Giani Sant Singh Maskeen

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Sant Singh Maskeen (1934-2005)
Maskeen.jpg
Full Name : Giani Sant Singh Maskeen
Birth : Lak Marawat, Bannu, Pakistan in 1934
Parents : Sardar Kartar Singh & Mata Ram Kaur
Spouse : Bibi Sunder Kaur
Children :
Death : 2005
Other Info: Died: Etawah, Uttar Pradesh

Giani Sant Singh Maskeen (1934-18 February 2005) was born in 1934 at a place called Lak Marwat in District Bannu in present Pakistan. Giani ji was the only son of his parents and had lived at Alwar in Rajasthan for the last 57 years of his life. He was honoured by the Sikh community with the rare title of “Panth Rattan” for his services to mankind through the message of Gurbani. Sadly “Panth Rattan” Giani Sant Singh Maskeen passed away on 18th February 2005 at approximately 8.00 AM I.S.T. due to a massive heart attack while attending a marriage function in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, India.

It is beyond doubt that Giani Sant Singh Maskeen was the most venerated and best known religious scholar among the Sikhs. This was due to the fact that he had in-depth and a broad knowledge of Gurmat and Gurbani; deep knowledge and understanding of comparative religions; and was armed with an excellent art of delivery of this vast knowledge database. He always fixed his annual programmes in advance and would stick to his schedules come what may. He had made a profound study of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and acquired in-depth knowledge of Vedas and Bhagat Banis as enshrined in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Apart from Gurmukhi and Hindi he had a command over Farsi and often quoted Bhai Nand Lal Ji. During discourses he also used to quote from the religious texts of Hindu, Muslim and other world religions with all the useful relevant references.

In his discourses Maskeen ji particularly used to mention Bhagat Banis as enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib, which has frequent references to Rama, Krishna and other Hindu gods and goddesses, and often said that, to understand the message of Gurbani it is necessary to have basic knowledge of past Indian culture and traditions. However, some Sikhs scholars failed to understand his thoughtful analytical expressions and wrongly labelled him as pro-brahminical. The attitude of these ‘scholars’ who if they continue to spread these wrong notions, could end in even raising questions about the authenticity of Bhagat Bani, or about references to Hinduism and Islam in the Guru Granth Sahib. It is felt that if these critics had their way, they might raise their voices to edit the Guru Granth Sahib, removing the names of Ram, Allah, Rahim, etc.

It just goes to show how little these so called 'academics' realise the uniqueness of the Guru Granth Sahib and the universality of its message and the importance of its words for all of mankind around the globe.

Introduction

Giani ji was a colossal, striding across contemporary Sikh society for nearly five decades. He was a dedicated Sikh missionary of great knowledge, zeal and repute who was renowned worldwide. A fearless preacher, he was very outspoken and with his rational outlook, he preached according to the concepts of Gurmat and Gurbani. He was one of the few towering personalities that the Sikhs looked up to. Not only did he have a thorough knowledge of Gurbani, his mastery of the holy scriptures of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and others allowed him to quote from them at will.

He successfully disseminated the message of the Gurus' teaching in America, Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia. He was extremely popular abroad and his discourses were always well attended. He also established a meditation center at his home town Alwar in Rajasthan, India where a Samagam (function) is held every year on the eve of Hollah Mohallah and which is attended by the scholars, preachers and learned people of the Sikh community. The Khalsa School he established at Alwar has been a great success.

He authored more than a dozen books and innumerable audio cassettes and CDs, which have impacted the thinking and way of life of the Sikh community. His daily discourses of Guru Granth Sahib on National TV network were beamed worldwide and were keenly followed by many thousands of Sikhs and others. His words provided solace and guidance to many a wavering mind.

His demise in 2005 has created a vacuum, which will be very difficult to fill. Today when western influences are making inroads into Sikh culture he will be sorely missed by the Sikh community. The loss of Giani Sant Singh Maskeen is indeed, a great loss to not only the Sikh Community, but to the whole world.

Background

At the time of partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, Maskeen Ji, like millions of other Sikhs in the part of the sub-continent now called Pakistan, was uprooted from the Western Punjab. He finally settled in Alwar, Rajasthan where he spent 57 years of his life. Every year, since last four decades, a Gurmat Samagam had been held on 1st, 2nd and 3rd March under his personal supervision. Eminent Gurmat scholars/preachers, Kirtan Jathas and thousands of devotees come to participate in the annual gurmat samagam from various part of the country.

As per the tradition of Sikhism, Guru’s Langar, (free community kitchen), is being served uninterrupted for three days for one and all who came. These events in Alwar were exceptional experiences and were always very well attended. A moderate Sikh population is settled in the villages around Alwar city. At present two Sikhs schools are functional and a big educational centre had already been erected under the able guidance of Maskeen Ji. It is a serious concern how these community welfare projects will be completed. One wonders if any reputed Panthic organization come forward to take charge of these institutions and to make the dreams of Maskeen Ji into reality?

During Giani ji's initial years of Gurmat Parchar he had to struggle hard to sustain with his mission because of his weak financial position. However, he was not a man to give up easily. He used to walk miles to attend religious congregation and to make discourses on gurmat in villages and towns. Whatever the sangat used to offer out of love and affection was his only source of income and he boldly faced all the challenges that came his way and remained firm in his goal of spreading the message of holy Guru Granth Sahib for the benefits of all mankind. He always preferred to stay miles away from politics and extremism.

Wherever he went in India and abroad for Gurmat Parchar he never deterred to ask the Sikhs to adopt the proper system of management, as per the tenets of Gurmat, to maintain the gurdwaras and other panthic institutions. Recently, he authored a book on the subject of Gurdwara management. He was very much concerned about the election procedure to constitute the committees for the management of Gurdwaras, which has now become the root cause for the infighting among Sikhs all over the world.

During 2005, the Sikh masses praised SGPC for making excellent arrangements for the last rites. Though Maskeen Ji had already been the recipient of the highest honour “Panth Ratan” during his lifetime, on the day of his Bhog ceremony he was honoured by SGPC with “Gurmat Vidya Marthand” posthumous award. Bibi Jagir Kaur, the then president of SGPC also announced "Bhai Gurdas Gold posthumous Award", worth rupees one lakh, for Maskeen Ji and also presented a cheque for rupees ten lakh to the wife of Maskeen Ji for his outstanding contribution in the cause of Sikhism and gurmat way of life. Unfortunately, now even she too has cast away her mortal coil and joined the Holy spirit.

Parents

His parents were S. Kartar Singh and Mata Ram Kaur.

Education

He received his primary education from the Khalsa School but was unable to complete his higher education from Government High School due to the partition of India in 1947. After the partition, he and his family went and settled in Alwar in Rajasthan.

The demise of his father in 1952 had an adverse impact on him and he started feeling sad and isolated from worldly issues. Therefore he left home and started learning the basic tenets of Gurbani from various places and from different scholars. He became so engrossed in Gurbani that he himself soon became a learned narrator.

Marriage

He was married to Bibi Sunder Kaur in 1958 and thereafter made Alwar his permanent home.

Lifestyle

Maskeen Ji was a very simple person who advocated simplicity. Wearing simple white clothes with a black turban, he looked very distinguished. His associates and other people accompanying him also followed the same simplicity of dress. He was very down to earth and had a simple and frugal lifestyle. Where ever he went he always preferred to stay at the Gurdwara Sahib and partook his meals from the Langar.

We would not do justice to this great personality if we fail to mention Maskeen ji complete fearlessness. In 1984 when the Indian Army attacked and palace siege around Sri Darbar Sahib and many other gurdwaras, Giani ji endured great mental agony due to this act of sacrilege. When the curfew was lifted he made an emotional electrifying speech (on the first diwans held at Gurdwara Shahidan) to rejuvenate the mentally demoralized Sikhs due to the army attack on their holiest shrine. Professor Darshan Singh Ji, another outstanding personality of Sikh Panth, recited Gurbani kirtan to provide the healing touch to the broken hearts of the Sikhs. It was these two personalities who helped the Sikh Panth, through the healing message of Gurbani, to successfully counter and to emerge triumphant of the most difficult period in the recent history.

GIANI SANT SINGH MASKEEN, Designed by (Lucky 12:29, 19 July 2008 (UTC))

Style of Narration and its Impact

His way of narration was uniquely different from all other scholars whether old or new. He began a particular topic and continued to elaborate on it giving different examples and thereby creating a style which the common person readily understood and could follow in their daily life. His concepts were quiet clear and his voice created a deep impact on all his listeners. Every person whether educated or not would be inspired by him.

Since he himself led the life he preached, and which was based on Gursikhi and Gurmat, people would relate to him easily. This had a tremendous impact on his audiences as he was the living example of what he advocated.

He didn't hesitate in speaking out the and could discourse with the best. Giani Sant Singh Maskeen even used to speak in the gathering of the people belonging to other communities and religions. And everybody was impressed by his persona.

His Foreign Trips

He visited different countries and places including Kabul, Kandhar, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, England, Iran, Thailand , Canada and America among others. Sikh communities in all these countries had great respect for him and always awaited his arrival with great enthusiasm.

Achievements

He also established a meditation center at his home town Alwar in Rajasthan, India where a Samagam (function) is held every year on the eve of "Hollah Mohallah" and which is attended by the scholars, preachers and learned people of the Sikh Community. The Khalsa School he established at Alwar has been a great success.

He authored more than a dozen books and innumerable audio cassettes and CDs, which have impacted the thinking and way of life of the Sikh Community. His daily discourses of Guru Granth Sahib on National TV network were beamed worldwide. His words provided guidance to many a wavering mind.

An epitome of learning

(From a news story in the tribune at his demise on 18.02.2005)

Maskeen Ji discoursing at Wolverhampton West Midlands U.K.Gurdwara

Giani Sant Singh Maskeen was a colossal striding across the contemporary Sikh Society for nearly five decades. His demise has created a vacuum, which would be very difficult to fill. The Sikh Community needed him at this crucial juncture when western influences are making inroads into the Sikh Culture. The loss of Giani Sant Singh Maskeen is indeed, a great loss to the worldwide Sikh Community Maskeen was an epitome of learning

GIANI Sant Singh Maskeen, who died following a massive heart attack at Etawah in Uttar Pradesh yesterday, was not only an exemplary preacher, interpreter of religious scriptures but also an epitome of learning. His limited formal education notwithstanding, Giani ji had studied various granths in depth.

Born in Lak Makwat tehsil of Ban district in North West Frontier province in 1931, Giani Sant Singh Maskeen had to skip his matriculation examination because of partition. His parents moved to Alwar in Rajasthan where he joined the sacred company of various religious heads, preachers and saints. His interest in religious studies did not wane even after he got married to Bibi Sundar Kaur in 1958.

Though his family got into motor parts business, Giani Sant Singh Maskeen dedicated his life to religion. He leaves behind besides his widow, three sons and two daughters.

Interestingly, Giani Sant Singh Maskeen had immaculate familiarisation with the works of some of greatest Urdu poets, including Ghalib and Iqbal. His knowledge of Bhagwad Geeta, Quran and holy scriptures of other religions made it easier for him to interpret Guru Granth Sahib and recitations of various other saints, including Sufi saints. Bhai Gurdas, Guru Ravi Das, Bhagat Kabir and Sheikh Farid often used to get mention in his discourses. He also used to refer to work done by various religious scholars. For example, he had gone through all 23 interpretations of Japji Sahib, including by Bhai Nand Lal, Acharya Rajnish, Giani Gurdit Singh and Bhai Veer Singh.

He was a globe-trotter and delivered discourses on various aspects of Gurbani at gurdwaras and religious congregations on important occasions. Known for his candid comments, Giani Sant Singh Maskeen was bestowed with the tile of “Panth Rattan” by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. In fact it went to his credit that coming from a Hindi belt, he turned out to be an undisputed number one interpreter-cum-preacher of Gurbani.

Though just a matriculate, he authored a number of books on various religious scriptures. His Gurbani interpretation programmes were regularly serialised on various channels. One of the channels used to telecast his discourses every morning.

Some of his famous books included Guru Chintan, Ras Dhara, Shabad Guru, Ratnagar and Amrit Manthan. Giani Sant Singh Maskeen also frequented Chandigarh and other areas in Punjab and Haryana every year.

As a mark of respect to him, both the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee closed their offices for two days. He will be cremated at Alwar on Sunday.

Other comments

In 2005, with the passing away of Maskeen Ji, the Sikh Panth has lost two of its precious jewels in a couple of months, first it was Yogi Harbhajan Singh Ji who sowed the seeds of "Sikhism in America" and later the death of great preacher Giani Sant Singh Maskeen Ji. Indeed it is difficult to fill-up the void created by the death of these two great personalities of the Sikh Panth.


Quotes

Gyaniji said: "That in nature a Lion is considered more beautiful than a Lioness and a peacock is considered more beautiful than a peahen which is true.But a Lion never goes to a barber to shave his hear or cut his beard , a peacock never goes to a barber to cut its feathers.But Men who also have this distinguishing quality go to barbers and cut their hair and shave their body and beard.Which is exactly similiar to a woman.so indirectly men wanta look like women and loose the beautiful and distinguishing quality God has given them." .... Source: Gyani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen - Last Words

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