For Whom the Conch Blows
Death of a Lion:Birth of Renaissance
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" Every one of you will have to be a Govind Singh,
if you want to do good to your country."
--Swami Vivemkananda
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Among those who shone as heroes of India's culture , the foremost was Guru Govind Singh.
Undeterred by the tortures that forced him to shed his own blood and the blood of his beloved, deserted by those for whom he had undergone such torture, he did not utter a word of blame against his compatriots.
Rarely do we come across, in the annals of human history, such great patriot ... one who was a yogi, a poet, a social reformer and a martyr who fought till the end to rejuvenate dharma and emancipate his motherland..
THE TEACHINGS OF GURU NANAK
The Sikh Panth was founded over 500 years ago by Guru Nanak to counter the inadequacies in the two prevailing religions of the time.
He denounced orthodox practitioners of exclusive religion and placed emphasis on intercommunity relationships based on an integral and cosmic approach to religion.
His teachings were a synthesis of basic religious traditions such as reincarnation, doctrine of Karma, oneness of God and congregation in worship.
Out of Nanak's teachings came an enduring religious community drawing the egalitarian aspects from existing religions.
Nanak's reformative zeal arose out of the prevailing of religious exclusiveness on the one hand and the integral teachings of Sufi and Bhakti saints on the other.
It was mostly from the teachings of Muslim Sufis (notably Sheikh Farid) and Sant Kabir that Guru Nanak drew his inspiration. His hymns are drawn from different sources.
He preached monotheism and quiet devotion to God.
He promoted equality amongst all, discarded excessive rituals and superstitions, and preached simple monism.
THE GURUS WHO FOLLOWED NANAK
Guru Nanak was succeeded by nine other Gurus.
Guru Arjan (1563-1606) the fifth Guru became an important religious and political leader of the time.
He was socially very close to Miyan Mir.
THE HOLY GRANTH
Guru Arjun , compiled the original "Granth Sahib" known as Adi GRanth.
The Adi Granth teaches: "There is one God, Eternal Truth is His Name; Maker of all things, fearing nothing and at enmity with nothing; Timeless is His Image; Not begotten, being of His own being; By the grace of the Guru made known to men. As he was in the beginning, the Truth; So throughout the ages He ever has been, the Truth; So even now he is the Truth Immanent; So for ever and ever, He shall be Truth Eternal."
The tenth Guru, Govind Singh, gave the Holy Granth its final form. This is known as the "Dasam Granth".
Guru Govind Singh established Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the eleventh and eternal Guru for the Sikh Panth.
GURU TEGH BAHADUR
Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth nguru, with a view to instilling courage and confidence among the Kashmiris to withstand tyranny and threats, challenged the Moghal emperor.
The great Guru preferred to have his head roll down rather than sacrifice faith.
GURU GOVIND SINGH
Guru Govind Singh was the son of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
Born at Patna on Maargashtra Shukla Saptami, (24 December 1666) he became the tenth and the final Guru in the holy tradition initiated by Guru Nanak.
Govind was just a boy of nine years when his father left this world.
On coming to know of his father's terrible end he exclaimed: "He saved with his blood the honor of Dharma."
THE MISSION
Govind was convinced that he too was born to protect Dharma.
He began preparing himself to play that historic role.
The Panch Pyaare, the five self-sacrificing heros of the Khalsa whom he chose through a fiery ordeal on Baisakhi in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib were those drawn from distant parts of the country, from Bidar in Karnataka, Jagannaath Puri in Orissa, Dwarka in Gujarat to Delhi and Lahore.
At the time of creating the order of the Khalsa ( the pure ones ), the five persons who offered themselves for being beheaded as a gesture of self-sacrifice and were declared by the Guru to be the Panj Pyaras ( the five dear ones ) included persons from various castes.
In 1699 Guru Govind Singh introduced the Initiation Rite, drinking sugared water ( "amrit" ), and abolished caste distinctions.
Sikhs were to be distinguished by their name, always with the suffix Singh (lion), and by the five K's: unshorn hair and beard ("kes"), comb in the hair ("kangh"), steel bangle on the right wrist ("kara"), short drawers ("kacch") and steel dagger ("kirpan").
In the tradition of Lord Rama, Guru Govind Singh performed a year-long Chandi Yagna at Naina Devi (the shrine of the Goddess of beautiful eyes) overlooking Anandpur Sahib before launching upon his mission.
HIS VISION
His vision encompassed the whole of Bharat, and his love embraced within itself the lowliest in the society.
God is the Supreme Guru, "Satnam, Wah Guru"
Nanak had no other Guru but God.
His followers, however, reach God through Guru Nanak and the other nine.
The Ten Gurus are reverenced because God spoke through them.
When the line of human gurus ended, the God-given "Word of the Guru", remained embodied in the Granth and the temporal function of the Guru was bestowed on the Khalsa.
MISSION CONCEPT
The first is the concept of Sant-Sepahi (saint soldier).
The second is the creation of the Khalsa uniform
The third concept is that ultimate authority vested in the will of the five beloved ones. Even the Guru had to bow before them.
The fourth and last concept is in the aphorism "Raj Karega Khalsa.". This is as an interpretation of "Satyameva Jayate" .
THE SPADE WORK
The Guru bore all the cruel blows of fate with an invincible will and fortitude and pressed forward in rousing and organising his countrymen in the cause of Swadeshi and Swadharma.
He moved from the north to the southern parts of the country contacting and trying to string together the various patriotic forces.
Finally, in the south he found a great warrior turned into a yogi, Maadhav Daas by name, and charged him with the task of proceeding to Punjab to lead the struggle there. Maadhav Daas, known in history as Banda Bairaagi, abided by the Guru's command and carried out the war of liberation with such remarkable ability and was crowned with such rare success - finally falling a martyr to the cause in the true tradition of the Gurus - that even to this day he stands as a glowing testimony to the magic touch of Guru Govind Singh.
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The tone of the historic epistle which the Guru wrote some time later to Aurangzeb is evidence of the majestic equanimity and the supremely high moral posture he maintained even in the wake of such dire calamities.
" What if you have killed my four sons? By putting out a few sparks, you cannot quench the blazing fire.
My protection is God than Whom there is no one higher."
When his two elderly sons, Ajit and Jujhar whom he had sent to lead the battle laid down their lives before his very eyes, thus did the Guru offer prayers to God :
"O Lord, I have surrendered to Thee what belonged to Thee."
Later, when his two younger sons Jorawar and Phatte were bricked alive for refusing to succumb and the heartrending news reached the Guru, he simply lifted his hands in prayer and uttered the words : "These two, Thy trust, I have rendered unto Thee."
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Govind Singh wrote that in his past life, he was a Rishi who performed great penances at Hemkunt. He has given a graphic description of a place in the Himalayas ensconced by twelve mountain peaks. It was here that he was ordained by the Param Purukh to take another birth for the specific purpose of uprooting adharma.
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Though engaged in a very busy life, Guru Govind was a great patron of literature.
The Guru himself wrote in all genres of poetry, though his forte was martial poetry.
He wrote in his auto-biographical poem Bichitra Natak that he was commanded by God to take birth to uphold the true path of Dharma.
His writings, include — ' Vichitra Natak ', ' Akal-Stuti ', ' Chaubis Avatar Katha ' out of which the ' Ramavatar-Katha ' is known as ' Govind Ramayana ', are parts of a collection known as Dasham Granth.
Where necessary he also made innovations. His 'Ramavtar` and 'Krishnavtar` are examples.
He assimilated the spiritual truths enshrined in the Vedas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Geeta.
He became adept in the Persian, Arabic, and Punjabi languages, just as in Sanskrit and Hindi, and was a peerless poet as well.
His great passion was to get the entire Hindu mythology translated into Braj Bhasa, the lingua franca of those times
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According to Guru Govind Singh, Guru Nanak is a direct descendant of Kush, the elder son of Rama, and Guru Govind Singh himself is a direct descendant of Lava, the younger son of Rama.
As an archer he was unequalled in the whole of Hindusthan.
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As his end was approaching, Guru Govind Singh was living in Nanded in Maharashtra.
Two Pathans betraying his trust attacked him and caused a fatal wound. He passed away on 7 October 1708.
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The spirit of oneness and harmony which Guru govind Singh infused in society made him a social reformer of the highest order.
Such heroes make mankind indebted to them for they serve the best interests of humanity.
Sikhism propagates the message of Universal Brotherhood. It asks his community members to serve: (Seva), Share their meals: (Pangat) and Pray together: (Sangat)
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Such was the respect for the Sikh Gurus that Hindus would make their eldest sons Sikhs. The eldest son was the defender of the country, the Dharma, and the family.
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Guru Govind Singh awakened the spirit of heroism in the brave fighters for spiritual freedom .
He was at once a great poet, scholar and a brave soldier on the one hand and a saint who established and protected Dharma through his conduct and character on the other.
May Guru Govind Singh's memory ever persist on this earth.
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May God grant us the will to do everything in our power to uplift the physical, emotional and spiritual state of all, irrespective of race or sect, caste or creed.
Let us always pray for national unity and international brotherhood.
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( The clarion call of "Sat Sri Akal." was given by Guru Govind Rai. It is a synoptic capsule of Vedanta expressing that the Timeless has two manifestations viz Shiva and Shakti. Adding up with its first part, "Jo Bole So Nihal", it means that anyone who speaks of such a Timeless One becomes eternally blessed and remains fearless in face of death. )
(It is alsdo important to remember that Sufi saint Miyan Mir was requested to lay the foundation stone of Golden temple.)
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The Source of India's Dynamism
PRAANAAYAAMA
India's Contribution to Evolution's Progress
The DYNAMO that supplies VITAL ENERGY
for self-evolution during this maanava janma
Hiranyagarbha is the source of Pranashakthi in the
universe.
This Supreme Power, also known as Prana, the
ultimate source of all energy operating in the
universe, is also the source of the Energy of Life in
every living organism and the ultimate source of
mental energy and of the psychic energies of the occult
universe .
The dynamics of Prana, when operating in psychic
and material life, can be controlled devotedly to some
extent and wisely activated and harnessed to provide
more life energy to living organisms and to provide
the impetus for human evolution in every janma.
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Prana and the human mind are closedly related and
influence each other.
The Moon, revolving around the Earth, is also linked
to these psychic forces: ( "chandramaa manaso jaatah" ).
That is one of the reasons why, in the spiritual field,
the Science of Astrology plays a great part in guiding
human activity especially for sadhakas who adopt
Karma Yoga to eradicate, at least to some extent,
by its practice, the samskaras that have
accumulated during past janmas.
The Science and Art of Praanaayaama, guided by
Jyothisha Shaastra, will enable the Karma Yoga
sadhaka to achieve the objective of dissolving
his accumulated samskaras while taking part,
at the same time, in useful service to sadhus
in particular and to aspiring humanity in general.
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This is the secret of Nishkaama Karma Yoga
which, during its thousands of years of practice
by the priesthood, the royalty, the gentry and the
populace of India, has made India the greatest
operational living heritage site of the Spiritual
World - a dynamic spiritual store-house.
The altrustic approach, that Pranayama provides,
has prevented India's ancient civilization from
crumbling into the dust of history and archaeology.
But today, no one can predict what the future holds
for India as the Spiritual Centre of the world.
It is possible that destiny may hand over the
responsibility of leading the spiritual evolution of
man, to some other region of the world
that is more receptive to God's Grace and to
the Prana Shakthi ( the Holy Mother, Paraashakthi,
the Holy Spirit, the Pneuma, the Kalma, the elan vitae).
This can happen in case India fails in its God-given
responsibility of nourishing and protecting
Dharma and constantly revealing the Sathya
of which it has been a repository so far.
Truth cannot remain hidden or monopolised
for long by vested interest.
Evolution demands the exposition of Dharma
and Truth for the guidance of all.
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hiranmayena paatrena
sathyasyaabhihitam mukham. . .
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shanno mithrah sham varunah
shanno bhavathyaryamaa
shanna indro brihaspathih
shanno vishnururukramah
namo bhrahmane namasthe vaayo
twameva prathyaksham brahmaasi... *
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