Guru Nanak and his legacy

Roopinder Singh

Bhai Gurdas said: “Guru Nanak dispelled darkness with his teachings, which illuminated the world.” In a time of darkness that has enveloped the world, let’s look at the founder of the Sikh religion. Guru Nanak’s teachings and his legacy have been explored by writers recently, triggered by the celebrations of his 550th birth anniversary. Indeed, we would have to go back five decades to the quin-centenary celebrations in 1969 to find a comparable volume of work on the Guru.

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The Language of the Adi Granth: Phonetic Transcription of the Entire Text
by Harjeet Singh Gill,  LG Publishers. Pages 1440. Rs 4,500

Harjeet Singh Gill’s The Language of the Adi Granth is a phonetic transcription of the entire text of Guru Granth Sahib. The famed linguist has used his intellectual arsenal to produce a book that allows a phonetic-knowing English-speaking person to read Gurbani. Being in consonance with the approved SGPC volume makes it more valuable. Over the years, instances of accurate enunciation of Gurbani have become rare. Now, help is available, in the form of this 1440-page book.

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The Cosmic Vision of Baba Nanak
by Harjeet Singh Gill, LG Publishers. Pages 667. Rs 3,500

Gill has also released a revised edition of his The Cosmic Vision of Baba Nanak. He gives us a detailed explanation of the Japji, the first and fundamental discourse of Sikhism. He has also given us the Janamsakhis about the Guru’s life in free verse, which makes the details of the Guru’s life and travels accessible in modern times, reduced as these are to bare essentials. He has translated virtually all the compositions of the Guru, and his earlier work (published in 2003) received much praise from scholars. The new 667-page volume is a revised version. This compilation also has delightful detours and his family’s contributions — his wife, the scholar Daniel Gill’s translation of the Japji in French, and illustrations by their children and as well as some family photographs.

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The First Sikh: The Life and Legacy of Guru Nanak
by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Penguin. Pages 264. Rs 699

An accessible style and a fresh perspective are the hallmarks of Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh’s biography of Guru Nanak. She is a feminist who has presented a rich account of the times of the Guru, his life and his teachings. Her father, the late Prof Harbans Singh, was editor-in-chief of the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and a noted scholar. She has spent most of her life in the US, as a student and an academic.

The sweep of the book is impressive — the Guru’s life, his teachings and legacy. Naturally, the author’s earlier works inform this one. She has trodden new ground, even as she remains rooted in tradition. No mean feat indeed!

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Guru Nanak’s Religious Pluralism and Sri Guru Granth Sahib
by Harbans Lal and Roshan Attrey, Guru Nanak Foundation. Pages 206. $20

Harbans Lal has devoted his life to understanding Gurbani even as he is a distinguished pharmacologist. He teamed up with Roshan Attrey, and Guru Nanak’s Religious Pluralism and Sri Guru Granth Sahib is the result of many years of work. The authors underline the pluralistic basis of the Sikh religion and stress on Guru Granth Sahib as the fount of Sikh thought and philosophy. They stress on the unique position of the bani in the scripture as the Guru, and how kirtan, or the recitation of Gurbani, is the way of “understanding and experiencing the sacred teachings of the Gurus”.

The authors discuss the Mool Mantra as the summum bonum of bani, and dwell on the benefits of its regular meditation. The stress is on Gurbani, rather than history, with the former taking precedence in any potential conflict. Readers of the book may visit the authors blog: https://seekingwisdomblog.wordpress.com.

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The Japji of Guru Nanak
by Rupinder S Brar Roli. Pages 168. Rs 1495

In The Japji of Guru Nanak, Rupinder S Brar, a medical doctor, takes a contemporary path to look at the literary aspects of Guru Nanak’s most popular bani. Presenting a context, he starts with a brief biography of the Guru, and explores Japji as literature and philosophy, between reason and faith. His translation follows, as does the interpretation of various khands.

The book is supported by the Smithsonian’s Sikh Heritage Project, which has published volumes of significance since it started in 2000. Brar is not a traditional scholar; however, he has been active as a teacher disseminating knowledge about Sikhism to children in the US, which has given him a refreshingly different perspective. Beautiful works of art from various collections add value to the volume.

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Guru Nanak’s Blessed Trail: The Sacred Sites Across Punjab
by Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu, Lonely Planet. Pages 176. Rs 699

The task of documenting the sacred sites Guru Nanak went to is a difficult one. Puneetinder Kaur Sidhu has undertaken it, supported by Lonely Planet, the SGPC and the Punjab government. The result is an informative guide, Guru Nanak’s Blessed Trail: The Sacred Sites Across Punjab. The author uses her skills as a travel writer to bring alive gurdwaras that mark the historic sites dedicated to the founder of the Sikh religion. Maps, illustrations, photographs and quotes from Gurbani add to the volume, which narrates the history of each featured site. This volume is both handy and useful.

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Guru Nanak and his Teachings for Humanity
by Harshindar Kaur and Gurpal Singh Satvic Books. Pages 148. Rs 1,995

A lavishly mounted bilingual coffee-table book, Guru Nanak and his Teachings for Humanity, is a devotees’ tribute to the Guru. Co-authors Harshindar Kaur and her husband Gurpal Singh are doctors — she has written in Punjabi, and he has given us the English version. Harshindar draws upon the Janamsakhi tradition and the works of her late father, Professor Pritam Singh, and grandfather, Professor Sahib Singh.

The authors take verses from Gurbani and use them to elucidate the Guru’s teachings on various aspects of life — our conduct, our goals, the environment, rights of the downtrodden, handling dissent, recognising a fool, being independent, human dignity, philanthropy in pithy kernels. The book has many photographs of the gurdwaras connected with the first Guru and is richly illustrated.

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Sikh Heritage: A History of Valour and Devotion
by Rishi Singh and Sondeep Shankar, Roli. Pages 216. Rs 2495

Rishi Singh’s academic credentials reflect in his Sikh Heritage: A History of Valour and Devotion. The canvas is wide, and his text pithy. In the chapter, Emergence of the Sikh Faith, he writes about the Gurus and their contribution. Harmandir Sahib has become the most prominent Sikh shrine, and it is only fitting that it gets a chapter to explore it.

The temporal seats of Sikh authority are the five takhts. By focusing on these and Sikh forts and fortresses, the author adds to our knowledge. The lavishly produced book has photographs by Sondeep Shankar, who has an extensive collection of pictures of Sikh monuments and artefacts. The index of important gurdwaras is a handy addition.

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Life and Legacy of Guru Nanak Dev ji
by Makhan Singh, Sikh Foundation. Pages 104. Rs 990

Makhan Singh’s Life and Legacy of Guru Nanak Dev ji is richly illustrated. He presents paintings by prominent artists, many of them specially commissioned, in this volume. Each painting has an extensive note on the facing page, in Gurmukhi and English, offering the context of the picture. The man behind the popular calendars of Punjab and Sindh Bank has now presented a coffee-table book to continue that legacy in a more permanent form.

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Guru Nanak Darshan
by Mehal Singh, Inderjit Singh Gogoani and AS Chamak. Khalsa College Charitable Society. Pages 156. Rs 3,000

The venerable Khalsa College, Amritsar, pooled considerable resources at its disposal to produce Guru Nanak Darshan. Conceptualised by educationists Mehal Singh, Inderjit Singh Gogoani and AS Chamak, the volume is visually rich. It uses paintings by Gurinderpal Singh, Harpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh and Davinder Singh to illustrate various stages of the life and significant events and interactions of Guru Nanak that we are familiar with through the Janamsakhi tradition. The bilingual text provides the context to each painting.

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The legacy of Guru Nanak inspires many to explore its varied facets and present them to the world. This is only to be expected. There are many who are keen to keep current with what is written about the founder of the Sikh faith, his successors and his followers.