Tempo:
SIKH GURUS; HAR GOBIND
CHAP. Ill
49
of God; but they deserve, attention as expounding issi-ieoe. Nanak's object of a gradual fusion of Muhammadans Tj^g ^.o^. and Hindus into common observers of a new and a ceptions ot better creed, and as an almost contemporary instance Nanak beof the conversion of the noble but obscure idea of an come the individual into the active principle of a multitude, and moving im^ of the gradual investiture of a simple fact with the ^"^^^i^.^^ gorgeous mythism of memory and imagination. The and^hj's real unpretending Nanak, the deplorer of human frailty and history a the lover of his fellow men, becomes, in the mind of mythical Gur Das and of the Sikh people, the first of heavenly narrative, powers and emanations, and the proclaimed instrument of God for the redemption of the world; and every hope and feeling of the Indian races is appealed to in proof or in illustration of the reality and the splendour
of his mission.^
On the death of Arjun, his brother Pirthi Chand ^^a^' Gobind made some attempts to be recognized as Guru, for the Q^^^^^^af^^gj. son of the deceased teacher was young, and ^ disputed ecclesiastical usage has everywhere admitted a latitude succession. of succession. But some suspicion of treachery towards Arjun appears to have attached to him, and his nephev/ soon became the acknowledged leader of the Sikhs,
only
although Pirthi Chand himself continued to- retain a
few followers, and thus sowed the first fertile seeds of dissent, or elements of dispute or of change, which ever increase with the growth of a sect or a system.^ The work of Bhai Gur Das Bhulleh, simply known as such, or as the Gyan Ratnavali (Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30, note), It consists of forty chapters, and is much read by the Sikhs. Some extracts may be is written in different kinds of verse. seen in Appendix XIX, and in Malcolm, Sketch, p. 152, &c. Gur Das was the scribe of Arjun, but his pride and haughtiness are said to have displeased his master, and his compoTime and sitions were refused a place in the sacred book. reflection and the Sikhs add a miracle made him sensible of his failings and inferiority, and Arjun perceiving his contrition, said he would include his writings in the Granth. But the final meekness of Gur Das was such, that he himself declared them to be unworthy of such association; whereupon Arjun enjoined that all Sikhs should nevertheless read them. He describes Arjun (Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30, note) to have become Guru without any formal investiture or consecration by his father, which may further mark the commanding character of that teacher. Malcolm {Sketch, p. 32) appears to confound Chandu Shah (or Dhani Chand) with Gur Das.
—
—
Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30, and Dabistan, ii. 273. These were called Mina, a term commonly used in the Punjab, and which is expressive of contempt or opprobrium, as stated by Muhsin Fani. The proneness to sectarianism among the first Christians was noticed and deprecated by Paul (1 -
sectaries
Cor. 4
i.
10-13.
CHAP. Ill
49
of God; but they deserve, attention as expounding issi-ieoe. Nanak's object of a gradual fusion of Muhammadans Tj^g ^.o^. and Hindus into common observers of a new and a ceptions ot better creed, and as an almost contemporary instance Nanak beof the conversion of the noble but obscure idea of an come the individual into the active principle of a multitude, and moving im^ of the gradual investiture of a simple fact with the ^"^^^i^.^^ gorgeous mythism of memory and imagination. The and^hj's real unpretending Nanak, the deplorer of human frailty and history a the lover of his fellow men, becomes, in the mind of mythical Gur Das and of the Sikh people, the first of heavenly narrative, powers and emanations, and the proclaimed instrument of God for the redemption of the world; and every hope and feeling of the Indian races is appealed to in proof or in illustration of the reality and the splendour
of his mission.^
On the death of Arjun, his brother Pirthi Chand ^^a^' Gobind made some attempts to be recognized as Guru, for the Q^^^^^^af^^gj. son of the deceased teacher was young, and ^ disputed ecclesiastical usage has everywhere admitted a latitude succession. of succession. But some suspicion of treachery towards Arjun appears to have attached to him, and his nephev/ soon became the acknowledged leader of the Sikhs,
only
although Pirthi Chand himself continued to- retain a
few followers, and thus sowed the first fertile seeds of dissent, or elements of dispute or of change, which ever increase with the growth of a sect or a system.^ The work of Bhai Gur Das Bhulleh, simply known as such, or as the Gyan Ratnavali (Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30, note), It consists of forty chapters, and is much read by the Sikhs. Some extracts may be is written in different kinds of verse. seen in Appendix XIX, and in Malcolm, Sketch, p. 152, &c. Gur Das was the scribe of Arjun, but his pride and haughtiness are said to have displeased his master, and his compoTime and sitions were refused a place in the sacred book. reflection and the Sikhs add a miracle made him sensible of his failings and inferiority, and Arjun perceiving his contrition, said he would include his writings in the Granth. But the final meekness of Gur Das was such, that he himself declared them to be unworthy of such association; whereupon Arjun enjoined that all Sikhs should nevertheless read them. He describes Arjun (Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30, note) to have become Guru without any formal investiture or consecration by his father, which may further mark the commanding character of that teacher. Malcolm {Sketch, p. 32) appears to confound Chandu Shah (or Dhani Chand) with Gur Das.
—
—
Malcolm, Sketch, p. 30, and Dabistan, ii. 273. These were called Mina, a term commonly used in the Punjab, and which is expressive of contempt or opprobrium, as stated by Muhsin Fani. The proneness to sectarianism among the first Christians was noticed and deprecated by Paul (1 -
sectaries
Cor. 4
i.
10-13.
©
2026
Lehal.net