Guru Granth Sahib, acknowledged as the most sacrosanct object, a sacred scripture enjoying profound veneration, carries unrivalled canonical status in the history of religious texts. From it, emanates the human identity the coherence. Its doctrinal formulations have stood the rigorous tests of the fast advancing scientific and technological age. Its vision of man and society, visualized by the first Guru Guru Nanak and fertilized by his experiences of the world, has become universally acceptable currency of religious discourse. The vision was crystallized further by his equally worthy successors. Under these Great Masters, the traditional social order and culture, alongwith the religious structure underwent a desirable change.
A rare combination of precept and practice, thought and action characterized the writings of the Great Masters. It is, through the medium of Guru Granth Sahib that this combination is displayed. The religious philosophy as such became intelligible and acceptable to the world at large, most particularly to those sections of Indian society which were debarred from taking to scholarly pursuits; it is because the humanely oriented literary contributions in the Guru Granth Sahib were bestowed with intellectual strength and vitality par excellent.
The Great Gurus, the Bhagats, the Saints courageously put themselves to a searching critique of the social, political and religious system. Whatever was found superficial, flimsy, imprecise and indefensible was vigorously condemned and discarded. The founder of the Faith initiated the practice of holding constant and critical dialogue with other traditions so as to ward off the parochial, complacent and cramped effects of the dead wood. Objective was to add still more to the beauty of wonderful existence of man on earth. Ailments like historical amnesia, political schzopherenia and religious inertia were thoroughly diagnosed and accordingly treated. Insights into the range and variety of human potentialities were astounding.
Human unity, human sociality and human dignity are the core components of the religious philosophy of Guru Granth Sahib. The Great Masters were intensely sensitive to the fact that the core was being vandalized. They were sensitive to all forms of oppressions and exploitation. Hence, they were the divinely ordained champions and spokesmen of the poor, the oppressed and victims of the established order everywhere. They saw through the hidden mechanisms of oppression. Powerlessness of the powerless was a curse. So was their ignorance. But the Great Masters tell that the curse was not divine, it was man made. The rulers of the time had created unfounded illusions about it. The victims were deliberately kept ignorant, the Great Masters told. Guru Granth Sahib is a reservoir of central and abiding truths. It carries the agenda of regeneration of Indian society in particular and the international community in general. The degenerate and the diseased authorities, both political and religious, get a befitting rebuff.
The values of life as enunciated in the Guru Granth Sahib, are truthfulness, honesty, mutual trust and loyalty, productive labour and communal sharing, gratitude and integrity of conduct, authentic living, and, above all, spiritual transformations that raise man to "spiritual marriage" wherein a God filled man returns to society for its service and edification.
The Guru Granth teaches that it is not the intellectual formula or verbal assent to it that liberates man, but the deed and his quality of living. "Truth is higher than everything but higher still is truthful living.".
Central teaching of the Guru Granth is that the fully integrated person, the liberated individual must revert to the world and society to participate in its activities to guide and assist it in striving for achieving a situation in which human mind is free, authentic living is facilitated and individuals may evolve into "deified men."
The Guru Granth furnishes the answers to the vexing questions: "Must the graceful ones become lionized or remain meek and humble? What is the relation of exemplary violence to exemplary martyrdom? How can falsehood disappear? How will the people's participation become the guiding principle of governance? How will the distinction between high and low evaporate? How is a balance to be struck between 'being' and 'doing', 'wisdom' and 'inner certitude'?"
The central injunction of the Gurus to a Sikh, as well as to the mankind is that (1) the basic factor in human society is the individual, (2) valuable creative efforts are possible only if this core is kept free, and (3) freedom consist in the extinction of selfishness rather than the inflation of his ego.
The Guru Granth possesses the key to the happiness and peaceful co-existence of the entire human race. It is a religion with a message of hope and optimism. Adherence to its principles and teachings will prevent clash of civilization. Its adherents waged relentless struggles in the cause of righteousness. They could survive even in the most inhospitable environment, they demonstrated. Courage, bravery, discipline, self-respect were their hallmarks. Charity, worship and hard work are the other ones. It is because of this courageous trajectory that Sikh religion holds the promise of being the religion of the world; so is the sacred scripture-The Guru Granth Sahib. The institutions of Sangat and Pangat, the three props-naam japna, wand chhakna and kirt karni, the unending line of martyrs first started by the composer of Guru Granth Sahib itself and continued by the ninth master signify the fact that Guru Granth Sahib is a perennial source of faith and equanimity. It propogates the religion of humanity. It stresses upon the family life and community obligations and not a life of an ascetic and aimless wanderer.
Guru Nanak Dev University is organizing the fourth International Seminar on Guru Sahib. The part of the proceedings of the first three seminars make the body of the present volume. It carries excellent studies by renowned scholars. Very relevant aspects of the Holy Scripture have been analytically discussed. Truth, ethical values, status of Bhagat Bani in the Guru Granth Sahib, linguistic aspect, musicology, legal aspect as seen in the question of juristic person, Scriptural studies, historical milieu, vast convas of the Holy Scripture, canonization aspect, relevance of the scripture in the scientific age, all these topics form the focus of study.
The volume is a humble edition to existing literature on Guru Granth Sahib.
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