Throwing Down The Gauntlet :
Historically, the practice of throwing down the gauntlet referred to an ultimatum laid down by one combatant for another on the field of battle. Transcending multiple cultural and linguistic barriers, the throwing down consisted of openly taking off one’s gauntlet and then throwing it onto the ground. Whosoever from the opposing side picked it up signalled the acceptance of the challenge and commenced to fight the original challenger-a practice knowing as running the gauntlet. With the exception of a few military ceremonies, both practices have not survived into modern times beyond their nomenclature becoming a common metaphor for anything which compels us to do that which is not commonplace to our nature.
Guru Nanak’s Throw:
At the crack of each dawn orthodox Sikhs recite their progenitor Guru, Guru Nanak’s Japji composition which concludes with the now immortalized Salok:
ਪਵਣੁ ਗੁਰੂ ਪਾਣੀ ਪਿਤਾ ਮਾਤਾ ਧਰਤਿ ਮਹਤੁ ॥
ਦਿਵਸੁ ਰਾਤਿ ਦੁਇ ਦਾਈ ਦਾਇਆ ਖੇਲੈ ਸਗਲ ਜਗਤੁ ॥
ਚੰਗਿਆਈਆ ਬੁਰਿਆਈਆ ਵਾਚੈ ਧਰਮੁ ਹਦੂਰਿ ॥
ਕਰਮੀ ਆਪੋ ਆਪਣੀ ਕੇ ਨੇੜੈ ਕੇ ਦੂਰਿ ॥
ਜਿਨੀ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਇਆ ਗਏ ਮਸਕਤਿ ਘਾਲਿ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਤੇ ਮੁਖ ਉਜਲੇ ਕੇਤੀ ਛੁਟੀ ਨਾਲਿ ॥੧॥
“The wind is akin to the Guru, the water to the father and the earth to the mother. Day and night are the nursemaids within whose embrace the entire Creation plays. Good and bad are all adjudged through the yardsticks of righteousness. Through their own acts some go near and some afar from the truth. Those who imbibe the divine wisdom (ਨਾਮੁ) they run the entire gauntlet (of life), Nanak says that their faces are luminous and they are liberated from all travails.”
-Guru Granth, 8.
The ਨਾਮੁ (Naam) of Gurbani significantly differs from prior concepts/definitions of the term in that that it needs to be lived and not emptily chanted in pursuit of some illusory Moksha or salvation.
ਤਤੁ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਹਰਿ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਨਾਮ ॥
“The wisdom of all around me, the essential wisdom of how to live life-that is my elixir ਨਾਮ .”
-Guru Granth, 1146.
Guru Nanak implicitly throws down a gauntlet for his Sikhs in the aforementioned Salok by emphasizing that:
“Those who imbibe the divine wisdom (ਨਾਮੁ) they run the entire gauntlet (of life), Nanak says that their faces are luminous and they are liberated from all travails.”
The challenge, inherent within these words, for a Sikh is that will they be one of the luminous faced ones who the Guru refers to? How does one become such a brightly faced Gurmukh (Guru-oriented Being)?
Approaching The Gauntlet:
Alongside ingraining humility and pursuing the path of virtue, the Gurmukh is one who wars to subdue their fear as the first step towards lifting the Guru’s gauntlet.
ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਮਨ ਸਿਉ ਲੁਝੈ ॥੪੬॥
“Nanak, the Gurmukh-the truthful individual-wars with their own mind.”
-Guru Granth, 1418.
The mind being the fulcrum of all cognitive elements, it is also the residence of all human fears. Its two greatest fears are those of pain and death. These two fears insulate it against reality disallowing it to acquire its full potential in life. Contrary to the popular opinion brandied about by Pujari cliques, Gurbani is no panacea for ridding one of life’s pains. This fanciful notion is dismissed by Gurbani itself.
ਨਾਨਕ ਬੋਲਣੁ ਝਖਣਾ ਦੁਖ ਛਡਿ ਮੰਗੀਅਹਿ ਸੁਖ ॥ ਸੁਖੁ ਦੁਖੁ ਦੁਇ ਦਰਿ ਕਪੜੇ ਪਹਿਰਹਿ ਜਾਇ ਮਨੁਖ ॥ ਜਿਥੈ ਬੋਲਣਿ ਹਾਰੀਐ ਤਿਥੈ ਚੰਗੀ ਚੁਪ ॥੨॥
“Nanak, why do we speak for trading pain with pleasure? Pleasure and pain are divine clothes which we are to wear interchangeably. Do not speak that which will make us lose…”
-Guru Granth, 149.
ਦੁਖੁ ਦਾਰੂ ਸੁਖੁ ਰੋਗੁ ਭਇਆ ਜਾ ਸੁਖੁ ਤਾਮਿ ਨ ਹੋਈ ॥
“Pain is that panacea which disallows us to wallow in lethargy arising from ease.”
-Guru Granth, 469.
And,
ਸੁਖੈ ਕਉ ਦੁਖੁ ਅਗਲਾ ਮਨਮੁਖਿ ਬੂਝ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥
“After ease comes pain, this is the natural order of things but the ignorant individual denies this.”
-Guru Granth, 57.
On the issue of death:
ਜਬ ਲਗੁ ਸਬਦ ਭੇਦੁ ਨਹੀ ਆਇਆ ਤਬ ਲਗੁ ਕਾਲੁ ਸੰਤਾਏ ॥੩॥
"As long as we do not comprehend what the (Guru's) Shabad articulates, until then (the fear of) death will continue to torment (haunt) us."
-Guru Granth, 1126.
These fears can only be overcome when one exits their in-built mental fortress ringed by the dual fears of pain and death. Both these latter walls prevent one from comprehending the world beyond; a world of acceptance in which the nature of reality is well understood.
Holding The Gauntlet:
Upon successfully subduing one’s fear, the Sikh is capable of holding the Guru’s gauntlet. This entails the realization that death, pain and pleasure are necessary aspects of life. The Guru does not miraculously destroy them, rather the Guru empowers one to confront and triumph over them. Such Sikhs emerge more strengthened through pain; disallow themselves from lowering their guard in easeful periods and hold no qualms at their own approaching demise. Such Gurmukhs are well aware that immortality is not the the ressurection of the human body but the continuity of the spirit in service of Creation. The Sikh mystic and Ghadr revolutionary Baba Wasakha Singh (1877-1957) often commented that once a Sikh ran life’s gauntlet and imbibed Gurbani in toto that Sikh would forever continue inspiring others through the medium of memory. This path to immortality forms the cornerstone of Khalsa practicality. It is at this stage that the Sikh realizes death to be an opportunity and the grander one’s death, the greater the fruits of immortality:
ਮਰਣੁ ਨ ਮੰਦਾ ਲੋਕਾ ਆਖੀਐ ਜੇ ਕੋਈ ਮਰਿ ਜਾਣੈ ॥੨॥
ਮਰਣੁ ਮੁਣਸਾ ਸੂਰਿਆ ਹਕੁ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਹੋਇ ਮਰਨਿ ਪਰਵਾਣੋ ॥
“If the masses were enlightened they would not vilify death as an evil. True death is the prerogative of valorous heroes; such deaths are appealing to their Maker.”
-Guru Granth, 579.
This is not to say that the Sikh be suicidal but rather the Sikh be forever ready to die in any just endeavor for the moralistic progression of humanity. This stage is one of wholehearted acceptance; reached only after eradicating one’s own individuation. Such acceptance can only come through living Gurbani, it is akin to playing a game of love in which the lover stakes even their own life for their beloved.
ਜਉ ਤਉ ਪ੍ਰੇਮ ਖੇਲਣ ਕਾ ਚਾਉ ॥
ਸਿਰੁ ਧਰਿ ਤਲੀ ਗਲੀ ਮੇਰੀ ਆਉ ॥
ਇਤੁ ਮਾਰਗਿ ਪੈਰੁ ਧਰੀਜੈ ॥
ਸਿਰੁ ਦੀਜੈ ਕਾਣਿ ਨ ਕੀਜੈ ॥੨੦॥
“Whosoever desires to play this game of life, (I) invite them to place their heads on their palms and tread through my alley. Once on this path, give your head but concede not on ground.”
-Guru Granth, 1412.
Running The Gauntlet:
Prior to running the gauntlet inherent in the Japji, Gurbani cautions the Gurmukh Sikh Khalsa:
ਸਤਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਗਾਖੜੀ ਸਿਰੁ ਦੀਜੈ ਆਪੁ ਗਵਾਇ ॥
“Satguru’s (the truth’s) service is formidable. You must sacrifice your head as well as your self.”
-Guru Granth, 27.
There is no turning back once the gauntlet is lifted. The ultimatum needs to be met and triumphed over. The Sikh has to run it! Failure is not an option nor retreat an alternative. What happens after is also formidable. To be wise in a world full of blindness is to be marked. Life becomes a battlefield. But as Gurbani consoles,
ਦਾਗੇ ਹੋਹਿ ਸੁ ਰਨ ਮਹਿ ਜੂਝਹਿ ਬਿਨੁ ਦਾਗੇ ਭਗਿ ਜਾਈ ॥
"The wearers of your mark stand firm and war onwards in the battlefield while those without your mark flee."
-Guru Granth, 970.
If these conditions are agreeable to the Sikh, they can then proceed towards running their Guru’s gauntlet and treading the path of becoming luminous faced.
Liberation:
It should come as no surprise in light of the above that successfully running the Guru’s gauntlet is synonymous with liberation in Sikhi. Not liberation from the world but rather from vice. Such a liberated Sikh is the true Gurmukh; the true Khalsa. Such an individual is not restricted by archaic and confining doctrines of impure and pure as adumbrated in scriptures of other faiths. Nor do they renounce the world and hide away in hovels meditating their lives away avoiding both good and bad which they vilify as furthering attachment to Creation. Rather, they impel the progression of Creation seeing themselves as retaining an equal stake in it much like their Maker. They are essentially salvation personified. In the Sikh praxis liberation is not attained upon death, rather it is achieved while living life.
ਹਰਿ ਜਪਿ ਸੇਵਕੁ ਪਾਰਿ ਉਤਾਰਿਓ ॥
ਦੀਨ ਦਇਆਲ ਭਏ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਅਪਨੇ ਬਹੁੜਿ ਜਨਮਿ ਨਹੀ ਮਾਰਿਓ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
“Remembering their Maker, the servants swim across. The merciful Master does not allow his servers to be reborn only to die.”
-Guru Granth, 534.
ਕਰਤ ਫਿਰੇ ਬਨ ਭੇਖ ਮੋਹਨ ਰਹਤ ਨਿਰਾਰ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਕਥਨ ਸੁਨਾਵਨ ਗੀਤ ਨੀਕੇ ਗਾਵਨ ਮਨ ਮਹਿ ਧਰਤੇ ਗਾਰ ॥੧॥
ਅਤਿ ਸੁੰਦਰ ਬਹੁ ਚਤੁਰ ਸਿਆਨੇ ਬਿਦਿਆ ਰਸਨਾ ਚਾਰ ॥੨॥
“Many so-called seekers wander in jungles and elsewhere conspicuous by their religious paraphernalia. Yet the Creator is removed from them by immeasurable distances. They give religious discourses, sing religious songs and talk about living piously. Yet within their minds they are filthy. Only they are truly beautiful, handsome and wise within whose hearts and minds resides their Master.”
-Guru Granth, 534.
The Luminous Faced Ones:
Those who successfully run Guru Nanak’s gauntlet, they are the true liberated ones. By embodying the principles of Gurbani in how they live their lives, they remain in equipoise and peace come what may in life. Such are the Sikhs who Guru Gobind Singh selected to become Guru Nanak’s Khalsas. The question for us today is, will we accept to run our Guru’s gauntlet and become true Khalsa Gurmukhs by virtue of our perseverance or will we languish in abysmal lethargy and waste our lives?