I. J. Singh | New York, NY Posted: 05:58 PM | February 10, 2012

SIKHI: The Global Vision That Was

“Beng ke Bengali, Farang ke farangawali dilli ke dilwali teri agya me chalat hae(n)
Roh ke ruhele magh des ke maghele bir bun si bundele paap punj ke malat hae(n)
Gokha gun gaave Cheen matcheen ke sees niyavae tibatee dhiyae dokh deh ko dalat hae(n)
Jinae tohi dhiahyo tinae pooran prataap paayo sarab dhaan dhaam fel fool so falat hae(n)
…..
..…
Payee naa paar tej punj mae apaar sarab bidya ke udaar hae(n) apaar kahiyat haen”

--- Dasam Granth (pages 89-90)

Literally rendered, these lines tell us:

“The Bengalis of Bengal, the Phirangis of Phirangistan and Dilwalis of Delhi are your followers.

The Rohelas of Rohu mountain, the Maghelas of Magadha, the heroic Bangasis of Bangas and the Bundhelas of Bundhelkhand destroy their sins in thy devotion.

Gorkhas sing thy praises, the residents of China and Manchuria bow their heads before thee and the Tibetans destroy their own sufferings by remembering thee.

Those who meditate on thee obtain perfect glory, and prosper greatly.
……
……
One cannot know thy limit, O Infinitely Glorious Lord! Thou art the Giver of all, therefore thou are Boundless.”

This verse is from the work popularly known as the Dasam Granth. Many Sikhs swear that every word in it is in fact the authentic writing of Guru Gobind Singh. Others reject this thesis either in toto or, at least, in significant parts. Dasam Granth has a controversial place in Sikh psyche, history and tradition. It is a large body of over 2,300 pages of poetry. Scholars as well as the larger Sikh community agree that many parts of it are the authentic writings of Guru Gobind Singh but that they also appear mixed with compositions that may not be his but come from various sources of that time.

It is also true that, as universally accepted by most Sikhs, the repository of our spiritual heritage is the Guru Granth and not the Dasam Granth. However, what cannot be denied is that the contents of the latter work are a significant part of Sikh culture and literature, hence deserving of Sikh conversation and dialogue.

I readily concede that I don’t really know who the author of the above-cited lines is. It may be a matter of furious disagreement. But I don’t intend to step into those murky waters today. The authenticity of the Dasam Granth is not the topic here. I have briefly reported my non-scholarly take on it elsewhere. Today, let us set aside the question of who may have penned these lines.

Why then do these particular lines catch my eye today?

To me they speak of the universality of the Sikh message beyond the territory and self-limiting boundaries of Punjab. And this universality is entirely consistent with Sikh teaching and practice from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh.

In the first line the poet speaks of farangees. In common Punjabi parlance, the word stands for foreigners, usually whites. This verse was surely written before the influx of Europeans, the vast majority of whom came by sea sometimes in the 17th century. A limited number of Greek invaders had come with Alexander the Great but centuries earlier in about 325 BC. The remaining lines, too, focus on the common theme of a diverse humanity, somewhat like the theme inherent in the time honored motto E Pluribus Unum of the United States.

This colorful verse also echoes a hymn ascribed to Guru Gobind Singh that, in translation says: “As out of a single fire millions of sparks arise, arise in separation, but come together again when they fall back into the fire, so from God’s form, emerges all creation” (Akal Ustat, 87).

So I ask you to pause a moment and admire the worldview of the unknown poet who composed the lines that we started with today and think of the ordinary people -- his Sikh listeners about 300 years ago. The words are meant to be all embracing.

I bring this to you today because over the past decade or two I have been increasingly confronted with a very uncomfortable reality – of a narrowing definition and limited expanse of the Sikh worldview that our scholars and spokespersons often spout these days.

Look at Sikh history. Guru Nanak traveled widely. He often conveyed his message through music that transcends the bounds and context of language, time and culture. But he must have also engaged the people wherever he went. What language do you think he used? The local argot or the Punjabi of his native village? Keep in mind that he traveled as far as Tibet, Sri Lanka, the Middle East (Iraq and neighboring territories). Other Gurus, particularly Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh traveled in the Southern (Nander) and Eastern (Assam, Bihar) parts of India as well.

The Gurus traveled well beyond the limits of Punjab as well as Punjabi language and culture. We get some idea of how many languages, cultures and dialects the Gurus encountered in their travels by their compositions in the Guru Granth.

The Guru Granth gives us poetical output in many of the Indic languages as well as in Arabic and Persian. There are Muslim and Hindu poets represented, many of whom would never sit together, break bread together or be caught on the adjoining pages of the same holy book – until Guru Arjan in 1604 brought them together in the Adi Granth, the precursor of the Guru Granth.

If Judeo-Christian sacred literature had been as easily available in the India of that time I am sure some would have found commentary and inclusion in the Guru Granth. History suggests that a Muslim saint, Mia(n) Mir laid the foundation stone of the Harimander Sahib (Golden Temple) at Amritsar, the defining marker of Sikh history and psyche today.

So when we speak proudly of the catholicity and universality of the message of the Sikh Gurus it is not just idle chatter.

Why then do we find granthis, and so called experts on Sikhi, aggressively insisting that within the gurduara premises only Punjabi may be spoken, and a speech in any other language, such as English, is unacceptable if not blasphemous? In this potent equation keep in mind that many young people, born or raised outside India, neither speak nor understand Punjabi beyond a rudimentary conversational level, if that.