Above: "Amroo Nitha(n)vaa(n)" - Amroo, the Homeless - who was named the Third Master.
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We Need a Second Coming of The Guru
SATBIR SINGH BEDI
Being a lazy man and also because of being busy in my official work, I had not met my elder cousin, (eldest son of my father's elder brother), Major Jagatjit Singh Bedi (affectionately called Judgie) for a long time.
Suddenly, I got an assignment in Chandigarh and I visited Judgie's house. He had taken retirement from army quite a long time ago after serving for only some 19 years and as such had not earned a pension.
We were having a talk on various subjects. I told him that I still remembered his saving my life twice; once when I was going to be drowned in a canal and the other time when I was going to fall down from the roof of his house. He just smiled my thankfulness away and filled his cup of drink.
He was always drinking or smoking. I asked him by the way whether he believed in the Sikh religion. Instead of replying to me, he asked me whether I believed in Guru Nanak. I told him that I indeed believed in the great Guru who was also our ancestor.
He told me that he does not believe in Guru Nanak because the great Guru had not passed on the gurudom to us, the Bedis.
Further, he went on to tell me that he, in fact, did not believe in any God. God was only a creation of weak-minded people who were afraid of death. I asked him whether he did not fear death. He retorted had he been afraid of death, he would not have joined the army and fought two wars.
We then became quiet as I started thinking that my cousin was still thinking like Baba Sri Chand and Baba Lakhmi Chand, the sons of Guru Nanak, who felt angry at their father for not giving them the gur-gaddi. Instead, he had chosen Angad.
Similarly, the sons of the Second Master, Guru Angad, felt angry when the latter by-passed them and gave the Guruship to Amar Das, a disciple, who was the former's disciple.
Then, Guru Amar Das' sons were also angry at him when he passed he selected his son-in-law and disciple, Ram Das to succeed him.
This is the way worldly people feel when deprived of something important.
However,
the Guruship was an important matter and not to be taken lightly or to be approached from a worldly point of view. The Fifth Master, Guru Arjun, the
younger son of the Fourth, Guru Ram Das, to whom the Guruship was
passed on in preference to the elder son, had to lay down his life for
the principles dear to him.
His fault was that he had given shelter to the rebel Prince Khusro, who had revolted against the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Jahangir wanted the Guru to atone by writing in praise of Prophet Mohammad in his verses but the Guru refused to do so as his principles were dear to him. So, he had to face torture and death.
From then
onwards, Gurudom was never an easy affair, repeatedly requiring great sacrifice. For a while I mulled over thoughts of how each Guru had carried the burden and at great personal cost built a nascent community into a nation of saint-soldiers. This aspect had escaped the narrow view of my elder cousin. All he could think of was the glory that he felt should have automatically been kept in the 'family'.
When
I was quiet for sometime, my cousin asked me whether everything was
okay. I smiled and bade him goodbye, stating that I had to meet the Chief
Engineer of the project which I had come to study.
However, my thoughts remained with the Gurus.
I was still thinking about how difficult the path had been for the Gurus. The Ninth Master, Guru Tegh Bahadar, the grandson of the Fifth, had to sacrifice his life for fighting against the tyrannical Emperor Aurangzeb. In fact, the Guru was at Patna when some Kashmiri pundits approached him with the request to save them from Aurangzeb who wanted to convert them to Islam.
Guru Sahib had replied, "If some great man sacrifices his life, then the pundits could be saved." His son, young Gobind Rai, immediately replied, "There is no one greater than you, dear father."
Confident that he could leave his people in capable hands, the Guru told the pundits, "You tell Aurangzeb that if he could convert me to Islam, only then will you all become Muslims."
The pundits did as they were bidden and the Emperor summoned Guru Tegh Bahadar to come to Delhi. In the Emperor's court, Guru Sahib was asked to convert to Islam and, on his refusal, he was martyred through a public execution.
Then young Gobind became Guru on his father's death and fought against the tyrannical rule of Aurangzeb. He sacrificed his four sons also; two of whom died in the war against the Emperor and the two younger ones were caught by the Mughals and buried alive by erecting a wall over their bodies.
Thereafter, the Guru sacrificed his own
life when a Pathan attacked him.
George Bernard Shaw had once quipped that martyrdom is the easiest way to become famous. He was
really very wrong because he did not have the experience of being
martyred or not know what it really entails. It is not easy to sacrifice one's life and one's whole family for the
principles dear to one.
In Islam, we have the example of Hassan and Hussain who sacrificing themselves. They were the grandsons of Prophet Muhammad. Somebody wrote, "Nabooyat se shahadat tak mili unke gharane ko. Na hota kamli wala ghar hamara hum kahan jaate." ('His family got prophethood as well as martyrdom. If the Prophet had not been ours, where would we have gone?')
I can say with confidence about Guru Gobind Singh: "nabooyat se shahadat tak mili unke gharane ko. Na hota Kalghi Wala ghar hamara, hum kahan jaate."
I come to the present.
My cousin Judgie is dead.
I want that Guru Gobind Singh should come back and teach us the art of sacrifice and rid us of these corrupt and selfish politicians who have virtually drowned our country in vices. We do need the second coming of Guru Gobind Singh ji to salvage our country. We need to learn the art of sacrifice to cleanse our land. One cannot just become a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh by merely keeping unshorn hair and beard but one has to follow his example of supreme sacrifice to become the Guru's disciple.
The great Guru himself needs to come in human form to teach his disciples, the Indians of today, the art of making sacrifice.
[Courtesy: India Times. Edited for sikhchic.com]
January 17, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Navi (USA), January 17, 2013, 8:08 AM.
I loved reading your story, but I have to say you are wrong. We do not need a second coming of Guru Gobind Singh ji. And don't get me wrong. Growing up, he was one of my idols and in many aspects he still is, but if as Sikhs, as Khalsa, we are supposed to be Saint-Soldiers, it's phrased that way because we are supposed to be saints first and then defenders of the weak. Although I do not agree with your cousin's habits and philosophy, I do love how he wasn't afraid of death. Still shows he had Sikh blood in him, whether he 'believes' or not. And on to the point of the general Sikh behavior if we follow, read, interpret, believe and buy into what is written in the Guru Granth Sahib, then we will know our ethics and morals ... the very values you say these politicians, etc., live with out. And working towards sach khand is crucial: because it helps us make correct decisions, with a clear mind and a loving, happy and content heart.
2: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), January 17, 2013, 8:58 AM.
The Guru is always here and with us.
3: Kanwar Singh (Victoria, Brirish Columbia, Canada), January 17, 2013, 11:52 AM.
Our Guru gave us a leader like Sant Jarnail Singh. He was not enough against corrupt leaders. We need to salvage our gurdwaras and our institutions from corrupt people.
4: H. Kaur (Canada), January 17, 2013, 12:08 PM.
I also don't agree with you. We have been given the tools we need to have a great society and also for sacrificing ourselves. Take a look at Jaswant Singh Khalra, hear his speech. He knew he would die, but still fought for others and for the truth to come out. He said shaheedi is the greatest gift the Guru can give and that we should ask for it after knowing the Guru blessed him with it and it was coming. He shone with the light and love of shaheedi in his last speech. I know in India it is tough for the non-corrupt, be they Sikh or anyone else, for the government is corrupt and most of the state organs, and they only reward corruption and punish those who are honest, those who believe in principle. However, Guru Gobind Singh taught us we are not to be slaves of our leaders. Indeed, he even became a chela and said Sikhs were to inculcate in themselves the qualities of both leader and disciple. In India Sikhi is recognized as something dangerous by the power holders, something that has the power to change society, to change the status quo. That is why Mohandas Gandhi said it would be dangerous for India if the Dalits became Sikh unless Sikhs could be persuaded they are Hindu. Every government there does all it can to thwart it by keeping the Sikh masses sleeping and ignorant or scared. One of the great enemies all people have is fear, not fear of death for many who are scared of life choose death (look at all the suicides), but fear of punishment while still alive, the fear of losing wealth, the fear for family. We have been given the tools to overcome these fears through the Gurus choosing principle over safety, their own safety, their family's safety. Nothing great is ever achieved without sacrifice. Would America have been formed had they succumbed to fear? That is just one example. The Gurus came once and taught us all we need to know. Even if they came again, if we are unwilling to be unafraid it still wouldn't matter. They could come a hundred times and it still wouldn't matter if once isn't enough.
5: Pritam Singh Grewal (Canada), January 17, 2013, 5:47 PM.
The Guru is always with us. No need to request him to come again and again to shower his everlasting light to dispel the darkness or 'dhund' from our minds. 'Guru meray sung sadaa hae nalley'.
6: H. Kaur (Canada), January 17, 2013, 7:05 PM.
Satbir Singh ji: I know a lady who was granted refugee status in Canada in the 90s. Her brother was a cop in Punjab. He was asked to take someone who had been hauled in on charges of being a Sikh militant, and make him stand on red hot metal. He had trouble with his task and was told by his superior that if he didn't, he would have to stand on the electrical torture device himself. The man who was to be tortured said, "Gurmukha, don't suffer on my account and hopped onto the red hot metal and stood on it." This policeman left his job that night and hid. He was caught and killed and his whole family made to undergo many difficulties. People hid his sister and she ended up in Canada. The man who stood on the stove himself rather than making someone else suffer, was a brave person. I am sure there were many even if the Government of India does not let these people be recognized and will only use bad and false labels for them. The Sikh of the Guru still knows sacrifice and will as long as the world remains. Here is a link to the last speech of Jaswant Singh Khalra. He came to Canada and shared his findings of illegal cremations through firewood records with Canadian human rights officials. He had been told he would be also be made to disappear. He said in an interview that yes, he knew he would be killed, but he was willing to die so the world could know about the atrocities against the Sikh people. Listen to his speech and witness that Sikhs still know the meaning of sacrifice: http://vimeo.com/14741568