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The First Sikh Spiritual Master

A Book Review by MANJYOT KAUR

 

THE FIRST SIKH SPIRITUAL MASTER: TIMELESS WISDOM FROM THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF GURU NANAK by Harish Dhillon. Skylight Paths Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont, USA, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-1-59473-209-6. 178 pages. Price: $16.99.

 

Looking for some reading on the life and teachings of Guru Nanak that is as captivating and entertaining as a novel? Then look no further than The First Sikh Spiritual Master.

Its author, Harish Dhillon, teaches English in Mohali (Chandigarh, Punjab). Besides this book, he has published three other biographical works on eminent Sikh personages, as well as several collections of short stories in both English and Punjabi.

In his very informative Introduction, he explains his "desire to probe the mystery of a remarkable life  -  a man who revelled in his ordinariness, who denied that he was in any way a saint, a saviour, or a redeemer ... yet, through his teachings, his personal example, and his influence on mankind, attained great divinity".

Dhillon's justification for writing about the not-so-unfamiliar life of the founder of the Sikh faith is his firm belief that "a story as beautiful and inspiring as Nanak's needs to be retold as often as possible".

He asserts that, in spite of all the immense admiration and respect that Guru Nanak not only received during his lifetime, but continues to evoke more than five hundred years after he lived, there is still "little source material available about him whose historical validity has been proved beyond doubt".

Because of this lack and what Dhillon terms "the myths that shroud our perception", it often seems that Guru Nanak lived much further back in time than was really the case. It can be easy to forget that the founder of Sikhi lived 1400 years after Christ and about 900 years after the birth of Islam.

Besides making the times of Guru Nanak seem much closer to the present day, Dhillon's adroit blending of fact and fiction is an extraordinary effort at portraying his life in all its colorful vibrancy and eternal, universal relevance. According to the author, all the anecdotes related are either based on actual incidents, or composite illustrations of well-known aspects of the Guru's life and teachings.

The first chapter, "The Times", convincingly transports the reader to the rich and fertile soil of Punjab, home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, and provides a well-referenced background to the story that is to follow. Dhillon's brief but cogent explanations of the arrival of the Muslim conquerors to the oft-invaded land, the ensuing rise of Islam and its effect on the vast Hindu majority, and the reformist movements that then came about (including Sufism and Bhakti) ably set the stage for his retelling of the life story of Sikhi's founder-Guru.

This recounting, which begins in Chapter Two, actually starts a generation before Guru Nanak's birth. In the town of Talwandi, the closely-intertwined lives of the patriarchs of two powerful and influential families, the Muslim Bhattis and the Hindu Bedis, continue with their sons, Rai Bular and Kalyan Chand (popularly known as Mehta Kalo).

After an extended period of childlessness, Mehta Kalo and his wife Tripta gratefully rejoice when their daughter Nanki is born. Four years later, in 1469, they are blessed with the arrival of a son, Nanak. A life of immense greatness is foretold for the boy, right from the very night of his birth, by the midwife and the much-revered local pandit.

Initially, these predictions swiftly seem to become reality. In skillfully-penned prose, Dhillon paints an endearing picture of Nanak as a highly precocious youngster whose gentleness of spirit, non-attachment to material things, and tremendous aptitude for learning utterly amaze all who come into contact with him. His bond with Nanki is an exceptionally strong one, thriving even after her early marriage and move to her husband's home in Sultanpur.

While his total disregard for Hindu caste restrictions and his budding friendship with a Muslim, the nascent musician Mardana, are a source of growing dismay to Nanak's parents (but not to his ever-adoring sister), even these so-called transgressions were inadequate to prepare them for their first major shock: their teenage son's unequivocal refusal, before the entire community, to don the janeu, the sacred thread meant to set him apart as a high-caste Hindu.

This public embarrasment, convincingly described by Dhillon, is quickly followed by what, in the eyes of Mehta Kalo, are seen as other inauspicious signs that the greatness predicted for Nanak might well have been a false portent. The young man's continued inseparability from Mardana, his ardent passion for spending long hours discussing esoteric spiritual matters in the company of sadhus, fakirs and other wandering holy men, his seemingly total lack of business acumen (culminating in the legendary Sacha Sauda incident), and the failure of his recent marriage to ground him solidly in the responsibilities of worldly life all make Mehta Kalo despair of the once-bright hopes and aspirations he held for Nanak's future.

A possible remedy to these paternal tribulations comes with Nanak's acceptance of a job offer tendered by Nanki's husband, Jai Ram, a high government official in the employ of the Nawab of Sultanpur: a coveted position as the keeper of the Nawab's granary. In a short time, Nanak is joined in his new home by not only his wife Sulakhni, but also by Mardana.

As a few years pass, the biggest satisfaction of Nanak's life in Sultanpur is revealed to be not his enviable professional success, nor the birth of his two sons, but his increasing reputation as a learned spiritual teacher, fueled by the crowds that attended the nightly discourses and kirtan sessions he and Mardana held. As his fame spread, people flocked from afar, walking long distances to hear him preach and join in the uplifting hymn-singing. Even his parents, receiving word of his fast-growing renown, gradually turn from doubting to doting and become convinced of his true greatness.

This enjoyable everyday existence was soon to be interrupted. One day, Nanak did not return home after his regular morning bath in the River Bein. After a long and fruitless wait, a search ensued, the river was dragged by the Nawab's troops, but no body was found. As Sulakhni, Mardana, and the rest of the community grieved, only Nanki refused to believe that her brother had died.

The version Dhillon provides of Nanak's transcendental moment of divine revelation has one of the soldiers, who had crept into the densest part of the forest for a short nap, finding Nanak sitting cross-legged, lost in deep meditation. "Whenever he spoke, this is all he would say: 'There is no Hindu, there is no Mussalman'. The inhabitants of Sultanpur pondered over these strange words and wondered if perhaps Nanak had lost his reason. It was only later that their deep significance was understood and they came to be looked upon as the proclamation of a new faith. (...) Much later, Nanak spoke about his experience. While he had been swimming in the river, he had heard a faraway voice with a strange dream-like quality to it. The voice had been so soft that at first, he had not been able to understand the import of the words. Then he had understood that the voice was telling him to go from village to village and from town to town to deliver his message and teachings".

Ready to leave the confines of Sultanpur and spread his precepts to all who cared to listen, Guru Nanak, with Mardana as his sole companion, set out in 1496 on his missionary journeys, preaching the Truth as he had perceived it. At the start of the four very detailed chapters that follow, Dhillon notes that his account of Guru Nanak's travels accords with the view of the Puratan Janamsakhi, in that there were not three, but four udasis.

The first trip, which lasted a dozen years, took him eastward till Jagannath Puri. On this udasi, he encountered a group of Siddha Yogis in Gorakhmath, with whom he entered into a discussion on religion and metaphysics, a discourse which has been included in Guru Granth as part of the Siddh Gosht. A great number of well-known janamsakhis that derive from this first voyage are captivatingly recounted in this section, including tales of the Guru at the home of the poor carpenter Bhai Lalo, his reformation of Sajjan the Thug, and his outwitting of the sorceress Nurshah  -  all of whom became devoted disciples.

As Dhillon tells us, "Everywhere he went, people found peace in his words of love and in his gentle smiling face. They learnt lessons of kindness and love, and experienced a desire to walk the path towards spiritual awakening".

After spending some time with their families back in Sultanpur, Guru Nanak and Mardana traveled south towards Ceylon on the second udasi, where they stayed for two of the five years of this voyage.

As in the previous chapter, a selection of popular janamsakhis associated with this trip are engagingly retold by Dhillon, including stories of how the Guru not only intellectually bested an arrogant gathering of siddhas, but also an inhospitable group of Muslim pirs. Just like the jasmine petal which Guru Nanak floated atop the latter's brimming bowl of milk they meant to signal their unwelcome, the subtle beauty of his teachings impressed all who heard them.

As Dhillon skillfully relates, reports of Guru Nanak's gentle humor, wisdom and piety spread far and wide, as more and more people came to understand the immense significance of his seemingly simple message to humanity.

The third and perhaps most arduous of the udasis was a northward trek to the mountainous regions of Kashmir, Ladakh, Tibet, and Nepal. It is significant to note that before the intrepid pair entered this rugged area, a stop was made in a particularly peaceful spot between the Ravi and Beas rivers and Guru Nanak expressed his desire to return to it once his travels were over. After being gifted this land by a wealthy disciple, he advised his followers to settle there.

Thus was a new community established, which would become known as Kartarpur. It was on this third journey that Guru Nanak had his famous encounter with the eighty-four siddhas who had attained a state of enlightenment on Mount Kailash, later recorded in Siddh Gosht.

As Dhillon tells us, towards the end of this udasi, Guru Nanak felt "a deep and intuitive urge" to get back to Sultanpur as quickly as possible. Indeed, very shortly after his return, his beloved sister Nanki fell prey to a brief, but fatal illness. Dhillon relates her end quite touchingly: "Nanak sat on her cot, her head in his lap. He felt his heart lift with gratitude for the unstinting and adoring love that he had always received from his sister. He prayed silently that God would spare her pain and suffering".

Before embarking on his fourth udasi, Guru Nanak traveled again to the growing community of Kartarpur, which had become an important center for his followers. He sent for his elderly parents and his wife and sons to join him there, and the family was together again at last, albeit briefly.

Guru Nanak's last voyage took him and Mardana westward. A segment of it found them joining Muslim pilgrims on the Haj to Mecca. From this trip arose the famous janamsakhis about Guru Nanak sleeping with his feet pointed towards the Ka'aba and his time of imprisonment by Babar in Saidpur.

On this udasi, which also included stays in various cities of present-day Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, Guru Nanak had ample opportunity for discourse with Muslim religious leaders, who questioned him about the relative merits of Hinduism and Islam. As Dhillon cogently relates, Guru Nanak explained to them how both faiths, which were designed as paths to salvation, had begun to emphasize tradition and ritualism, at the expense of righteous action.

After almost a quarter of a century of travelling together, Guru Nanak and Mardana returned to their families in Kartarpur. As Dhillon explains, "The Guru had insisted that one did not have to renounce the world to achieve salvation. Now, by casting aside his ascetic's robe and leading the life of a householder, he was giving practical shape to his teachings. He was no longer merely preaching but living the life that he advocated".

With the Guru's daily presence, Kartarpur quickly became a vibrantly flourishing community. This led to the beginning of the tradition of kar sewa, as both a large dharamshala and an assembly hall needed to be built for the growing sangat. Another cornerstone of community life also started here - langar - a common meal of which all present, regardless of caste or creed, were expected to partake.

Several major events soon occurred at Kartarpur. One was the death of both of Guru Nanak's parents, within days of each other. As Dhillon tells us, "Tripta and Kalo had lived to a ripe old age and passed away in peace, having seeing their son achieve the greatness that had been foretold for him".

Another was the arrival of someone who would not only become Guru Nanak's most devoted disciple, but also his eventual successor: a man from the town of Khadur called Lehna. Dhillon gives a fascinating recounting of how this humble devotee merited to earn Guru Nanak's complete trust and highest esteem, and became ordained as the Second Master, Guru Angad, by Guru Nanak himself. Khadur also grew to be an important center of the faith, with a prayer hall, a langar, and a dharamshala.

As one highly significant person entered Guru Nanak's life, another exited: old age and illness had finally caught up with Mardana, his virtually inseparable companion. However, he did not truly leave, for, as Dhillon recounts after touchingly describing the musician's last moments: "They had been together for so long and been through so much that their souls were bound together in a way that the world had rarely seen, a bond that even death could not break".

The chapter on Kartarpur then finishes as it must: one evening in 1539, under an old acacia tree beside the Ravi riverbank, in the presence of his successor, his wife and sons, and thousands of his disciples, Guru Nanak drifted off into eternal sleep.

The book does not end here, however; several more sections follow. The next chapter, entitled "Teachings", is extremely valuable, Not only does it cogently sum up the major tenets of Guru Nanak's philosophy, it gives samplings (in excellent translations done by Khushwant Singh and others) of five key components of the First Master's bani: Japji, Siddh Gosht, Asa di Var, Onkar, Babar Vani, and Rehras (Sodar).

In "The Janamsakhis", Dhillon first explains: "There is the Nanak of Faith and the Nanak of History. What we find in the janamsakhis is the Nanak of Faith. (...) They must not be treated as historical records because they were not written by historians but by disciples of the Guru who wished to ensure that his legacy would be transmitted to future generations of Sikhs".

After acknowledging that "The Nanak of the janamsakhis will, for me, always be more real than the Nanak of History", Dhillon then charmingly retells some of his favorite stories of Guru Nanak's life. He does so in a most enchanting way, making the people and places of these timeless tales come convincingly alive.

The last parts of this work are comprised of an exceptionally comprehensive "Glossary" that defines the myriad of Punjabi terms used in this book, and a very helpful "Bibliography".

If you are searching for a scholarly tome on the founder and underpinnings of the Sikh religion, it is quite likely that Dhillon's book will not satisfy your requirements. Its most glaring shortcoming - the lack of Guru Granth page numbers for the many Gurbani quotes included - would be particularly frustrating in this regard.

Use as a resource for serious research is clearly not this book's purpose, however. Besides its wholly believable recreation of time and place, its greatest strength lies in its exceptionally well-crafted dialogue, which most convincingly shows Guru Nanak to not only be an extraordinarily gifted and divinely-inspired preceptor, but an immensely charismatic human being, as well.

On many occasions, tense confrontational situations of potentially heated conflict are masterfully defused, thanks to the Guru's gently ironic humor. Other scenes of personal interaction are suffused with a splendid sense of warmth and tenderness that is exquisitely sweet, but never cloying.

For an easy-reading and genuinely enjoyable retelling of Guru Nanak's life, The First Sikh Spiritual Master would be hard to beat. It is a work of wide appeal, perfect for the young and not-so-young, and for both Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike. Two thumbs way up!

 

April 1, 2008

Conversation about this article

1: Roma Rajpal (Santa Clara, USA), April 05, 2008, 2:04 PM.

I am grateful to Harish Dhillon for writing this book on our beloved guru. I love his quote that "a story as beautiful and inspiring as Nanak's needs to be retold as often as possible". Manjyot, your review - the description and commentary on the book - is beautiful in itself, and inspiring! I can't wait to read it now!

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