aim of politics. The concept of Panth joins issues with the contemporary political mode of thinking and asserts that the true concern of politics is the ethical and spiritual evolution and life of human beings in an organized society … The Panth’s metalegal constitution lays down that (1) the Sikhs must be approached and dealt with at State level as a collective group and entity, and (2) they must be governed impersonally, that is, through the rule of law and not by arbitrary will, and this self limitation must further be circumscribed by the immemorial customs, long-established traditions and the facts of the history of the Sikhs.”

Can any "Guru Nanak nam leva Sikh" disagree?

Carhdi Kala!

P.S. - you might be thinking where the *(^%^! does he get all these quotes from? Especially when he is on business travel down in Boca Raton, Florida! You can't imagine the kinds of documents and clippings and writings I have stored in my laptop which I peruse in solitary confinement of the hotel rooms on some (not all) business trips. :-)

The sleeping sovereign...

I was browsing through Sikhi blogosphere and noticed that a few bloggers had cut and pasted translations of a guru-vak recently.

ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ ਬਾਣੀ ਭਗਤ ਰਵਿਦਾਸ ਜੀ ਕੀ
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ਜਬ ਹਮ ਹੋਤੇ ਤਬ ਤੂ ਨਾਹੀ ਅਬ ਤੂਹੀ ਮੈ ਨਾਹੀ ॥
ਅਨਲ ਅਗਮ ਜੈਸੇ ਲਹਰਿ ਮਇ ਓਦਧਿ ਜਲ ਕੇਵਲ ਜਲ ਮਾਂਹੀ ॥1॥
ਮਾਧਵੇ ਕਿਆ ਕਹੀਐ ਭ੍ਰਮੁ ਐਸਾ ॥
ਜੈਸਾ ਮਾਨੀਐ ਹੋਇ ਨ ਤੈਸਾ ॥1॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਨਰਪਤਿ ਏਕੁ ਸਿੰਘਾਸਨਿ ਸੋਇਆ ਸੁਪਨੇ ਭਇਆ ਭਿਖਾਰੀ ॥
ਅਛਤ ਰਾਜ ਬਿਛੁਰਤ ਦੁਖੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਸੋ ਗਤਿ ਭਈ ਹਮਾਰੀ ॥2॥
ਰਾਜ ਭੁਇਅੰਗ ਪ੍ਰਸੰਗ ਜੈਸੇ ਹਹਿ ਅਬ ਕਛੁ ਮਰਮੁ ਜਨਾਇਆ ॥
ਅਨਿਕ ਕਟਕ ਜੈਸੇ ਭੂਲਿ ਪਰੇ ਅਬ ਕਹਤੇ ਕਹਨੁ ਨ ਆਇਆ ॥3॥
ਸਰਬੇ ਏਕੁ ਅਨੇਕੈ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਸਭ ਘਟ ਭੁੋਗਵੈ ਸੋਈ ॥
ਕਹਿ ਰਵਿਦਾਸ ਹਾਥ ਪੈ ਨੇਰੈ ਸਹਜੇ ਹੋਇ ਸੁ ਹੋਈ ॥4॥1॥

One blogger, in addition to using the sikhitothemax translation, also intensely personalized the sabad for herself. It was great reading that. Guru-vaks (aka hukams) are precisely that. Personalized messages of the Guru to individual Sikhs as well as collective orders of the day. Whenever I hear or read this sabad of Bhagat Ravidas ji I recall the first time it was explained to me via a cassette recording kirtan.

Some of you may be familiar with the post 1984 Darbar Sahib attack kirtan and katha of Prof. Darshan Singh. These recordings were banned in India and some Gursikhs from Singapore had tapes copied and distributed widely. I had the opportunity to hear it while at home in Japan. I still have most of the cassettes BTW. Anyway, Prof. Darshan Singh personalized it for our collective in explaining the tuk regarding the sleeping sovereign (or in gender specific terms the sleeping king). He made the analogy something like this:

"Imagine if you will, a sovereign, while sitting on the throne, may fall asleep and start dreaming like he/she is a beggar. All around the sovereign, there is glory, freedom, actionable responsibility in reality, but in the dream there is intense poverty, slavery, oppression and despair. This is usually the state of humans in the context of their relationship with Vahiguru. More importantly, this was the state of the Khalsa collective prior to the recent events. The Panth is an inherent sovereign entity, and the current state of affairs in the country called India for the Sikhs is that of 2nd class citizens and slaves. The state of the Sikhs "was" like the sovereign who is asleep and dreaming. And, sadh sangat ji! Blessed be Baba Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale for waking up the sleeping sovereigns!" Then there is a roaring interruption to his katha with jaikara after jaikara! The timeframe was summer of 1984 after the Darbar Sahib attack. I am sure many of you would be quite intrigued by it. I for one completely agree.

Of course, this sabad is very intense, has deep meaning and is universal in nature. At that time and context when Prof. ji interpreted it was very apt. I believe it still is. I truly believe if active Sikhs were to accept and realize that we sovereigns, then 80% kes-katal, and 80% drug addiction in Panjab would never occur.

Oh well, so this sabad also presents, in very imaginative and intriguing manners, the relationship of human action and reaction viz a viz human ego. It also, reemphasises the relationship of human and Vahguru that is unique to Sikh thought - ie. humans are inherently sin-less and the Guru is required to keep sin out; rather than the Christian thought of humans are inherently sinners and Guru or Prophet is needed to eradicate that sin. This is understood with the "kahi ravidas hath pai nerai..." tuk and the general "don't get fooled by duality" theme of the sabad which is the rahao di tuk.

So, let's wake up sovereigns. And remember Vahiguru is near...never far.