Onset:
The Punjabi dusk throws up a panorama of earthy colors streaking across the crimson sky. Shadows lengthen as darkness rings the fields. Two boys straddle silken bundles, gleefully giggling in the wake of their father. The elderly man glances behind him signalling the boys to hurry. They must reach their destination by nightfall. The open roads are merciless in the darkness. Especially to unarmed travellers. They make their way slowly to a walled city. Within, the boys are stunned by the picturesque onslaught on their senses. Their father, however, has only eyes for one man. People point the way to him. The boys are suddenly stunned by his persona. Dressed in a laborer’s clothes, the man commands the awe of everyone around him. He looks up and smiles at the boys. Their father grasps the bundles from them and falls at the man’s feet. Two heavily muscled hands clasp his shoulders and direct him upwards. The boys, for once, forget to giggle.
Nawab:
The boys were one of many to see countless individuals like their father bow to Nawab Kapur Singh, leader supremo of the nascent 18th century Khalsa Republic. In an era where military triumphs were consummated by declaring liberated territories forfeit from the controls of their original owners, the Khalsa worked hard to return such possessions to their rightful owners. What made Kapur Singh so emblematic of Khalsa politicism? His down-to-earth nature, his humility and embodiment of the sacrosanct Gurbani. His coolness under fire; ability to forego stress and transcend his fears heralded him as one of the greatest strategic/tactical minds of his era. These very qualities soon became the yardsticks with which all post-Kapur Singh era Sikh leaders were judged against.
What made Kapur Singh so fearless? We interviewed his descendants in our podcast aptly titled Who Was Nawab Kapur Singh? Despite countless efforts to eradicate his name from Sikh history and thus nullify the precedents he established, Nawab Kapur Singh’s legacy doggedly resists eradication. The erstwhile 19th century Sikh chronicler Ratan Singh Bhangu casts him as a selfless leader and fearless warrior who possessed a prodigal strategic acumen which was refined by his mentor Tara Singh Waan. But consider this: Great commanders and leaders throughout history have possessed similar qualities. Only few have emerged unscathed like the Nawab. What makes him so unique?
Warrior Not Worrier:
Kapur Singh outmanoeuvred Zakariya Khan; led the Khalsa through the Chhota Ghallughara or the smaller holocaust and implemented widescale sociopolitical/religiopolitical reforms in the form of the twelve republican Khalsa Misls. After Banda Singh, he resurrected Sikh sovereignty. His uniqueness, put simply, lies in the fact that his foremost quality was that he perceived and carried himself as a warrior (on and off the battlefield) and not as a worrier. He practically lived and breathed the below principle of the Guru Granth,
ਮਰਣੈ ਕੀ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਨਹੀ ਜੀਵਣ ਕੀ ਨਹੀ ਆਸ ॥
ਤੂ ਸਰਬ ਜੀਆ ਪ੍ਰਤਿਪਾਲਹੀ ਲੇਖੈ ਸਾਸ ਗਿਰਾਸ ॥
ਅੰਤਰਿ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਤੂ ਵਸਹਿ ਜਿਉ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਿਉ ਨਿਰਜਾਸਿ ॥੧॥
“I worry neither about dying nor about living long. You, who provide sustenance to all, allot our breaths to us. You reside within the Gurmukh, whatever you will comes to pass.”
-Guru Granth, 20.
At the end of the day, we cannot decide the time of our death. But we can decide how we meet it. Critics are wont to cry that this is a militaristic approach to life. However consider this: death is the great unknown. While it is our most primal fear; it is also our greatest. One might argue that the 21st century is far removed from Kapur Singh’s gory 18th century. Irrespective of the technological progress, our fears still remain static with death being the foremost unless of course the cynics believe that dying no longer exists in the current century which would then render them in a far more advanced class of illogic than flat earthers. No, what Kapur Singh knew was how to transform his fears into fuel for victory. One can imagine his early morning routine:
He would awaken before the crack of dawn irrespective of the previous day’s battles; ignore physical fatigue and after cleansing himself would sit down to recite his morning litany. The recital complete, he would reflect upon its profound lessons. What were these lessons? The good news is that they are still accessible to us today but only if we pursue them with a disciplined iron-will.
Lesson 1:
Prepare for the Best, but Drill for the Worst.
Visualize that the worst has befallen you. That million dollar project might have collapsed; you might have died and left your loved ones destitute or whatever else you shudder to contemplate. What is the end result? You have visualized the worst in expectation of the best. Put more succinctly, the best route for you to pursue as a Sikh is to live a wholesome life after having accepted the necessity of death. The realization of impending death empowers you to live a disciplined and virtuous life everyday. Death before its time is the worst case scenario for you, but by accepting it and visualizing it you prepare for the best i.e. living virtuously. Understand that both good and bad are polar opposites which will befall you in life as much as they will others.
ਬਾਬਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਸਰਣਾਈ ॥
ਸਭ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਗਣਤ ਮਿਟਾਈ ॥੪॥੭॥੫੭॥
“Baba (venerable elder) Nanak says that one who surrenders to the Divine Will (reality), all their worries are effaced.”
-Guru Granth, 623.
Lesson 2:
Thrive on the Unknown.
The gap between expectation and reality is called Free Energy. This is what causes fear. Our inability to rein in Free Energy allows it to catalyze biochemical reactions which temporarily deprive us of our rationality and compel us to visualize total negativity. Under controlled circumstances this is an incisive tool. But under circumstances involving Free Energy our subconsciousness overpowers our rationality and warrants the visualization as reality. As a consequence, we rapidly enter flight-or-fight mode fixated on the erroneous notion that one singular shallow outcome is about to be realized or has been realized and act accordingly. The choices we make are for one set of circumstances but the circumstances we actually confront are entirely disparate. Here’s a relevant example:
Nawab Kapur Singh is marshalling the Khalsa towards the Shivalik Hills. Hundreds of Sikhs are being butchered by Hindu-Islamist soldiers around him. Upon reaching the periphery of the hills he discovers that the Hindu Hill Rajputs have lined up their troops en-masse to slay the Sikhs. What way is now left open for him and the Sikhs? How have the hills been blocked so rapidly? He feels the cold hand of fear clutch his heart. The unknown is upon him…"
The gap between what Kapur Singh expected versus what he got was gargantuan to say the least. If he had given into his fear he would have decided that the best course was to bolt for the blue and leave each Sikh for themselves and then lived with the nefarious outcome for the rest of his life. The variables around him had altered swiftly. He knew next to nothing about the final outcome of the conflict thrust upon him and the unknown stared him straight into the face. But, instead, what did he do? History testifies to the fact that he continued marshalling the Sikhs and then divided them into several cohesive battalions tasked with reaching different destinations. He managed to save the majority of the Panth. How? As a leader he was a realist who knew that the unknown is far more likely to happen than the known. He had trained himself and his immediate subordinates to accept this eventuality and prepared accordingly. More critically, he was mentally prepared for the unknown.
ਚਿੰਤਾ ਤਾ ਕੀ ਕੀਜੀਐ ਜੋ ਅਨਹੋਨੀ ਹੋਇ ॥
ਇਹੁ ਮਾਰਗੁ ਸੰਸਾਰ ਕੋ ਨਾਨਕ ਥਿਰੁ ਨਹੀ ਕੋਇ ॥੫੧॥
“Why stress? Let the untoward happen. This is the way of the world Nanak: nothing lasts forever.”
-Guru Granth, 1429.
Expect the unknown and master your fears of the unknown. Remember, nothing lasts forever and every situation can be overcome. Your reaction decides whether something plagues you forever or you are able to move on. You, yourself, are responsible for what you decide.
Lesson 3:
Do not let your fears control you.
What is fear? To reiterate, a gap between expectation and reality which blindsides us. Fear isn’t momentary. The catalyst for fear is ephemeral but the outcome of our reaction to that fear either empowers us or hounds us for the rest of our lives. When fear creeps us on us it signals its presence through physical tells in our physiology. A sense of breathlessness; trembling legs or the stereotypical butterflies in my stomach. Rather than relax and switch off fear through rationality, we usually give into it and allow it to inform our reactions. This is not fear controlling us but fear beginning to control us. The true control comes later when we realize that our initial fear based reaction was irrational and to evade the consequences we confront, as a result of the original misshape, we make further fear based decisions. Ultimately, we become our fear personified itself.
ਭੈਰਉ ਭੂਤ ਸੀਤਲਾ ਧਾਵੈ ॥
ਖਰ ਬਾਹਨੁ ਉਹੁ ਛਾਰੁ ਉਡਾਵੈ ॥੧॥
ਹਉ ਤਉ ਏਕੁ ਰਮਈਆ ਲੈਹਉ ॥
ਆਨ ਦੇਵ ਬਦਲਾਵਨਿ ਦੈਹਉ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਸਿਵ ਸਿਵ ਕਰਤੇ ਜੋ ਨਰੁ ਧਿਆਵੈ ॥
ਬਰਦ ਚਢੇ ਡਉਰੂ ਢਮਕਾਵੈ ॥੨॥
ਮਹਾ ਮਾਈ ਕੀ ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰੈ ॥
ਨਰ ਸੈ ਨਾਰਿ ਹੋਇ ਅਉਤਰੈ ॥੩॥
ਤੂ ਕਹੀਅਤ ਹੀ ਆਦਿ ਭਵਾਨੀ ॥
ਮੁਕਤਿ ਕੀ ਬਰੀਆ ਕਹਾ ਛਪਾਨੀ ॥੪॥
ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ਗਹੁ ਮੀਤਾ ॥
ਪ੍ਰਣਵੈ ਨਾਮਾ ਇਉ ਕਹੈ ਗੀਤਾ ॥੫॥੨॥੬॥
“Those who pursue Bhairo, his demons and the Goddess of disease they end up riding asses and kicking up dust. I only focus on the wisdom of the one all pervasive Divine. I have discarded all other deities for the one supreme Divine alone. The man who cries “Shiv, Shiv” ends up on a bull shaking tambourines. Another man who worships the Goddesses summarily goes from man to woman. You are declared as the Supreme Goddess (Ad-Shakti), but when it comes to liberation then where do you hide? Make the Guru’s way your own and grasp the Guru’s wisdom tightly my friends. Sanctified thus, Namdev expounds this Gita.”
-Guru Granth, 874.
This analytical exegesis in how fear controls us is provided by Bhagat Namdev (1270-1350) who bases it on his own observations: unwilling to comprehend the nature of various diseases, the ignorant masses misbelieve them to be some manifestations of divine wrath. They then rush to worship deities associated with afflictions and their riddance (Bhairo, demons, Goddesses). Asses being associates of Bhairo, his worshippers too end up on asses kicking up dust to be rid of disease. The cynical tone of the verse makes clear that rarely is the affliction healed this way though a ludicrous spectacle ensues.
On the other hand, the worshippers of Shiva end up on bulls playing tambourines in emulation of their deity. Shiva is allegedly the God of death and supposedly protects his disciples from its ravages. Another section of male worshippers start emulating the Goddesses they worship by becoming females. If anything, another Goddess is then brought forward and it is argued she is the primal power which creates and upholds Creation. Namdev cynically wonders why she ends up concealing herself whenever the question of any form of liberation is broached. The nomenclature he uses for her, ਆਦਿ ਭਵਾਨੀ , is historically associated with the battlefield and mythology holds that victorious warriors often manifested her before triumphing in battle. The same has been imposed on the tenth Guru though Gurbani exposes the whole charade.
Its archaic overtones aside, this verse of Namdev is significant for the fact it elucidates how when fear overtakes us we become the very textbook definition of that fear and how that fear controls our reactions. You become what you fear ultimately letting fear control your life and nullifying any personal autonomy you possess in living courageously and on your own terms. The way to escape the clutches of fear according to Namdev is to adhere to the Guru’s path. This, he argues, is his Gita in lieu of the Santaan text which only pushes one further into fear.
Guru:
It should be remembered that semantic differences exist between the definition of Guru as provided by Guru Nanak and how the 15 Bhagats understood the concept. For Guru Nanak the term Satguru and Guru were interchangeable based on context but the fundamental definition remained unaltered:
ਗੁਰ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਸਾਚਾ ਥਾਨੁ ਤੀਰਥੁ ਦਸ ਪੁਰਬ ਸਦਾ ਦਸਾਹਰਾ ॥
“The Guru is Gian and this Guru is my sole pilgrimage.”
-Guru Granth, 685.
The Gian or wisdom is conveyed through the medium of the spoken, read and written word:
ਸਬਦੁ ਗੁਰੂ ਸੁਰਤਿ ਧੁਨਿ ਚੇਲਾ ॥
“The Shabad (word) is the Guru; the Surat (consciousness) is the disciple.”
-Guru Granth, 943.
The word earns the distinction of being Guru through its usage for spreading Gian. The Gian is the soul; the word is the body. There is no comprehensive difference. To respect both, the essence derived needs to be lived.
These terms were in vogue even during the era of the Bhagats. For Kabir Guru defined reasoning; for Ravidas it meant intuition; for Namdev it became skepticism. Guru Nanak unified these disparate conceptions under the overarching umbrella of Gian to argue that Satguru, true Gian, is Gurmat i.e. the valid path of life attuned to the truth. And the cornerstone for treading this path is described by Guru Arjan:
ਬਾਬਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਸਰਣਾਈ ॥
ਸਭ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਗਣਤ ਮਿਟਾਈ ॥੪॥੭॥੫੭॥
“Baba (venerable elder) Nanak says that one who surrenders to the Divine Will (reality), all their worries are effaced.”
-Guru Granth, 623.
In Ending:
Externally it is the 21st century, but internally we might as well be in the prehistoric era in which we emerged out of the evolutionary biochemical soup which furnished us. As our achievements and aspirations increase, so too do our fears. Politicians and Pujaris dog our every step, awaiting opportunities to use our fears against us or create new ones. The fearless man is a dangerous one. This explains the persecution which the Sikhs confronted under Nawab Kapur Singh. But the fearless man is also selfless and more down-to-earth than his fear stricken counterparts. Kapur Singh stuck out like a sore thumb. We might as well if we tread his path of fearlessness. But then, in hindsight, why not make the best of every opportunity we are given even if our fears pull us back?
ਜਾ ਕਉ ਚਿੰਤਾ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਦੇਹੀ ਵਿਆਪੈ ਰੋਗੁ ॥
“The more stress you give yourself the more afflictions you invite on yourself.”
-Guru Granth, 70.
Is it worth living a life diseased by cowardice and fear?
(Do we fear the clown? Or do we not fear the clown?)
Enjoy reading these.
This may tie into the second principle, but what about the fear of god?
ਗੁਰ ਗਿਆਨੁ it is important to realise the word form. Gur Principle or Way or Skill. Guru Its human who attained skill. Guruu. It's abstract form of nature which humans attain knowledge connecting Word form ie Shabad and Surat Visualisation for visible forms and Realisation for invisible forms. Gur Gyan Principle to attain knowledge is getting TRUTH which is ONE and cannot be two. Pilgrimage is where all the false is left and purity is attained. That is physical old philosophical way. But seekers way is to get ONE which is realisation of TRUTH that is the pilgrimage of Seeker or realising a TRUTH behind word. It cleanses perception of word and improves thought biochemistry and physical action. For Eg Amrit vela. When connected to waking up at 3:00 makes follower act. But no way Vela is time of wake up. It is span of time as human form and Amrit is connecting to Immortal awareness, which is accompanied since inception of life