Excellence of Sikhism, Sarup S. Alag

[Guest]

Lady Dorothy Field in her book 'Religion of Sikhs', writes that the pragmatic folks of the west must fully appreciate the Sikh religion because in this religion, apart from good things, a lot of emphasis is laid on the practical way of life. She also dispels a fallacy in very elegant words:

"It must not be imagined that because Guru Gobind Singh was a fine warrior he was less spiritual or less religious than his predecessors. He made the religious fervour the backbone of war like doctrines. He united practical skill with mystical meditation; and the results speak for themselves"

She further states:

".......A reading of the Granth strongly suggests that Sikhism should be regarded as a new and separate religion. This religion is also one which should appeal to the occidental(western) mind. It is essentially a practical religion. If judged from the pragmatical stand point, in some quarter, it would rank almost first in the world."

[Guest]

Kibriya Khan was an eminent muslim poet and was very much impressed by the unparalled sacrifices of Guru Gobind Singh ji. He presented his homage to the Great Guru in these words:

Keya dasmesh pita teri baat kahun

jo tu ne parupkaar kiye

Ik khals khalsa panth sjaa,

jaton ke bhed nikal diye

Is Tegh ke bete tegh pakar,

dukhhiyon ke kaat janjaal diye

oos mulko watan ki khidmat mein,

kahin baap diya, kahin laal diye"

O tenth Father

What shall I say about your benevolence

By creating the Khalsa(the pure)

You abolished the caste differences

The son of Tegh took the sword

And unshackled troubles of distressed

In the service of his country,

He sacrificed his father and all his sons.

[Guest]

Excellence of Sikhism, Sarup S. Alag

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Swami Vivekanand while referring to Guru Gobind Singh called him:

"the most glorious hero of our race."

The Swami was very respectful of the Sikh traditions and principles. He analysed the psychological and the social aspects of the 'amrit-ceremony', and in order to fulfill his curiosity witnessed it in person. After studying this supernatural ceremony, the swami was so impressed that whenever he gave a speech or wrote any letter, he always used the greetings:

"Waheguru ji ka khalsa, Waheguru ji ki fateh"

[Guest]

Historian and writer T.L Vaswani in his book 'The Sikh Sanctuary", writes about

Guru Gobind Singh Ji:

"Guru Sahib's personality is like a rainbow. He possessed sweet honeyed humility of Guru Nanak; lamblike virtue of Jesus Christ; spiritual wisdom of Gautam Buddha; bubbling energy of Hazrat Mohammed; sunkissed glory of Lord Krishna; abiding discipline of Lord Rama and more so; royal glamour of emperors."

About Guru Granth Sahib Ji:

"The Sikh Granth is a wonderful scripture. I regard it a world holy scripture.....Guru Arjan brought together in one book the hymns of hindu saints and muslim fakirs. Guru Granth is thus the scripture of synthesis"

On the prevelant situation of his times:

" And my weary hopes try to realize the happy day when the present day decay of religious desire shall give way to rational faith; when the sense of social justice shall assert itself; when life beyond this life shall be dicerned as the dominant idea of thought and deed; when the religion of the bhakti shall be lived by men of the world and Gospels of Guru Nanak enthroned in our hearts again"

[Guest]

Mr. B.S. Murthi, former Minister of State for Health, Government of India, wrote a book entitled 'Opressed and Depressed'. In this book he described the problems of opressed and scheduled(backward) castes in India and advised the socially backward brethren that if they wanted to live a life of pride, honour and poise then they should accept the baptism of 'Khande Bate da Amrit' and take refuge in Guru Granth Sahib. Thus they will be saved from the age long chronic disease of social stratification and inequality.

He further states:

"...In India, there is more need to bring awakening in scheduled class compared to any other caste. Their situation will not become better with reformation alone. They will have to be emancipated by accepting baptism('Khande Bate da Amrit'). Scheduled caste people are those sparrows, who have been haunted for generations by the religious stubborn and politically supreme hawks. As Guru Gobind Singh thought, these sparrows have to be taught to fight with the hawks who were proud of castes. If the backward caste have any self respect left in them, if their youth have any ambition to lead a respected purposeful life and if their women have to be freed from the fear of molestation and disgrace by the proud upper class arrogants, then it should not be difficult for them to make up their mind.

It is said that the sword which Guru Gobind Singh provided to the Khalsa Panth with His magnificence, Guru Nanak provided the steel for the sword. Guru Nanak Sahib used the hindu community as a raw ore, melted it and cleaned the impurities of fraud and carelessness of masterly class, deception and pretence of the priest class, and burned the slag in the furnace to achieve the steel for the sword. The reservoir of backward caste form of pig iron, needs to be gainfully employed as soon as possible. The frustations and escapism of these unfortunate and exploited people need to be moulded to prepare a new kind of steel in India.

To leave the backward caste people in their present form will be like wasting a large number of lives living a meaningless life without any hope or passion. If the backward castes can be united in the form of Sikhism then surely these people will take the country forward on a progressive path and equal to the developed countries. It is not just an imagination but its living proof is evident, as mentioned by historial Irvin, as follows:

"....The lowest of the low, once needed to leave home and join the Guru - blessed Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, then within a short time came back to his birth place in the form of an all-powerful ruler. As soon as he stepped back into the boundary of his area, the rich and upper class wealthy were waiting for his order."

Continuing his argument Mr. Murthi states:

"...May be it won't happen like that today, neither it should happen like that anyway because today we are living in a free democratic society, but it is certain that after becoming a Sikh the backward caste won't have to remove his shoes and turban when entering the village, or as it happens in many places, remove his shirt and dhoti and wear a loin-cloth. He won't be called by the village head for questioning and after becoming a Sikh he will be able to walk swingingly and confidently with his head high with pride and full of self-respect."

According to Mr. Murthi"

"...the white pigeons of Panchsheel would only be able to fly fearlessly in India's free skies, when there is also Guru Gobind Singh's white hawk flying in the air to protect them."

[ishveir]

These writers write great things and give some perspective for those who are not born into sikhism what our religion really is.

In some sense, most of us know a segment less than a reader of their book would eventually learn to appreciate and remember.

Personally, i have not really completed a book on any topic in Sikhism. Most probably i would know much of the historical details but not scholar-type comparisons on sikhism

anyhow, its always good to know a few non-sikhs are appreciative and non-biased.