Poetry

Voices of The Gurus' Children, Part I

by RAJ KUMAR HANS

 

 

 

Exploring histories of Dalit literature in different languages of the subcontinent is to encounter the deserts of neglects, silences and exclusions.

‘Progressive' Punjab is no exception to this sub-continental reality despite claims that Brahmanical ideology and its resultant social structures had considerably weakened in the Punjab due to the impact of long waves of religious egalitarianism of Buddhism, Islam and Sikhism.

The virus of Brahmanism had so afflicted the Indian mind over the millennium that it would spring back the demon of untouchability from time to time even in the areas of its weakest linkage. After the establishment of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s kingdom and more so after the British conquest of Punjab, the Sikhs became easy prey to the hovering vulture of Brahmanism and its cardinal practice, the ‘untouchability’.

The making of Punjabi society, a frontier society, for at least last three thousand years, has been a story of complex paradoxes though the elitist historiography of all hues has denied it its colourful multiplicity.

If dalit saint poets, as part of this tradition, offer paradoxical response of devotion and dissent till the first quarter of the twentieth century, the next eight decades yield a rich harvest of Punjabi dalit literature with clear dalit consciousness. Indeed, the established and dominant literary and historiographical tradition is hardly aware of this rich array of dalit intellectual practice and even when it is known, it is not recognised.

The first section of this brief article surveys Punjabi dalit writings while the second part looks at the historiographical practice from a dalit perspective.

*   *   *   *   *

The Punjabi dalit literary tradition begins with Bhai Jaita - later Bhai Jeevan Singh (c1655-1705) who was very close to the Gurus’ household as he was the one who had carried the severed head of Guru Tegh Bahadar from Delhi to Anandpur and in his late years composed a devotional epic, ‘Sri Gur Katha’, around Guru Gobind Singh’s life somewhere around 1699-1700.

Historical significance of this epic lies in the fact that Bhai Jaita provides an eyewitness account to a few centrally important events in the life of Guru Gobind Singh and Sikh history.

That he was not just a poet but a thinking poet is attested from his composition when he says:

Jal bin jeevan hohe na kabhun,

Garab maih jeev kau gyan na hohe hain.

Jiv chintan bin cheet na hoye hain,

Ar chintan bin janam na koye hain.

Iv janani dharni chintan ki,

Chintan jeev kai chit ki loye hain.

Ar sab chintan dharan te hoye hain,

Ta kar dharni janani hoye hain.

(There can be no life without water and a human being cannot have knowledge while in mother’s womb. As there cannot be any knowledge without thinking, there can be no life without ‘thinking’. As this earth gives birth to all knowledge, thinking is the light of the living being. Since all thinking grows from the womb of the Earth, that is reason it is called the Mother.)

*   *   *   *   *

Our second dalit saint-poet Sadhu Wazir Singh (c1790-1859) attained the status of ‘Brahmgyani’ and prolifically composed philosophical and cultural poetry, both in Punjabi and Braj Bhasha. A small part of his published poetry, as selected by Shamsher Singh Ashok in Siharfian Sadhu Wazir Singh Kian, is a window to a wide range of his knowledge, from religious and spiritual to social and political.

He questions all religious establishments and argues for a non-dualistic approach to life. Since he was engaged in deep thinking and in giving creative expressions to his thoughts numerous disciples including poets joined his dera. All the five of his identified poet disciples, including two young widows, came from the so-called 'high' castes.

One of them is Veer Singh Sahgal while Nurang Devi turns out to be the first Punjabi poetess groomed under his tutorship. His assertion on going beyond the established religions is well captured in his 12th Siharfi where he says:

Kaaf- kade Koran di lod naahin, vekh pothian thothian paarde han.

Rehras namaz di khahash naahin, dharamsal masit nun saarde han.

Gang, Gaya Pryag nun tiyag keeta, gor marhi niyaz na chaarde han.

Hoye aap nirpakh Wazir Singhaa, pakhan dohan di khed nun taarde han.

(We don’t need Koran as we also tear the empty granths. There is no desire for Rehras, as we burn temples and mosques. We have abandoned the Ganges, Gaya and Pryag as we also do not worship the Dead. As we have become non-sectarian, O! Wazir Singh, we keep a watch over the game both sides play.)

*   *   *   *   *

The next dalit intellectual writer, Giani Ditt Singh (1852-1901) emerged as a poet, teacher, polemicist, journalist, orator and ardent Sikh missionary who turned out to be the pillar of the Singh Sabha movement.

Ditt Singh’s scholarly talents came in handy for the Sikh movement. Lahore Singh Sabha floated a weekly newspaper, the Khalsa Akhbar in 1886. He assumed editorship of the paper in 1887, which he continued till his death in 1901.

Meanwhile, he was also appointed as a professor of Punjabi at the Oriental College , Lahore . He wrote more than fifty books and pamphlets on wide-ranging subjects, from love-lore to Sikh traditions, from history to ethics, from heroes to charlatans as he also produced polemics. Even being a leader in the limelight, he could not escape the overt and covert assault of untouchability from his fellow Sikhs.

*   *   *   *   *

Our next dalit intellectual poet is Sadhu Daya Singh Arif (1894-1946) who came to master the Gurmukhi, Urdu, Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit scripts and languages with the help of several non-formal teachers who were stunned by his sharp intellect. Not only had he studied Vthe Guru Granth Sahib, Vedas, Puranas, Smritis, and theQuran during his teenage years, he had also read a wide range of secular literature and also reached the stage of ‘Brahmgyani’ through meditation and contemplation like Sadhu Wazir Singh, which is apparent from his assuming the title of ‘Arif’.

His first poetical work, ‘Fanah-dar-Makan’, was published when he just turned 20. This was written in sadh bhasha and emphasised the quintessential element of mortality in human existence. Due to somewhat difficult language and style of composition he was advised by Baba Sawan Das, his Sanskrit teacher, to revise it and write in simple language. He was bursting with so much of creative energy that he altogether produced another kissa entitled, ‘Fanah da Makan’, first published in 1915, which became very popular throughout the Punjab, and a household reading in his own region of Malwa where it was sold in several hundred-thousand copies.

The work which made Daya Singh a household name through the width and breadth of the Punjab was Zindagi Bilas which was completed on 23 August, 1916. It is in this work where his vast religious, spiritual and secular knowledge is manifest. Following the ancient wisdom that the average human life is of 100 years, Daya Singh composed lyrical poems on each year.

Overall it is a touching didactic poetry that caught the imagination of the masses, and became the most published, read or heard poetic creation of the time, next only to Waris Shah’s ‘Heer’.

Daya Singh comes to the theme of prevailing communal division again and again. Listen to what he says in his discourse on the 56th Year in Zindagi Bilas:

Unity I see all around, wherever my eyes rove

Superior claims of faith, Hindus and Muslims fight over

Mere jugglery of words, Essence of Ram and Rahim the same

Of casteist belief untouchability born, both made of the soil same

Children of same parents, if they just see Origins

Forsaking God, they worship false objects, get astray into aimlessness

Give up evils for salvation, devils you remain sans praxis

Daya Singh has left partisanship, in every sector, every deed


Daya Singh was aware of all the competing revivalist tendencies and religious polemical wars around the turn of century as he says in the ‘Fanah da Makan’:

Varnas and religions all, exclusive claims of purity

Hindus with Har Narayan, hold their principles True

Pastors and Dayanandi Aryas pronounce, no deliverance without them

Exclusive rights in Heaven say Muslims, no place for Hindus there

God has no enmity with Hindus, keeps no exclusive place for Muslims

Fight they all over religion, without knowing the Unknown

Filthy 'n empty sans good deeds, paupers they are, without a penny

Daya Singh, false claims the world may make; no recognition without actions


He holds Brahminical ritualism with the same contempt as did the Guru, Bhagats and Sufis. He is deadly against idol worship. The Islamic influence on his mind is quite obvious as he has used 18 aayets in his 3 qissas.

Similarly, the Sufi influence is manifest in his insistence on murshid - guru - without whom the seeker cannot reach the Divine. The concept of ishq is present at several places in Daya Singh’s works. Towards the close of Zindagi Bilas in ‘Uttam Updesh No. 39’ he says:

Creator is happy loving his Creation, be happy in the service of that creation

No knowledge without guru, beseech murshid for the purpose

Death is premium for lovers’ union, emboldened you be like true lover

Be reformed thoroughly before counselling others with confidence

Elated be not with worldly joys, be soaked in ishq’s spring

Reads He your heart’s letters, send your sweetheart an urgent telegram

 

The importance of Daya Singh is manifold. First and foremost, he is the first Dalit Punjabi poet to attain the widest possible popularity, the kind of popularity enjoyed by Waris Shah, in undivided Punjab .

Secondly, he reinforces what was moral and what was ethical when it was desired most.

Thirdly, Daya Singh’s poetry is free from any kind of sectarianism and is thoroughly secular in the prevailing communal environment. His concern and message was universal in content; it is libertarian rather than restraining.

Lastly, Daya Singh not only produces good poetry but emerges as an intellectual of his age. Through the study of scriptures and traditions of major religions of the land, he arrives at his own understanding of human existence that he corroborates from his practical life and keen observation.

He lays great stress on practice rather than theory, on deeds rather than scriptural knowledge. Here his background of labouring class provides him insights.

CONTINUED tomorrow - Part II

 

[Courtesy: Roundtable India. Edited for sikhchic.com]

December 17, 2011

 

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