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Guru Nanak: Contemporary Concerns and Response
A Review by Dr Paramvir Singh*
Author: Dr Dharam Singh
Publisher: Singh Brothers, Amritsar
Pages: 256, Price: Rs 450/-
Edition: 2019
Guru Nanak, the new light on this earth, welded the entire mankind divided in the name of race, caste, colour, religion and geographical areas into one human fraternity and brought them to one God-centered common platform where everybody was deemed equal without any distinction. He preached the message of Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of mankind to eradicate the socio-religious differences among the masses. He endeavoured to create an egalitarian human society where everybody had respect and love for all others. The divine message of Guru Nanak attracted people belonging to different strata of society who joined him in search of Truth. The new way of life enunciated by Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh faith, was preached by his nine successors. The word of God, revealed to Guru Nanak, along with that of five of his descendants, 15 Bhagats, 11 Bhatts and 4 Gursikhs was compiled in a holy volume, now known as Guru Granth Sahib. The life, Bani and his divine personality is always the focus of interest and interpretation of laymen as well as the scholars. So far a number of tracts, research articles, books, thesis etc. have been produced by his devotees and scholars. The work is still continuing to delve deep into his ideology and to understand and relate his message to the contemporary social problems.
Professor Dharam Singh, a Sikh scholar and former Editor-in-Chief of The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, has produced the book under review as his tribute to the 550th birth anniversary of the Guru. In this book, he has tried to understand the Guru’s message and its response to some of the challenges which humanity facing these days. He has already produced a single-volume abridged version of The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism (4 vols) edited by Professor Harbans Singh and written several other books on different aspects of Sikhism such as Sikh Theology of Liberation, Dynamics of the Social Thought of Guru Gobind Singh, Guru Granth Sahib: Guru-Eternal for the Sikhs, Guru Arjan Dev, Sikhism and Religious Pluralism, Understanding Sikhism, The Khalsa, etc.
The present work, divided in five chapters, reflects the history, contemporary society, ideology and the Guru Nanak’s response to the problems of present society. Bhai Gurdas, a contemporary of Guru Amardas to Guru Hargobind, has described the society at the time of Guru Nanak as divided into different sections marked by the absence of mutual love, compassion and justice. God revealed the divine message to Guru Nanak and he took extensive tours to disseminate it at far-off places. The author stresses that the purpose of udasis (i.e. preaching odysseys) of the Guru was to redeem the degraded society, to efface the misery of the people, to liberate human beings divided into different castes and creeds and sects and classes and to instil into them a spirit of humanity and brotherhood.
Guru Nanak was an enlightened personality who realized the reason of miseries of the masses and wanted to undo them. He observed that the religion is at the centre of human life and it was being exploited by the priestly class for their personal motives. The role of priestly class was to lead humanity on the path of Truth and truthfulness but they tried to mislead the masses by entangling them in a set of rituals and superstitions, thus obstructing spiritual and moral progression of man. Instead of purity of mind, they focused on the ritualistic purity. They did their best to divorce religion from its social praxis so as to retain their elitist status in society assuring the innocent masses a better next life if they performed certain rituals and followed some superstitious beliefs. Guru Nanak observed the state of humanity and condemned the priestly class for not performing their duty honestly. The author highlights Guru Nanak’s role in restoring social praxis of religion and holds that Sikhism, if followed in its true spirit, can play a vital role today as well. He refers to the Singh Sabha Movement’s significant role when some well-meaning individuals in the community felt that many followers of the Guru were losing their distinct identity, and holds that the present situation demands another renaissance movement led by persons known for their personal piety rather than their political status.
The book contains a chapter on Guru Nanak’s views on religious plurality. According to the author, the Guru accepts and appreciates the plurality of religions, but his acceptance is critical because he is a strong critic of certain practices in religions which violate the fundamental values of religious freedom, to lead a life of self-respect, etc. He wants us to accept the others with their ‘otherness’ without putting our own faith in parenthesis. Discussing the tripolar typology of religions, he puts Guru Nanak’s religion in the pluralist category. Different religions of the world are taken as different manifestations of the Divine in different historical and cultural contexts. Since dialogue among different religions is at the base of religious pluralism, he calls Guru Nanak as the first spiritual leader to hold interfaith dialogue – dialogue with various holy persons at different places during his udasis and his ‘Sidh Gost’ is the best example of how interfaith dialogue should be held. He also makes a reference to the Guru Granth Sahib as a testimony of what a modern-day theologian says – ‘God’s voice speaks in many languages, communicating itself in a diversity of intuitions. The word of God never comes to an end. No word is God’s last word.’
The chapter ‘Concern for Eco-Human Welfare’ makes a comment on the Guru’s concern for the preservation of environment as well as for the well-being of the entire humanity. God of Guru Nanak’s perception is all-pervasive: He is present in all beings and all objects of nature as well. Loving His creation (including the beings and Nature) is the best way to express love for the Lord. No doubt, Sikhism calls human beings the supreme creation, but ‘this supremacy does not give him unrestricted freedom to exploit nature and animals. Man is obliged to work for their preservation and well-being as he is obliged to work philanthropically for the welfare of fellow human beings,’ he says. In regard to Guru Nanak’s response to human welfare, the author tries to look at Sikhism from the perspective of Liberation Theology and also discusses the Sikh concern of life which is reflected in the Sikh opposition to female infanticide, sati, etc.; he has tried to briefly discuss the issue in relation to euthanasia as well, etc. The triple formula of Guru Nanak - Nam Japna (reciting the name of God), Kirat Karni (honest means of earning) and Vand Chhakna (sharing of earning) inculcates in human heart several values, e.g. the followers imbibes awe of God, to do honest labour for earning becomes religious obligation and sharing with the needy is a two-dimensional value as it produces sense of detachment in the giver and relieves the suffering of the recipient. Orienting his life to the Guru’s Word, the devotee lives in tune with Nature, a vital force for a healthy and fruitful life.
Written in easy and comprehensible language, the book gives a fairly readable account of the milieu in which Guru Nanak was born, his life-story in brief, his concern to restore religion’s social praxis, his views on other religions and interfaith dialogue and his concern for a couple of bio-ethical issues including environmental preservation. The book should be a valuable addition to literature in the field of Sikh studies and will be of benefit to scholars and students and laymen interested in Sikh studies, especially the relevance of Sikh teachings in modern-day context.
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