In the Footsteps of the Master
Chapter 1           By Dr. Inder Jit Kaur

GURU NANAK, THE SPIRITUAL REVOLUTIONARY

Jau Tau Prem Khelan Ka Chao
Sir Dhar Tali Gali Meri Aao
Itt marag Pair Dhareeje
Sir Deeje Kaan Na Keeje

(If you want to play the game of love for the Lord, put your head on the palm, then come to me. On this path, take the first step with the commitment that you have no hesitation to lay down your life for righteousness.)

 Thus from Day One the religion was RIGHTE-OUSNESS, whatever be your label of religion, Hindu, Muslim, Brahmin, Yogi, Sanyasi or something else. And the proof of this righteousness was to be lived both externally and internally and if this would cost your life, you should be prepared for it.

Misguided historians sometimes confuse the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh’s selfless armed struggle against the tyrannical rulers in defence of the weak and in safeguarding the freedom of the common people from foreign oppression with  that of Guru Nanak's path. They forget the whole purpose of  the audacious disobedience of Babar by Guru Nanak, his refusal to  abandon the so-called untouchable Bhai Lalo and dogged determination to extricate common innocent people from the clutches of the cruel rulers on the one hand and the exploiting religious authority but ALSO from the Hindu religious orthodoxy and Hindu servants of Muslim administration.

Saddled with unbearable laws and customs, the people had lost their humanity and had no courage to ask for their rights, mush less fight for them. Both Hindu and Muslims found in Guru Nanak a saviour of a new revolutionary spirit, who would not only give them the external pursuit of religious customs but would also awaken in them the divine spirit and social responsibility as a householder. Making it imperative that one did not have to live in the woods to become a spiritual person. His basic instruction was  NAAM JAPO WAND CHHAKO and DHARAM DI KIRAT  KARO. Translated, it would mean recitation of the Lord’s name in every breath, earning one’s  bread with honest means with one’s own hands and sharing the income with the downtrodden.The principle born out of this is 10% contribution of a disciple’s income towards charity. And with the Lord’s name in the heart, stress is on work not asceticism
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Hindu, Muslims, others , ALL flocked to him because Guru Nanak talked of the religion of commonsense, truth and Love and did not stick to the exclusiveness of any denomination. To the Muslim, he represented the guidance to be a true Muslim with emphasis on the piety of his living in accordance with the dictates of holy Quran and his five times of prayers (Namaz) to project his internal purity. To the Hindu, his external ablutions and piety were no substitute for internal devotion and truthful conduct. No wonder that he declared:

Sachon Ure Sabko Uppar Sach Achar

(Everything is below Truth, Because Truth is the highest: however, one thing is higher than Truth, i.e. The practice of  Truthful Conduct.)

I sometimes wonder whether Guru Nanak really intended founding a religion. I would say he separated the corn from the chaff and through his wanderings throughout the high priests of Hinduism and Islam and other sects, he delineated
the principled core of religion, i.e. SUCH HOWE TAN SACH PAYIE. (You can reach TRUTH, i.e. God, ONLY IF YOU HAVE PURITY AT HEART).

Guru Nanak was born in a Hindu family but was recognised early as a prophet by a Muslim satrap.  His companions were Mardana, a Muslim and Bala, a Hindu.  His teachings and his demonstrated lessons were no labels of Hinduism or Islam, but they were pure dictates of the CONSCIENCE, applicable to anyone  who would try to suppress his ego and live in God.  No wonder that the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan, because of straightforward path chalked out by Guru Nanak and carried forward by his successors, attracting Hindus and Muslims alike, became a thorn in the flesh of Muslims orthodoxy and despite Akabar’s friendliness towards the Gurus, provoked  determined opposition from Mullas and Quazis.  They prevailed upon Jehangir to put Guru Arjan to death through various tortures.  Guru Arjan thus became the first Sikh martyr to the cause of  Guru Nanak’s revolution, although his  works of total universality and secularism stand witness to his greatness even today.  He had the foundation stone of our most sacred Gurdwara, the Golden temple in Amritsar, laid by a Muslim Divine, Hazart Mian Mir.  Then he compiled Granth sahib- later declared as our perpetual Guru by Guru Gobind Singh- in which he includes the sayings of Hindu and Muslim saints from the four corners  of the country, including the so called untouchables.  But then, bigotry in the face of revolution, must have its victims.

The revolution did not stop here. Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru was martyred in Delhi because he offered to lead the KASHMIRI Hindus under pressure  to convert to Islam,  and could not tolerate that freedom of conscience should be denied to anyone.   Thus the revolution sowed by Guru Nanak bloomed into the martyrdom of four sons of Guru Gobind  Singh and countless other martyrs who, in the face of untold miseries brought about  by the Muslim rulers aided by self -seeking Hindu Hill Rajas in the Punjab, refused to live in slavery and preferred death.

Guru Gobind Singh created Khalsa by death-defying willingness to offer sacrifices and he  himself became their disciple.  Countless followers of Guru Nanak in the form of Sikhs and Khalsa laid down their lives for the freedom of faith, for the freedom of the country from the British and for the freedom of the places of worship.

Let us search our hearts today, whether that revolutionary spirit is alive in us.   If not, let us pray for its return.