Faith

The Path of Nanak in
The 21st Century:
Nanak Panth

CHIRANJIV SINGH, translated from Punjabi by JOGISHWAR SINGH

Text of the Address given by Sardar Chiranjiv Singh, IAS (retd), on the Foundation Day of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, on 24 November, 2017.

Respected Members of the Audience:

My heartfelt gratitude to respected Vice Chancellor, Prof. Jaspal Singh Sandhu, who honoured me by inviting me to deliver the foundation day address. I have always had a feeling of proximity to Guru Nanak Dev university, firstly because it is named after Guru Maharaj and secondly because the first and founding Vice Chancellor of this university, Sardar Bishan Singh Samundari, was like family for us.

He had been together with my father at Lyallpur Agriculture College. Since he was about a year older than my father, I used to address him as Taya ji, and he gave us the same affection. I have very warm and affectionate memories of him. When I was selected for the Indian Administrative Service (‘IAS‘), he came all the way from Amritsar to Chandigarh to congratulate me. He came again a day before I was to leave for the Academy at Mussoorie.

He put his hand on my head and said, ‘’Always remember one thing: whatever you wish to ask for, ask only of Parmatma (‘The Primal Soul‘), never of any person. When my father was about to leave for prison, he told me with his hand on my head, ‘Whatever you need to ask for, ask only of Parmatma, never of anybody else’. These were his last words to me. He did not return alive from prison. I was then nine years old. That is my last memory of him“.

Samundari Sahib’s words are with me even today. His counsel has always remained with me. Since everything is Paramatma‘s and is from Parmatma, then why ask anything of anyone else? Hankering after this position or that, desiring this object or that, are not wishes to be asked of Paramatma. Compassion, contentment, knowledge, patience, courage and His Name are what one asks from Paramatma.

If material things are not to be asked of Paramatma, then everything has to be left to His will. Gradually we then realise that whatever Paramatma wills is good. This is the state of Gurparsaad, of Grace. The path shown by Guru Nanak leads one to this state of mind. This path is that of compassion, contentment, patience, and truth -- which was true in the past, true now and will be true always.

Guru Nanak says the earth is sustained by Dharma, which is the child of Daya (compassion). Guru Sahib says that Dharma is kept steadfast by Santokh (contentment).

Guru Arjan says that those who walk the path of truth are praised in the world. While describing the significance of truthful conduct (Sach Achaar) Guru Nanak says that truth is higher than all but truthful living is higher still.

This is Nanak Panth (‘The Path of Nanak’) which is as relevant for the 21st century as it was earlier. Panth means path and restricting its meaning to religion would be narrowing its compass.

Nanak Panth talks of Dharma, not of religion. I am distinguishing between Dharma and Religion. By religion I mean organised religion. The distinction between Dharma and organised religion is a separate topic. Here, I would like to only mention that the word ‘‘Dharma“ is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘‘Dhr“ meaning to hold, to keep.

The word ‘‘Mazhab“ (religion) comes from the root ‘‘Zahb“ meaning to bind, to follow. Incidentally, the world religion comes from the Latin ‘‘religare“ which also means to bind. ‘‘Mazhab“ binds within boundaries. ‘‘Dharma“ goes beyond boundaries and limits.

Sometimes it seems that Gurbani subverts organised religion as when Guru Gobind Singh says, ‘‘Kahu lé pahan pooj dhareo sar oopar / kahu ré ling galé latkaeyo / kahu lakhéo hari awachi disha méin / kahu pachhanh ko sees nivaiyo / kood kiriya mén urjhio hi sabh jag / siri Bhagwan ko bhéd na paeyo ,,,“

He indicated a simple path:

‘‘Jin prem kiyo tin hi Prabh paayo“ - “Only those who have loved have found God".

But this teaching has been curcumscribed within narrow practices. The following incident is an example of this:

Kirtan was once organised at the house of an Air Force officer in Kanpur. Parshaad was distributed. The Kirtankars threw away the Parshaad outside in flowerbeds because it had not been prepared in ‘’sarab loh’’ (all-steel) utensils.

If this is an example of narrow mindedness, here’s another example, this one of true spiritual attainment:

A devotee of Guru Nanak was posted to Pune. Being a spiritual seeker he enquired whether there was an enlightened person, a realized soul, he could meet. He was told about a saint living in a village some distance away from Pune. He went there. He found the saint seated in front of a thatched hut. They had a conversation. When he asked the saint about the path of enlightenment, the latter went inside the hut and brought out a small well-worn Gutka, saying,

‘‘Whatever I have obtained, I have obtained from this“.

It was an old Japji Sahib Gutka published a long time ago in Devnagri script. If it is possible to obtain everything from the Japji Sahib, then why are we not able to understand this fact.

The Australia based Gurbani singer and narrator, Dya Singh, says that ‘‘Sikhism is the best kept secret in the world‘‘. This is so because we have failed in communicating to the world the path of Dharma and the way of life taught by our Gurus. We have been unable to bring the message of Gurbani to the people. One reason for this may be that so long as the life of the followers of Guru Nanak remained exemplary, their life itself was the message of Gurbani.

But now when a river of alcohol is also flowing through Punjab, how to convey the message of Gurbani is a problem. One’s conduct is related to dharma. The Mahabharata says, ‘‘Dharmo dharyaté praja“, meaning dharma sustains the society. Jainism teaches ‘‘Vastu svabhavo dharma“: the innate nature of things is their dharma.

The nature of fire is to burn, burning is the dharma of fire. The nature of water is to cool, this is the dharma of water. These virtues comprise dharma.

A saint saw a scorpion drowning in water. He saved it by taking it out with his hand. The scorpion stung the hand. The onlookers asked the saint, ‘‘Maharaj, you knew that the scorpion stings, why did you catch it?“ The saint replied, ‘’To sting is the scorpion’s dharma, to save is my dharma“.

The saint had obeyed his dharma. He saved the scorpion because he felt compassion for it. Dharma is born of compassion. The establishment of a compassionate society should be an objective of the 21st century.

Guru Sahib put ’’Ik’’ (one) before Onkaar. When knowledge dawns that everything is contained in the One, then compassion emerges for everybody. Dharma is ‘‘Hukam“ within which is contained everything, outside of which there is nothing. ‘‘Hukam‘‘, the divine order, is the ‘‘Rit“ of the Rigveda. Truthful living according to the ‘Rit‘ or ‘Hukam‘ is the path of rightful living.

Nanak Panth is, in effect, the path of compassion and kindness (daya), contentment (santokh), patience (dheeraj), meditation (naam simran) and love (prem). It is a way of life based on truthful living, honest labour (kirat), sharing (vund chhakna) and purity (ishnaan), both inner and outer. These virtues are eternal.

The New Testament contains letters written by St Paul to his fellow adherents. In one of his letters, he says that the meaning of religion in human life is ‘‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control‘‘.

All religions teach these virtues in some form or the other. But there is a fundamental difference between the Semitic religions and the sub continental religions. The Semitic religions, be it Judaism, Christianity or Islam, the religions of the Book, claim that their path is the only true path to salvation, to heaven, and only by coming to their shelter can one escape the fires of hell. Contrary to this, our faiths say that all paths lead to that One.

‘’Jit duaré ubaré, tité leho ubar’’ is the message of Gurbani. The Rig Veda says, ‘’Aano bhadra krtvo yantu vishvatah’’, meaning may noble thoughts come to us from all sides. The Buddha taught that one has to light one’s own lamp and light one’s path oneself. Jainism describes this approach as ‘’Anekaantvad’’. Its essence is that this is not the only path, it is one of the paths.

‘‘Eh hi rasta nahin, eh vi rasta hai‘‘. Understanding this distinction between ‘‘hi‘‘ and ‘‘ vi‘‘, ‘‘the‘‘ and ‘‘a‘‘, is to understand the philosophy of ‘‘Anekantvaad‘‘.

The uniqueness of Nanak Panth is that it is both a Religion of the Book as well as of ‘‘Anekantvaad“. Guru Arjan included the hymns of saints of several religions while compiling the Adi Granth; several faiths and schools of philosophy like Dvait, Advait, Vishishtadvait, Nirgun, Sargun, Sufi, etc. were given place in the Adi Granth because all these paths lead to the One. Guru Granth Sahib is the only scripture in which several faiths and beliefs are found on the same footing. In the ever shrinking world of the 21st century in which religions and beliefs will have to learn to co-exist with each other, Nanak Panth shows the right direction.

Some of the scholars of comparitive religions are familiar with this speciality of the Nanak Panth. In 1999 UNESCO had organised the World Philosophy Conference to mark the new millenium. At that conference, a German philosopher came to me and asked, ‘’Are you a Sikh? ‘’. On my replying ‘’yes’’, he began talking about the Sikh religion. He said something precious: ‘’The great thing about the Sikh religion is that it reconciles the monotheism of Semitic religions with the pantheism of oriental religions’’.

Sikh religion not only constitutes a synthesis of Semitic and oriental religions, it also represents a synthesis of the Vedic and non-Vedic traditions: Upanishidic Vedanta Darshan, Anekantvaad of Jainism, Buddhism’s compassion and rejection of casteism and rituals, the path of love and mysticism of Sufism, the confluence of all these streams is there in the Sikh religion.

Sirdar Kapur Singh used to say that in the present day and age the purest form of Upanishdic Darshan is to be found in Sikhism. We can describe Nanak Darshan as the seventh school after the six schools of Darshans. The nearest to Nanak Darshan is the Lingayat Darshan of Basavanna.

Incidentally, the adherents of Lingayat Darshan are now demanding the recognition of their faith as a separate religion, citing the example of the Sikh religion.

Nanak Darshan belongs to the ‘‘Ishwarvadi“ tradition while the Lingayat Darshan seems to be between the ‘‘Ishwarvadi“ and ‘‘Siadvadi“ faiths. Nanak Baani has several references of the Naath Panth but the compositions of the following Sikh Gurus mostly contain references from the Bhagwat Puran.

Ramchandra Gandhi, the eminent philosopher, once said to me, ‘’I find it fascinating the way Sikhism moves delicately between Advaitism and Vishishtadvaitism’’.

Beyond this, we get references of Shaivism like Chandi in the compositions of Guru Gobind Singh. This trajectory of Sikh Darshan is in itself a subject worth studying. Nanak Panth is a path of liberation. The word Panth itself means Path. Liberation signifies the merger of the soul (Atma) in the Eternal Parmatma, like a drop of water merging in the ocean.

Sufis describe this as ‘‘fanah hona“. ‘

‘Bhayee prapat manukh demurely / Gobind milan ki eh teri bariya“. This Panth is meant for those who believe that Parmatma is the Creator of the Universe. The body is the outer covering of the soul (Atma). The body is perishable, the soul is eternal. Living a pure life reciting the Name is in accordance with Gurbaani’s teachings.

‘‘Ustat man mé kar Nirankaar / kar man méré sat byohar“.

‘‘Naam juppo, kirt karo, vund chhako“, this is the guiding path of the Nanak Panth. However, the principles of Nanak Panth are as relavant for those who do not believe in the Atma and Parmatma as they are for the believers. In this age of information technology and artificial intelligence beliefs and credos are changing. Change at rapid speed can also lead to directionlessness.

Regarding religions, on the one hand fanaticism and fundamentalism are increasing, a manifestation of which was the destruction of the two towers of the World Trade Centre, on the other hand is the spread of atheism of which the symbol was the putting up of posters preaching atheism on buses in London by Richard Dawkins. The French philosopher Michel Onfrey says in his work ‘’Traité d’athéologie’’ that neo-atheism has arisen out of opposition to religious fanaticism. Richard Dawkins’s book, ‘The God Delusion’, remained on the best seller list of the New York Times for a whole year.

All religions, faiths, darshans are having to face this situation. An educated generation will ask questions and those questions will need to be answered.

Nanak Panth is capable of answering such questions since it began with a question: ‘‘Kiv sachiaara hoiyé, kiv kudé tutté paal“.

Thinkers like Herbert Hoefer are speaking of a churchless Christianity. Nanak Panth talks of a ‘‘Dharamsaal“ in every household. But Sikhs need to reflect on how to answer questions which are being raised in this technological age. Most of the discussion among the Sikhs is centred on how to counter the apostasy (‘’Patitpuna“).

The Jewish people call apostates assimilates, meaning such Jews as have drifted towards the majority Christian values. On the other side, the Christian church says that religion is not a caféteria in which you can choose what you like and leave aside the rest. Pope John XXIII had convened the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council to discuss the topic of the Catholic Church and the Modern World. It lasted from 1962 till 1965. One of its conclusions was: a return to one’s original sources and adaptation of self to the changing times.

The time has arrived for Sikhs now to have a similar reflexion.

Our basic source is Gurbaani. How we should interpret and follow Gurbaani’s message, taking into account the circumstances of the 21st century, is worth reflecting on.

The 20th century turned out to be a period of exclusion for the Sikh Panth during which Udasis, Sindhis, Sahajdharis, Sanatanis, Nanak Panthis, Sikligars, Banjaras, Dalits and others were progressively excluded. The 21st century should be one of inclusion. Nanak Panth is bigger than the restricted circle of Punjab. Differences cropped up at the end of the 19th century between Sanatani Sikhs and Singh Sabha Sikhs, following which the views of the Singh Sabha Sikhs prevailed.

The consequences of this split are influencing the Nanak Panth Samaaj till today. The 21st century should be the century of unifying the splits.

Till now we have talked of the Nanak Panth. When we talk about the Sikh Samaaj (society) in Punjab, the characteristics which come to the fore are: fascination of the Sikh youth for the west; indifference towards Punjabi language; false pride and vulgar flaunting of wealth; the cancer of casteism; lack of interest in spiritual learning and remoteness from intellectual pursuits.

Indifference to religion is a problem of all religions in this age. For example, a survey has shown that only 18 out of every 1000 adherents of the Church of England attend church. It is estimated that this number will soon decrease even further to 10. A lot of people in western countries describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. The gulf between saying and doing has distanced new generations from both philosophy and religion.

But even this generation has need of values like compassion (daya), contentment (santokh), and truth (sach). It seems that Sikhs have become reactive instead of being proactive. Reacting to Hindutva or Islam has become a policy. Opinions are expressed on perceived danger to the distinct identity of Sikhs or a planned conspiracy against the Sikhs, etc. History shows that in the past a price had been put on the heads of Sikhs. But the Sikhs survived.

Government secret agencies all over the world indulge in covert activities but who tells the Sikhs not to read the Gurbani, not do Simran, not do honest labour, not share what they earn? If Sikhs themselves do not speak in Punjabi to their children why blame others for this? This is a voluntary choice of Sikh parents.

Which covert agency tells Sikhs to wallow in the mud of casteism? Deprecating manual labour and destroying society by indulging in casteism constitute the ‘‘Bipran ki reet‘‘ which Guru Gobind Singh had warned against. Nirmala Sikhs have kept alive the Sikh intellectual tradition since the time of Guru Gobind Singh. They remain Gursikhs even after studying Sanskrit and Vedas and Shastras.

Why are the Sikhs now fearful about this? Those who express fears imagine external conspiracies as causes of problems. Actually the problems are internal. Even a cursory glance at the caste ridden Sikh matrimonial columns or crass displays at Sikh weddings should make us understand that no external conspiracy is responsible for this. When weaknesses arise from within the Sikh society itself, then reform will also have to arise from within it.

The Nanak Panth has an aesthetic dimension also. Side by side with the tradition of our learning and literature, there is the great heritage of Gurbani Kirtan. The tradition of Rabaabi Kirtan from the time of Guru Nanak, of Dhrupad Kirtan from the time of Guru Arjan, the Khayaal tradition from the time of Guru Gobind Singh are all great achievements of our musical tradition.

Which conspiracy is responsible for the pitiable condition of present day kirtan recitals? There was a time when music directors of Bollywood films used to compose tunes inspired by the compositions of our kirtan, now the raagis recite Gurbani Kirtan based on film tunes.

Let us hope that there will be a renaissance of Gurbani sangeet in the 21st century. It is a hope. Might be realised. Sikh art has now become mostly limited to calendar art. This very university had published a picture album of the Puraatan Janamsaakhi pictures. Looking at those pictures it becomes obvious how Sikh art has been on a path of decline.

No Sikh architect has managed to reach the heights of the work done by Bhai Ram Singh. Famous architects of the modern age like Achyut Kanvindé, Balkrishna Doshi, Charles Correa, Raj Rewal, etc can be described as disciples of Le Corbusier. They adopted the styles and practices developed in the West.

It was Bhai Ram Singh who fully developed the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. His contribution is much greater in this respect. The distinct visual aspect of cities like Lahore, Mysore, Baroda is due to the architectural contribution of Bhai Ram Singh. In Amritsar the Khalsa College complex is his landmark legacy.

The Sikhs have been extremely negligent in preserving their architectural heritage. In the 21st century, let us try to at least preserve what has not yet been destroyed.

In the context of the 21st century, some of the principal topics highlighted by thinkers have been: human rights, animal rights, gender equality (including LGBT), environmental protection and secular humanistic values. Some thinkers have included the clash between science and religion in this list but such clash is a problem of the Semitic religions, not of our religions.

In our context we could include widespread corruption to this list. The Sikh Samaaj needs to be guided on these subjects by Gurbaani. Guru Tegh Bahadar is the finest example when we talk of human rights. Why do we need to look to any other source for this?

There is no discussion yet amongst the Sikhs about animal rights. No rapid progress in animal rights seems likely when we look at the pitiable condition of animals in the poultry and dairy farms of Punjab. We need to remember that Nanak Panth starts from the One and all creatures are merged in this One.

Then there is the problem of noise pollution. All religions are guilty of contributing to this in India. Let the Sikh Gurdwaras become an exception to this in the 21st century, though at present the managers of gurdwaras think that all Sikhs are deaf, judging by the volume of loudspeakers in the gurdwaras.

Talking of gender equality, the Sikh society has not managed to free itself from female foeticide, even though Guru Amar Das had banned social relations with persons indulging in female infanticide.

The Sikh society still has some way to go before women reach the stage of perfect equality. Gurbani does not say anything about sexual orientations. LGBT persons are perfectly capable of doing ‘’Naam Simran’’, ‘’Daan“, ‘’Ishnaan“ and ‘’Kirat“. This is the greatness of Nanak Panth that its Dharma is so inclusively magnanimous.

Environmental protection should be considered as an integral part of the Sikh Dharma, regardless of how ignorant or indifferent its adherents might be about it. In this Panth, ‘‘Pawan‘‘ (air) is Guru, ‘‘Paani‘ (water) is Pita (father) and ‘‘Dharti‘‘ (earth) is ‘‘Mata‘‘ (mother).

Guru Sahib says, ‘‘baléhari kudrat vaséya“. How can people remain indifferent towards Nature even after reading its description in ‘‘Barah Maah“? Nanak Panthis should surely be path-breaking pioneers about environmental protection.

Nanak Panth is neither opposed to science nor is science a threat to it. Everything is under divine order, Parmatma’s Hukam. But the situations arising in tomorrow’s world of artificial intelligence will need to be faced. For example, when robots begin performing daily tasks, what will humans do? How will wealth be shared? How will we deal with specialists developing software for robots, etc?

I am of the opinion that Gurbaani will be our lodestone even in these matters. Wise persons would need to come forth to guide the community. The traditions of wisdom and intellectual attainments would need to be revived and encouraged. Nirmala Deras might even include modern science in their reflexions in future.

Paul Davies, a scientist and philosopher of science, says that ‘’Any religion that refuses to embrace scientific discovery is unlikely to survive to the 22nd century.’’

Nanak Panth talks of ‘‘Aad sach / jugaad sach‘‘, the eternal truth. It will be as much relevant in the 22nd century as it is in the 21st. It is necessary to express the principles of this Panth in the changing context,

For example, the principles of ‘’Miri“ and ‘’Piri“, the temporal power and the spiritual power. They are different from the principles of Islam. Guru Sahib kept ‘‘Miri‘‘ and ‘‘Piri‘‘ separate. This is in tune with modern thinking according to which religion and politics are kept separate. Sikh Dharma has been democratic in nature since its very inception. Sikhs had awarded punishment to Guru Gobind Singh because he had saluted the grave of a pir with his arrow, while the Sikh tradition forbade worship of graves.

There is no need for the Nanak Panth to follow the approach of the Semitic religions’. It has its own strength. We need to recognise this, and take it forward. Guru Gobind Singh conferred all rights on the Panth. It can change practices to account for changing times. A hallmark of living religions is the ability to adjust to the prevalent times.

The Nanak Panth has that capability. It can be a beacon of light for the 21st century.

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Sardar Chiranjiv Singh, former Ambassador of India to UNESCO in Paris, joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1969. He retired in 2005 as Development Commissioner of Karnataka and Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka. During his career he held various positions in the central and state governments, some of which are: Principal Secretary, Finance Dept.; Principal Secretary, Agriculture; Secretary, Culture and Tourism Depts.; Director General, Administrative Training Institute, Mysore; Divisional Commissioner of Belgaum and Mysore Divisions; Director, Mines and Geology; Director, Information, Culture, and Tourism, Govt. of Karnataka; Special Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Food and Civil Supplies and Rural Development, Govt. of India; Chairman of Naval and Air Force Standing Establishment Committees in the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India; Additional Director General of Tourism, Govt. of India; Chief Executive of the National Council of Hotel Management and Catering Technology Institutes. He was also on the governing bodies of the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, as representative of the Govt. of Karnataka. He was CMD of Mysore Lac and Paints; He was Chairman of the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation, and also of Jungle Lodges and Resorts. Was Chairman of Mysore Urban Development Authority and also Administrator, Mysore City Corporation. Since his retirement he is associated with numerous non-governmental organizations working in the fields of rural development, environment and culture. For his services rendered to the state he was awarded the “Rajyothsava Award” in 2005 by the Government of Karnataka. He was President of the Alliance Française, Bangalore, from 2005-2017. He was awarded the knighthood (Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite) by the President of France in 2015 for his contribution to Indo-French culture.

February 4, 2018
 

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