During the early forties, I was a student studying at the Khalsa Collegiate School, Amritsar. The students were taken to the gurdwara for celebrating the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev. One of us read a poem in Panjabi with the title, Guru Nanak! Please, come again.
“We need you very urgently; people have become greedy. There are many Sajan Thugs and also many Malik Bhagos. They are sucking the blood of the innocent people. We have forgotten God, we love money. Instead of living the life of a Sikh, we follow an evil path. Please, please, Guru Ji ! Do us a favor, come again and save us, we are sinners."
Professor Sahib Singh, B.A. (later granted a D. Lit degree by the Panjabi University, Patiala), used to teach Sikh religion. He had been invited to give a talk on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev. In response to the poem read by the student, the professor observed :
"We do not have to call Guru Nanak. He did not leave us, he will remain in the world for ever in the form of his teachings, i.e., Gurbani. The Guru does not die; he is ever alive. Of course, his body completed its life span assigned to it. According to the principles of nature, everything visible, the moon, the sun, the earth, the whole creation will be gone one day. However, the message of the Guru, the Gurbani, will guide us till the world lasts. We have to read it, understand it and follow it to be saved here and in the next world as well.
Guru Nanak says that no one can save anybody else. Guru only guides us to safety; to be saved, one has to follow the right path of sewa and simran told by the Guru.
Further, the Guru is not to be found in big palaces, he lives with the poor. Guru Nanak lives in the sweepers colony, you go there and meet him. He is waiting there for everybody. Guru Nanak himself has said this.
Let us love the poor. God will bless us.Guru Granth Sahib, p.15.
You recite Gurbani with love and you will find the Guru speaking to you.
I have been reminded of his observations many times in my life. When one barely makes both ends meet, one is usually sincerely devoted to Gurbani and the Sikh way of life. When one has excess money to spend on worldly pleasures, he follows vices and ignores the mission of human life. Faith is usually the first casualty when one becomes rich.
Let everyone be assured that Guru Nanak Dev is here in the world, and he (through Gurbani) is always ready to save us. But we must follow the directions of Gurbani, practice virtues and keep away from vices. In this way we will have peace while living on this earth and enjoy bliss after our physical death.
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