Bachitar Natak: Writing of Guru Gobind Singh?: Difference between revisions

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It is said that the poet has used the then available knowledge of history to write from the viewpoint of the revered Guru by showing that his father, [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]] died for the protection [[Hinduism]], that he fought [[Bhangani Battle]], Nadaun battle etc, and that the impersonator left many clues which show that the writer cannot be Guru Gobind Singh.
According to some people, the writer named [[Poet Shyam]] was not actually the tenth [[Sikh Guru]] but someone who tried to impersonate [[Guru Gobind Singh]]. They say that the poet has used the then available knowledge of history to write from the viewpoint of the revered Guru by showing that his father, [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]] died for the protection [[Hinduism]], that he fought [[Bhangani Battle]], Nadaun battle etc, and that the impersonator left many clues which show that the writer cannot be Guru Gobind Singh.


Was the composition [[Bachitar Natak]] the writing of [[Guru Gobind Singh]]?
This article challenges this viewpoint and supports the fact that the poet Shyam was in fact the pen name of tenth [[Sikh Guru]]. Was the composition [[Bachitar Natak]] the writing of [[Guru Gobind Singh]]?


==Ideological mistakes==
==Ideological mistakes==


===Poets father did pilgrimages===
===Sikhs Gurus could not visit places of pilgrimage===
 


* The writer's father visited many pilgrimages, which is against [[Sikhism]] and thus this shows that the writer cannot by tenth Guru and Guru Tegh Bahadur couldn't be the father who would not visit places of pilgrimage.  
* The writer's father visited many pilgrimages, which is against [[Sikhism]] and thus this shows that the writer cannot by tenth Guru and Guru Tegh Bahadur couldn't be the father who would not visit places of pilgrimage.  


“My parents went on a pilgrimage to the eastern country to bathe at holy places and give charity. As a consequence thereof, their prayers were answered and my mother was blessed with me in her womb.”  Here the writer contradicts his earlier statement: “When I was meditating on Mahankal (Shiv Ji) and Kalika (goddess) on a snowy mountain called Hem Kunt, my parents were praying to God and perfecting their Yogic discipline.  When God was pleased with them, He ordered me to take birth in the age of Kalijug.”
The supporters of the impersonator theory take the view that as Sikhs are compelled by the Sikh ideology not to visit places of pilgrimage to attain salvation that this practise cannot be engaged by the Gurus themselves. In reality the facts show that:


Here again the writer does not know that Sikh Gurus had rejected the essentials Hinduism. So, their going to sacred Hindu centers to perform rituals to seek the boon of a child does not arise.
* Guru Nanak visited many places of pilgrimage. Also that Guru Tegh Bahadur visited many places of pilgrimage, and the composition, [[Bachitar Natak]] records that Poet Shyam's father also visited many places of pilgrimage. The question that needs to be asked is: What Was the purpose of visiting to these holy places? And the answer is that this was to guide people onto the path of righteousness [[Dharam]]. Guru Nanak did, Guru Tegh Bahadur did and Poet Shyam's father also did.  


===Condemns all previous "prophets"===
It is accepted that the ninth Sikh Guru did indeed visit many places of pilgrimage but this was to educate the masses and bring better understanding of the right type behaviour to attain a better spiritual life. This was also done by [[Guru Nanak]] as well as is evident from the many [[sakhi]]s in [[Haridwar]] and other such important places of pilgrimage. So this point does not in fact help the impersonator theorists as it was common for the Gurus to visit such places.
 
If one reads the Bachitar Natak in detail, one can see exactly what Guru Tegh Bahadur did in real life as narrated in history, so this does not in fact assist the impersonator theorists at all.
 
===Critical of previous religious leaders===


* The Poet says that all prophets before him are fake. Poet tried to break communal Harmony; this not in keeping with the tone of the holy Guru Granth.
* The Poet says that all prophets before him are fake. Poet tried to break communal Harmony; this not in keeping with the tone of the holy Guru Granth.


Here the impersonator theorist take the view that as the writer of [[Bachitar Natak]] has been very critical almost to the point of condemnation of the previous prophets and religious leaders, the writer cannot be a Sikh Guru as the [[Guru Granth Sahib]] has never been so critical of these previous religious leaders.
ਜੇ ਜੇ ਭਝ ਪਹਿਲ ਅਵਤਾਰਾ ॥ ਆਪ੝ ਆਪ੝ ਤਿਨ ਜਾਪ੝ ਉਚਾਰਾ ॥<br>
ਜੇ ਜੇ ਭਝ ਪਹਿਲ ਅਵਤਾਰਾ ॥ ਆਪ੝ ਆਪ੝ ਤਿਨ ਜਾਪ੝ ਉਚਾਰਾ ॥<br>
All the earlier incarnations caused only their names to be remembered.
All the earlier incarnations caused only their names to be remembered.
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And did not comprehend the supreme Purusha, they did not care for the righteous actions.45.
And did not comprehend the supreme Purusha, they did not care for the righteous actions.45.


Pro Bachitar Natak people often say that the poet has mentioned 9 Gurus in a nice way, and only condemned others IS FAKE. As we can see above, the poet says JE JE, means ALL. He contradicted himself here, as done by him several times; such as in the 'Poet confusion'
* These lines is about Avtarwaad like Rama, Krishna, Varah etc, and is not related to Sikhism. Prophets are "paigambars" and this word is not related to sikhism.<br> Sikhs have word Guru and Gurmukh. Prophets are related to Christianity and Islam Jesus, Muhammad, Noah etc.<br> In Bachitar Natak, Poet clearly mentioned role of 9 Nanaks in spreading God words and poet Shyam himself did so. The 9 Gurus were not avtars and not paigambars and the poet has not said that any of them were avatar or paigambar<br>
 
===God of Bachitar Natak===
 
The God described in “my own story” is helpless, frustrated and confused. He is more like an incompetent manger without control over his subordinates. The God described in “my own story” is contradictory to the God described in AGGS, Who is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, Creator and Controller of every thing in the creation and is happy and content watching it.


==Poet confusion==
It is clear Poet is not against the 9 Nanaks - if this was so he should have mentioned their name in list of ((Trideva, Bairagis, Jogis, Prophet Followers)). According to the poet, God is against the way made by Trideva, Muhamad, Ramanand, Gorakh, but he has not mentioned Sikhi or Gurmat. This interpretation here is left to the reader. It is upto the individual what to deduce from this wrting but the impersonator theorists say that '''Poet Shyam tried to break communal harmony.''' and Sikhism promotes Communal Harmony.


“Whatever I have created and whosoever I have sent to the world so far, did not bring Me glory.  Son, all my hopes are on you, go there, straighten out the world and spread My glory.” After this God narrated the story of creation:  “After creating the world, I created the demons, who turned out to be unfaithful. These tyrants stopped My worship. So I got angry at the demons and destroyed them in a moment and replaced them with Shiv Ji, Vishnu, and Brahma. They too turned out to be untrustworthy; as they refused to recognize Me and instead proclaimed themselves to be God.  Then I created eight witnesses to monitor the actions of living beings. But they too proclaimed that there is no one else other than them worthy of worship. Instead of worshiping Me, stupid people started worshiping gods, sun, moon, air, and fire. Many of them started worshiping stones and performing rituals. Then I created human beings, who got enchanted by the material world (maya) and started worshiping idols.”
It is clear from reading the [[Guru Granth Sahib]] that the position in the Bachitar Natak is in accordance with Gurmat principles.
 
Here, the storyteller is confused. If human beings were the last in the sequence of creation then who were worshiping sun, moon, fire, and air and stones and performing rituals? Were they not human beings?  Did they belong to another kind of human species? Besides, why did God choose the writer of “his own story,” who was also a worshiper of Mahan Kal and Kalika, to glorify His name?


==Chronological mistakes==
==Chronological mistakes==


* Poet places Ramanand in history before Muhammad. If we study history, Ramanands birth is said to be between 1366 and 1400, and Muhammad was born in 570. Such a big mistake could not have been made by Guru Gobind Singh.
* The poet makes many mistakes, such as placing Ramanand in history before Muhammad, saying that first three Gurus were Bedis, while second Guru was Trehan and third was Bhalla.
 
“After this, I sent ascetics and saints with supernatural powers, who turned out to be rascals.  They started their own sects and did not recognize Me. Then I sent Gorakh Nath followed by Rama Nand and Prophet Mohammed, who like their predecessors, established their own sects and led people astray and ignored Me.”
Here the writer displays his ignorance of history and the teachings of Ramanad and Prophet Mohammed.
Prophet Mohammed was born several hundred years earlier than Gorakh Nath and he believed in “One and only God” he called Allah.  And Rama Nand was a monotheist who adored God, that is why his composition is in AGGS. Moreover, the followers of the ProphetMuslims controlled vast territory in Asia, Africa and Europe. On the other hand Gorakh Nath’s followers believed in millions of gods and goddesses and their country was ruled by Muslims.  Besides, Gorakh Nath’s followers were free loadersthey made living by exploiting others through trickery and witchcraft.
 
==Other mistakes==
 
* The description of circumcision is vulgar ling bina - without penis instead of the proper Arabic word, sunat (suMnq) used in the AGGS.
 
* It is noteworthy that in this story the writer makes no mention of other Semitic prophets, Moses and Jesus Christ.
 
* Says that first three Gurus were Bedis, while second Guru was Trehan and third was Bhalla. Even SGGS (Panna 1396 and 1401) says that third Guru was a Bhalla.
 
==Guru Tegh Bahadurs Shaheedi==
 
In chapter five the writer says that Guru Teg Bahadar sacrificed his life was for the protection of the frontal mark and the sacred thread of the Brahmans. This is a very narrow and sectarian interpretation of Guru Teg Bahdur’s unique and unparalleled martyrdom.  Guru Teg Bahadar sacrificed his life to defend the human rights of all the subjugated Indian people. It was a sacrifice in the defense of religious tolerance and freedom of worship and conscience and against bigotry.  It is a historical coincidence that Kashmiri Brahmans sought his help to protect their religion.  If the circumstances have been reverse, he would have done the same for Muslims. Guru Hargobid Sahib built a masque called “Guru KI Maseet” for the Muslims. It is preserved as a historical monument in the district of Gurdaspur, Punjab.
==Battles==
===Battle of Bhangani===
There is no mention of the sacrifice of Pir Budhu Shah in the battle of Bhangani and the help by Khan brothers, Rai Kalah and others to Guru Gobind Singh.
 
===No Humility===
 
Statements that contradict Sikh ethics humility, forgiveness and compassion.
 
====The ones that didn't participate====
 
jy jy nr q~h n iBry  dIny ngr inkwr ]  je je nar  tah  na bhire deene nagar nikar.
jy iqh Taur Bly iBry iqnY krI pRiqpwr ]  je teh thaur bhale bhire tinai karee paritpar.
“Those who did not participate in the battle (to help us) were forced to leave the town, whereas those who did were rewarded.”
 
Sikhs know that Guru Har Gobind Sahib forgave Emperor Jahangir, who was responsible for the cruel death of his father, Guru Arjan Dev.  Sikhs also know that Guru Gobind Singh forgave Emperor Aurangjeb, who was responsible for the death of his father, mother, four sons and hundreds of Sikhs. Sikh Gurus were the embodiment of humility, compassion and forgiveness. How could any Sikh in his right mind believe that Guru Gobind Singh forced people to leave the town simply because they did not help him in the battle?


====Treatment of enemies====
* Ramanand birth place, his life span and birth date is vague. The central idea of those lines was to break communal harmony by saying that all died in ego. Sikhi never speaks against any religion, never. and what is problem if Guru Nanak was born in a Bedi. He rejected casteism like Poet Shyam also said in Akal Ustat said ""manas ki jaat sabey eke pehchanbo"".


Talking about the treatment of the enemies the writer say: “The wicked) ones were tortured and they died like dogs.”
tWg tWg kir hny indwnw ]  tang tang kar hane nidana.
kUkr ijim iqn qjy pRwnw ]    kookar jim tin the prana.
Now compare this statement with the story of Bhai Kanhyia. When Sikhs complained to Guru Gobind Singh that Bahi Kanhyia was helping the wounded enemies, he hugged Bhai Kanhyia and honored him by calling him a true Sikh. How could any Sikh believe that Guru Gobind Singh degraded his enemies to the level of dogs and tortured them to death?


{{Dasam Granth}}
{{Dasam Granth}}

Revision as of 23:17, 28 December 2009

According to some people, the writer named Poet Shyam was not actually the tenth Sikh Guru but someone who tried to impersonate Guru Gobind Singh. They say that the poet has used the then available knowledge of history to write from the viewpoint of the revered Guru by showing that his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur died for the protection Hinduism, that he fought Bhangani Battle, Nadaun battle etc, and that the impersonator left many clues which show that the writer cannot be Guru Gobind Singh.

This article challenges this viewpoint and supports the fact that the poet Shyam was in fact the pen name of tenth Sikh Guru. Was the composition Bachitar Natak the writing of Guru Gobind Singh?

Ideological mistakes

Sikhs Gurus could not visit places of pilgrimage

  • The writer's father visited many pilgrimages, which is against Sikhism and thus this shows that the writer cannot by tenth Guru and Guru Tegh Bahadur couldn't be the father who would not visit places of pilgrimage.

The supporters of the impersonator theory take the view that as Sikhs are compelled by the Sikh ideology not to visit places of pilgrimage to attain salvation that this practise cannot be engaged by the Gurus themselves. In reality the facts show that:

  • Guru Nanak visited many places of pilgrimage. Also that Guru Tegh Bahadur visited many places of pilgrimage, and the composition, Bachitar Natak records that Poet Shyam's father also visited many places of pilgrimage. The question that needs to be asked is: What Was the purpose of visiting to these holy places? And the answer is that this was to guide people onto the path of righteousness Dharam. Guru Nanak did, Guru Tegh Bahadur did and Poet Shyam's father also did.

It is accepted that the ninth Sikh Guru did indeed visit many places of pilgrimage but this was to educate the masses and bring better understanding of the right type behaviour to attain a better spiritual life. This was also done by Guru Nanak as well as is evident from the many sakhis in Haridwar and other such important places of pilgrimage. So this point does not in fact help the impersonator theorists as it was common for the Gurus to visit such places.

If one reads the Bachitar Natak in detail, one can see exactly what Guru Tegh Bahadur did in real life as narrated in history, so this does not in fact assist the impersonator theorists at all.

Critical of previous religious leaders

  • The Poet says that all prophets before him are fake. Poet tried to break communal Harmony; this not in keeping with the tone of the holy Guru Granth.

Here the impersonator theorist take the view that as the writer of Bachitar Natak has been very critical almost to the point of condemnation of the previous prophets and religious leaders, the writer cannot be a Sikh Guru as the Guru Granth Sahib has never been so critical of these previous religious leaders.

ਜੇ ਜੇ ਭਝ ਪਹਿਲ ਅਵਤਾਰਾ ॥ ਆਪ੝ ਆਪ੝ ਤਿਨ ਜਾਪ੝ ਉਚਾਰਾ ॥
All the earlier incarnations caused only their names to be remembered.

ਪ੝ਰਭ ਦੋਖੀ ਕੋਈ ਨ ਬਿਦਾਰਾ ॥ ਧਰਮ ਕਰਨ ਕੋ ਰਾਹ੝ ਨ ਡਾਰਾ ॥੪੪॥
They did not strike the tyrants and did not make them follow th path of Dharma.44.

ਜੇ ਜੇ ਗਉਸ ਅੰਬੀਆ ਭਝ ॥ ਮੈ ਮੈ ਕਰਤ ਜਗਤ ਤੇ ਗਝ ॥
All the earlier prophets ended themselves in ego.

ਮਹਾਪ੝ਰਖ ਕਾਹੂੰ ਨ ਪਛਾਨਾ ॥ ਕਰਮ ਧਰਮ ਕੋ ਕਛੂ ਨ ਜਾਨਾ ॥੪੫॥
And did not comprehend the supreme Purusha, they did not care for the righteous actions.45.

  • These lines is about Avtarwaad like Rama, Krishna, Varah etc, and is not related to Sikhism. Prophets are "paigambars" and this word is not related to sikhism.
    Sikhs have word Guru and Gurmukh. Prophets are related to Christianity and Islam Jesus, Muhammad, Noah etc.
    In Bachitar Natak, Poet clearly mentioned role of 9 Nanaks in spreading God words and poet Shyam himself did so. The 9 Gurus were not avtars and not paigambars and the poet has not said that any of them were avatar or paigambar

It is clear Poet is not against the 9 Nanaks - if this was so he should have mentioned their name in list of ((Trideva, Bairagis, Jogis, Prophet Followers)). According to the poet, God is against the way made by Trideva, Muhamad, Ramanand, Gorakh, but he has not mentioned Sikhi or Gurmat. This interpretation here is left to the reader. It is upto the individual what to deduce from this wrting but the impersonator theorists say that Poet Shyam tried to break communal harmony. and Sikhism promotes Communal Harmony.

It is clear from reading the Guru Granth Sahib that the position in the Bachitar Natak is in accordance with Gurmat principles.

Chronological mistakes

  • The poet makes many mistakes, such as placing Ramanand in history before Muhammad, saying that first three Gurus were Bedis, while second Guru was Trehan and third was Bhalla.
  • Ramanand birth place, his life span and birth date is vague. The central idea of those lines was to break communal harmony by saying that all died in ego. Sikhi never speaks against any religion, never. and what is problem if Guru Nanak was born in a Bedi. He rejected casteism like Poet Shyam also said in Akal Ustat said ""manas ki jaat sabey eke pehchanbo"".


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