Celebrating the Tercentenary Of Guru-ta-Gaddi

by NANDKUMAR KAMAT
Posted on 2008-10-03
MILLIONS of Sikhs and those who respect the teachings of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the greatest contributions of the last Sikh guru – Gobind Singh have converged at Nanded, Maharashtra. We can say that it is a ‘kumbhmela’ of the global Sikh community. It is one of the greatest events of this century – to commemorate an epochal event in the history of Sikhism – the tercentenary (300th year) of the consecration of Guru Granth Sahib as the last guru of the Sikh community by Guru Gobind Singhji.
The event took place far away from the fertile plains of Punjab – at Nanded in Maharashtra, where Guru Gobind Singhji had camped in October 1708 and held his court and congregation. He was fatally stabbed by the assassins sent by the Nawab of Sirhind.
Occupying a central position among a galaxy of greatest Indians of all times, the revered Guru Gobind Singh took a historic and revolutionary decision when he saw that his mortal life was coming to an end. Instead of appointing any successor – after deep thought, the great Guru proclaimed at Nanded before he left for Sachkhand Gaman on October 7, 1708, that ‘from today onwards; Guru Grantha Sahib Ji (The Holy Book of the Sikhs), is the Guru and it should be regarded as the embodiment and visible form of all the ten Gurus. The Eternal Father willed and I raised the Panth. All my Sikhs are hereby ordered to accept the Granth as their Preceptor. Have faith in the Holy Granth, as your master and consider it the visible manifestation of the Gurus. He who hath a pure heart will seek guidance from its holy words.’
For more than century the political turmoil did not permit the leaders of the Sikh community to attend to the memories of their last guru. Later between 1832-7, under instructions from Maharaja Ranjit Singhji, a Gurudwara which was subsequently named ‘Takhat Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchal Nagar Sahib’ was built on the same campsite where Guru Gobind Singh had breathed his last.
Sikhism is the fifth largest and relatively youngest religion in the world. With more than twenty five million followers, Sikhism with its’ glorious history of more than six centuries offers a holistic and humanistic cosmic vision – embodying unique fusion of India’s and Asia’s greatest philosophical and mystical traditions. The whole world adores the Sikh community as hard working, honest, disciplined, enterprising, fun loving, joyous, brave and God fearing community. Their contribution to build India and feed and protect Indians is legendary and no Indian true to his salt would ever be able to pay this debt. Sikhs are inspired by their sacred scripture – Sri Guru Granth Sahib that is a careful, creative, poetic and structured compilation in gurumukhi script of about 6000 shabads or hymns spread over 1430 pages.
Except japji sahib, the preface to the sacred scripture (recently translated in Konkani by Mr Suresh Amonkar) all the hymns are composed to match with one of the 31 ragas as per Indian musical traditions, beginning with Sri Raag and ending with Raag Jai Jaiwanti. The shabad kirtans of Sikhs are soul stirring. The sacred Guru Granth Sahib represents pan Indian interfaith wisdom and even accommodates Persian and Arabic influences besides contributions from Sanskrit, Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali. The uniqueness of the composition could be seen from the contributions from the Sikh gurus and a galaxy of famous Hindu and Muslim saints/composers.
Six Sikh gurus –Nanak sahib, Angad, Amar Das, Ram Ds, Arjan Dv and Teg Bahadur have contributed hymns. Compositions of Namdev, Jaidev, Ramanand, Ravidas, Trilochan, Baba Farid and saint Kabir have made the Granth Sahib a unique cultural and spiritual repository of India’s ancient wisdom. Understanding the history and composition of Guru Granth Sahib helps us get an insight in the interregional interaction process, which was active between various faiths and traditions. The Maharashtrian saint, Namdev had traveled to Punjab and breathed his last there. The Sikhs remembered him by including 61 of his hymns in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
In a similar manner, Guru Arjun Dev included one hymn each of Bhagat Trilochan (1267-1335) and Parmanand (1483-1593). In its’ original form, the Guru Granth Sahib was known as ‘Adigranth’. It was compiled by Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth guru. The Adiranth was ceremonially installed at the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, at Harimandir Sahib on September, 1, 1604.
The Guru Granth Sahib in its’ present form was completed by Guru Gobind Singh in 1706 at Damadama Sahib. Within two years, the sacred scripture achieved its’ current status, that too, coincidentally in Saint Namdev’s Maharashtra, at Nanded. Today, Nanded has been placed on the world map. The tercentenary celebrations are taking place in Maharashtra on the background of the anti-North Indian sentiments engineered for petty, shortsighted political gains. The celebrations at Nanded offer a lesson to the whole country – especially to the young generation of Indians. Irrespective of the religion in which they are born and get indoctrinated, it is their duty to study and understand the wisdom of other faiths. The tercentenary need not be confined to only the Sikh community. It is an event of national importance, which all secular minded Goans need to understand and join. Unfortunately there seems to be an ugly emphasis on racially tainted jokes than understanding the rich history and the religion of Sikhs.
During my visit to Chandigarh a few years ago, I made it a point to visit a local Gurudwara and spend some time listening to the shabad kirtans. My brilliant Sikh student Paramjit Kaur from Gurudaspur, was surprised when I told her to get me recordings of the Sikh shabad kirtans when she had visited her native place. Sikhism is an integral part of our civilisation’s composite history. It has incorporated the best traditions of Hinduism and Islam. Guru Gobind Singh’s emphasis was on meaningful social reforms and personality development.
The tercentenary celebrations at Nanded is an occasion for the nation to contemplate on the great teachings of Guru Gobind Singh and find a new meaning in Guru Granth Sahib to heal the old wounds and search for future directions to guide the course of history. The Guru Granth Sahib needs to be translated in all the scheduled languages of India. Its’ message of love, peace, brotherhood, non dualism, cosmic unity needs to reach to all the Indians including those who may still have some misgivings about the Sikhs. The small Sikh community of Goa could educate the local people about the great traditions of Guru Granth Sahib and the importance of the tercentenary of Guru-ta-Gaddi. Goans should join the Sikhs in praying- ‘Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki fateh’.