I've been meaning to address this issue for very long. We Sikhs are a very gullible & ill educated lot that we have accepted everything that the Granthis & Singh Sabha Gyanis who have for their own political ambitions, managed to brainwash nearly 100% of the Sikhs into believing in cock & bull stories which were later invented during the late 19th century under British ruled Punjab. I'll begin with the first one:
'SATI, CHILD MARRIAGE, WIDOW REMARRIAGE' - Myth No.1 invented by Anti- Hindu Neo Sikhs
This is a great lie invented by Neo Sikhs like Kahn Singh Nabha who re-edited the entire Sikh history & one that is extremely popular to bash Hindus with:
'The status of women in Hindu society at that time was very low. When the husband died, the wife either voluntarily burnt herself on the pyre of her husband or was thrown into the fire without her consent. In popular term the woman who did perform this act was called Sati (truthful). Guru Amar Das carried out a vigorous campaign against the practice of Sati. He gave special attention to the improvement of the status of women and thus prohibited this practice. The Guru lifted the status of women as equal to men. He prohibited the practice of Sati and preached in favor of widow marriage.'
Lets take a look at the historical facts which we are never told:
With the brutal & barbaric invasions of Islamic hordes into Punjab, the favourite passtime of the Malesha Muslims was to attack villages, burn houses, kill men or take them as slaves, kidnap & rape Hindu women. Many Hindus were abducted from Afghanistan & Punjab, put in cages to be sold in the slave markets of Iraq. Babur or full name of the barbarian Muslim, Zahiruddin Mohammed Babur,who invaded Punjab several times gloats in his own biography of accounts 'Tojk Baburi' :
' In order to celebrate the auspiciousness of my victory, I rejoice in setting the villages & towns of the Hindu kuffirs ( infidels) on fire. They who are caught, I have killed them in front of me near the tent & I am hopeful of a place in Jannat ( Islamic heaven ). One time thousands of Hindus were slaughtered by my army that I had to change my tent three times. The women of the Kaffirs are fully dressed in their finest silks & adorned with heavy gold ornaments, fit to be won & captured as a booty for myself and in the name of Allah '
GuruNanak Devji in his BaburVani describes this barbarian as the angel of death. Guruji saw the full devastation of the Hindus of Punjab and was witness to many horrors carried out by Babur. Referring to the pitiable plight of women, he states:
"the robes of some women are torn from head to foot."[79] "The heads which were adorned with tresses and filled with varmillion ( Sindoor ), are shaven and throats are chocked with dust....The ropes are put around their necks and their strings of pearls are broken. The order was given to the soldiers, who having dishonoured them, took them away."[80]
The above statement by Guru NanakDevji describes how Hindu women were being raped & abducted by the Muslim armies. His criticism of Babur refers to him when he was an invader & not yet established as the ruler of the land. Guru Nanak upbraided Babur and his troops for tyranny and atrocities by which Hindus had to suffer a lot. Guru Nanak did not condemn Babur because he was a Muslim, but because he had caused rape, death and devastation. the Sufis at the time celebrated Babur's tyranny against the Hindus while NanakDevji was concerned about the terrible plight of Hindu women because of Islamic tyranny.
Now back to the myth & hype of Sati practice of burning Hindu widows - a mere story made up by the British & anti Hindus without really taking a deeper look into this. The name Sati actually belongs to the Divine consort of Lord Shiva & in sanskrit it means 'Loyal & Steady'. Nowhere in Hindu scriptures whilst studying them have I been able to find anything encouraging the burning of women, but only a myth propagated to bash Hindus with. While Sati is a myth, Jauhar is an actual fact of medievel Indian history where thousands of Hindu women would voluntarily jump into burning fires along with their children to prevent the barbaric muslims from capturing them & raping them, after their husbands had been killed in battle. Also, we are never told that even the corpses of dead Hindu women were raped by the Islamic invaders to satisfy their urge of being rewarded the highest place in their Islamic Heaven of Paradise. Their ornaments were taken while their dead corpses were stripped of silk clothings. Instead of praising the sheer bravery of Hindu women who would rather burn their body than to let any Malesh musim touch it, what we are told in derogatory way by neo-Sikhs is that there is no respect of Hindu women who are 'forced to burn themselves'.
When foreign conquerors like Muslims invaded India they brought with them their own dark ages culture. For them women was the sole property of her father, brother or husband and she does not have any will of her own. The decline in women's status and freedom was that originally Hindus wanted to shield their women folk from the barbaric Muslim invaders. As polygamy was a norm for these invaders they picked up as many women as they wanted and kept them in their "harems" or were sold off in slave markets of Iraq. In order to protect them, Hindu women started using 'Purdah', (a veil), which covers body. Due to this reason their freedom also became affected. They were not allowed to move freely and this lead to the further deterioration of their status. These problems related with women resulted in changed mindset of people. Now they began to consider a girl as misery and a burden, which has to be shielded from the eyes of intruders and needs extra care. Due to this the practice of Baal Viyah or child marriage had crept into society also.
Guru Nanak Devji's accounts as witness in his BaburVani actually presents the hard reality of how low women's status had reached during the numerous Islamic invasions. Their status was not low because of any Hindu religious belief as we are led to believe by the Tat Khalsa puppets but that Islamic Jihad encouraged rape & abduction of Hindu women, which was totally alien to Hindu Dharam. Women in Hindu Dharam had been in highest regard & held important place in society. They were equally educated as their male counterparts & many had written Samrittis & Vedic philosophies also.
In fact modern sikhs have rejected their Sanatan Dharamic philosophy of giving a woman the status of a Goddess Lakshmi as seen in Hinduism. No other religion on Earth gives this highest form of respect to a woman as does Hindu Dharam where the wife is considered the image of Goddess Lakshmi of the house.
Dedicated to the preservation & promotion of pure Sanatan Hindu Sikhi heritage which the great Gurus strived to uphold.Today it is systematically being Talibanised by Neo-Sikhs,who are painting an Abrahamic picture of pure Sikhi traditions and brainwashing the Sikh youth into accepting a Sikh history which the Shiromani Guru Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha & Akhand Kirtani Jatha (AKJ) have edited & rewritten shamelessly.
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16 June, 2011
Guru NanakDevJi - The Vaishnava Hindu Saint
The first image ( above) is the original handwritten Pothi by NanakDevji, a Shaligram dedicated to Lord Vishnu & mala & padam belonging to him. A Shila or Shaligram is a Hindu Vaishnava aniconic representation of Lord Vishnu, in the form of a spherical, usually black coloured stone found in the sacred river Gandaki.
ਹਾਥਿ ਚੜਿਓ ਹਰਿ ਸਾਲਗਿਰਾਮੁ ॥
haathh charriou har saalagiraam ||
I hold in my hands the Saalagraam of the Lord.
ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਿ ਕੀਨੋ ਦਾਨੁ ॥੪॥੩੯॥੯੦॥
kahu naanak gur keeno dhaan ||4||39||90||
Says Nanak, the Guru has given me this Gift.
~SGGS Ji ang 393
Below is a fresco (over 200 yrs old), found in the inner sanctum of Dera Baba Charan Shah Udasin at Bahadurpur in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. It depicts the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev, along Bhai Bala, a Hindu disciple is fanning the Guru. Note the Vaishnav Chandan tilak on His forehead.
Wooden Slippers worn by Guru Nanak Dev ji |
Above: Chola worn by Nanak Devji |
Above: Jaap Mala used by Nanak devji |
Hand written pothis of Nanak Devji |
What did Guru Nanak Dev ji Look Like ?
A very rare portrait of Guru Nanak Dev ji ( circa 16th cetury A.D ) - He is accompanied by Bhai Mardana & He seems to be addressing a Saint dressed up as a Hindu woman adorned with the sixteen forms of traditional beauty & clothing- notice the Red Tilak on Guruji's forehead & the traditional Seli Topi worn by Hindu saints of the Bhakti period.
Above: Guruji in the company of Bhai Mardana playing the rabab, while Bhai Bala stands behind Guruji who is conversing with Hindu saints - rare painting dated 17th century.
Above: Guru Nanak Devji with Bhai Mardana playing the rabab & Bhai Bala holding a fan - notice how Guruji is depicted in this traditional 18th century painting - He is holding a rudraksh mala & a traditional 'Kamandal' which a small pot used by all Hindu Yogis that holds water.
Above: Blocks of wood were carved with the outlines and shapes of pictures. These could then be inked and printed onto paper. This technique for mass production was adopted in Panjab in the 19th century and enabled artists to reach a much larger market than previously.Above is a 19th century portrait made in wood - Guru Nanak Devji with Bhai Mardana & Bhai Bala. ( Victoria & Albert Museum, London )
Upto the early period of 19th century Guru Nanak Devji was painted by artists as a traditional Hindu Saint of the Bhakti period of India until the Tat Khalsa was established towards the end. From then onwards, a very different looking Nanak Devji - an image of Him similar to some Sufi type of Saint was circulated - which today's Sikhs have been forced to accept.
Above: A very rare painting - 17th century - Hindu saints & Kings paying homage to Guru Nanak ji. Again Guruji is portrayed as a Hindu Saint wearing His traditional seli topi.
Above: Guru ji as a child & student of Pandit Gopal ji the Brahmin teacher ( painting 17th century).
Above: Guru Nanak ji with Sant Gorakhnath ( painting is from circa 17th century ). Again, Guruji is traditionally wearing the red tilak of a Hindu sant.
Above: Guru Nanak with Sant Kabir ( painting: circa 17th century )
Above: Bhai Lehna visits Guru Nanak Devji - ( ca: 17th century) Again all are depicted wearing traditional red tilak marks including Bhai Mardana who is playing the rabab.
Above: Painting from circa 17th century -Guru Nanak Devji listening to Bhai Bala who is seated on the red seat.
Above: Guru Nanak Devji in the company of Brahmins & Yogis ( painting: circa 17th century)
The Transformation of Guru Nanak Dev ji's Image as seen below:
Copyright©Arjan Singh Virdi 2012.