Truth as foundation

The conflict within the Indian subcontinent at that point of time had become a war of attrition in which thousands were massacred and raped and human values and ethics had fallen by the wayside. There was no voice raised in protest over this, no signs of resistance. It was against such a background that Guru Nanak propounded his unique philosophy and way of life 8212; leading him to be hailed as a liberator of humankind. In Babarvani, he evoked the mercy and grace of the Almighty to don the mantle of the rescuer.

The Sikh religion, founded by Guru Nanak, deals more with the way in which life has to be lived rather than in understanding the ultimate meaning of that life. It is based on faith, but a faith rooted in rational conviction. Truth is an illumination of the soul, an intuitive realisation, and it is termed 8216;Nam8217;. The contribution Guru Nanak made was in showing the new path of salvation was not a Karma Marg or Gyan Marg nor even a Bhakti Marg. It was a Nam Marg, a road to aesthetic idealism. Guru Nanak promoted and chronicled the power of the 8220;word8221;, the message to eternity from the Creator, who is the epitome of divine light and infinite grace. He is the dispenser and giver of all that is good, an emancipator of the faithful. Guru Nanak set out to awaken a very depressed, superstitious, demoralised and priest-ridden society. He was a strong critic of bigotry, orthodoxy, exploitation and discrimination. Equality for all formed the inner core of his prophetic message.

The Guru brought about a transformation of society and ensured not just social equality but the dignity of women. He elevated the foresaken segments of society, the marching columns of the dispossessed. He gave them the courage to rise up and create their own history.

The hymns of Guru Nanak, compiled in the Granth Sahib, aimed at removing the dichotomies of life and developing a new way of living. The Sikh religion as propounded by Guru Nanak is not imprisoned by the legacy of the past. It seizes the present, in order to march to the future along the path of glory and truth. That is why Guru Nanak is hailed as a new-comer.

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