I often contemplate on the importance of the inter-relations of concepts in Nanak Bani, especially when seen in light of the trajectory of human (social) evolution. As I have discussed in my essay on the Sikh theory of history, the intervention, in certain critical moments of human history, of certain types of personalities (in this case the Guru), engendered by certain processes, operating at scales cascading from the cosmic to the mundane, create certain conditions, or generate cycles, which, once set into motion, impel humanity to undergo rapid socio-political progress, leading, often, to the resolution of some fundamental crises in society, and history. Or perhaps the fundamental Crisis of that moment in History.
This is expressed by scholars of Sikh theology in the following way : that the pleas of broken people to Akal, prompts him to send to earth, certain prophets from age to age, to comfort or relieve them from their pain, or its cause. This is an exposition often used to understand the emergence of the Guru, at a particular time and place, and is, in a sense an attempt to grasp at ideas also seen in the subliminal yet deeply entrenched belief system, especially in the greater Indo-Iranic world, which we might call Prophetology. An articulation of Prophetology is also found in Rattan Singh Bhangu, who proposes that from time to time certain prophets are sent in certain realms and regions, assigned to them as their spiritual fiefs - so Muhammad was a prophet of Arabia, but in Punjab, the divine writ, belonged to the House of Nanak. One of the enduring themes in the spiritual history of the greater Indo-Iranic realm is the constant search by spiritual seekers for the most recent prophet, who will provide a way out of the crisis of the age. Saints, only one step away from prophethood, are often the agents to recognise and proclaim this emergence
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I will explore these ideas further in a later essay. But for now, I want to explore : what was the crisis that Nanak emerged to resolve?
Among others, in my view, the fundamental problem of how one should live and govern a society in which there exist numerous groups with differing and and often irreconcilable beliefs.
To begin. Contemplate on this verse from Nanak Bani :
haqq paraya nanaka, us suar us ga(i)ay
gur pir hama ta bharey, je murdar na kha-ay
In this, I believe, we see in Nanak Bani the first conception of human rights.
Before the discussion a word on method.
The wealth one can gain from contemplation on Bani is boundless. No single interpretation by a single human might will be the definitive interpretation for all time, but each time one immerses oneself in contemplation, one emerges from the submergence in gnana-rasa with some valuable insight (mat mai ratan jawahar manik je ik gur ki seekh suni), realising in astonishment once again the multilayered possibilities of interpretation and wisdom in Nanak Bani.
For me, the most important interpretation in this verse arises from the interrelation between Haqq and Justice, further understood through the dialectic relationship between the Haqq of one and the Haqq of another.
I can express this as follows : the right of a is to draw the boundary at the practice of x, the right of b is to draw the boundary at the practice of y.
A mere conception of such a system of rights is revolutionary in itself, even anachronistically so, it might seem to some, for the 15th century. Especially because interpretation does not say that a or b is right or wrong, or that x or y is inherently sinful. Rejection of the idea of sin in favour of group rights is a revolutionary articulation of the fundamentally humanistic foundations of Sikhi, expressed as : to draw a boundary against x is the right of a, and against y, is the right of b. (These are the rights of the ‘other’ two communities, that is, the Muslim and the Hindu.)
Essentially, this understanding of the rights of groups is what western social science arrived at in the 20th century. But Nanak also goes beyond the articulation of human rights, towards cosmopolitanism.
The principle of the haqq of other groups, begins by allowing the permissibility for each community in a polity to follow its own ways, by drawing its own boundaries, which is, essentially, what multiculturalism arrived at in the late 20th century. Cosmopolitanism goes beyond multiculturalism in that it also seeks to answer, how can we coexist despite the boundaries created by the former, especially when a boundary overlaps with a right. John Rawls arrived at one possible solution in his proposal of developing overlapping consensus, this was derived from his more complex theory of justice, which is generally relevant only for policy making.
For Rawls, overlapping consensus had to be arrived at through conversation between communities, but ultimately, enforced by constitutional authority. Essentially, it comes down to the right to swing one’s fist till where the other person’s nose begins, so in his conclusion it is a rearticulation of liberalism.
Nanak too, remember in the 15th century, articulated a solution to the potential problem of overlapping rights by providing an ethic of rulership in that the arbiters of justice in society (gur-pir) accept that recognition of different rights is important, but these rights are valid as long as they do not entail a ‘feeding of one man upon another’.
To create such a regime of justice in any society, is the responsibility of the just king. (In Nanak’s age, as we know, kings themselves were butchers, preparing the flesh of their subjects to be fed on by one another. Nanak Bani goes beyond critique, it identifies the problem, proposes the solution, and creates the institutions which will begin to turn the wheel of history towards a regime of haqq, for all.)
So, in my view, goal of Nanakian political theory was to create a cosmopolitan regimes based on the idea of rights based justice. I am not a pessimist and I do believe humanity as a whole is closer to the Nanakian vision than ever before. Morning that cleanses the darkness of the moonless night, though, is still far away. To realise the goal, humanity would be well served to glean wisdom from the ocean of wealth that is Nanakta
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