麻豆约拍

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Jasvir Singh.

Good morning.

Today, Sikhs will be celebrating the occasion when the main Sikh scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib, became the 11th and eternal Sikh Guru. In the autumn of 1708, the 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, was attacked by a pair of assassins whose aim appeared to be to destabilise the Sikh community by removing the leadership of the 10th Guru. Although the Guru was greatly wounded, he managed to live for a few days before ultimately passing away. Sensing that his time was nearing its end, he wanted to ensure that the Sikh faith would remain strong in his absence. Rather than passing on the Guruship to another human, he instead decided that the central scriptures which contained the core Sikh teachings should instead become the final Guru for the faith. It was a ground-breaking act, and one which managed to ensure the unity of the Sikh community to the present day.

In his final verse penned before his death, the 10th Guru explained his reasoning for bestowing the Guruship to the scriptures:
Under the divine order of the Immortal Being, the Sikh faith and way of life was created. All Sikhs are hereby ordered to accept the Granth, the scriptures as their Guru. Consider the Guru Granth as the visible embodiment of the 10 human Gurus. Those who wish to meet with the Almighty should seek the Eternal One within its verses. The pure Khalsa or inner core of the Sikh faith shall rule, and no others shall be left. Those who have been separated will be united and all the devotees of the Guru shall be saved.