As we celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, my mind is in awe of one of the greatest religious thinkers ever born in the subcontinent. Accredited with setting up a distinctive social and spiritual platform, his teachings are anchored in virtue, equality, goodness and love. ‘Phir uthi akhir sada touheed ki Punjab se, Hind ko ek mard-e-kamil ne jagaya khwab se (Again from the Punjab the call of monotheism arose, a perfect man roused India from slumber), said Allama Iqbal, the legendary Urdu poet in his praise of the founder of the fifth largest religion of the world.
Guru Nanak succeeded in awakening the masses, but half a millennium later, sadly the symptoms of relapse of the masses into superstition, intolerance and ritualism are hard to conceal. Ik Onkar, the oneness of universe and monotheism in its absoluteness, lay at the core of his philosophy. He attempted to connect man to God through the path of spirituality, thereby relegating organised religion to just another means of crowd control.
Fast-forward to the 21st century and one is dismayed at what remains of his message. The self-appointed ‘messengers of God’ have assumed the role of middlemen. As spirituality takes a backseat, religion has become an effective tool of dividing people and inciting hatred. It is deja vu, as dharma has once again ‘taken wings and flown away’, as the Guru had lamented seeing the state of affairs in the Punjab of the 16th century — ‘Kal kaati rajey kasai, dharam pankh ka ood rahiya’. Guru Nanak spent a lifetime trying to get the two faiths to live in harmony. ‘Na koi Hindu na Mussalman’ is arguably one of his first sermons. Ironically, his own land of five rivers has been partitioned beyond any scope of reconciliation. So deep has been the divide that one of the descendants of Mardana, lifelong companion of Guru Nanak, Rababi Ghulam Mohammad of Lahore, was once dissuaded from reciting kirtan because he professed a different faith. The outwardly appearance of Guru Nanak’s followers has taken precedence over the awakening of the inner being for self-actualisation, taking out the very soul from his teachings.
It is a paradox of sorts that the Guru’s final resting place is on the fault lines of a clash of ideologies — ‘Shama-e-haq se jo munawwar ho ye woh mehfil na thi, barish-e-rehmat hui lekin zameen qabil na thi’ (Perhaps this was not the appropriate assembly which would appreciate the lamp of truth, rain of mercy did fall but the land turned out to be barren). It is nonetheless heartening that the two regimes on either side of the Radcliffe divide are trying to make the celebrations a success. The Kartarpur corridor has given hope of actuating the Guru’s dream. But if his message is not really understood, this bridging of gaps between people will remain yet another case of superficial symbolism.