Spirit of the Sikh

Religions, 2021

It was quite an exciting moment when the Religions Editorial Office reached out to me to be a guest editor of a Special Issue (SI) on a broad theme of “Exploring Sikh Traditions and Heritage” for the celebrated Open Access Online Journal, Religions [...]

Edited by two leading scholars, this compendium is undoubtedly a landmark, no less in the field of Sikh studies than of Punjab studies. But just how do the two disciplines relate to one another? That they intertwine is plain to see, since the former is intrinsically a component of latter. But if that is so, just how is that intertwinement best understood? Is it the case that Sikh studies is so unique that it deserves to be filleted out into a singular disciplinary strand in its own right, running in parallel to, but independent of, strands labelled (Punjabi) Hindu studies, (Punjabi) Muslim studies and so forth? Moreover is it the case that each of those strands can be boiled down to an orthodox essence? Or are they all just as extensively internally multistranded themselves? But if so, just how and why have clashes between these perspectives arisen? Are they of ancient origin, or is it the case that the current search for religious purity is a thoroughly modern phenomenonnamely an egregious outcome of ideological and political disputes which emerged in the colonial era, and which have become even more vigorous in post-colonial times, thereby undermining the integrity of Punjab's longestablished condition of religious and socio-cultural plurality?

The Sikh Review, 2023

My Article "GURU NANAK: A Pioneer of Social, Political & Spiritual Revolution in India" appears on pages 29-36.

2005

This thesis is a preliminary excursion analyzing narrative modes in janamsakhi literature of the Sikh tradition as a putative site of proselytization. Using a semiological methodology in combination with the writings of theorists on communication and reception of texts, I argue that reception of the sakhi "The Massacre of Saidpur" as found in Janamsakhi Sri Guru Nanak Dev (a critical edition of the B40 manuscript by Piar Singh) was meant to lead to emulatory orders of action. This sakhi depicts a meeting between the first Mughal ruler, Babar, and the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak. The story ends with Babar becoming a follower of Guru Nanak. By contextualizing this sakhi during the period of its production in the eighteenth century, I argue that traditionally held distinctions between Khalsa and nonKhalsa Sikhs are overdetermined. Indeed, the existence of these categories may have enabled a process of conversion. Furthermore, I will examine the B40's colophon for the cultural modes and meanings that it reveals in regards to the Sikh panth's historical-cultural situation during the eighteenth century. Finally, I argue that the sakhi "The Massacre of Saidpur" has embedded within its narrative structure an implicit structure for the process of conversion that was placed there in order to signal to the audience the need for mimesis of Babar's actions. In this manner the text functions as a site of rhetoric for conversion. It is my assertion that applying theories of reception and reading elaborates the historical and cultural situation of the Sikh panth during the eighteenth century. Such an endeavor enables the 'writing-in' of cultural meanings into the metanarrative of this time in Sikh history.

This article is based on excerpts from the Spirit of the Sikh written by Professor Puran Singh in 1920's and published by Punjabi University Patiala in two volumes during 1982. Puran Singh was a great scientist, mystic poet, and a visionary and interpreter of the Sikh cultural consciousness. This article reflects the personal views of the great Sikh scholar which seem to be relevant for understanding Sikhism and the geopolitical aspirations of the Sikhs.

Sikh Doctrine, 2021

Who is rightful to unveil the unknown and obscure mysteries of Revelations of any Scripture of the world-religions united with conduct of Gurus/Prophets or some others? At very initial stage of this review of "Good-Governance" I give here a citation from the world famous book "The Bezels of Wisdom" (Fusus al-hikam) by Ibn al-'Arabi to make visible the secret about this mystery who is rightful and who is not to make justice with the Revelations of any scripture of a religion in oral or written efforts : It is known that when the Scriptures speak of the Reality they speak in a way that yields to the generality of men the immediately apparent meaning. The elite, on the other hand, understand all the meanings inherent in that utterance, in whatever terms it is expressed.(The Wisdom Of Exaltation In The Word Of Noah). But the paper to be written on "A Perspective from the Sikh Doctrines" and also in "Good-Governance" is in my share as a very humble Sikh of Guru Sahib. Therefore I will try to fulfill the conditions of the demand from academia.edu with the shelter of our Sikh geniuses close together with others at suitable sequences. Sikh Scripture is entitled in thirty one Ragas/ Melodies, but other whole Scriptures are entitled in chapters written in different languages, which are the tongues of small or vast tribes etc. But melody is the common tongue of whole universe and its length and breadth is spread from "mysterious subterranean and sub aquatic" to "the signs of the horizons". Our great and enlightened genius Puran Singh had raised a serious question upon any even elite sages how to possess and elaborate the mysteries of this Scripture? In his own written words in his book "The Spirit Born People" on an article on hymn of "Sukhmani" (the treasure of gemlike heavenly tranquility) of Guru Arjan Sahib : "It is music and it requires music in us to dare approach it." But what type of music is required here? Is it similar to Indian sacred vocal and instrumental music or some other. When Khalsa was illuminated in its visible shape from its invisible journey from Guru Nanak Sahib up to the stage of tenth Guru Gobind Singh Ji, with his sword under heavenly command of Hukam/Will at that auspicious moment of history, the terrestrial "self" of Panj Pearayas was assimilated in "Divine Self" of heavenly brightness. Similarly the Ragas/ Melodies of Gurbani are also emancipated from previous tendencies of inclinations of terrestrial senses. But still "to dare approach" to elaborate the mysteries of Gurbani even this above "magdalene" music is still not sufficient to make justice to unveil its mysteries of Gurbanimelodies. Then what type of melody of sublimation is required here? We again give the citation of Prof. Puran Singh from his written article in brief of "Guru Nanak's Rabab" holding very subtle and vast untouched mysteries behind it till now : The revival of Sikhism in the modern times will be the restoration of the music of Guru Nanak's rebec to the audience of the whole world. The instrumental and vocal music which all the world appreciates and which those who do not appreciate are, according to the poet Shakespeare, only fit for treason and stratagem, is only a means to the end. It is better than noise, but it's harmony is limited in seven tunes only. The Sikh life will have to carry with it is a very high perfection in the art of music, both instrumental and vocal, but, unlike others, it will also have to rise above its perfections in the arts fed by human limitations. There is a music higher and sweeter and ampler and nobler by far than the art music, Guru Nanak's Music of the Soul. A glimpse of the sweet harmony of that music may be caught in the non-musical ness entering which the musician, the master off all tunes, goes out of tune, knowing not whither goes his tune and whither goes he himself. The same glimpse can be caught in the madness of Chaitanya and Miran Bai.

During the reform movements instigated under British colonialism , Sikh identity and tradition were re-framed according to various foreign hierarchies of ascent, transcendence, and separation. Undergirding this colonial discourse lay the distinction between animality and humanity, such that the reformation split the animal body from the rational mind in the creation of Sikh-ism as an Indic mimete of a Christian-type monotheism. This hierarchical "verticality" overlooked the temporal and horizontal tenor of Sikh scripture wherein the body is the site of socio-religious praxis. It is argued that the hermeneutic task now demands a recovery of the suppressed "pantheistic" or horizontal dimension in Sikh scripture. In such a task, an uncanny resemblance arises between how European philosophers describe the animal's difference (from the human) and how the Sikh Gurūs describe the saint's difference (from the human), such that the Sikh's embracing of the world could be more aptly described as an animal sublime. The figure of the animal thus serves as an intriguing node about which the uniqueness of the Sikh mystical body can be re-read, while at the same time revealing an unblinking critique of the modern Western subject. By speaking in a postcolonial, postorientalist, and posthumanist voice, the Sikh mystical body resonates with and probes further the subversive voices internal to modern Western discourse (here depicted primarily by Friedrich Nietzsche's Übermensch). for reading earlier drafts of this article, and making many helpful suggestions. I must also thank the reviewers and the editor of the JAAR for their very supportive and critically illuminating comments-all remaining errors are mine.

Five Myths: Musings on the Sikh Condition, 2006

There are several myths surrounding the life and times of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. This essay goes through the five key misconceptions and provides detailed references to support the arguments.