Politics and Religion
in View of Miri-Piri Principle
Harbans Lal
In the twentieth century it seems that we have established peaceful revolution of democracy in most countries. In those societies where democracy has been established, people expect to experience the long awaited and well expected benefit of the democratic form of political rules. The benefits are conceived to be numerous. However, often the democratically elected officials fail to work for the well being of all, and the system begins to falter. This failure can lead to a disaster. Already concerned citizens in many countries are questioning the shortcomings of today’s democracy.
After a deep analysis of many factors underlying the decline of democracy, a major shortcoming is found. That is, the politicians have found a godless democracy to be more profitable to them than their moral responsibility to their electorates. As Abraham Lincoln said of America when he proclaimed a day of national prayer on March 30, 1863, “We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.” Many others agree that today’s democratically elected officials ignore spiritual values and morality in governance.
With experience, we have also come to realise that political power without spiritual morality promotes intrigues, back-biting, self-assertion, opportunism, compromise on principles, ease in backing out of the promises and manifestos, injustice, conflict, and wars. Values such as universal brotherhood, moral living, social responsibility, self-surrender, commitment to help the needy, respect for life and rights of others, and truth in human dealings, all but disappear. Without spiritual values in mind, powerful interest groups fight against one another to promote their own separate agendas, without anyone to speak with credible authority for the common good. As the Guru said of these rulers,
rwjy Drmu krih prQwey ]1
The kings acted righteously only out of self-interest.2
The Sikh theologian of the highest repute, Bhai Gurdas, echoes the Guru’s view as :
vrnw vrn n BwvnI kir KudI KhMdy [ jMgl AMdir sINh duie blvMiq bukMdy [
hwQI hiQAweI krin mqvwly huie AVI AVMdy [ rwj BUp rwjy vfy ml dys lVMdy[
mulk AMdir pwiqswh duie jwie jMg juVMdy [ hayumY kir hMkwr lK ml ml Gulµdy[
guru isK poih n sknI swDu sMig vsMdy [3
Various ethnic groups do not like one another and quarrel among themselves while expressing their ego, like they are two lions in a jungle who roar mightily at each other. They are also like those intoxicated elephants which stubbornly fight each other. The mighty kings capture large territories and fight each other. Two emperors in a country will go to war with each other. Guided and controlled by ego, numerous wrestlers wrestle with one another. This ego does not touch those who seek the Truth in the company of the Holy.
What the Guru Would Not Sanction
To protect the desired values in society, our leaders showed concern about a godless democracy. The Gurus were very vocal critics of the monarchs who ruled without regard to spirituality. Guru Gobind Singh wrote the following in response to a letter from the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb :
Hama ko tura padshahee badad,
Bama daulatey deen panahee badad.
Tura turkatazee be makar va riyaa,
Mara chareh saazee be sidak vafaa.
Na zedad tura naame Aurangzeb,
xe Aurangzeban na yabad fareb.4
By Whose grace you are made king and your writ sweeps everything, His very grace endowed us to protect the faithful and the low. When your aim is to loot and plunder, to cheat and fraud, we are there to shield, save, and protect. Our arms are the Truth and faith in Almighty. You do not really deserve to be a king when you resort to hoax and fraud and thus betray the trust of God as a king.
As is illustrated in his letter, the Guru’s displeasure with the Mughal emperor was not so much because the emperor took over the governance of the Hindus or the Sikhs, but rather, because the emperor forsook the tenets of a true religion during his reign and warfare. It is very clear that Guru Gobind Singh held the rulers of the day responsible for leading others to be God fearing and believers of the faith. With strength of their belief in the Creator, they were held responsible for the protection of the people and their right to be safe. Prior to Guru Gobind Singh, all of his predecessors expressed similar views. They voiced against the spirituality taking wings and the rulers becoming butchers. Bhai Gurdas, vouchsafes this observation :
kil kwqI rwjy kwsweI Drmu pMK kir aufirAw ]
kUVu Amwvs scu cMdRmw dIsY nwhI kh ciVAw ]5
The Dark Age of Kalyuga is the knife, and the kings are butchers; righteousness has taken wings and flown away. In this dark night of falsehood, the moon of Truth is not visible anywhere.
Our saints protested the lack of spirituality in the dealings of the rulers and their cronies posing as religious advisors to the citizens. Bhai Gurdas’s description of this situation is :
kil AweI kuqy muhI Kwju hoieAw murdwr gusweI[
rwjy pwpu kmWvdy aultI vwV Kyq kau KweI[
prjw AMMDI igAwn ibnu kUV kusqu muKhu AwlweI[
cyly swj vjwiedy ncin gurU bhuqu ibiD BweI]
cyly bYTin GrW ivic guir auiT GrIN iqnwVy jweI[
kwjI hoey irSvqI vFI lY ky hku gvweI[
iesqRI purKY dwim ihqu BwvY Awie ikQwaUN jweI[
vriqAw pwpu sBis jig mWhI [6
O God ! In kalyug, the mentality of the people has become like the mouth of a dog, it is always seeking the dead to eat. The rulers were sinning as if the protective fence were itself devouring the crop. Without the divine knowledge, the people are blind and they are practising falsehood. The religious leaders are dancing to the tunes of their disciples. The pupils stay at home and their teachers call on them at their homes. The judges have lost their principles and responsibility of their positions, they enjoy bribes. Spouses love each other for sake of riches, may they come from anywhere. The sin has become ubiquitous in the whole world.
Then the Guru protested against shameful behaviour of the religious leaders who had become puppets in the hands of a godless society and their politicians. Bhai Gurdas wrote :
rwjy sIh mukdm kuqy ]
jwie jgwiein@ bYTy suqy ]
cwkr nhdw pwiein@ Gwau ]
rqu ipqu kuiqho cit jwhu ]
ijQY jIAW hosI swr ]
nkˆØI vFˆØI lwieqbwr ]7
The kings are tigers, and their officials are dogs; they go out and awaken the sleeping people to harass them. The public servants inflict wounds with their nails. The dogs lick up the blood that is spilled. But there, in the Court of the Lord, all beings will be judged. Those who have violated the people’s trust will be disgraced; their noses will be cut off.
Spiritual Soul for New Politics
In view of the realisations of the perils of politics without divinity, many thinkers for the next century have begun to explore new basis of democratic forms. A new basis must ensure motivation for justice, selflessness, teamwork, collaborative problem-solving and promotion of people’s participation in the governance processes. Although imperative for the success of any democracy, these objectives cannot be effectively accomplished, unless there is a moral force of something eternal that guides the motivation of the political leaders and their electors. Guru Gobind Singh responded to this dilemma and advised his followers to turn to the spiritual roots of democracy. The Guru’s words are paraphrased by a reputed historian, Gyani Gian Singh as :
rwj ibnw nwih Drm cly hY [ Drm ibnw sB dly mly hYN [8
Dharam or spiritual values cannot be sustained without political authority. And without spirituality everything is a hotchpotch.
This principle is known as the miri-piri principle. The term was coined at the time of Guru Hargobind (1606-1644), and is symbolised by the crossing of two swords in the Sikh insignia (Khanda). The symbolism representing interaction of politics and spirituality goes far back. In the Jewish Star of David, a pyramid points to heaven representing the divine and another points to earth representing the humanity. The Christian Cross similarly reflects the power pointing to heaven as it crosses the power that covers the earth.9 Roughly at the same time when Guru Hargobind introduced miri-piri, Frances Bacon (1597-1625) wrote, “Concerning the means of procuring unity, men must beware that in the procuring or muniting of religious unity, they do not dissolve and deface the laws of charity, and of human society. There be two swords amongst Christians, the spiritual and temporal; both have their due office, and place, in the maintenance of religion.”10 Political practices under the principle of miri-piri are nothing else but implementation of a political system of governance that blends spiritual pursuits with material well-being of people. The spiritual roots of political governance provide the kind of visionary inspiration that will lead us to achieve and maintain our role as free and democratic people in the global society of the 21st century.
The message to experience new freedom and justice under a system of governance that is powered by spiritual wisdom was voiced by all enlightened leaders of the past centuries. Centuries ago Bhagat Kabir gave his advice as :
mulw khhu inAwau KudweI ]11
O Mullah, speak the God’s Justice.
Guru Nanak expounded the philosophy of justice based on Truth over five centuries ago :
iqQY inbVY swcu inAwau ]12
Justice based on the divine values is administered there.
Guru Angad laid down the foundation of a society based upon spiritual discipline :
lhxY pMQu Drm kw kIAw ]13
Lehna (Guru Angad) established the Order
Of righteousness and spirituality.
Guru Arjun declared that the true form of justice would only be that which is approved by the Divine :
jo BwvY pwrbRhm soeI scu inAwau ]14
That alone is true justice, which is pleasing to
the Supreme Lord.
Guru Gobind Singh associated his triumphs in the political battles with the strength he derived from his beliefs in the divine protection :
BeI jIq myrI ikrpw kwl qyrI ]15
I was triumphant on account of the blessings from the timeless.
In response to the miserable situation of the people under the rule of spiritually corrupt rulers, the Guru promoted his spiritual point of view to be a guide in governance and dealing with those governed. That point of view saw Divine in every being and every being as image of God.
iehu srIru sBu Drmu hY ijsu AMdir scy kI ivic joiq ]16
This body is the home of spirituality;
Divine Light of the True Lord dwells within it.
sB mih joiq joiq hY soie ] iqs dY cwnix sB mih cwnxu hoie ]17
Amongst all is the Light — He is that Light.
By this Illumination, that Light is radiant within all.
The Guru proposed to create spiritual politicians out of this belief so that they viewed every citizen harbouring the same spirit inside and thus deserving an equal right to social benefits and justice. This equality is reclaimed by the divine nature of every one. As the Guru said :
BweI vyKhu inAwau scu krqy kw jyhw koeI kry qyhw koeI pwey ]18
O Siblings of Destiny, behold the justice of the True Creator;
As people act, so are they rewarded.
Guru Arjun described spirituality in politics as a belief in one resourceful Lord of the universal kingdom. This eternal power ensures the well-being of all :
qUM swJw swihbu bwpu hmwrw ] nau iniD qyrY AKut BMfwrw ] ijsu qUM dyih su iqRpiq AGwvY soeI Bgqu qumwrw jIau ] 2 ] sBu ko AwsY qyrI bYTw ] Gt Gt AMqir qUMhY vuTw ] sBy swJIvwl sdwiein qUM iksY n idsih bwhrw jIau ]19
You are the father of us all and our common master. The treasures of Your kingdom are inexhaustible. Whomsoever you give is forever sated and the recipient is devoted to You. All live in Your hope. On all hearts rain Your pleasures. All are known as partners and you are alien to none.
The Guru perceived the power of spirituality on this earth as the basis of human equality, justice and governance.
siqguru DrqI Drm hY iqsu ivic jyhw ko bIjy qyhw Plu pwey ]20
The True Guru is the field of Dharma; as one plants the seeds there,
So are the fruits obtained.
Gru bMDhu sc Drm kw gif QMmu AhlY ]
Et lYhu nwrwiexY dIn duunIAw JlY ]21
You should build your homeland of true righteousness, with the unshakable pillars of spirituality. Take the support of the Lord, who gives support in the spiritual and material worlds.
This equality sanctioned by the Holy Spirit that is manifested in everyone, irrespective of nationality, social status, gender or colour, ought to form the basis of the political governance in every nation of the world. The perception of the spiritual basis of equality and governance is inherently democratising. The Guru’s plan was that by means of awakening the consciousness of human oneness, the spiritual democracy would be evolved and that it would be made the foundation of national unity towards the development of the new society.
World Political Leaders Resounded
What the Guru preached is consistent with many political traditions. Those thoughts had an ancient origin in the East and the West. The Guru’s view has been echoed more recently by many scholars of religion and politics. For example, Bednar22 recently quoted works of Tocqueville in reviewing this trend in the West as follows.
‘In his prescient study of Democracy in America (1835), Alexis de Tocqueville wrote at length about the intimate connection between spiritual values and the quality of life in a democratic society. He said : “Liberty regards religion as its companion in all its battles (and its triumphs) as the cradle of its infancy and the divine source of its claims.” Envisioning religion as a kind of midwife of the democratic process, Tocqueville did not think of it in the narrow sectarian sense; rather, he conceived of democratic religion in terms of the unifying spiritual sense of religion, meaning “to tie or to bind together.” ’
Under the conditions of freedom and equality brought about by a democratic revolution, Tocqueville warned that people liberated from abusive political authority would at first mistrust the judgment of others and attach exaggerated importance to their own opinions. Divided from one another by a multitude of separate preoccupations, citizens would thus be “no longer bound together by ideas, but by interests; and it would seem as if human opinions were reduced to a sort of intellectual dust, scattered on every side unable to collect, unable to cohere.” A powerful antidote for this dangerous and divisive social fragmentation, Tocqueville maintained, was the unifying and integrating spiritual dimension of the religious experience.
One of the most lucid prophetic precursors of the spiritual foundations of democratic religion was Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), the great Dominican mystic of the Rhineland in Germany. During the twilight of the Middle Ages, the centralized control of the Roman papacy was breaking down. Ordinary people, especially those on the remote northern fringes of the empire, were very much in need of spiritual guidance. At this point, Eckhart emerged in the Rhineland, speaking in the great cathedrals of Cologne and Strasbourg, not in the Latin of the scholastics or the French of the aristocracy, but in the simple vernacular German of the common people of his time. Using plain words and ordinary idiom, Eckhart preached a lofty democratic vision of God as ‘Pure Being’ and ‘Pure Unity’ in the universal common ground of every human soul. We are all one and equally grounded in God, Eckhart argued. The problem is that we don’t realise it, because our perception of the truth is obstructed by our own egocentric attachments and illusions. According to Eckhart, the task of spiritual awakening for every person is the same — only let go of your egocentric attachments, and your true nature of oneness with all people in God will thereby be illuminated.
There was a spiritual lineage of democratic religion going down from Meister Eckhart, to Bohemian religious reformer Jan Hus, to father of-the-reformation in the West, Martin Luther, to the religious revolutionaries of England who migrated to America, to the framers of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson affirmed : “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.”
Blinding Materialism is an Impediment
Today we profess to practise political democracy in every free society or country. However, people see problems with this democracy as it is practised today in India, America, and other countries. The problem, I would suggest is that we are powerfully surrounded by materialism all around us. Although we are all equals and we are spiritually one, under the influence of materialism, we fail to see any connection between the two. Like the people in Eckhart’s time and the times of Guru Nanak, we don’t realise that political equality and spirituality are interconnected. There are many reasons for not connecting to this relationship.
In the twentieth century the culture of illusions has become predominant. We are being pushed into the mass-media culture which is market-driven. It is so easy to forget who we are and where we came from. This situation is coming a full circle from what was five centuries ago described by Bhai Gurdas :
auTI glwn jgq ivc haumY AMdr jly lukweI [ koeI n iksy pUjdw aUc nIc sB giq ibsrweI[ Bey ibAdlI pwqSwh kilkwqI aumrwv ksweI[ rihAw qpwvs iqRhu jugI cOQy jug jo dyie su pweI[ krm BRSt sB BeI lukweI [23
Hatred has sprung up in this world and the people are being consumed in ego. No one respects any one, not even the deities. The emperors are tyrants and their satraps are butchers. The justice has become extinct. Whosoever can bribe, buys justice. The humankind has become wanting in righteousness of action.
In every moment of the waking hours we witness the make-believe world of the mega accomplishments of politics and the tantalizing ‘prime-times’ of television. They are the unreal images of the materialistic immense. In these environs it is easy to be distracted. The illusory benefits of materialistic mirage always dance in front of us like shadows on the wall of Plato’s cave. We look in the mirror at our designer clothes and our celebrity turbans. The exterior mesmerises us. We are like the female elephant who gets so absorbed by the desire to attract the male that she loses her freedom at the hands of captors.
mwXw mohI mydnI kil kl vwlI sB BrmweI]24
Like the intoxicated in sensuality the female elephant loses freedom in the hands of captors, so has the entire civilization in this age succumbed to intoxication of maya and lost out to the delusions.
Today’s average citizen is becoming a competitive and wealth-accumulating individual. His / her life’s preoccupation is essentially acquisitive and consuming. The heart of today’s human being may have never been touched by spirituality. The basic unit of political society is then constructed according to the way of life that is built around this individual. In this set-up lies the great danger against which Tocqueville and Guru Nanak warned centuries ago. For one, our national goals as a religiously guided democratic society “of the people, by the people, for the people,” are, unfortunately, eclipsed. Only the farsighted leaders sensed this trend and provided support for bringing in spirituality. For example, in American society the founding fathers perceived and supported views of people as religious democratic society. Bednar summarised it beautifully taking example of America’s great president, Jefferson.
Although he passionately argued for the constitutional separation of Church and State, in his later life Thomas Jefferson corresponded extensively about the formative role of “a religion of the Republic” in laying the foundation of a free and democratic society. These are the main characteristics of Jefferson’s democratic religion : a strong belief in oneness of God as the true basis of human solidarity; respect for freedom of conscience and a search for truth that is verified by direct experience; respect for the widest possible diversity of viewpoints in all matters of religious understanding; separating out the essential transformative core elements of religion from the non-essential cultural accretions; resolving religious differences through a deeper knowledge of universal human denominators; cultivating the “civic virtues” of generosity, altruism, and charitable service in the practical circumstances of everyday life in human society; developing just and equitable relations between citizens through education in the religious foundations of morality and ethics; and finally, of course, building a protective “wall of separation” between sectarian religious authority and the coercive power of the state. Clearly, Thomas Jefferson did not conceive of democratic religion merely as a decorative ornament of state ceremonies or an expedient tool of partisan politics. It was for him, a kind of transformative soul craft that made an individual into a citizen and an essential ingredient in the glue of human relationships that brought together differences into a working social unity. For Jefferson, democratic religion was absolutely integral to the long-term viability of the democratic process itself.
Grandiosity of Ethnicity is Not Spirituality
We are entering the civilization of the next century and passing through the transitional year of 1999 to 2000. We are going to inherit the world inhabiting much greater religious and political diversity than in the time of Guru Nanak or Guru Gobind Singh. For example, the next world will be inhabited by a wide variety of Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, native tribes, and all the various combinations thereof. Each group will emphasize its own needs and its own point of view about the role of religion in a pluralistic society. The world today is already plagued by religious violence all around. With the collapse of Communism, the danger in the rise of religious triumphalism will become much more serious. Thus the objective of the religious people like Sikhs should be to promote a form of political governance that is spiritual in nature but democratic in character.
The spirituality that is foreordained to form the soul of politics is distinct from religious ethnicity. The Guru’s spirituality transcended all boundaries of ethnic religions. Although often we are still found burdened by ancient traditions of sectarian religions, it is in spite of the powerful pronouncements made against this by the Guru. Prevailing religious thoughts continue to be still partisan. They seem incapable of echoing our expressed faith in the spiritual dimensions of human nature. Our Guru promoted a recognition of oneness of humankind under one God.25 He promoted confidence in humanity’s collective capacity to transcend biological and ethnic differences to promote spirituality in politics for all.
eyko Drmu idRVY scu koeI ]26
There is only one religion — that every one must imbibe the Truth.
Today, the way most of our institutions carry out their day to day business presents a fundamental challenge to the concept of inculcating spirituality into the basis for political governance. We openly manifest the tunnel vision in all forms. First of all, there is the adversarial relationship among world religions. Those advocating supremacy of one religion over others are enthusiastically glorified. Violence against innocents is given religious sanction. Glorification is bestowed on any struggle between social classes and other groups. Selfish motives can be found underlying most of the political struggles. Secondly, the competitive spirit dominates every aspect of modern life. Conflict is accepted as the mainspring of human interaction. There are numerous other expressions of divisiveness in cultural and religious organisations that have been progressively consolidated in political life over the past two centuries. They separate us from the glorious days of Khalsa reign. Laying the groundwork for global civilisation according to the principles of miri-piri and sarbat da bhala calls for the destruction of divisive boundaries. It calls for creation of laws and institutions that are universal in both character and authority. We should listen to the vision that Guru Ram Das provided centuries ago.
imiQAw dUjw Bwau DVy bih pwvY ]
prwieAw iCdR AtklY Awpxw AhMkwru vDwvY ]
jYsw bIjY qYsw KwvY ]
jn nwnk kw hir DVw Drmu sB isRsit ijix AwvY ]27
In the false love of duality, people form alliances. They complain about other peoples’ faults, while their own self-conceit only increases. As they sow, so shall they reap. Nanak has joined Lord’s alliance of spirituality, which shall triumph every where.
Similarly, Bhai Gurdas emphasises :
gurmuiK pMQ suK cwhq skl pMQ28
The nation of the Guru-oriented people would wish well of all nations.
These principles were practised by those who ruled according to the Sikh faith. Banda Singh Bahadur, a contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh and the leader of the Khalsa after the Guru’s demise, established the first Sikh Government with capital at Lohgarh in present Ambala district of the State of Haryana in India. On this occasion, he issued the Sikh Seal that was imprinted on the Sikh coins. The original seal was imprinted in Persian language and the script read as below :
Sikkah zad bar hr do alam, tegh-i-nanak vahib ast,
Fatah-i-Gobind Singh shah-i-shahan, fadl-i-sachcha sahib ast.
We hereby proclaim our sovereignty over both the worlds, the seen and unseen. The sword of the central doctrine of Nanak destroys the evils of both the worlds, the poverty and slavery on this earth, and the sickness of the soul hereafter. The final victory in our struggle has been vouchsafed by Guru Gobind Singh, the harbinger (messenger) of the good tidings of the ever present Grace of God.
(Translation by Kapur Singh in Sikhism For Modern Man, p. 71)
It is clear that the Sikh political power was aimed at creating a world of miri-piri, the Divine Rule that encompasses both the worlds. These were the doctrines to guide us to build a new future. The responsibility to make decisions is to rest in the hands of people under the Divine guidance. The consequences of these decisions occurring in both the worlds are weighed.
Let the people wholeheartedly embrace the concept of the Grace of God covering whole humanity, and apply it in every action, and not just as part of their prayer. Let people reorient themselves away from the age-old demons of ethnic and religious strife. Let there be a dawn of consciousness that people inhabiting the planet constitute a single people under God, and that human rights are their birth-right under the law of the Divine. The people must turn away from the patterns of conflict that have dominated social, religious and political life in the past. Let people learn the way of sharing and conciliation. Let the leaders propagate miri-piri principles through their actions, educational system and the media of mass communication. Once this threshold is crossed, only then a process would have been set in motion through which the peoples of the world are drawn into the task of formulating common goals of a rule for sarbat da bhala and commit themselves to their attainment.
Politics of New Century
When we view our political leaders of today, we find many contradictions. Instead of reconciliation towards spiritual oneness, we are bombarded by a divisive and demoralising avalanche of pronouncements, negative-attacks, thankless behaviour, and poll driven sloganeering. Thus, it is all the more important that, like the founders of our nations, we keep looking for that deeper source of unity for our universal common ground in the spiritual roots of political governance. Remembering this, we must make this our priority for the next century. We should expect and demand more in terms of real vision and moral leadership from our religious and political leaders. They should lead us into the twentyfirst century under those spirits.
With the celebration of the tercentenary of Khalsa, followed by the celebration of the tercentenary of the ascent of Guru Granth Sahib as the Eternal Guru of the Sikhs, we will enter the twenty-first century. This occasion of celebrating two tercentenaries together presents a formative task for every one of us. It serves as a strong reminder that we are members of a religious community that carries the religio-political flag of Guru’s discipline. That discipline requires us to overcome habits of greed, hatred, and self-centeredness. We are pushed to wake up and realise within ourselves a deeper basis of spiritual connectedness to one another and to the larger society of which we are a part. With this feeling energized we should reinstate the spirituality in the twenty-first century’s politics. We will not be alone in this venture. It is widely anticipated that the coming century will witness a new level of political system. The social as well as the political thinkers has begun to seek vision for evolving the new political systems. Following our Guru’s verdict, we must take hold of this opportunity to work for the new order and make all of the world’s citizens as its beneficiaries. Further, the effort required to create appropriate environments must now go beyond merely sermons, seminars, public oratory, resolutions or appeals. As Guru exhorted us.
sicAwrw dyie vifAweI hir Drm inAwau kIEie ] sB hir kI krhu ausqiq ijin grIb AnwQ rwiK lIEie ] jYkwru kIE DrmIAw kw pwpI kau fMfu dIEie ]
The Lord bestows glorious recognition upon those who are truthful and promote righteous justice. Every one should praise the Lord who arranges to protect the poor and the lost. He honors the righteous and punishes the culprit.
gurmuiK scw pMQu hY scu dohI scu rwju krMdw]
The nation of the Guru-oriented people is the nation of Truth.
Their slogan is Truth,
And their kingdom is based on the laws of the Divine Truth.
notes and references
1. Dev, Guru Nanak, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, (1604), p. 1024.
2. The verses from Sri Guru Granth Sahib are cited as : the author, source, page and line numbers according to the Granth published by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar. Each verse is followed by a brief commentary relating to the subject of this discussion and may be distinct from an exact translation.
3. Gurdas, Bhai, Vaaran Bhai Gurdas, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, Vaar 38, Pauri 6, l. 7.
4. Duggal, S.S., Fatehnama, photocopy provided by Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Espenola, 1998.
5. Gurdas, Bhai, Kabit Bhai Gurdas, Editor : Onkar Singh, Punjabi University, Kabit 145, l. 10.
6. Gurdas, Bhai, Vaaran Bhai Gurdas, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, Vaar 1, Pauri 30, l. 8.
7. Dev, Guru Nanak, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p.1288, l. 8.
8. Singh, Gyani Gian, Panth Parkash, personal communication from the Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh.
9. Williamson, Marianne, The Healing of America, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1997, p. 249.
10. Bacon, Francis, Of Unity of Religion in : Francis Bacon Essays, Wordsworth Editions Ltd., London, 1977, p. 11.
11. Kabir, Bhagat, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 1350, l. 6.
12. Dev, Guru Nanak, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p.1188, 1. 18.
13. Das, Guru Ram, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 1401, 1. 13.
14. Dev, Guru Arjun, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 964, 1. 13.
15. Singh, Guru Gobind, Akal Ustat
16. Das, Guru Ram, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 309, l. 17.
17. Dev, Guru Nanak, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 13.
18. Das, Guru Ram, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 308, l. 14.
19. Dev, Guru Arjun, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 97, l. 6.
20. Dev, Guru Arjun, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 302, l. 18.
21. Dev, Guru Arjun, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 320, l. 2.
22. Bednar, E., Spirituality and Health, Fall 1996.
23. Gurdas, Bhai, Vaaran Bhai Gurdas, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar. Vaar 1, Pauri 7, l. 4.
24. Gurdas, Bhai, Vaaran Bhai Gurdas, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, Vaar 1, Pauri 7, l. 3.
25. Lal, Harbans, Oneness of Humankind : A Universal Principle, From Both Sides Of The Ocean, 38 (March-April) : 13-15, 1997.
26. Dev, Guru Nanak, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 1188, l. 15.
27. Das, Guru Ram, Sri Guru Granth Sahib (1604), p. 366, l. 10.
28. Gurdas, Bhai, Kabit 58, line 1.
