Universe: Baisakhi’s spiritual harvest
The harvest festival is widely celebrated in India. This time of the year is of great significance for many states. It is celebrated in Assam as Rongali Bihu, where it marks the start of a new agricultural cycle and the beginning of a new year. In Kerala, Vishu ushers in the Malayali New Year, as does Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Pohela Boishakh for Bengalis, in both India and Bangladesh. For Punjab, Baisakhi also has spiritual significance.
We all know of how Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa on the day of Baisakhi in 1699. Speaking out against injustice had been stressed from the time of Guru Nanak Dev, who wrote the hymns collectively called Babur Bani. In these, he severely criticised the excesses of the invading force and the plight of the people caught between the two warring armies. He reflected on the injustice, on the pain and suffering that followed the invasion, as well as the nature of Divine Will.
The Gurus that followed him and their followers had a long history of resisting autocracy and injustice, and speaking truth to power, which is too well known to reiterate. Guru Gobind Singh’s transformation of the spirit of the Sikhs into that of the Khalsa was a spiritual harvest. The seeds of values that the first nine Gurus sowed in the fertile minds of their followers had now grown to fruition.
Gurbani guided the Sikhs and showed them the path. Now it was time to have a cadre of the committed who would represent the highest spiritual values inculcated in them by the Guru. They would be exemplars who stood out because of their deeds and convictions. They would follow the Guru’s teaching and act upon it.
Amrit transformed the Sikhs spiritually, and the Guru set an unprecedented example of himself taking amrit from his Sikhs. He created a community of Sikhs where they would submit to the will of the Almighty and follow Guru Gobind Singh’s injunction: “Manas ki jaat sabhe ekeh pehchaanbo”, by recognising all humanity as one.
What were the Khalsa like? Let’s take one example. Baba Deep Singh was the scholar who scribed Guru Granth Sahib and at the Guru’s direction, immersed himself in teaching and explaining Gurbani at Damdama Sahib after the Guru left. He embodied the spirit of the Khalsa. In popular iconography, he is remembered as a great warrior who fell in battle while defending Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. The spiritual discipline that he followed, his knowledge of, and efforts to propagate Gurbani and the strength of his conviction do not get enough attention, but they made him what he was — a true scholar-warrior.
The Khalsa were transformed from inside, and they were required to wear distinctive symbols that set them apart, to themselves, and to the people at large.
The spirit of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib would awaken the Sikhs and give them the spiritual strength that enabled them to fight tyranny. After being tested in many ways, they would emerge as true followers of the Guru and as spiritually strong, empathetic and socially responsible individuals ready to stand for the wronged.
“Deh Siva bar mohe eh hai/Subh karman te kabhon na taron/Na daron ar so jab jaye laron/ Nischay kar apni jeet karon”, the popular hymn of the 10th Guru encapsulates the Khalsa’s prayer for a life of courage and bravery that gives the strength to embrace good deeds and win with rightful conviction.
The spiritual core of Gurbani and simran make the Khalsa stand up for the weak, even as they conduct their day-to-day duties to their family and society, ever ready to help the needy. These are qualities we would well want in every human being. The spiritual harvest of Baisakhi was transformative, indeed.
— The writer is a senior journalist
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