Mon, Jul 24, 2017: “The Black Prince” of “The Punjab” , the depiction is so emotional that it arouses a deep awakening and thought in the minds of Punjabi diaspora. The most eminent question in everyone’s mind is “Where we were, and where we have reached”. I think the answer lies within all. There is a need of deep thought introspection. We need to see how far we have come from our faith, belief system. How far we have forgotten the world’s most secular and modern state of its times. Over the years, having read books about Sikh history, all of them were coming right in front of eyes (of course they were moist).
Sharing an dated historical excerpt about Sher-E-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh ( Battle of Attock ), from the book “Ardaas Shakti by Bhai Raghbir Singh Ji Bir”.
It is well known that even the very deep and turbulent river Attock had given the right of passage to the forces of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It is very difficult to convince those people who have no faith in Waheguru and the power of his human instruments through whom his will operates. But there is no need to convince those people who repose their faith in Waheguru; His omnipotence; the genuineness of their own prayer and its definite fulfilment. This article is addressed to those who are neither completely theists nor totally atheists. These are those persons who believe in the existence of Waheguru, or some kind of divine, superhuman force but have doubts about His omnipotence and benevolence. His Highness, Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a very devout Sikh and a man of firm faith. He considered himself a loyal soldier of Waheguru and attributed all his military victories to the Waheguru.
There is a well known incident about the legendary devout Sikh Maharaja. Once he and his army had to cross the river Attock which at the moment, was in a torrent (flood). The military exigency demanded that his army must cross the river. But there was no bridge over it. The devout Sikh Maharaja, Maharaja Ranjit Singh was not conventional sort of follower of Guru Granth Sahib whose faith was limited to the performance of certain rituals alone. He was a devout Sikh who truly believed in the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. So at this juncture, Mahraja Ranjit Singh was confronted with a turbulent river on one hand and his equally strong faith in God's omnipotence on the other. There was an echo of Guru Nanak's following words from the Japuji in his mind:
ਸੁਿਣਅੈ ਹਾਥ ਹੋਵੈ ਅਸਗਾਹ ||
By hearkening to (God's Name) the unfathomable becomes fathomable.
So, the visibly turbulent and formidable Atock overflowing and cutting its bank posed no daunting threat to the spiritually enriched and faith-laden Mahraja Ranjit Singh. He had learnt and realized from the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib that no material or physical object, howsoever formidable, posed any threat to a devout Sikh who believed in the omnipotence and fearlessness of the Divine. For a spiritually enlightened person suffused with the divine attributes, external threats were of no consequence. So, addressing his generals and army commanders, the Maharaja declared that this turbulent river posed no threat to the Sikh forces and they must cross this river. But looking at the menacing river in flood, his generals and officers opinionated that they would not be able to cross such formidable river without a makeshift bridge. At this moment, the devout Maharaja quoted and recited the following hymn from Guru Granth Sahib:
ਸੀਹਾ ਬਾਜਾ ਚਰਗਾ ਕੁਿਹਆ ਏਨਾ ਖਵਾਲੇ ਘਾਹ ||
ਘਾਹ ਖਾਨ ਿਤਨਾ ਮਾਸ ਖਵਾਲੇ ਏਿਹ ਚਲਾਏ ਰਾਹ ||
ਨਦੀਆ ਿਵਿਚ ਿਟਬੇ ਿਦਖਾਲੇ ਥਲੀ ਕਰੇ ਅਸਗਾਹ ||
ਕੀੜਾ ਥਾਿਪ ਦੇਏ ਪਾਤ ||
The tigers, hawks, kites and falcons, them the Lord causes to eat grass.
Who eat grass, them he causes to eat meat. This way of life he call set agoing.
He exhibits mounds in rivers, and the deserts he makes into unfathomable oceans
A worm, he appoints to kingship, and he reduces an army to ashes.
He declared that the Khalsa forces would cross this river on the strength of their faith in God Almighty. His generals, who were already terrified by the turbulent river, felt more threatened by these foolhardy remarks of their Maharaja. In their opinion, Guru Granth Sahib was a scriptural text at the most worthy of certain ritualistic supplications. Since they had lived their lives on the basis of such superficial religious rituals, they felt extremely scared at the thought of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's determination to cross the river without any bridge or any kind of human assistance. On the other hand, the Maharaja not only paid his ritualistic obeisance to Guru Granth Sahib, but had also understood its philosophy in his own life. He regarded Guru Granth Sahib not only the living embodiment of the Sikh Gurus as ordained by Guru Gobind Singh but believed in the underlying philosophy of this sacred text and regarded its teachings as the eternal truth and a divine manifestation. He firmly believed in the real identity and Omnipotence of God as described in the text of the holy Guru Granth Sahib. The Divine power of Waheguru is as intact, eternal and permanently prevalent as it had been during the time of Sikh Gurus - Guru Nanak Dev , Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Gobind Singh. Waheguru has always the power and pleasure of creating mountains out of the deep gorges of rivers and deserts in vast oceans as he possessed these powers during Guru Nanak's times. What is required is the true faith and devotion to make this divine power operational and participative.
The moment a human being expresses this level of faith and devotion, the protective and benevolent power of God manifests itself instantly.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh ordered for his horse to be presented. When his steed was brought, the
river Attock was still in a state of terrible flood. The Maharaja mounted his horse, but the river's
flow remained steady. Maharaja shouted the Sikh war cry "Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji ki Fateh"
(victory to the lord) even as the river roared in its full fury. Maharaja spurred his horse and the horse jumped
in the air on the bank of the overflowing river. Maharaja's generals and their subordinates feared for the life of
their royal King. But Maharaja, astride his horse, had a firm faith in the protective power of God as enshrined in
the following hymn:
****
ਜੋ ਮਾਗਉ ਸੋੲੀ ਸੋੲੀ ਪਾਵਉ ਅਪਨ ||
Whatever I ask, that, yea all that I receive, for I have faith in my master.
As the horse along with his master jumped into the waters of the river Attock, Maharaja Ranjit Sigh shouted the Sikh war cry once more time “Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji ki Fateh” It was a testing moment for the devout Sikh, since God himself was amusingly testing the extent of his devotee's faith. Will the devout Sikh waver in his faith at the moment of truth or remain steadfast? But the moment the horse and his rider jumped into the river, all doubts and fears vanished in thin air and the protective powers of the divine came into full operation.
The horse, with Maharaja on his back went down, rose again twice in the river to the consternation of gaping generals and officers standing on the bank. While the Maharaja was still shouting the Sikh war cry “Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji ki Fateh” (victory be to the Lord), the horse rose above the water and river seemed to be flowing below the stirrups supporting Maharaja's feet. Maharaja, still shouting the Sikh war cry “Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji ki Fateh”, addressed his generals to demonstrate his faith in the divine omnipotence and his protective power to protect his devotees. With such a daring and devout commander leading the charge, the whole army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh crossed the flooded Attock, which looked so formidable and indomitable earlier.”
For all who haven’t yet watched, please do!
Tajinder Singh ~ [email protected]
Header Image from: http://ashokparimoo.blogspot.in/2013/11/chapter-5-of-my-one-of-most-adve...