BACK
The Guruship and Succession of
Sri Granth Sahib
Dr Madanjit Kaur*
The theme of this article is in the form of a thesis that
calls for an answer to the issues like the Sikh concept
of the Guru, the doctrine of Sri Guru Granth Sahib as visible
body of the Guru, the closing of personal Guruship and the
succession of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
The Guru in Sikhism
The Tenth Guru Gobind Singh brought to an end the line of
human Gurus by conferring Guruship upon the collection of
hymns which his followers used in their personal and corporate
devotion and as a guide. So a movement, which carried on
under a series of Masters, concluded upon a Holy Book, henceforth
known by the name of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. This was the
final culmination of the Sikh concept of Guruship, capable
of checking the temptation of deifying the line of human
Gurus any further. Yet this is not itself the whole of the
story of Sikh Guruship.
The Sikh doctrine of Guruship is rooted in Indian religious
tradition. But it is dynamic and distinct in form and structure.
In fact, Guruship is a distinctive concept of Sikhism. It
is a legacy of the founder Master, Guru Nanak. The Tenth
master while maintaining the concept of Shabad as Guru also
made the Panth distinctive by introducing corporate Guruship.1
Though the concept of Guruship continued to be the core
of Sikhism, the role of the human Gurus was transferred
to the Guru Panth, and that of the revealed word to Sri
Guru Granth Sahib. This has made Sikhism a distinctive modern
religion. Any other interpretation of the decision of Tenth
Master to introduce the system of Guru Granth and Guru Panth
would be contary to the Sikh thesis as amplified by Ganda
Singh and Harbans Singh.2
The meaning of Guruship in Sikhism is the manifest form
which God takes as a preceptor of mankind. The nature of
Guruship in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib states that the supreme
being is Himself the Guru, whose chosen channel for communication
to humanity is the institution of the Guru. The Sikh Gurus
have taken considerable pains to emphasize the point that
the bani (the holy scripture) and not the body (the personal
guru) is the Guru.3 Theologically, Guru Nanak had always
made a distinction between himself, and the Lord as God’s
bard, conveying the message entrusted to him. The declaration,
‘I spoke only when you, O God, inspired me to speak4,
is characteristic of his view of himself as God’s
messenger. There is no reason to believe that his successors
differed from him in this view.5 It must always be remembered
that the Guru of whom Guru Nanak spoke is God, self-manifested
in order to reveal Himself, so that by His Grace man may
reach the realm of Truth which is his destiny. The words
‘Gur prasadi’ in the Mool Mantra must be regarded
as testimony to this belief.6 This statement is crucial
to an understanding of the concept of Guru.7
The testimony of God as Guru which began with Guru Nanak
is reaffirmed by his successor Gurus.8 However, to give
this institution greater permanence and prevent future alterations,
Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs, refused
to appoint any human successor and bade the Sikhs to consider
the Granth as their Guru.9
Before his demise at Nanded in Deccan in A.D. 1708, Guru
Gobind Singh, terminated human succession to the office
of the Guru and established instead, the condominium of
the Granth, and the Panth, which since then is recited at
the conclusion of every congregational prayer, every morning
and evening, and on all occasions of public worship by the
Sikhs:
The Order of the Khalsa was established as the command of
the Timeless (Almighty); This is now the commandment for
all the Sikhs : Accept the Granth as the Guru; know Guru
Granth as the visible body of the Guru. He who hath a properly
trained mind, shall find confirmation thereof in the contents
of the Sabad (the Holy Book) itself.10
Since
then, the Sikh community has recognised no human successor
to Guruship, they consider Khalsa Panth and Guru Granth
to be a twin institution, in whom rests the joint sovereignty
of the Sikh world.11
Henceforth, the identity of the Guru has been incorporated
in the doctrines of Guru Granth and the Khalsa was to provide
leadership to the community (Panth), not in supersession
of the previous Gurus, but as an authority to work in their
names. It was invariably to guide itself by the teachings
of the Gurus as found in the Holy Granth. For the Sikhs,
this double aspect of Guruship solved the most serious problem
of accepting authority of prophet as absolute and final
for all times.
Guru
Granth
Sri Guru Granth Sahib is deemed as the Visible Body of the
Guru by the Sikhs. What is the meaning of the declaration
that the Granth is the Guru?
The pronouncement of Guru Gobind Singh was not any new innovation
in the Sikh doctrine. The seed idea of the doctrine of Guru
Granth is clearly discernible in the bani of the Granth
itself. It is repeatedly stressed in various hymns that:
The ‘Revelation is the Guru and the Guru is Revelation’,
and that ‘whosoever shall accept the Revelation of
the Guru shall behold the Guru himself. 12
It is the injunction of the Granth that the Sikhs are bidden
to ‘accept the Revelation of Guru as true for ever,
for it is the Revelation of God that maketh the Guru to
utter it.13 Further, it is ordained that, ‘the Revelation
of the Guru is the Light of the World, through it God’s
Grace descendeth into human soul.’14 The message of
the Holy Granth is that the Guru’s word abideth with
soul as the water drowneth it not, and the fire consumeth
it not’.l5 Again it is stressed that as ‘the
Guru’s revelation pervadeth in the world, it redeemeth
man through the Name of God.16
The direction in which the idea of Guruship evolved is implicit
in the bani of the Sikh Gurus. According to Guru Nanak the
Guru is one who had first realised the Lord and his Word.17
The Divine Message had to go to the world through the Guru
for the emancipation of mankind.18 The true Guru must be
the guide for conveying the Lord’s message as given
to him in the truest form.19
According to Guru Amar Das :
There is Guru, through whom the True Word had come, ponder
always on the True Word of the Guru for guidance in life.20
After explaining the Guru’s Revelation, the Holy Granth
identifies with the Sabad (or the Word of the Guru) that
comes through human agency : the Guru. The term Sabad literally
means the Word and was intended to represent God’s
Command :
The Sabad in the sense of eternal and self-existent sound,
conceived as the eternal Veda, is an old Indian notion,
rather an Ancient Aryan notion, for it is found in Zoroastrianism
where the Menthra Spenta, the holy Word, is said to be the
soul of God.21
The Sri Guru Granth Sahib identifies Sabad with Divine Wisdom
which forms itself as God’s Light in the conscience
of man. It avers that Sabad is the essence of things by
understanding which man comprehends truth and thus becomes
one with Truth.22
The Sabad is dormant in the heart of every human being and
it can be made manifest through the discipline of self-control
and spiritual orientation.23 The mortal human body is not
to be deemed as the Guru; it is the Light within, that is
the Guru. It is the Sabad that is the Guru and the guide.
The absence of it results in spiritual confusion.24 This
Sabad is not variegated, it is one, for God is One and all
that there is, proceeds from God.25 The search and discernment
of this Sabad is an effort worth making for man in this
world, all else is waste and weariness.26
It was made clear by Guru Hargobind that the Immortal frame
of the Guru had no peculiar entity and the Sabad as revealed
by the Guru, is the only authentic portrait of the Guru.27
1t is inferred from the above narration that Guru’s
revelation is recorded in Sri Guru Granth as Sabad or Testament.
According to Sikh doctrine this testament is the Guru. The
same principle was followed by Guru Gobind Singh when he
established the condominium of the Guru Panth and the Guru
Granth. Instead of appointing an individual Successor to
himself, he appointed the collective Order of the Khalsa
and formally recognised the status of the Granth, which
was to be conceded as the Guru Granth.28 This status of
Guru Granth or bani had remained unaffected throughout29,
only the temporal direction of human affairs was given a
collectively religious basis by Guru Gobind Singh.
This was the process by which the Granth has been institutionalised
as the Guru Granth. The basic idea of the peculiar institution
of Guruship of the Sikhs has remained unchanged. The Granth,
stands for two things; revelation of Truth through the Word,
and the interpretation and practice of the Truth through
the personal lives of the Gurus. The truth as revealed in
the Sabad, incorporates fundamental Truths, that is, belief
in the Oneness of God and approach to him through the love
of His naam and service (sewa). As truth never gets old,
so the Guru in Sikhism is never, relegated to the past.
He is ever new and whole.30 He is for ever alive in the
collective personality of the Sikhs working with a sense
of the presence of the Guru in them. That is why for the
Sikhs, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, does not belong
to the sixteenth century, but is a dynamic personality guiding
them personally; through the organisation of the Panth.
The initiation ceremony, Amrit, the Khande de Pahul introduced
by Guru Gobind, was made the basis of this reorganisation.
It is evident from the above analysis that the doctrine
laid down in the Guru Granth by the earlier Sikh Gurus31,
was reiterated by Guru Gobind Singh, when he hailed the
Granth as the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
The Sri Guru Granth Sahib contains perennial philosophy,
uncontaminated by temporal and secular considerations. It
is not a code of ethical or social organisation like semitic
scriptures, though it strictly postulates a social context
for practice of religion and enjoins a strict ethical conduct.
It is not sectarian, and lays down no metaphysical propositions
in support of the practices of a religion. It has a universal
import. It is the perceivable record of the Transcendental
Wisdom. Sri Guru Granth Sahib is a divinity, not a deity,
though extreme reverence is shown to it by the Sikhs. It
is regarded as the visible body of the True Guru and is
symbolic of the Sikh doctrine of sovereignty both temporal
and spiritual.
It is on account of their (Sikhs) reverence for Sri Guru
Granth Sahib that Sikhism has maintained its integrity despite
observances resulting from popular piety and the fact that
for most of the time it has retained its separate religio-cultural
entity in a society dominated by Hinduism.
If there is any way in which Sikhism may be described as
unique, it is in its elevation of a holy book to the status
of Guruship. Guru Gobind Singh's reason for elevating the
Adi Granth to the status of Guru must be linked with his
creation of the Khalsa in 1699. But the more immediate reason
may probably be found in the awareness of the Guru that
the circumstances of his time required some radical change
in the mode of Sikh leadership. Politically and socially
this took the form of the Khalsa Panth which was invested
with the temporal authority (miri), and the spiritual authority
(piri) remained with the gurbani, the scripture Granth.
Closing of Personal Guruship and the Succession of the Sri
Guru Granth Sahib:
The fact that Guru Gobind Singh, Tenth and the last Guru
of the Sikhs, died at Nanded in Deccan, now in Maharashtra,
on October 6-7, 1708, has been substantiated by contemporary
and semi-contemporary sources. It has also been authenticated
beyond doubt that Guru Gobind Singh did not appoint any
of his followers to succeed him as the Guru and that he
had commanded his followers to look upon the Holy Scripture,
the Granth Sahib as their Guru, thenceforth known as Sri
Guru Granth Sahib.32 During his life time, Guru Gobind Singh
had created the distinctive Order of the Khalsa, with uncommon
form and the articles of faith and helped to impart them
a distinct identity. Toward, the end of his life, the Guru
had to face extremely, adverse circumstances. But he knew
no despondency and did not give way to frustration. He had
lost all of his four sons, mother and a large number of
devoted followers. He left Punjab and spent his last days
in the Deccan.
At the creation of the Khalsa on the Baisakhi day of 1699,
Guru Gobind Singh had not only presented himself to be formally
initiated into the fraternity of the Khalsa but had also
submitted himself to the discipline which had been prescribed
by him for the new order of the Khalsa. This virtually meant
the surrender of the office of Guruship to the will of the
Khalsa and its merger into the body politic of the new order.
This was re-affirmed by the message he delivered to his
followers from his death bed. This fact is affirmed by the
testimony of Sainapat, who was not only a contemporary of
the Guru but was also one of his darbari kavis (court poets)
at Anandpur Sahib.33 His work Gursobha, composed in A.D.
1711, within three years of the Guru’s death, records:
A day before his death, the Singhs asked the Guru about
the form he was adopting (or the person whom he was nominating
to succeed him). In reply he said that the Khalsa was his
very self and that to them he had granted his robe-his physical
self, and that the Eternal and the Limitless Word uttered
with the Lord’s Light is the Supreme Master.34
Sainapat, thus tells us that a day before the event the
Guru had said that he had bestowed his physical form upon
the Khalsa35 and that the limitless and Eternal Word was
Satguru.36 This was Guru Gobind Singh’s last message
and his final commandment saying in unmistakable language
and clear words that he was not appointing any particular
individual as the succeeding Guru and that the Khalsa under
the guidance of the Divine Word – the Gurbani –
was to be the future physical and spiritual representative
of the Guru. This has since become the accepted creed of
the Sikhs.
The account of Sainapat is supported by Bhai Nand Lal, a
devoted disciple, who was present at Nanded at the time
of the Guru’s death. He tells us in his Rehatnama
that the Guru told him that his one form is the formless
Supreme Spirit and the other Granth Ji – Guru Sabad,
the Word of the great Gurus incorporated in the holy Granth
Sahib. ‘Have no doubt about it, he said, ‘the
visible form is the Sikhs, the Khalsa should remain absorbed
in the Gurbani day and night’.37
Bhai Prahlad Singh, another associate of Guru Gobind Singh
also corroborates the above mentioned Guru’s commandment
in his Rehatnama as following :
With the order of the Eternal Lord has been established
the Panth.
All the Sikhs are hereby commanded to obey the Granth as
the Guru.38
Similarly Bhai Chaupa Singh, another associate of Guru Gobind
Singh, had also mentioned this commandment in his Rehatnama.39
It is evident from the above mentioned contemporary evidence
that Guru Gobind Singh abolished for all time to come the
nomination of anyone person as the Guru of the Sikhs. After
him the Khalsa, with Sri Guru Granth Sahib as their eternal
Guru, became the Guru Panth. With this the personal line
of Guruship came to an end. This historical fact has been
rejected by McLeod. But there is abundant contemporary and
near - contemporary evidence available for the comparative
study of different versions of the events, for sifting fact
from fiction and for authenticating the tradition recorded
in the Sikh sources regarding the abolition of the personal
Guruship and the succession of Sri Guru Granth Sahib as
the living Guru of the Sikhs.
Koer Singh, the author of Gurbilas Patshahi 10 (composed
in A.D. 1751-1762) has not only supplied more details of
this historical event, but has also provided clarity to
the tradition. The author has accounted Granth as the Guru
Granth40 and reminds one of the Guru’s commandment
to the Sikhs to regard Guru Granrh as Divinity.41 He tells
us in explicit terms that Guru Gobind Singh discontinued
the line of personal Guruship and did not appoint anyone
to succeed him as the Guru. In fact, he had surrendered
his personality to the Khalsa when he had become one of
them at the baptismal ceremony. He publicly declared this
merger on many occasions afterwards, and especially at a
time before his death at Nanded. Koer Singh also narrates
at length the formal installation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib
as the Guru.42 The author records that the Guru addressed
his Sikhs before his demise and instructed them that there
would be no successor to him, the Sarbat Sangat and the
Khalsa should deem Sri Guru Granth Sahib as Supreme. Koer
Singh further states that with five paise and a coconut
in his hand the Guru paid homage to the Holy Granth and
declared its succession as the Guru.43 Koer Singh had been
in close association with Bhai Mani Singh who was a contemporary
and a close associate of Guru Gobind Singh. Bhai Mani Singh
was the first person to act as the Granthi (reader of Holy
Granth Sahib) in the Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar after the
Guru’s death. Therefore, the information passed on
from Bhai Mani Singh to Koer Singh is believed to be fully
reliable.
Another work, which we may refer to here, is Bansavalinama
of Kesar Singh Chhibbar (completed in A.D. 1779). Kesar
Singh’s ancestors had been in the service of Guru
Gobind Singh as dewans. He claims to have seen and consulted
in his early days a behi (account book) of the house of
the Guru. The Tenth Chapter of Bansavalinama deals with
the life of Guru Gobind Singh. In stanzas 678-83, the author
mentions the demise of the Guru and his last commandment
in reply to the question of the Sikhs as following :
“The Granth is the guru; you hold the garment (seek
the protection) of the Timeless God”.44 Two hours
later Guru went to heaven; his light blended with Light.
The same night he was cremated after he had been bathed
in rose water.45
Further, the account of the demise of Guru Gobind Singh
as given in Mahima Parkash by
Sarup Dass Bhalla may be accepted as historical and objective.
This account was completed in A.D. 1830KK/ AD 1773. The
author was a descendant of Guru Amar Das, the third Guru
of the Sikhs. The account given in Mahima Parkash is objective
and without any poetic embellishments and supernatural elements.
Therefore, the evidence of this author can be accepted as
historically correct. According to Mahima Parkash, before
his demise. Guru Gobind Singh called his Sikhs to his presence
and said :
Our ten forms have come to an end. Now recognize the Guru
Granth Sahib in my place. He who wishes to talk to me should
read the Granth Sahib. I have entrusted you to the lap of
the Almighty.46
Then follows the account of the departure of Guru Gobind
Singh from this world. The author concludes the narration
by recording that the Guru’s body was then cremated
and the Sri Guru Granth Sahib was recognized in place of
the Guru.
This simple account of the demise of the Guru and the succession
of Sri Guru Granth Sahib agrees in all its essentials with
the contemporary and the later accounts.
Dr. Ganda Singh has referred to another reliable authority.
Munshi Sant Singh’s Bayan-ki-Khandan-i-Nishan-Bedian
(account of the Bedi family of the Una). According to it
when Guru Gobind Singh was about to pass away from this
mortal world at Nanded in the Deccan (Katik Sudi 5, 1765
Bikrami), all the Singhs and disciples asked him as to who
would be the future Guru. The Guru replied; ‘Guru
Khalsa, Khalsa Guru’. Then the Guru, with five paise
and a coconut in his hand, bowed before the Guru Granth
Sahib and said, ‘Ye all community should recognize
the Guru Granth Sahib as the Guru after me and obey the
commandments contained therein’. And then he uttered
the following couplet :
Recognize the Guru Granth as the visible body of the Guru.
By this statement the author of Bayan has reiterated the
last commandment of Guru Gobind Singh in the words of Bhai
Nand Lal who was present at Nanded at the time of the Guru’s
departure for heavenly abode.47 The other details are identical
to the tradition recorded in Gurbilas Patshahi 10 by Koer
Singh.
The tradition incorporated in the Sikh sources is also found
in historical works in Persian and English. The Persian
works are written both by Muslim and Hindu scholars belonging
to Punjab or its neighbourhood. As most of them had first-hand
knowledge of the tradition, beliefs, practices and ceremonies
of the Sikhs, they cannot be ignored by students of history.
The news of the demise of Guru Gobind Singh has been mentioned
in Royal Court News of the Mughals – Akhbarat-i-darbar-i-Mu‘alla
of October-November 1708 and the Bahadur Shah Nama.48
Contemporary Persian accounts of Mirza Muhammad Harsi’s
Ibrat Namah (1705-19 AD) and Sayyed Mohammad Qasim Hussain
Lahauri’s Ibrat Nama (1722 A.D.) and Ibrat Maqal (1731
AD) written within couple of years of the demise of Guru
Gobind Singh, respectively record the usual account of Guru’s
death at Nanded.49
Muhammad Ali Khan Ansari, the author of Tarikh-i-Mazaffari
(1810 A.D.) and Tarikh-i-Bahr-ul-Mawwaj, narrates the history
of the Mughals to the beginning of the region of Akbar Shah
II. These works deal extensively with the struggle of the
Sikhs against the Mughals and the Afghans. They are considered
to be important sources on the history of the Punjab during
the eighteenth century. Before the end of Guru Gobind Singh’s
account, Muhammad Ali Khan writes that:
After him (Guru Gobind Singh), according to the faith of
these people (the Sikhs), the descending of Guruship and
of internal spiritual line came to end and the book, the
Granth, was established in place of the Guru.50
Besides, Ahmad bin Muhammad Ali’s Mirat-ul-Ahwal-Jahan
Numa (A.D. 1810) also mentions:
The sons of Guru Gobind Singh had been killed in the battle
of Alamgir. After him there is no Khalifah (successor guru).51
The conventional version is also supported by Hindu authors
of Persian works. Rai Chatarman, the author of the Chahar
Gulshan Akhbar-un-Nawadir (also known as the Chahar Gulshan
or Khulasa-un-Nawadir) (compiled in A.D. 1759) writes in
this context that :
There are ten persons (to be recognized). These ten Khalifahs
(gurus) are called Das Mahal. Anyone else sitting on the
gaddi after them is not acceptable to them (the Sikhs).52
Harsukh Rai, the author of Maima-ul-Akhbar (A.D. 1799) says
about Guru Gobind Singh that :
He is the Tenth Mahal and is the last Zahur (successor)
of Guru Nanak.53
The traditional version accounted in Sikh and Persian sources
is also incorporated in European accounts. George Forster
has also referred to the Guru in his letter No. XI of 1783
in his A Journey from Bengal to England and says :
Govind died in 1708 at the town of Nanded without leaving
any male issue and a tradition delivered to the Sicques,
limiting their priests to the number of ten, inducing them
to appoint no successors to Govind Singh.54
Talking about the change in the inscription on the Sikh
coinage, Major James Browne (1787-88) has casually referred
to Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh as the first and the
last Gurus of the Sikhs and has indirectly given us confirmation
of the belief of the Sikhs.55
Indian historians of the nineteenth century who compiled
their accounts at the instance of Europeans are supposed
to have recorded correct and reliable information because
their purpose was to make the English rulers acquainted
with the Sikhs with whom they (English) expected to come
in close political contact in the future.
Khushwaqt Rai’s Tarikh-i-Sikhan, also called the Kitab-i-Tawarikh-i-Punjab
(written in A.D. 1811) says that Guru Gobind Singh passed
away at Abchal Nagar, Nanded :
This event, that is his death, took place on Kartik Sudi
5, 1765 Bikrami. The generation (of Gurus) of Guru Nanak
up to Guru Gobind Singh came to end.
Ahmad Shah Batalia, author of Tawarikh-i-Hind : Bayan-i-Ahwal-i-Mulk-Hind
wa-Maluk-i-an-az-Zaman-qadim-ta (1233 Hijri) has devoted
a part of his account to the Sikhs. The section Zikar-i-Guruwan
wa ibtida-i-Singhan wa Mazhab-e-eshan, forms an appendix
to Daftar I and II of the Umdat-ut-Twarikh by Munshi Sohan
Lal Suri (the court historian of Maharaja Ranjit Singh).
Ahmad Shah Batalia writes that Guru Gobind Singh, who had
accompanied Emperor Bahadur Shah to the Deccan, died at
Nanded in 1755 Bikrami (A.D. 1708) and this place was known
as Abchal Nagar. Some Sikhs lived there. The Nizam of Hyderabad
had fixed a daily allowance for them. Maharaja Ranjit Singh
also made big donations for the upkeep of the sanctuary
and the maintenance of its custodians.57
Sohan Lal Suri tells us that during the last moments of
Guru Gobind Singh’s life a disciple of his asked him
to whom he had appointed as Guru after him. Thereupon the
Guru replied that:
The Guru is Granth Ji. There is no difference between the
Granth and the Guru: From the darshna of Granth
Ji one shall have the happy darshan of the Guru Sahib.58
This version is also confirmed by the Muslim historian of
the nineteenth century. Ghulam Muhy-ud-Din alias Bute Shah
in his Tawarik-i-Punjab (1848)59 and Mufti-Ali-Din in his
Ibrat Namah (1854)60 have both recorded the demise of Guru
Gobind Singh as a historical fact. Bute Shah in his abridged
recension of the Tawarik-i-Punjab (preserved in the Punjab
Public Library, Lahore) has followed Lala Sohan Lal’s
Umdat-ul-Tawarikh in recording the last commandment of the
Guru regarding the Granth being the Guru after his death
and that ‘there is no difference between the Guru
and the Granth.61
Kanhaiya Lal Hindi’ s Zafar Namah-i-Ranjit Singh is
another study. He writes, Guru Gobind Singh died at Abchal
Nagar in 1765 and that no one (of his disciples) succeeded
him to the gaddi (Guruship). With him ended the gaddi of
leadership (masand-i-sanwari) and with him came to end the
custom of the succession of Gurus (Shewa-i-rehbari).
All the European historians of the nineteenth century like
John Malcolm, W.G. Osborne, W.L. M’Gregor, Joseph
David Cunningham and others who have written on the Sikhs
have accepted the above version regarding the demise of
Guru Gobind Singh, abolition of the personal Guruship and
the succession of Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the Guru of the
Sikhs.
Even Ernest Trumpp, whose observations are very negative
on various aspects of the religious literature of the Sikhs,
has adopted this tradition. In this context, he writes that
.at the time of his demise. Guru Gobind Singh told his followers:
I have entrusted the whole society (of the disciples) to
the Timeless. After me you shall everywhere mind the Book
of the Granth Sahib as your Guru. Whatever you shall ask,
it will show to you. Whosoever be my disciple, he shall
consider the Granth as the form of the Guru. Having uttered
these verses he closed his eyes and expired (A.D. 1708).63
Muslim historians of the nineteenth century have also accepted
this version. Syed Muhammed Latif, author of the History
of the Punjab also records that some time before the death
of Guru Gobind Singh when Sikhs asked him as to who would
be the Guru after him, while breathing his last the Guru
replied:
I entrust my Khalsa to the Divine Being... The Granth shall
support you under all your troubles and adversities in this
world, and a sure guide to you hereafter. The Guru shall
dwell with the society of disciples. the Khalsa, and wherever
there shall be five Sikhs gathered together, there shall
the Guru be also present. The Guru also ordered them that:
they must have belief in One God and look on the Granth
as His inspired law... He then closed his eyes and began
to pray, and expired in the performance of his devotion.64
Conclusions
It is concluded from the above analytical study of the various
historical sources at our disposal that:
i. The institution of Guruship of the Sikhs follows a planned
process and a theological concept fundamental to Sikhism
from the times of Guru Nanak.
ii. Guru Gobind Singh did not appoint any mortal successor
to succeed him as Guru.
iii. The Tenth Guru had invested. the Guru Granth with Guruship,
and commanded the Sikhs to accept it as their future Guru
iv. The closing of personal Guruship and the Succesion of
Guru Granth Sahib was not an innovation, but only a reiteration
of the doctrine of Guruship as revealed in Sri Guru Granth
Sahib.
v. The announcement of the doctrine of Sri Guru Granth Sahib
as perpetual authority became the integral focus of the
psyche of the Sikh community. The installation of the Holy
Scripture as the Guru was a most significant development
in the history of the Sikh community. The Sikh were ordained
to live their religion in response to the doctrines enshired
in the Adi Granth (Sri Guru Granth Sahib) and observe their
faith accordingly. This pronouncement of Guru Gobind Singh
shaped the intellectual and cultural environment of the
Sikhs and determined the guarantee of the community’s
integration and permanence in the course of its history.
This article aims to explore W.H. McLeod’s thesis,
put forward in his Evolution of the Sikh Community65 whereby
he rejects the tradition of vesting the authority of Guruship
to the Holy Scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib by the tenth
Guru, Gobind Singh. McLeod has supported his view on the
authority of J S Grewal.66 According to McLeod:
The tradition which conferred his (Guru Gobind Singh’s)
personal authority upon the sacred scripture and the corporate
Panth may perhaps be a retrospective interpretation, a tradition
which owes its origin not to an actual pronouncement of
the Guru but to an insistent need for maintaining the Panth’s
cohesion during the later period.67
McLeod asserts his conclusion in no less emphatic terms
by suggesting that:
The slate must be wiped clean and must not be reinforced
until we have ascertained just what did take place during
the eighteenth century.68
McLeod’s conjectures seek to cloud the historical
interpretation of the events related to the religious history
of the Sikhs. In fact, McLeod is primarily interested in
the political history of the Sikhs and the role played by
the Jat community therein. In order to consolidate his so
called Jat thesis, McLeod concentrates on the development
of the events in the history of the Sikh community in the
eighteenth century and tries to coordinate historical development
with the motivation of the Jat leadership emerging out of
political exigencies. However, he totally ignores the legacy
and the heritage of the Guru period. It seems, McLeod is
neither familiar with the social process of the evolution
of Sikhism, nor of the nature of Sikh ethos. Besides, McLeod
has not brought any historical evidence to substantiate
his thesis for rejecting the succession of Sri Guru Granth
Sahib as declared by Guru Gobind Singh. On the other hand,
we find solid evidence encompassed in the doctrine of Guruship
·as revealed in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, later reiterated
by Guru Gobind Singh when he hailed the Granth as the Guru.
Besides, it has also been authenticated by contemporary
and near contemporary sources, documents and records that
Guru Gobind Singh did not appoint any person to succeed
him as Guru. and that he had invested Sri Guru Granth Sahib
with Guruship and had commanded the Sikhs to accept it as
their Guru.
~~~
References
1. W. Owen Cole, The Guru in Sikhism, London, 1982, pp.
37-38.
2. Ganda Singh, pages 183-210 and Harbans Singh, pages 211-227
in Perspectives on Sikh Tradition, Edited by Gurdev Singh,
Pub. Academy of Sikh Religion and Culture, Patiala, 1986.
See also Ganda Singh, Guru Gobind Singh’s Death at
Nanded, An Examination of Succession Theories, Pub. by Guru
Nanak Foundation, Bhatinda District, Faridkot, 1972.
3. Taran Singh, The Nature of Guruship in the Guru Granth
in the Nature of Guruship (ed. Clarence O. McMullen), ISPCK,
1976, pp. 27-8.
4. qw mY kihAw khxu jw quJY khwieAw ], Sri Guru Granth Sahib,
pr. 566.
5. W. Owen Cole, The Guru in Sikhism, p 55.
6. Ibid., p 73.
7. There are explicit statements in the bani of Guru Nanak
which indicate that God is the Guru. See Guru Granth Sahib,
p. 1226.
8 Ibid., p. 307, 308, 317.
9. See Part IV of this chapter.
10. nkfrnk GJh nekb eh sp? ubk:' gzE
.. ;G f;ZyB e' fj[ew j? r[o{ wkBhT[ rqzE ..
r[o{ rqzE ih wkBhT[ gqrN r[oK eh d/fj .. ik ek fjodk ;[X
j? y'i ;pd w? b/j[ ..
11. The Guru Granth is installed in the Sikh places of worship.
It is symbolic of the visible body of the Guru. All the
ceremonial paraphernalia associated with the keeping, opening
and closing of the Holy Book represent manifestation of
royalty and sovereignty, both temporal and spiritual.
12. bwxI gurU gurU
hY bwxI ivic bwxI AMimRqu swry ]
guru bwxI khY syvku
jnu mwnY prqiK gurU insqwry ]Nat
Asht padian, M4, Sri Gunl Granth Sahib, p. 982.
13. siqgur kI bwxI
siq siq kir jwxhu gurisKhu hir krqw Awip muhhu kFwey ].
Gauri Ki var, M4 Ibid., p. 308.
14. gurbwxI iesu
jg mih cwnxu krim vsY min Awey ] Sri Rag, M5,
Ibid., p. 67.
15. gur kw bcnu bsY
jIA nwly ] jil nhI fUbY qskru nhI lyvY Bwih n swkY jwly
] Rag Dhanasari, M5, Ibid., p. 679.
16. gurbwxI vrqI
jg AMqir iesu bwxI qy hir nwmu pwiedw ] Rag Mant,
M3, Ibid. p. 1066.
17. gur mih Awpu
smoie sbdu vrqwieAw ] Var Malar Ki, M 1, Ibid. p.
1279.
18. siqgur ivic Awpu
riKEnu kir prgtu AwiK suxwieAw ] Rag Asa, Slok, M
1, Ibid. p. 466.
19. jYsI mY AwvY
Ksm kI bwxI qYsVw krI igAwnu vy lwlo ]Rag Tilang.
MI, Ibid. p. 722.
20. iekw bwxI ieku guru sbdu vIcwir ] Rag Sorath, M3. Ibid.
p. 646.
21. Kapur Singh, Paras’arapras’na, (Baisakhi
of Guru Gobind Singh). Revised edition (eds. Piar Singh
and Madanjit Kaur), Guru Nanak Dev University. Amritsar,
I 989, p. 172.
22. Sri Guru Granth Sahib, p. 1353.
23. Ibid., pp. 8 and 1264.
24. sbdu gur pIrw
gihr gMBIrw ibnu sbdY jgu baurwnµ ]Rag Sorath,
MI, Ibid. p. 635
25. eyko sbdu eyko
pRBu vrqY sB eyksu qy auqpiq clY ] Rag Prabhati,
M3, Ibid. p. 1334.
26. iesu jg mih sbdu
krxI hY swru ] ibnu sbdY horu mohu gubwru ]Rag Prabhati
Ashrpadian, M 1, Ibid. p. 1342.
27. gurU mUriq gur
sbdu hY ... Bhai Gurdas, Varan Bhai Gurdas, eds.
Bhai Vir Singh, Khalsa Samachar Amritsar, 1972, Var 24;
II, p. 396
28. Kapur Singh, op. cit., p. 177.
29. The Sikh tradition considers the Holy Granth, as the
real corpus of the Transcendental Wisdom. And in this Sikh
tradition follows the Buddhist principle of the identity
of the Buddha’s word with the essence of Buddha.
30. Teja Singh. Sikhism, Its Ideals and Institutions. Khalsa
Brothers Amritsar, 1970, p. 26.
31. vwhu vwhu bwxI
inrMkwr hY iqsu jyvfu Avru n koie ] Gujari Ki Var’,
M3, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, p, 515.
32. Ganda Singh, ‘Guru Gobind Singh Designates Guru
Granth Sahib to be the Guru’ in Perspective on the
Sikh Tradition (ed. Gurdev Singh) p. 183,
33. Sainapat, Gursobha (ed. Ganda Singh), Punjabi University,
Patiala. 1967, Ch. XVIII, 40-44, 85-89, pp. 128-129.
34. Ibid.
35. õkb;k nkB' o{g psk:' ..
ykb; jh ;' j? ww ekwk .. põ; fe:' ykb; e' ikwk ..
Gursobha, Ch. XVIII, 41, p. 170. ;'
õkb; ;fsr[o{ jwkok .. ;fsr[o{ jwkok, ngo ngkok, ;pd
fpukok nio ioz .. Ibid.
36. Ibid., p 43
37. ;pd gVBk ôpd ;[DBk . ôpd ewktDk ;pd/ pkMj[
Bkjh EkT[ ..
pkDh r[o{ r[o{ j? pkDh ftfu pkDh nzfwqs ;ko/ .. r[opkDh
ej? ;/te iB[ wkB?, gqsfy r[o{ fB;sko/ ..
Bhai Nand Lal, "Sakhi Rehat Patshahi 10, Gur Khalsa
de Rehatname, ed. Shamsher Singh Ashok, Sikh History Research
Board, Amritsar, 1979, p. 51 (unpublished)
38. nekb g[oy e/ puB f;T[ gqrN ubkfJT[
gzE ..
;G f;yB eT[ j[ew :j, r[o{ wkfBU rqzfE ..
Bhai Parhlad Singh, Rehatnama Bhai Prahlad Singh ka, op.cit.,
p. 58.
39. Ibid., p. 1. Bhai Nand Lal affirms:
i' f;Zy r[o{ do;B eh ukfj . do;B eo/
rqzE ih nkfj ..
w/ok o{g rqzE ih ikD/ . fJ; w/A G/d BjhA e[M wkB/ ..
Bhai Nand Lal Granthavali, Rehitnama, Sri Guru Vach,p 192
40. fdi? dkB G{y/, bj' ikfJ g:ko' .
fdtkBz brkt?, ;[B/ ;pd ;ko/ ..
r[o{ rqzE ikB' ;dk nzr ;zrz . ;[B' rkE g[okB eh uhs ozrz
..
ijK Xow;kbk sjK Bhs i?:? . r[o{ do; ehi? wjK ;{y g?:? ..
Koer Singh, Gurbilas Patshahi 10 (Ed. Shamsher Singh Ashok),
Punjabi Unviersity, Patiala, 1968, CH. IV, p. 130.
41. sK s/ i' w[j f;y ;[ikBk . wkB/
r[o{ rqzE GrtkBk .. Ibid., CH XXI, p. 283.
42. r[onkJh ek Bfj np ekb . fsbe B
d/tfjr/ fe; Gkb ..
;op ;[ ;zrfs ykb; wkB . ;qh nf;e/s[ r'd w? ikB ..
bV geVkfJ ;pd ek o{g . i' wkB' ;' f;zx nB[g ..
do;B r[o ek j? ;tXkB . ;qh rqzE ;kfjp wkB .. Ibid.,
p 284
43. sp g[fB nkg T[m/ ;G ;zrk . g?;/
gKu BbhJ/o ;[ nzrk ..
b? e/ skfj ngo eh pzdB . gqdZyB eos/ wB ozrB ..
ejk, i'fJ pu ehBk ukj/ . gkm eo? r[o e' ;[y gkJ/ ..
:k ;w n"o e'Jh r[o Bkjh . fpBk ekB ;u[ pke GBkjh ..
:Zdfg oki? e? j'fJ gk; . sdfg B ukj? wkBs sk; ..
Ibid
44. puB[ ehsk rqzE j? r[o{ bV geV'
nekb .. r[o{ j? ykb;k, ykb;k j? r[o{ .. ... nkfrnk rqzE
;kfjp dh eoBh ;pd dh y'iBk .. Kesar Singh Chhibbar,
Bansavali-nama Dasam Patshahi Ka (ed. R.S. Jaggi) Pub. in
Parakh, Research Bulletin of Punjabi Language and Literature,
Punjab University, Chandigarh, Vol II, 1972, Ch. 10, Stanzas
679 and 680, p. 163-34.
45. Ibid., Stanza 682, p 164
46. ;fsr[o dhB fdnkb puB ehsk . i'
d; ;o{g jwko/ g{oB GJ/ . np w/oh ikjr r[o{ frqzoE ;kfjp
e' ikBBk .. Sarup Dass Bhalla, Mahima Prakash, Vol.
II, Ch. ‘Sakhian Patshahi Das, Sakhi 27, pp. 891-93.
47. Ganda Singh, op. cit., in Perspective on the Sikh Tradition,
pp. 198-199.
48. William Irvine, Later Mughals, Calcutta, 1992, Vol.
I, p. 90, also Ganda Singh op. cit., in Perspective on the
Sikh Tradition, pp. 189.
49. Ganda Singh, op. cit., in Perspective on the Sikh Tradition,
pp. 200-201.
50. Tarikh-i-Muzaffeari, p. 152, also Bahrul-Mawwaj, p.
208.
51. As quoted by Ganda Singh, op. cit., pp. 201.
52. Rai Chatarman, Chahar Gulshan Akhbar-un-Nawadar, pp.
35-36 as quoted by Ganda Singh, op. cit., in Perspective
on the Sikh Tradition, pp. 201.
53. Har Sukh Rai, Maima-ul-Akhbar, p. 481 as quoted by Ganda
Singh, op. cit., in Perspective on the Sikh Tradition, pp.
201.
54. George Forster, A Journey From Bengal to England, London
1798, Vol. 1, p. 263
55. James Browne, History of the Origin and Progress of
the Sicks (India tracts), London, 1788, pp. VI, VIII.
56. Khushwaqt Rai, Tarikh-i-Sikhan, (MS, 1869 BK), pp. 366,
379.
57. Ahmad Shah Batalia, Tawarikh-i-Hind, (MS, 1233 AH),
Appendix p.11.
58. Undat-ut-Tawarikh. Arya Press, Lahore, 1885, Vol. 1,
pp. 64-65.
59. See Bute Shah, Tawarikh-i-Punjab, (MS, A.D. 1848), Vol.
1, p. 206.
60. See Ali-ud-Din, Ibrat Namah, (MS, AD 1845), Vol 1, p
178.
61. Bute Shah, Tawarikh-i-Punjab, (Abridged recension),
p. 62.
62. Kanhaiya Lal Hindi, Zafar Namah-i-Ranjit Singh. Lahore.
1876, p. 52.
63. Ernest Trumpp, The Adi Granth. (Eng. Tr.). London, 1877,
pp. XC vi.
64. Syad Muhammed Latif, History of the Punjab, Calcutta
1891, p 269.
65. W H McLeod, The Evolution of the Sikh Community, Oxford
University Press, Delhi. 1975.
66. J S Grewal, From Guru Nanak to Maharaja Ranjit Singh,
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar,. 1982, Ch. XIV, pp.
100-105
67. McLeod, op. cit., p 17.
68. McLeod, op. cit., p 16.
¤
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