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THE POETRY OF GURU TEGH BAHADUR
If poetry is in an important sense, a continual exercise in asceticism and self-sacrifice, then that brief body of verse which Guru Tegh Bahadur has bequeathed to us, and which we find enshrined in the Guru Granth is surely unique in purity and purpose even in the annals of religious poetry. For, outside of the poetry of his grandfather, Guru Arjan Dev, and of his son, Guru Gobind Singh, we know of few compositions that authenticate so soulfully and magnificently the paradox of poetry and life, or of poetry in life. Surely the meaning of his martyrdom is as much to be found in the events of the day that propelled his agonised psyche, brimful of compassion. as in those hymns and couplets which become one long lament over the creature folly of man lost in dreams of pelf. Power and pride. Undoubtedly, we have here a rare example of the coalescence of verse. vision and life. One is. indeed. tempted to suggest a poetics of sacrifice.
It may again be pertinent to point out that the manner in which the apostolate came to Guru Tegh Bahadur reveals a pondered and studied life-style. Not till he had been located and proclaimed Guru did he elect to walk out of that willed obscurity which provided the key to his vision of life. No wonder, his verse is but an effortless testimony to the energies that lit up that vision. When the moment of assumption arrived. he was ready for the great ministry. The song became celestial as it reached out after the essences earned in silence and prayer. That’s, why, there is a certain unmistakable quality of pathos and rigour about it. It’s as though Guru Tegh Bahadur has been vouchsafed an epiphany that warranted heights of visionary heroism.
This poetry-59 hymns and 57 slokas or couplets – then, is a sustained elegy of a kind, mouring in different musical measures, the state or condition of man bound on ‘the wheel of fire’. A moving lyric and elegiac tone is superbly maintained in song after song with equal felicity of image and metaphor. Indeed, a relentless dialectic of life and death is set up so that even the common listener or reader is forced to face the chaos and horror of existence divorced from God. Within this dialectic, the themes of the transience of life and the ineluctability of death on the one hand, and of the uniqueness of man’s estate in the order of creation and the Grace of God on the other, are worked out without respite. It is marvellous indeed how the divine maestro plays upon these motifs in endless variations. The incremental strain in the end becomes a symphony of suffering.
Guru Tegh Bahadur’s preoccupation with the theme of impermanence and mortality in his verse shows no sorrow over the short sojourn of man in this world. The keen edge of grief and the abiding nostalgia which we generally find in lyrics of this nature do not form part of his vision. On the contrary, the anguish here stems from the thought of separation from the Lord. The annulment of this state is sought with a view to achieving the desired consummation. No wonder, the world is seen as an insubstantial pageant, and life as an ebbing dream. This idea is so deeply ingrained as to suggest a settled disregard for the beauties and allurements of life. The metaphors of shadow, cloud, smoke, sand, spume, bubble and mirage etc. continually present human existence as something unreal, illusory and deceptive. The irony of man’s existence or fate is never lost sight of.
My devotee friends.
Be hold’ such is this creation of God.’
Amidst the universal play of death
Man considers himself immortal.
Strange is this beyond words
Man gripped by lust, violence, attachment
Has put away from his mind the Divine Image.
And holds eternal this mortal frame.
Insubstantial as dream at night-time.
All that is visible is mortal as passing cloud-shadows,
Nanak, Servant of God has known this world to be insubstantial,
And for Divine protection prays.
(Hymn II in Gauri, Guru Granth Sahib, p. 219)
In another hymn in Telang raag man’s ignorance of his true state is stated thus:
“Each moment thy life flows off as out of broken pitcher. Ignorant fool! Why neglect devotion to the Lord?”
(Tilang Mahalla 9, Guru Granth Sahib, p. 726)
Inevitably, where life is regarded as maya or illusion, death assumes a central position in the scheme of things. However, it’s not seen as a ‘ravisher’ or as a ‘bridegroom’, but as an awesome ‘hangman’ waiting to cast his ‘noose’ round your neck. The dire and horrendous nature of that reality, calculated to jolt the sinful and slothful man into an awareness of his precarious purchase on life, is also brought home to us through terrifying animal imagery.
Behold Death, prowling around
Like a terrible beast of prey with fangs showing;
One day it must clutch at thee-have no doubt of it.
(Hymn I in Sorath, Guru Granth Sahib, p. 631)
The death motif in the Ninth Guru’s verse is pervasive to the extent, we begin to see life’s cease as the only reality in a world of shifting shadows and dreams. Obviously, this relentless and heavy accent on death reveals, at the same time a sense of equanimity in the contemplation of that frightful event. A settled serenity characterises Guru Tegh Bahadur’s attitude in this regard. He has conquered the fear of death, and later his martyrdom in the cause of dharma and truth may thus be seen as fore-shadowed in his verse. In other words, the deed vindicates the vision. “Ripeness is all”, to use Shakespeare’s memorable line. “The Nirvana principal” of Freud-”the effort to reduce, to keep constant or to remove internal tension due to stimuli” – may be extended to include the primal essence of nirvana as mukti or moksha or deliverance from the cycle of birth and death. Death, viewed thus, holds no terrors; it becomes the medium of that ultimate peace which all saints crave.
It will be misleading, of course, to conclude from what has been said above that Guru Tegh Bahadur viewed life as such with complete disregard or disdain. True, life’s blandishments do not attract him, and he is indifferent to its material satisfactions, but this is merely to say, he has again and again emphasized in his verse the power of sensual pleasures, wealth, position and authority etc., and he knows that the common man is destined to seek his salvation within such confines. What, therefore, matters is the cultivation of a sensibility which learns to view these “blessings” in the context of moral order and spiritual advancement. Indeed, life is even regarded as a “precious jewel”, a unique opportunity earned by us after aeons of dumb agony and darkness. To be born human amidst countless creatures that constitute the lower orders of life is to have already achieved distinction.
After wandering through various births for aeons,
At last hast thou attained the human incarnation.
Saith Nanak : This is thy occasion to find union with the Lord
Neglect devotion nowise!
(Hymn II in Sorath)
Thus, all life’s beauties are to be turned into a beautific vision, whereby the glories of heaven become the measure of our reach and grasp. To remain pitifully attached to them is, on the contrary, to invite perpetual dukha or suffering.
Such a view of life obviously subsumed the ubiquity of evil. In Guru Tegh Bahadur’s verse, there are few purely metaphysical assumptions in regard to this problem. That’s to say, evil in its primeval, atavistic form (as in Christian theology, for instance) does not quite appear here, though perhaps evil in man’s unconscious is by implication countenanced here and there. For the Guru, evil exists in all types of attachments whose purpose is animal pleasure. Even the wariest of ascetics is seldom free of taint.
In the sinful heart is lodged lust.
There from the mind irrepressible cannot be snatched back.
Yogi, wandering ascetic and recluse –
All are caught in its noose.
(Hymn II in Basant)
Evil, then, subtly invades all minds, for it’s lodged in unappeased desires and appetites. Its progeny include avarice, envy, passion, pride, violence egoism, slander etc. One in a million, says the Guru, is able to survive “the worldly poison”, and achieve transcendence.
The source of all suffering in Guru Tegh Bahadur’s view is the maverick mind of man, Restive and ungovernable, it is continually foraging for fresh fields of desire. Visions of lust and power and greed possess it, and thus, the sense of value and judgement is clouded. Its intractable nature is the subject of so many hymns and couplets that the style itself reflects the pre-occupation of the Guru with this theme. Mana re or Re mana i.e. “O my mind”. thus become the signature phrase that launches one poem after another.
My mind, what evil thoughts hast thou grasped?
Keeping absorbed in the pleasures of lust and slanders,
And neglected of devotion.
(Hymn III in Sorath, Guru Granth Sahib, p. 631)
Or
Mother mine, this mind is nowise in my power;
Running day and night after evil courses, how I restrain it?
Impervious to holy teaching.
Seeking other’s wealth,
Coveting their womenfolk.
Making waste of all this life.’
Madilened by heady liquor of world pelf
Blind to words of Divine wisdom –
Ignorant of the Immaculate Lord’s mystery,
Whose dwelling is in the heart.
(Hymn VII in Sorath, Guru Granth Sahib, p. 632)
Thus, the disciplining of the mind is considered. as in the poetry of Guru Nanak. something supreme and godlike. A person who is able to cultivate poise and stillness. and can hold “dust and gold”, or “joy and sorrow” or “friend and foe” alike merges into the Lord as “water into water”. However, in the end, deliverance comes as an act of Grace. No amount of knowledge. wisdom, wit or cunning is of any avail without it. This basic concept of Sikhism is given utterance in varying metaphors. In one of these, God is referred to as “the Ocean of Grace”.
Again, Guru Tegh Bahadur comes down heavily upon those who seek salvation through empty and ritualistic fasting and bathing, pilgrimage and prayer. These worldly ‘pieties’ in no way ensure a passage to eternity. So long as one’s heart is entangled in worldly pursuits and pleasures, there can be no complete annulment of pain and suffering. Only a realisation of the inner reality can lead one into realms of truth. But such a state is vouchsafed to only the elect few. Millions of householders pitifully cling to their worldly belonging even when age and decay have overtaken them. In a number of hymns and couplets, the Guru draws the erring mortal’s pointed attention to senescence and approaching death, and to the need for resipiscence or the recognition of one’s error.
When we turn from the theme and thought of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s verse to his language and idiom, imagery and metaphors, allusions and analogues, we are obliged to view his poetics in the context of the literary tradition of the times. The 17th century neoclassical style, which was the prevailing or dominant mode of expression in Northern India when Guru Tegh Bahadur assumed his apostolate in 1664 is appropriated with skill and ease. Unlike Guru Nanak and the other earlier Gurus who composed their verses in Punjabi and used Braji Hindi sparingly, the Ninth Guru employed chaste Braji throughout. However, it may he pointed out that his language which in the eastern districts of the Punjab assumed the form of neighbouring Punjabi dialects. Thus the bani of the earlier Gurus provides not merely thematic or doctrinal, but also, linguistic continuity, in a manner.
To begin with, his hymns are composed in various classical Indian ragas, and, as such, are musical in essence and structure. Not only that, they also reflect the meaning and spirit of these measures which between themselves cover almost the entire gamut of human emotions. Again, the rigour which characterises the Guru’s thought in certain hymns is aptly mirrored in striking and strong ropes, just as his humility and sweetness are seen in images of tenderness and compassion. For instance, the unregenerate sinner or the heedless hedonist immersed in sensuality is shown as “incorrigible as cur’s tail”, and as “a stone lying in water unsoaked.” Besides the canine image, almost always used in a pejorative sense, there are other animal images suggesting sloth, rankness, appetite, filth and grime etc in human nature when it is untouched by light. One such image is that of the hog (Sloka 44) ‘One whose heart is denuded of devotion to God-Saith Nanak: Little difference is he from the filthy hog or hound’. Similarly, images of death range from “Yama’s noose” and “a beast of prey with fangs” to one’s dear and near one shunning his ghost after life is departed. Guru Tegh Bahadur’s eschatology is obviously severe and unsparing.
Each hymn has a characteristic invocation style, and generally begins with Sadho or “Devotee friends”, Mai or “Mother, mine”, and Mana Re/Re Mana or “O my mind”. Such a form of invocation, though traditional in Bhakti poetry, gives the hymns nostalgic reverberations. Since these are all lyric outpourings of a soul in bliss, even the severest of them show a deep and abiding compassion. This is not a poetry born of tension and tumult, but of peace and poise. The element of longing for the Lord does give it a passionate intensity, but this intensity bespeaks ardour and devotion rather than conflict or torment.
Guru Tegh Bahadur’s use of classical myths. allusions and symbols in the established literary tradition of medieval poetry is calculated to aid understanding. The myth of the rescue of the Elephant from the Crocodile when it prayed to the Preserver, Lord Vishnu, and the stories of the redemption of the courtesan, Ganika, and of the sinner, Ajamal, were so common in Hindu religious lore that the common reader or Iistener toward whom these hymns were chiefly directed felt the full force of these moving hymns. Not only did these allusions ensure continuity and universality, the style also gained in compactness and density. However, there is no crowding or hurrying of images. The words and figures fall in their places as of right. To be sure, there are also common images of beauty and fulness as in the following hymn in Dhansari, though their appeal stems from the unusual and refreshing union of the rose and mirror images.
Why seekest Him thou in waste places?
The Lord all-pervading, eternally immaculte,
fills all thy being,
As does the fragrance the rose.
The reflection the mirror.
The Lord ever abides in us :
Seek Him inside the self
Know, inside ourselves and outside is He alone .
This truth the Preceptor has revealed.
Saith Nanak, Servant of God;
Without contemplating ourselves the filth
of illusion disappears not
(Dhanasri, M. 9, Guru Granth Sahib, p. 684)
It will be seen that the hymn characteristically ends with the name of Nanak, the First Sikh Guru, in whose name all the Gurus composed their poetry in succession. The hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur thus appear in the Guru Granth as verses of “the Ninth Bride of God.” Besides being a mystical mode of expression, it’s clearly an exercise in humility and self-effacement. The successive apostles were no poets in the ordinary sense of the word; they were inebriated saints who in denying their own identity reached supreme heights of poetic expression through the lyric ardour of their possessed imaginations.
Guru Tegh Bahadur’s poetry is restricted to a few dominant leitmotifs, and though slender in volume, burns fiercely like a flame. Its purity comes from a disciplined mind. The great sociological and political concerns of Guru Nanak’s poetry-poverty, injustice, exploitation, iniquity, war and plunder etc.-are apparently not encountered here in any overt form. Since the dominant note in his verse is Vairag or dispassion, it’s understandable that the affairs of the world left him somewhat untouched and uninvolved. Since his whole vision is other-worldly, and since life here is viewed more as dream, and man, as a handful of dust, the immediate problems of polity and society do not engage his attention. Which is, however, not to suggest that he distanced himself in the manner of a recluse. As one deeply agonized over the state of man, his humanist concern is seen time and again in a unique marriage of compassion and dispassion. The imagination of pity has also become the imagination of indignation.
Our last view of Guru Tegh Bahadur composing verses during his imprisonment in Delhi prior to his martyrdom in 1675 is something so sublime as to make us ponder the problem in awe. A noble and consecrated saint at utter peace with himself is contemplating his approaching death with a fortitude rare in human history. The 57 slokas or couplets, some of which were presumably composed in Aurangzeb’s prison-the concluding section of the Guru Granth – constitute a unique paean of exultation and transcendence. Nearly all the themes of his earlier hymns are repeated, but now the immediacy of death-a major theme in itself-gives these couplets a compelling urgency. The receding tableau of life flits past the Guru’s vision to disappear in the effulgence of the promised shores. From the bank of time on his side of eternity, a great soul is poised for the joyous leap. The concluding couplet affirms his triumphant and abiding faith in the immanence ofGod and in the imminence of his union with Him.
In this hour have I lodged the Name of God in my heart God’s
Name that is supreme over all.
Whose meditation annuuls all suffering
And favours the devotee with sight of the Divine Face.
(Sloka 57)
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