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Sikh Research and Education Center: Articles on Sri Dasam Granth Sahib:

Who are the Enemies to Fight with and Kill

By intentionally misinterpreting the Writings of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Jee in Sri Dasam Granth, which are the metaphorical writings of the Guru, twisting them, elaborating them from their own vicious imagination to prove their extreme ridiculous nature, Gurbaksh Singh Kala Afghana and other zealots of IOSS have painted the Guru as the most degraded and meanest person. Surely all this not without a most sinister motive to bring an end of GURMAT. They have adopted the methods, which the worst of the enemies of Gurmat, hitherto could not do; being the insiders, are conveniently stabbing in the back. The novel method adopted is that they are not criticizing the Guru, but Dasam Granth, which they state is not by the Guru. By doing away with Sri Dasam Granth, they have in view, it will be the end of PAHUL OF THE DOUUBLE EDGED SWORD � THE INITIATION CEREMONY OF SIKHS, AND ALSO THE DAILY ARDAS (PRAYER) OF ALL SIKHS, RECITING �PRITHAM BHAGAUTI SIMAR KAI GURU NANAK LAYE DHIAEY-----. (WORD BHAGAUTI IS ABHOR TO THEM) THUS THERE WILL BE END OF GURMAT OR (SIKHISM or KHALSAISM).

There are two verses in Chapter 6 of Bichitar Natak, verses 6 and 7 as Sri Akal Purkh Bach Eis Keet Priti. �When I first created the Universe, I ceated monsters and tyrants, who caused miseries to people. They got intoxcated with their powers, and they did not care for the Supreme Reality, their very source of life in them. Then I immediately caused their end, and then I sent saintly persons. They too, got proud of their piety and proclaimed themselves as the Supreme Beings.�

The implications of these two verses have been explained in detail by this writer in Serial 4 already. All religions mention this fact as stated in the above two verses; in Veda and Purans and in the West. Right from the beginning of the world, HARNAKASHAP WAS CREATED AND OTHER DEMONS; SRI PREHLAD WAS BORN AS SON OF THE GREAT DEMON; GOD APPEARED AS MAN-LION AVTAR (NARSING) TO BRING AN IMMEDIATE END OF THE GREAT DEMON. This was what God referring to. In Rama and Krishna Avtars, their whole life was involved in fighting with the Demons (Asur); Ravan and Kamsa were great Demons, killed through Rama and Krishna Avtars. Now see, how Kala Afghana twists and makes fun of these writings, thereby Guru Gobind Singh Jee.

They raised the following questions �

Q. Why did God make the demons in the first instance?
Answer � In the same way God created a monster like Kala Afghana, who are much more serious monsters and extremely dangerous persons. Also please read their Most Silly allied questions raised, and made fun of God�s doings.; such as God was surprised at His doings. They state: Was God so weak that He felt threatened by the demons, and killed them out of fear? Did God have no farsight of the demons doings? Was God so desperate to be worshipped (egocentric) that he had to implore the Guru to help him? (It be noted that the verses relate to beginning of the world thousands and millions of years earlier, and these critics are alleging that God is imploring the Guru to help Him!! Could there be greater stupidity, which they have exhibited). They further state: If no body worshipped God, what did the Guru do to become God�s favourite? According to Natak the Guru spent a long time at Hem Kunt and worshipped very hard there Maha Kaal Kaalka, some power! (Totally false, prove their total ignorance, and hatred only). God complained to the Guru that no body worshipped Him � only gods were worshipped? (Totally false, as the creation of Demons was thousands and millions of years ago � how does the Guru�s come in. these outbursts only their hatred. Simply makng mockery of Gurbani). They further state that there is a big contradiction in this story of God�s version.

They draw the following CONCLUSIONS-

God made a big mistake of creating the demons, then gods, God admits His mistake. (This is their imagination, ridicule of Gurbani and God and the Guru. All through ages God has been creating monster, evil persons, and good ones). This proves God is not Perfect, and He is fallible. (Even in this age He has created more of evil persons, tyrants and oppressors) God can have His rivals born, who can be a big threat to Him. God is vulnerable and helpless. God is jealous, revengeful and and furious. God is really dying to be worshipped (An extreme insult of God!) . He is telling His miserable story to the Guru, and begging Him to go to Earth and promote Him among the people so He may be worshipped (These critics do not consider that thousands and millions of years have passed to the said creation of the Demons). Both demons and gods had betrayed Him. GURU NANAK AND SUCCEEDING EIGHT GURUS DID NOT SPREAD THE WORD OF GOD, AND THEY TOO BETRAYED GOD. ALSO, ALL THE BHAGATS OF ADI GURU GRANTH SIMILARLY WERE DISLOYAL TO GOD.
(Where God has stated so. Guru Gobind Singh hailed the advent of Sri Guru Nanak Dev in Chapter 6 of Bichitar Natak itself. He also praised the Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur as Unique in the annals of history of Man, also got prepared the new recension of Guru Granth, including the Compositions of Guru Tegh Bahadur). Please also read Serial 4 already issued .

WILL THE READERS GO DEEPLY INTO THE ABOVE STATED MEANEST AND VULGAR ALLEGATIONS POSSIBLE MADE BY THE IOSS ZEALOTS FROM THEIR IMAGINATON, THE DEADLIEST ENEMIES OF SRI GURU GOBIND SINGH JEE, WHETHER VERSES 6 AND 7 OF CHAPTER 6 OF BICHITAR NATAK REALLY TANTAMOUNT TO SUCH AN ANALYSIS? THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO REMAIN UNCONCERNED, IF WE HAVE SOME FAITH IN GURMAT AND THE UNIQUE DIVINE PERSONALITY OF GURU GOBIND SINGH JEE AND SRI AKAL PURKH, COME FORWARD AND RAISE YOUR VOICE.

The following article is being re-published for the particular attention of Kala Afghana and the IOSS Chandigarh (India), whose sole assignment is to malign and demean Sri Guru Gobind Singh Jee and his Writings in Sri Dasam Granth Sahib.

Who are the Enemies to Fight with and Kill in Sri Guru Gobind Singh�s Writings

�Within this body are hid five thieves - Lust, Wrath, Greed, Attachment and Egoism. They steal away the Nectar within us, but the Egocentric person remains unaware of them [he suffers pain] and no one listens to his plaints.�
(Guru Amar Das, Rag Sorath, page 600)

�The Five Quarrelsome Ones [Lust, Wrath, Greed, Attachment and Egoism] are my enemies, the poor one. They afflict me with Pain, and I seek Your Protection. I have tried all ways, but they do not loosen their grip on me. I have heard that one, who seeks Your Protection by associating with Saintly Persons, is afflicted no more.�
(Guru Arjan Dev, Rag Gauri, page 205-206)

�They are Five to fight with and I am one.
O my mind, how can I keep my house safe from them?
Every day they oppress and beguile me.
To whom should I tell my woeful tale? (1)
O my Mind, Utter God's Name [for your support].
Failing which, you will have to face the cruel gang of Yama. 1- Pause.
The Lord created the Temple of the Body with Nine Doors and within it implanted His Light [The 10th Door].
The Stream of Conscience [Mind] enjoys leisurely the Body, while the Five Robbers rob him within it.�
(Guru Nanak Dev, Rag Gauri Cheti, page 155)

�Truth, these days, is as scarce, as food in famine.
Falsehood alone prevails.
The sins of Dark Age, have blackened every face, and men have become devils.�
(Guru Nanak, Asa di Var 11.1)

Sri Guru Amar Das Jee in Rag Basant, p. 1172 teaches us �

�The Creator created both poison and nectar, (Evil and Good persons). He attached these two fruits to the world-plant. The Creator Himself is the Doer, the Cause of all. He feeds all as He pleases. 3 . It is He, through the Blessed Ones, brings to an end to the Evil Doers.�

�In each and every age, You create His devotees and preserve their honor from the evil doers, O Lord King. The Lord killed the wicked Harnaakhash, and saved Prahlaad. He turned his back on the egotists and slanderers, and showed His Face to Naam Dev. Servant Nanak sates that those who so served the Lord, the Lord deliver them in the end. � 4 . 13 . 20.

Do we not see man's inhumanity to man everywhere - in our every day life both domestic and outside house occurrence of cases of violence, armed robberies, child abuse, murder and rape, in the ruthless warfare, exploitation of the weaker by the stronger, and the fact that the cries of the tortured and suffering humanity have no effect on the hardened hearts and fall on the deaf ears of those who wield power. Man is therefore a wolf to his fellow men, as he is selfish, vicious and destructive by nature. He resorts to brutality toward his fellow beings on any pretext. It is the Spirit, the Heart inside a person that makes him what he is. A teacher was observed telling the children about the inner drives that motivates a person to achieve bigger and better things in life. He had with him some balloons filled with ordinary air and some filled with helium. He let loose both types of balloons in the air. The balloons filled with ordinary air were seen falling down on the ground, while those balloons filled with helium were rising upward. The teacher brought home to the children that it is what is inside of a thing that counts. If they wanted to make higher things in life, they must fill their inner selves with the matter which should lift them up.

What to say of others, we Sikhs have not so far understood what Guru Gobind Singh stood for. Much of the criticism of Guru Gobind Singh by non-Sikhs is based on Sikhs' own mis-representation of the Guru. It is Sikhs who have mis-represented Guru Gobind Singh's Compositions, such as 'Kabiovach Bainti Chaupai -Poet's Prayer' and other Compositions in 'Bichittar Natak', by incorrectly translating them. For example, in Kabiovach Bainti Chaupai, all translations available indicate the Guru's alleged reference to our external enemies. This interpretation is totally incorrect. The Guru did never consider any person as his enemy, as he taught that all creation was God's Own manifestation and He is present in each and every creature. He alone is the Cause of all causes and the Doer. Whatever happens is according to His Will. Good and Evil, both He Himself has created. Good and Evil, are the relative terms. In the absence of Evil, Goodness has no value and cannot be appreciated. Similarly, Pain and Pleasure are the relative terms. No one can attain pleasure without undergoing hardship and pain. Man has been endowed by the Creator with certain passions, feelings and instincts In the absence of correct understanding and the love for Truth (God), these very endowments turn out to be our enemies and we destroy our selves. The Guru's Compositions viz. Two Chandi Chritras and Chandi di Var, give in detail the working of our inner self. It is from our heart that evil thoughts, adulteries, jealousies, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, witchcraft, hatred sedition, infidelities, falsehood, raveling, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, anger, greed, lust, foolishness and so on proceed. The Great Guru's prayer to the Creator is to bless us with right knowledge so that we utilize our endowments towards creative and profitable goals and destroy in us our enemies i.e. evil thoughts, which lead us astray toward destruction. It is man who creates his enemies. There is no external enemy; all our enemies are within us, who make us restless persons day and night. Hereunder are the extracts of translation of the Guru's Composition 'Kabiovach Bainti Choupai -Poet's Prayer' as rendered by one of the prominent Sikh scholars -

�Destroy, O Lord, my enemies, and protect me with Thy Own Hands. May my family live in comfort and ease, alongwith my servants and disciples. Stanza 2.�

�Protect me, O Lord, with Thine Own Hands, and destroy this day all my enemies. Stanza 3�

�Let my servants and disciples cross the world ocean, and my enemies be singled out and killed. Stanza 4�

�He bestows Divine virtues and happiness on His servants. He destroys the enemies instantly. Stanza 10�

�O Lord, keep me now under Thy protection. Protect my disciples and destroy my enemies. All the villains creating outrage, and all the infidels be destroyed in the battle- field. Stanza 20�

�O Supreme Destroyer, those who sought Thy refuge, their enemies met painful death. Stanza 21�

�Those who meditate even once on the Supreme Destroyer, the Death cannot approach them. They remain protected in all times. Their enemies and troubles come to an end instantly. Stanza 22�

�Upon whomsoever Thou dost cast Thy favourable glance, they are absolved of sins instantly. They have all the worldly and spiritual pleasures in their homes. None of the enemies can even touch their shadow. Stanza 23.�

�He, who remembered Thee even once. Thou didst protect him from the noose of Death. The persons who repeated Thy Name, they were saved from poverty and attacks of enemies. Stanza 24�

�O, The Lord of Sword, I seek Thy refuge. Protect me with Thy Own Hands. Bestow Thy help on me at all places, and protect me from the designs of my enemies. Stanza 25.�

The above Composition is in Symbolic Language, rich in metaphors, and cannot be translated literally. The Composition clearly alludes to our enemies within us and no other. If the literal meaning is taken as the true meaning, it will make no sense. Following questions arise -

(1) Can any one's problems be solved by killing his enemies? Did Talaat Pasha, Halaku, Chingiz Khan, Nadir Shah, Ahmad Shah Abdali, Hitler, Stalin and many others not exterminate hundreds of thousand of their enemies? Did the killing solve their problem a bit? Has any one attained peace of mind by killing his enemies?

(2) Does Sikhism recognize that one's fellow beings can be his/her enemies? The Answer is, no. All are God's creation, in all He resides, and it is He alone Who motivates each of us to act as He likes. Good and Evil have been created according to His Will. Evil gives transitory sensual pleasure and is easy and a soft way of life. Goodness comes with God's blessings, when we realize the value of Truth and live with Him. Evil in a way serves Goodness, in working hard to evolve our Personality. If there were no resistance, the life would have been static with no purpose. Personality cannot be evolved without fighting with the Evil to keep one's mind clean and pure with Truth. Pure and clean Mind has no enemies as the filth of hatred has no place in it.

(3) Is it not true that man in his selfish pursuits hurts others and creates his enemies? Aren't the evil thoughts in us our real enemies, which activate us to behave in that fashion?

(4) If I pray to God to kill certain persons, who are inimical to me; similarly my enemies must be praying for my extermination. Then, whose prayer God shall listen and answer? Are we wiser than God to tell Him to kill certain persons we do not like and call them 'melaichas', the Evil Doers? Is this living according to His Will? Are we not assuming the role of Self Righteous Persons? This is the basic malady in humans, which has set the whole world on fire. We hate others, as we feel 'holier than thou'. These so called pious persons are the proven most wicked persons. The Guru advises us to consider our selves as the lowliest of all as the sinners and others as higher than ourselves - manda janai aap ko, avar bhala sansar. The 'malaichas' are truly our Evil Thinking, none else. It is we who create our enemies and it is our thinking only, which makes it so.

(5) In stanza 36, Ramkali Rag, Anand, Guru Amar Das teaches us -

"O my eyes, God has put His Light in you, therefore, do not see other than God. Yes, do not see any one else other than God everywhere. This world that you see is only the manifestation of the Lord - it is only the Lord everywhere you see. This understanding I got by the Grace of the Guru (God's Light present in us), and everywhere I see One Lord and none else except Him. Nanak says that these eyes were blind, but when I met the Guru, I began to see intuitively."

We clearly observe the effect of destructive forces working within man. We suffer from varied diseases, physical, mental and spiritual. There are varied causes for these diseases, one of it is our persistent disobedience to the Laws of God. In severely sick persons, we see the destructive forces at work. It is an uphill task of enormous difficulty to stop these forces from continuously hurting the sick persons, and to direct these forces of their energy toward constructive directions. The entire approach of the Gurus was to divert the human potentialities from the destructive ends in pursuit of transitory sensual pleasures and vain glory, toward creative and profitable pursuits to evolve dynamic personality. In the Guru's Compositions the same scenario has been enacted as when we fight with our external enemies. The Guru refers to our real enemies, who are none else but the forces within us, who create hell for us. Human body functions in response to the mental energy, and the mind controls every activity occurring within the body. Every cell with its myriad processes, every tissue and every organ, all are activated by mental and emotional ideas and concepts. There are no external enemies, it is we who make others our enemies. The real success lies in winning over those enemies within us and make them serve us in evolving our personality. The Guru teaches us that this battle can be won by Loving God and seeing Him in His creation. When we seek the Companionship of God, all our negative thinking is replaced by the positive virtuous thinking and we act as He directs us - our enemies are annihilated there and then.

Guru Gobind Singh�s Composition, 'Kabiovach Bainti Choupai has been translated by the writer of these lines, which is enclosed. It is hoped that readers will intently read this translation and appreciate how this Prayer lifts the human Mind engrossed in sullen, sulky, morose, gloomy and dross thoughts to the sun-shine of cheerful optimism.

There is another serious mis-conception about the Sikh Teachings prevalent among Sikhs. It is generally observed that the following two Sloks (Stanzas) of Sri Kabir Ji are sung by the congregation with unusual zeal and emotions, occasionally shouting in ecstasy 'Hail to Great Guru Gobind Singh Ji' as our War Leader -

This world is the battle-field, where Evil can be fought with, as this life is the befitting God given opportunity for this fight, and the one who fights the Evil, is the real Brave Man. The Battle Drum of God's Word is beat in his Mind and this has the desired effect. (1)
Yea, that one is also a Brave Man, who fights for the oppressed ones. While fighting, though he is battered into bits, yet he does not abandon the battle-field.(2)
gagan damama bajio pario nisanai ghao. khet jo mandio soorma ab joojan
ko dao (1)
soora so pehchaniai jo larai deen kai hait. purja purja kat marai kabon na chadai khet. (2)
(Sri Kabir Ji, Maru Rag, page 1105)

(Sri Krishna says to King Daryodhana): O King, how can I stay with you at your place?
I have seen such an immense devotion of Bidar to me, that he the poor one is pleasing to my mind. (1 Pause)
You have been lured away by the illusory possessions of elephants, and have completely ignored God.
As against your offering of milk to me, the water of Bidar is like Nectar to me. (1)
Like your milk pudding, I have found his fare of leaves as sweet.
I spent the night with him singing the Lord's praises.
Wondrous and Mysterious is Kabir's Master, Who is not impressed by any one's high caste. 2.9.

The above Two Sloks of Sri Kabir Ji, one Slok of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and another of Guru Gobind Singh Ji are considered to be "Halai dai Shabad" - Hymns Exhorting Sikhs to Enter the Battle-field and Make a Charge on the Enemy". The Hymns of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Guru Gobind Singh Ji are also given here-under -

If you seek to play the Game of Love of Truth, Then come to me with your head on your palm (total dedication, without any reservation whatsoever). Once you decide to follow this Path of Love of Truth, Never turn your back at any cost.
(Guru Nanak, Slok 20, page 1412 A.G.G)

O Lord, Grant me this boon, that I may never be deterred from doing good deeds. I should habor no fear in my mind when I have to go to fight a battle. I should have the firm faith in my victory. I should train my mind in such a way that I should ever feel greedy of singing Thy praises. And when the time comes for me to leave this World, I should die fighting in the thick of action for the righteous cause.
(Guru Gobind Singh, Swaiya in Chandi Chritra)

The need of the time is to follow the Guru's Teachings intelligently, and to analyze the things in their proper perspective. We should refrain from attributing things to the Gurus, which they never meant.