Sikhs in the Eyes of Others
In the arena of human life, the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.
A Sikh with flowing beard is most beautiful and a Sikh with trimmed beard is most ugly. -Arnold
Author of World History; Churchill once said that English people owe a debt to Sikhs, and that the English People should redeem it.
Qazi Noor Mohd was compelled to admit that blessed are these Sikhs who (i) do not attack a person without weapon (ii) do not attack a fallen foe, and (iii) do not touch ornaments of any woman.
Sir Michael Edward said that Hari Mandar (Darbar Sahib) should not be considered as a building, as a visit to this shrine galvanizes soul and indicates the dedication of this living community.
Pearl S Buck, an American and Noble Prize winner said that while listening to Gurbani from Guru Granth Sahib, she is automatically transformed.
While addressing people of western countries, Macauliffe said, "I have seen such a religion in east which is easy to comprehend where idol worship, meaningless ritualism, caste or creed, widow's sacrifice at the burning pyre of her husband's body, enslaving of women, use of spirit or tobacco, killing of girls or speaking ill of others is strictly prohibited. This religion forbids pilgrimage of rivers like Hindu's faith, recognition of any kind act, justice, humanity, truth, honest living and all other moral & social traits are emphasized.
Dr Sir Mohd Iqbal said, "Japjee is recited by that Guru Nanak who has understood Islamic faith better than any learned Muslim." * J-12/76Rajouri Garden , New Delhi
"If ever the humanity seeks humility like Jesus, overflowing wisdom of Buddha, glowing face like Shri Krishna, maryada of Ram ji then they should see the multidimensional qualities of Guru Gobind Singh", Sadhu Vaswani.
Cunningham said that Guru Gobind Singh created Khalsa who had the courage to challenge lions in their dens.
"Sahibzadas who were bricked alive in a concrete wall will be reckoned as those who signed the document of freedom with their blood", said Lala Daulat Rai.
On an enquiry by Stalin that how willIndia
"Insaf Kare jo zamana yakeen hai keh degn keh dega key Gobind ka sani naheen hal, kartar ki sogand wa namak ki kasam hai, Jitni bhi ho Gobind ki tareef woh kam hai".
Yakub ko USAF se bichhamey ne roliny, sabar koi kum aisa rasool hai Aiya, Katwa Ke pissaar charon, ek ansu bhi nahi bhaya. Rutba Guru Gobind Singh ne rishiyon ka bharaya."
The above lines were uttered by Jogi Allah Yar Khan at a time when some bigoted Muslims asked him to stop the praise of Guru and infidels and swear that he will desist in future. He did swear but in the above lines.
It is my belief that onlyIndia
- Dr Kust F Leideck
_ Sikh Review, Dec 1964)
i. Nanak found salvation in good deeds & taught fundamental principles of Unity of God and brotherhood ofMan.
ii. I would have wept to witness such fearful slaughter (General Sir Charles Gough, C-in-C of First Anglo Sikh War in 1846) of brave soldiers of Sikhs but for the fact that my country's good demanded this (Gough's words to Sir Robert Peel, British Prime Minister).
A Sikh with flowing beard is most beautiful and a Sikh with trimmed beard is most ugly. -
Author of World History; Churchill once said that English people owe a debt to Sikhs, and that the English People should redeem it.
Qazi Noor Mohd was compelled to admit that blessed are these Sikhs who (i) do not attack a person without weapon (ii) do not attack a fallen foe, and (iii) do not touch ornaments of any woman.
Sir Michael Edward said that Hari Mandar (Darbar Sahib) should not be considered as a building, as a visit to this shrine galvanizes soul and indicates the dedication of this living community.
Pearl S Buck, an American and Noble Prize winner said that while listening to Gurbani from Guru Granth Sahib, she is automatically transformed.
While addressing people of western countries, Macauliffe said, "I have seen such a religion in east which is easy to comprehend where idol worship, meaningless ritualism, caste or creed, widow's sacrifice at the burning pyre of her husband's body, enslaving of women, use of spirit or tobacco, killing of girls or speaking ill of others is strictly prohibited. This religion forbids pilgrimage of rivers like Hindu's faith, recognition of any kind act, justice, humanity, truth, honest living and all other moral & social traits are emphasized.
Dr Sir Mohd Iqbal said, "Japjee is recited by that Guru Nanak who has understood Islamic faith better than any learned Muslim." * J-12/76
"If ever the humanity seeks humility like Jesus, overflowing wisdom of Buddha, glowing face like Shri Krishna, maryada of Ram ji then they should see the multidimensional qualities of Guru Gobind Singh", Sadhu Vaswani.
Cunningham said that Guru Gobind Singh created Khalsa who had the courage to challenge lions in their dens.
"Sahibzadas who were bricked alive in a concrete wall will be reckoned as those who signed the document of freedom with their blood", said Lala Daulat Rai.
On an enquiry by Stalin that how will
"Insaf Kare jo zamana yakeen hai keh degn keh dega key Gobind ka sani naheen hal, kartar ki sogand wa namak ki kasam hai, Jitni bhi ho Gobind ki tareef woh kam hai".
Yakub ko USAF se bichhamey ne roliny, sabar koi kum aisa rasool hai Aiya, Katwa Ke pissaar charon, ek ansu bhi nahi bhaya. Rutba Guru Gobind Singh ne rishiyon ka bharaya."
The above lines were uttered by Jogi Allah Yar Khan at a time when some bigoted Muslims asked him to stop the praise of Guru and infidels and swear that he will desist in future. He did swear but in the above lines.
It is my belief that only
- Dr Kust F Leideck
_ Sikh Review, Dec 1964)
i. Nanak found salvation in good deeds & taught fundamental principles of Unity of God and brotherhood of
ii. I would have wept to witness such fearful slaughter (General Sir Charles Gough, C-in-C of First Anglo Sikh War in 1846) of brave soldiers of Sikhs but for the fact that my country's good demanded this (Gough's words to Sir Robert Peel, British Prime Minister).
Poch Sabri said -
"Dhende desh da jadon saham nnhi see ad on pita es desh toh warya main"
"Mata Gujri Sarhind de vich guzori, saman gujary'a jeweey gujarya main"
"Char puter sun bakhshe parmatma ne, jora jora kar ke oh we warya main"
Mainu mat shehnshah tusi kaho Sikho, kishtan which tah karza utarya main".
Abul Turani, a confidant of Aurangzeb was sent to Anandpur to report the activities of Guru Gobind Singh. He reported about Visakhi of 1699 as under:-
"... then Guru Gobind Singh accepted Amrit from the five beloved and his name was changed from Gobind Rai to Gobind Singh. Thousands took Amrit on that day was also pulled by some invisible power and requested tor Ab-e-hayat (Amrit) Guru ji in his bounties patted me on my back and administered Amrit to me and in this way my sins of past lives were wiped. My name was changed to Ajmer Singh. He further said, "Do not oppose a living God on earth. If you do not act on my advice, you and your domain will perish soon". This Ajmer Singh was martyred at Chamkaur on 22-12-1704.
On l0th January, 1761, Abdali routed Marhatta in third battle of Panipat though Abdali had only 15,000 men under his command against 150,000 Marathas and Jats. On 5.2.1762, he took roving Khalsa by surprise and killed about 25,000 Sikhs at Kup near Malerkotla (Wada Ghalu Ghara) He stayed in Punjab till the end of the year to see the effect of this victory over Sikhs. While Marathas took ten years to recover their loss only partially, Sikhs took only ten weeks to make up their losses fully and regained the spirit of defiance. They rose like suppressed flame with greater vigour and recaptured much of looted luggage, liberated all women and caught about 2,000 Pathans to clean the Sarovar at Hari Mandar. Sikhs were taught to remain united and fight back against adverse situation. They used the inspiring words in daily ardas, "Jahan jahan Khalsaji tahan tahan rachhya riyat"
It was this spirit which worked wonders against all odds which compelled Zakeria Khan to say that their abode was the saddle of their horses. No wonder, therefore, that they rose from the crumbling Mughal Empire and merciless foreign invaders to unassailable position by virtue of the tact that they were borne amidst tempest & fire, storm & hail, vicissitudes and privations, effacement and sacrifices. The people brought up in these conditions were bound to exhibit a hundred quality as they were like hardened steel in fire. From Babar to Alamgir, history oscillated from torture to tyranny, and foundation of tyranny are basically weak and are bound to collapse.
Dr Gokal Chand Narang said that threats, prosecution, fine, imprisonment, deportation, torture, execution, outlawry & massacre, all these weapons were employed one by one against the builder of the nation (Sikhs) who were destined to wrest the scepter of thePunjab from the hands of Mughals.
History of these brave people began at Talwandi in 1469 and it was sunlit in the azure skies of Anandpur. In many ways saga of historic deeds brought out the best in the Khalsa created in 1699 which ultimately culminated in capture ofLahore
In the end, we should do some introspection whether we can imbibe our glorious past. If so, we should not divide ourselves for the sake of power and pelf and for personal aggrandizement and retaliatory muscles. We are aware of the selfless sacrifices of our ancestors and should try to live upto their high ideals: Simple living and high thinking (mun neewan mut uchhi), work for honest and truthful life (sache ooper sub ko ucha sacha achaar), i.e., higher than truth is truthful living and manas ki jat sabhay eko pehchanbo. Otherwise our glorious past will remain confined to the pages of history.
"Dhende desh da jadon saham nnhi see ad on pita es desh toh warya main"
"Mata Gujri Sarhind de vich guzori, saman gujary'a jeweey gujarya main"
"Char puter sun bakhshe parmatma ne, jora jora kar ke oh we warya main"
Mainu mat shehnshah tusi kaho Sikho, kishtan which tah karza utarya main".
Abul Turani, a confidant of Aurangzeb was sent to Anandpur to report the activities of Guru Gobind Singh. He reported about Visakhi of 1699 as under:-
"... then Guru Gobind Singh accepted Amrit from the five beloved and his name was changed from Gobind Rai to Gobind Singh. Thousands took Amrit on that day was also pulled by some invisible power and requested tor Ab-e-hayat (Amrit) Guru ji in his bounties patted me on my back and administered Amrit to me and in this way my sins of past lives were wiped. My name was changed to Ajmer Singh. He further said, "Do not oppose a living God on earth. If you do not act on my advice, you and your domain will perish soon". This Ajmer Singh was martyred at Chamkaur on 22-12-1704.
On l0th January, 1761, Abdali routed Marhatta in third battle of Panipat though Abdali had only 15,000 men under his command against 150,000 Marathas and Jats. On 5.2.1762, he took roving Khalsa by surprise and killed about 25,000 Sikhs at Kup near Malerkotla (Wada Ghalu Ghara) He stayed in Punjab till the end of the year to see the effect of this victory over Sikhs. While Marathas took ten years to recover their loss only partially, Sikhs took only ten weeks to make up their losses fully and regained the spirit of defiance. They rose like suppressed flame with greater vigour and recaptured much of looted luggage, liberated all women and caught about 2,000 Pathans to clean the Sarovar at Hari Mandar. Sikhs were taught to remain united and fight back against adverse situation. They used the inspiring words in daily ardas, "Jahan jahan Khalsaji tahan tahan rachhya riyat"
It was this spirit which worked wonders against all odds which compelled Zakeria Khan to say that their abode was the saddle of their horses. No wonder, therefore, that they rose from the crumbling Mughal Empire and merciless foreign invaders to unassailable position by virtue of the tact that they were borne amidst tempest & fire, storm & hail, vicissitudes and privations, effacement and sacrifices. The people brought up in these conditions were bound to exhibit a hundred quality as they were like hardened steel in fire. From Babar to Alamgir, history oscillated from torture to tyranny, and foundation of tyranny are basically weak and are bound to collapse.
Dr Gokal Chand Narang said that threats, prosecution, fine, imprisonment, deportation, torture, execution, outlawry & massacre, all these weapons were employed one by one against the builder of the nation (Sikhs) who were destined to wrest the scepter of the
History of these brave people began at Talwandi in 1469 and it was sunlit in the azure skies of Anandpur. In many ways saga of historic deeds brought out the best in the Khalsa created in 1699 which ultimately culminated in capture of
In the end, we should do some introspection whether we can imbibe our glorious past. If so, we should not divide ourselves for the sake of power and pelf and for personal aggrandizement and retaliatory muscles. We are aware of the selfless sacrifices of our ancestors and should try to live upto their high ideals: Simple living and high thinking (mun neewan mut uchhi), work for honest and truthful life (sache ooper sub ko ucha sacha achaar), i.e., higher than truth is truthful living and manas ki jat sabhay eko pehchanbo. Otherwise our glorious past will remain confined to the pages of history.
So long as we live in the world,
We should keep on communicating
With our fellow-beings.
Right till the hour, we are granted life.
_ Guru Granth Sahib, p. 661
PROUD TO BE A SIKH
WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA
WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH