What is meant by idol worship? There is a notion that to worship a stony idol, is
idol worship or to worship a photo is idol worship. But we are gravely mistaken. If that
had been the case, then GURU SAHIB might not have included Bhagat Namdev
Shabad in SAHIB SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB, in which Namdev was blessed with the
darshan of supreme Lord out of a stony idol. Due to our ignorance, some persons
make a hue and cry that this shabad should be excluded out of Gurbani. But they have
no authority to do that.

Bhagat Dhanna’s occurrence is mentioned in detail by Bhai Gurdas Ji, in which it

is clearly mentioned, how Dhanna Jat was blessed with the darshan of the lord out of a
stone. From these two incidents, the point which is laid stress by these sakhis is that a
person can have the blessed darshan of the lord, if he has the same childlike
innocence, same absolute faith, absolutely no doubt and absolutely no ego as Dhana
and Namdev. These qualities are necessary to have the darshan of supreme lord.
These are mentioned by Guru Sahib again and again.

An example to clearly express how all doubts and second thoughts must be
eliminated from us can be seen in the following instance. If we were about to eat a
pleasant meal such as yogurt and at the moment we were about to take a spoonful, we
see a hair in the yogurt, we would not eat it, unless we pick out the hair and throw it out.
Now when the hair is taken out, we have complete trust and we will enjoy the yogurt.
This example can be related to faith in our Guru. Unless the doubts and questions
towards our Guru are eliminated, we will not be able to indulge in the Guru’s fruit, and
this is our greatest drawback. So, once the ‘hair’ of doubt is removed, we can start
seeing the Gurus in their truest and most enlightening form. A mind troubled by doubt
cannot focus on the course to victory. And in faith, there is enough light for those, who
want to believe and enough shadow to blind those who do not.

Faith is a gift from GOD. There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt.
It is a thorn, that irritates and hurts and it is a double edged sword that kills and
disintegrates everything. And it is wisely said that those who have conquered doubt
have conquered failure. SAHIB SRI GURU AMAR DAS JI says that the persons, who
doubt their Guru are thrown into dirty filth and they are always dithering in pain.
Sri
Guru
Amardaas
Ji
says
(ang
645
)
:‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐


shsw rogu n CofeI duK hI mih duK pwih ]

The disease of doubt does not depart, and they find only pain and more pain.

Sri Guru Amar Daas Ji says ( ang 512 ) :----------

shsw mUil n cukeI ivic ivstw pcY pcwie ]

His doubts do not leave him at all, and he rots away in filth.
Sri
Guru
Amardaas
Ji
says
(
ang
637
)
:‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐


gurmuKw no prqIiq hY hir jIau mnmuK Brim BulwieAw ]1]

The Gurmukhs place their faith in the Dear Lord, but the self-willed manmukhs are deluded
by doubt. ||1|

SAHIB
SRI
GURU
ARJAN
DEV
JI
SAYS
(
ANG
1226
):‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐



siq qy jn ijn prqIiq aupjI nwnk nh Brmyhu ]

True are those humble beings, within whom faith wells up; O Nanak, they are not deluded
by doubt


So Guru Sahib clearly mentions that the persons, who have full faith and have no doubt
are the huble beings.

AND
SRI
GURU
RAMDAAS
SAYS
THAT
A
PERSON,
WHO
HAS
NO
FAITH
ON
GURU
SAHIB
IS
SPIRITUALLY

IGNORANT
AND
IS
DULL
AND
DUMB.
(
ANG
652
)
:‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐


AMqir AigAwnu BeI miq miDm siqgur kI prqIiq nwhI ]

AND
SRI
GURU
AMARDAAS
JI
SAYS
THAT
A
PERSON,
WHO
HAS
NO
FAITH
IN
GURU
SAHIB
AND
DOES
NOT

LOVE
SHABAD
WILL
FIND
NO
PEACE,
EVEN
THOUGH
HE
MAY
COME
AND
GO
HUNDREDS
OF
TIMES.
(ANG

591
)
:‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

siqgur kI prqIiq n AweIAw sbid n lwgo Bwau ]

One who has no faith in the True Guru, and who does not love the Word of the Shabad,

Es no suKu n aupjY BwvY sau gyVw Awvau jwau ]

shall find no peace, even though he may come and go hundreds of times.

2. LONGING OR YEARNING:---------------------------------

When we have complete faith on the Lord, then the yearning for HIS Darshan springs
up automatically. And when the yearning for HIS darshan springs up, then we start
waiting for HIS arrival. We do always make a sketch of HIS appearance. We even cry
and pray wholeheartedly for HIM. Then every second brings a lot of excitement in our
mind, which cannot be described in words. And our mind becomes detached from the
world.
Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji says ( ang 50 );----------

min bYrwgu BieAw drsnu dyKxY kw cwau ]

Mind has become detached from the world; it longs to see the Vision of God's Darshan.

Sri Guru Ramdaas Ji says ( ang 94 ) :-----------

hau rih n skw ibnu dyKy pRIqmw mY nIru vhy vih clY jIau ]3]
I cannot survive without seeing my Lord. My eyes are welling up with tears
So when our mind is detached from the world, then there is so much excitement that
we cannot hold ourselves even for an instant.

Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji mentions about this stage (ang 829 ):------------

aupijE cwau imln pRB pRIqm rhnu n jwie iKnI ]1]

The yearning to meet my Beloved God has welled up within me. I cannot live without Him,
even for an instant.

Now question arises that if this is the case that by yearning, we can have HIS
Darshan, then it seems to be so easy a task. But there is delay on our side and not on
the other side, because we do not really detach ourselves from the world. Bhagat
Naamdev Ji says ( ang 657 ):----------------

log kutMb sBhu qy qorY qau Awpn byFI AwvY ho ]2]

When one breaks his ties with all the people and relatives, then the LORD comes of His
own accord.

It seems to be a very simple proposition, but at the same time it can be a very difficult
one for a person, who is fully engrossed in worldly affairs. He does not have time even
to listen to the spiritual discourse. He is too much engrossed with family attachment.

Sri Guru Amardaas Ji says about such a person ( ang 29 ) :------------------

mnmuKu moih ivAwipAw bYrwgu audwsI n hoie ]

The self-willed manmukhs are engrossed in emotional attachment; they are not balanced
or detached.

FAQIR BULLE SHAH EXPLAINS THIS IN SUCH A WONDERFUL WAY:------

“BULLIA RABB DA KI PAUNA

EDHRON PATTNA UDHAR LAUNA”
( It is so easy to find GOD, simply detach yourself from world and make connections
towards GOD. )

The Supreme Lord is not far away. Bhagat Ravidas Ji says that He is nearer than our
hands and feet.
The problem is created, when we do not believe it. We think that He has only Nirgunn
Saroop. But we are gravely mistaken. If we have strong conviction, then He appears in
visible form also, as to DHANNA BHAGAT AND BHAGAT NAAMDEV.

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji says : ( ang 14 ):----------

gupqu prgtu hoie bYsw loku rwKY Bwau ]

He becomes invisible and visible at will, and the people love Him.

Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji says ( ang 250 ) :--------------

inrMkwr Awkwr Awip inrgun srgun eyk ]

He Himself is formless, and has also form; the One Lord is without attributes, and also
with attributes.

So when a person is lucky enough to have the darshan of LORD, then he cannot
describe the greatest bliss, which he receives.

Bhai Gurdaas Ji explains the condition of the person, who gets the holy glimpse of GURU
SAHIB (VAAR 42) :-----------

drsn dyKq hI suiD kI n suiD rhI

buiD kI n buiD rhI miq mY n miq hY ]

When a person gets the holy glimpse, he cannot describe, because he is so lost in his blessed
darshan, that he loses all his senses.

Sri
Guru
Ramdaas
Ji
says

(
ang
758
)
:-----------

qnu mnu hoie inhwlu jw guru dyKw swm@xy ]1]
My body and soul are in ecstasy; when I see my Guru before me.



Sri
Guru
Arjan
Dev
Ji
says
(
ang
103
)
:-----------





sy nyqR prvwxu ijnI drsnu pyKw ]
The eyes which behold the darshan are approved.

THE SUPREME LORD IS STANDING BESIDE US, BUT THE PERSONS, WHO DO
NOT HAVE A LONGING TO SEE HIM, BUT INSTEAD FIX THEIR EYES ON AN
IMAGINARY POINT, ARE REAL IDOL WORSHIPPERS.

3. DUALITY:------------

When a person cannot concentrate on a subject, he is not able to grasp anything. When
we are in a classroom and the teacher is explaining any subject and if we are not
listening to the teacher attentively, we will not be able to grasp anything. Similarly if we
are doing our devotional worship, but we are thinking of something else, we cannot be
successful in our mission. In the same way, if we like to have HIS darshan, but we
doubt his existence, then all our worship or bhagti is useless.

BHAGAT KABIR JI SAYS, IF THERE IS DUALITY OF MIND ( POLLUTED MIND ),

THEN THE PRAYERS, CHANTING OF NAAM, FASTING OR DEVOTIONAL
WORSHIP ARE ALL USELESS ( ANG 324 )--------------

ikAw jpu ikAw qpu ikAw bRq pUjw ]

What use is chanting, and what use is penance, fasting or devotional worship,

jw kY irdY Bwau hY dUjw ]1]

to one whose heart is filled with the love of duality?

SRI GURU RAM DAAS JI SAYS ( ANG 168 ) ---------------

ijs kau irdY ivgwsu hY Bwau dUjw nwhI ]

One whose heart blossoms forth, is not in love with duality

SRI GURU NANAK DEV JI SAYS THAT A GURMUKH HAS THE DARSHAN OF SUPREME LORD (
ANG 1010 )------------

muiK iDmwxY Dn KVI gurmuiK AwKI dyKu ]

His soul-bride stands waiting expectantly; as Gurmukh, and sees Him with eyes

4. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESPECT AND IDOL WORSHIP------------------------------

 Showing respect and idol worship are two different things and the persons, who
intermingle these two are doing an immense disservice to Sikhism. To show respect to
our Gurus or elders is not idol worship. There is a world of difference between showing
respect and idol worship. From the time of Guru Nanak Sahib upto year 1699 A.D. ( for
about 200 years ), it was the maryada that the sikh sangat eagerly took the water
touched by Guru Sahib’s holy feet as parsad. It was called charanmrit. What will we say
that? Can we call it Idol Worship? If it was Idol Worship, then Guru Sahib could have
ordered to stop it. We cannot call it Idol Worship. It was a sign of deep respect or
regard for Guru Sahib.
The persons, who think showing of respect as idol worship, are bent upon
destroying our precious heritage. Here are a few examples out of many:-------

At Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib Patiala ( Punjab ), there was a banyan tree,
under which Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji took rest for a while. The Sikhs bowed their
heads to that place out of respect. The management could not tolerate this and
declared that it was idol worship. So they uprooted that tree.

Another most disgusting example of removal of most important heritage is the

removal of that wall, where the young SAHIBZADAS ( AGED 6 AND 8 YEARS ) OF
SAHIB GURU GOBIND SINGH JI WERE BRICKED ALIVE. The management removed
the wall, because the Sikhs bowed before it out of respect. They could not tolerate it
and said that it was idol worship. So they removed it. There is hanging a plate on the
wall, which read as follows:” The wall has been removed and in its place Guru Granth
Sahib has been installed.” The martyr's wall had been removed. This wall remained
there from 1704 to 1997. Could the management not find another place for the parkash
of GURU SAHIB? They simply could not tolerate that the Sikhs should bow their heads
before the wall, because they thought that it was idol worship.
The coming generations will be shocked to know that the original monument
relating to the Sahibzadas martyrdom was destroyed not by our enemies but by our own
people, who do not know the difference between respect and idol worship.
Another disgusting example is dismantling of the original fort at ANANDPUR
SAHIB, from where SAHIB GURU GOBIND SINGH JI fought all the battles. One is
shocked and dejected to notice the absence of original fort.
Look at the nation ( ISRAEL ), that has suffered for millenia, has gone through
worst of tortures, yet maintained their culture, identity and even got their homeland.
Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, though millenia old, is still preserved. Similarly, 'Masade Hill
Fort' keeps alive the memory of Jews killed by Romans. When Israeli Air Force pilots fly
past the Masade Hill Fort they take a vow to "uphold their traditions and protect their
country against any aggression". This they do before taking their final Commission and
getting their wings.
What a contrast to us Sikhs, whose martial tradition is just 3 centuries old and
instead of even dreaming of preserving it for the millenia, we are out to demolish and
destroy the proofs of our valor and martial tradition, foundations of which were laid by
our unique Prophet, Guru Gobind Singh. The only fort built by any Prophet of any
religion in the whole world, which was intact till last year, has been demolished and
disfigured, in the name of tricentenary celebrations. The fort of Anandpur Sahib was
strong and functional. From here Guru Gobind Singh fought battles and won them too.
But it is shameful to say, living examples and images of our martial traditions, like the
fort of Anandpur Sahib have been demolished by our own Sikh leaders. They have tried
to crush the martial spirit of the Sikhs, which was a gift and blessing of Guru Gobind
Singh. Guru Gobind Singh was the only Prophet in the world who amalgamated
martialism with spiritualism, thus making his followers strongest in both these spheres.
If the Anandpur Sahib fort had been preserved and revered like Masade Hill Fort of the
Jews (one of the bravest soldiers of the world), our Sikh soldiers in every field of
defence services would have come here to pay homage, seek blessings and gain
highest possible morale before proceeding to the battlefield.

The Sikhs pay respect to the shashters (weapons) of SRI GURU GOBIND
SINGH JI, pay respect to NISHAN SAHIB, pay respect to all the historical places. In this
way, if this trend goes on, then someday these persons may try to remove those also,
misunderstanding it as idol worship.




6. PHOTOS:-------------------------------------

Next these people have decided to remove Guru Sahib photos. They say it is idol
worship. We are travelling on a freeway and while passing, we see a NISHAN SAHIB to
our right or left. We immediately bow our head with folded hands. Do we bow our head
to the bricks of the gurdwara? Not the least.
Our mind goes to SAHIB SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI. We have the darshan
of Guru Sahib in our mind. In the same way, when we see a picture of Guru Sahib, our
mind does not go towards the picture, but it ultimately goes to GURU SAHIB sitting
inside the picture.

Bhagat Dhanna and Bhagat Namdev did not even for a second, thought that they
are requesting the stony idols, but they had a firm faith that it was not a stone, but THE
LORD. And they were blessed with the Darshan of the LORD.

What is wrong with us? Can we not have the darshan of the LORD, if we have
complete faith that it is not a photo, but GURU SAHIB HIMSELF. If we say showing
respect to GURU SAHIB PHOTO is Idol Worship, then there is complete lack of faith in
us. Our problem is that instead of having faith on Gurbani or Guru Sahib, we try to twist
the meaning of MOORAT, because it does not have resemblance with our ideology.

Let us have a look on the simple verse of Gurbani:-

Sri Guru Ram Daas Ji says that a person, who worships Guru’s photo with a pure heart,
gets his mind’s desires. ( ang 303 )

jo icqu lwie pUjy gur mUriq so mn ieCy Pl pwvY



The problem is created, when we try to twist the simple meaning of MURAT. Here Guru
Sahib asks us to worship the moorat with great devotion.

Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji shows us the way how to chant Guru’s Naam :------------( ang 517 )

AMqir guru AwrwDxw ijhvw jip gur nwau ]

Deep within yourself, worship the Guru in adoration, and with your tongue, chant the Guru's Name.

nyqRI siqguru pyKxw sRvxI sunxw gur nwau ]

Let your eyes behold the True Guru, and let your ears hear the Guru's Name.

siqgur syqI riqAw drgh pweIAY Twau ]

Attuned to the True Guru, you shall receive a place of honor in the Court of the Lord.

khu nwnk ikrpw kry ijs no eyh vQu dyie ]

Says Nanak, only those chant your naam in this way , who are blessed with His Mercy.

jg mih auqm kwFIAih ivrly kyeI kyie ]1]

The
persons,
who
chant
your
Naam
in
this
way
are
rare
to
find.



Guru Sahib clearly states that YOUR EYES SHOULD CONCENTRATE ON THE
DARSHAN OF GURU SAHIB. But at the same time Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji declares
that such persons are rare to find.


Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji says ( ang 1202 ):----------

siqgur mUriq kau bil jwau ]

I am a sacrifice to the moorat of the True Guru.

Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji says:( ang 192 ) :---------------

gur mUriq isau lwie iDAwnu ]

A person, who meditates on the Guru's moorat, is honored in this world and next one.

eIhw aUhw pwvih mwnu ]3]

Bhai Gurdaas Ji says ( vaar 40 ) :--------------

ibnu drsnu guru mUriq BRmqw iPry lK jUin caurwsI]

Without the glimpse of the manifest Guru Moorat, a person wanders in eighty four lacs ( 8.4
million) of species of life.

Now let us take a page from history of SRI GURU TEG BAHADUR JI’S tour of
Bengal. Guru Sahib stayed some months at Bhai Balaki Das’s house. He was a
devotee of Guru Sahib and when Guru Sahib decided to depart, then Bhai Balaki Das’
old mother requested to let him have a portrait of Guru Sahib, to which Guru Sahib
agreed.

Bhai Balaki Dass was an influential person of Dhaka and had access to
Shaiesta Khan ( The Nawab of Dhaka ). So he brought the royal painter, named
Ahsan. The painter made a picture of the body of Guru Sahib but when he reached
his face (in the picture); he could not properly draw the glowing face of the Guru. On
seeing this, Guru Sahib took the brush in his own hand and drew the face himself and
permitted Bhai Balaki Das to have his darshan through the picture in his absence.

Many writers in historical books have penned this account. Mehma Parkash is
one of the oldest books, which contains the biography of all the 10 Gurus. It was
written in the 18th century, sometime after Guru Gobind Singh Ji

The narrative of this painting in Dhaka is written Mehma Parkash like this:

"Bada likhari leai mai (Mai, mother, brought bada likhari, renowned painter)
Satguru hazur tasvir likhai (made picture in hazur, front of Satguru)
Sagal ang bastr subh likha (All body parts and clothes were painted)
Mukh kamal Prabhu nahin likh saka (but couldn’t draw his face)
Dekh Dial kalam hath lina (On seeing this, Guru took brush in his own hand). Nij hath
sudhar sampuran kina (Guru completed the picture with nij hath, his own hand)
Tab mai ko murat Prabh dina". (Then Guru gave his murat, picture, to mai, old lady)

This anecdote has also been mentioned in another old book, Gur Partap Surya
Granth, which was completed by Bhai Santokh Singh Ji in 1842. Gur Partap Surya
Granth is a tremendous effort by the writer to note down the whole history of 10
Gurus. It has 6,412 pages. Bhai Santokh Singh spent 20 years of his life in collecting
the ancient books of Sikh history and then writing it in his own verse. He divided his
book into “Raas” and “Ansu”, which is similar to chapters and sub-chapters of modern
books. The writer has written the narrative of this Dhaka picture in Raas 12, Ansu 5
on page 4,243 of the 10th volume (re-published by Bhasha Vibhag,Punjab in 1993).

Another writer Bhai Sahib Bhai Veer Singh also agrees with this account.

Sayed Aulad Kasam: He was well known Bengali Muslim writer of the late 19th
century. He has written that he visited Gurdwara Sangat Tola in 1904 and saw the
original picture of Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji in the Gurdwara.

The copies of the original picture are lying both at Gurdwara Nanakshahi and
Gurdwara Sangat Tola at Dhaka. The original picture is lying at Victoria Memorial
Museum at Kolkata.

This extremely rare picture is not the only one we have of Guru Sahib. When
Guru Nanak Dev Ji went on his fourth Udasi to Mecca, he visited Baghdad also. He
had a conversation with the Caliph (King) of Bagdad, named Bakkar. The Caliph was
impressed by Guru Sahib’s personality and he asked for permission to make his
picture. The permission was granted and the royal painter made the picture in front of
Guru Sahib. Then the Caliph put this picture in his palace. This story has been written
by Giani Gian Singh in his well known historical book, “Twareekh Guru Khalsa”
(volume 1, page 270). One European researcher went to Baghdad in the 18th century,
where he saw this picture. He published the copy of this picture in 1797 in his book
called “Oriental Collections”, Volume II. An article about this picture has also been
written by Dr. Sawinder Singh in Punjabi newspapers.

Sardar Mohan Singh is a former Director of the Punjab State Cultural Affairs
and Archives Department. He was invited to Washington, DC, by the Smithsonian
institution in 2004 to present his paper on Sikh paintings. He mentioned that there is a
historic reference in “Gurbilas Patshahi 6” about executing of a painting of Guru
Hargobind Sahib Ji. The reference says two artists, who were father and son, arrived
at Kartarpur from Amritsar and made a request to Guru’s disciple Bhai Bidhi Chand to
draw a painting of the Guru. The reference says that the Guru Sahib granted the
permission to draw the picture. The painting shows Guru Sahib on a horse back. The
painting was bestowed to Bhai Bidhi Chand. Sardar Mohan Singh said this painting,
along with a few other paintings of the same era, were in the possession of
descendants of Bhai Bidhi Chand at Sur Singh village in Amritsar.

Mohan Singh has also cited a painting of Guru Har Rai Sahib, which is in the
collection of Sodhis of Kartarpur. The stick in his hand in the painting is a beautifully
carved ivory with a knob at its top. “The actual stick is now in the possession of a
family residing in Thakurdwara street in Amritsar”, said Mohan Singh.
 Mohan Singh also mentioned that there is a contemporary picture of Guru
Gobind Singh Ji at Harmander Sahib, Patna, in which he is adorned with pearl
necklaces, armlets and a bejeweled kalgi on his turban.

Sri Damdama Sahib is one of the five Takhats where Guru Gobind Singh Ji
stayed for more than nine months. Guru Sahib also concluded Sri Guru Granth Sahib
there by adding the ninth Guru’s hymns. When Guru Sahib left for South India, he
made Baba Deep Singh ji caretaker of this place. Currently there are many sacred
relics, which are kept there. The prominent among those are a portrait (picture) of the
tenth Guru, Sri Sahib (Sword), a matchlock, a pothi (book) transcribed by Baba Deep
Singh, and a Sword of Baba Deep Singh.

Articles have already been written about a few other pictures of the Guru
Sahib, as well. An artist at Anandpur Sahib painted tenth Guru’s picture in 1703 and it
was published by Akali Kaur Singh, a known Sikh scholar, in one of his books in the
19th century. Another portrait of the tenth Guru was painted by the royal visual artist of
Sidh Sen, the ruler of Mandi. When Guru Sahib visited Mandi, he preferred to stay
outside the town, while his household ladies stayed in the royal palace. The royal
family maintained the shrine inside the palace. Gurdwaras are now built at both
places. When Maharaja Ranjeet Singh subjugated Mandi, he appointed Sardar Lehna
Singh Majithia as the Governor of the constituency. Sardar Lehna Singh got hold of
the Guru’s original portrait, which he brought to the Maharaja.

Similarly it has already been published that the old portraits of Guru Nanak Dev
Ji drawn on silk and tanka (a painting on cloth which can be rolled up like a map) have
been found in Lhasa (Tibet) and Sikkim. Guru Nanak Dev Ji went on his second
Udassi to the Tibet and Kamroop (Assam) area in circa 1517.

The western countries take pride in preserving their religious and historical
artifacts. However, it is very unfortunate that Sikhs have not yet made any organized
attempt in this arena. The pictures mentioned above are extremely rare and are of
great historical significance. Unfortunately, some of these may have already been
lost.

A lot of research has been done in western countries on the topic of education
through pictures. An old English proverb goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.
This has been proven correct by scientific research. The education system in western
countries in now committed to prescribing books to students which contain pictures. It
is now well established that pictures help the reader grasp the subject in a quicker
and a more understandable manner.

Unfortunately, we are losing our younger generation to the western culture and
its values. Many of them have no idea about the Guru Sahibs. They don’t have much
interest in reading our religious books. Lately, some good movies have been
produced to show the life history of Guru Sahibs. This effort is worthwhile and
commendable. We have accepted the idea of Guru Sahib’s pictures in movies. But we
need to show the real pictures of Guru Sahib. The Sikh organizations should work to
preserve these pictures properly and distribute its copies widely among Sikhs so that
the current generations should visualize what the Gurus looked like. It will be a great
service to the history in general and Sikh religion and culture in particular.

Recently, I had a chance to go to a friend’s house along with my grandson. A

photo of GURU NANAK SAHIB was hanging on the wall. My grandson bowed before
the photo with folded hands. In the meantime a grandson of my friend of the same
age as my grandson came there. I asked him, “whose photo is this pointing to GURU
SAHIB’S PHOTO?” He replied instantly, “He is an old man.”

Here I like to point out another incident. I was going with my son in a car, when
an amritdhari singh, who was a friend of my son, signaled my son to stop. He came
running to us, but when he saw the photo of KALGIDHAR PATSHAH, which my son
had in the car, he could not control himself and said,: It is quite regrettable that being
a sikh, you are having this photo.” You can well imagine his mentality.

Now I am going to tell you another true story of an I.A.S. officer. He was
attending a meeting of the Sikhs. There was a photo of GURU SAHIB. On seeing the
photo, he at once said, “Just see how his face looks like. He has such an ugly face
etc. etc. ”

He meant to say that he himself had a handsome face. We see with great
interest the photos of actors, and so many others. We make photo albums of
weddings and other functions, and we enter these on computers and take a pride to
show these to others. But we at once frown to see GURU SAHIBAN’S PHOTOS.
WHAT A SHAME!

7. WORSHIP:---------------------------------

Guru Sahiban repeatedly order us to worship your guru as GOD, and worship the
true Sant, worship the holy feet of the true Sant. And the persons, who say that
worshipping is idol worship, then they are quite ignorant of spiritualism. The persons,
who are at the lower step of the ladder of spiritualism should not meddle with the
persons, who are at the top step of the ladder.


Sri Guru Ramdaas Ji says ( ang 800 ) :------------------

guru siqguru pwrbRhmu kir pUjhu inq syvhu idnsu sB rYnI ]1]
Worship the Guru, the True Guru, as the Supreme Lord God; serve Him constantly, all
day and night. ||1||


Sri
Guru
Ramdaas
Ji
says
(
ang
1309
):‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐


jo jo Bgqu hoie so pUjhu Brmn Brmu cukwvYgo ]6]

Whoever is a Bhagat, worship and adore him and. Get rid of your doubts and
superstitions.

Sri Guru Arjan Dev JI says that worship the Lord Guru with mind and body attuned to
Him. ( ang 52 )

We need faith and devotion to reach the upper level. If a person has got the higher
degree in education, he has not got the authority to doubt the truthfulness of spiritual
heights. It happens a lot of time, because such a person becomes full of ego. And a
person, who doubts the Guru’s sayings and believes himself right is called a
MANMUKH.
Guru Sahib says that a manmukh is like a stone. His life style is void of humility,
love, contentment and is totally void of spiritual wisdom. He does not listen to
Gurbani, but follows, whichever way his mind leads.
There are a lot of examples of the Sikhs, who had full faith on Guru Sahib. Many
women show more faith than these educated, but igoistic Sikhs. Let us have a look
at BIBI RAJNI. She was daughter of a king and had full faith on GURU SAHIB. Her
father did not like it and married her to a leper. The leper was severely disfigured and
a foul smell came from his body. But Bibi Rajni had complete faith on GURU SAHIB.
The leper was cured. Look she took a leper as her husband and served him with a
great devotion. And it is a blot on those sikhs, who have no faith on GURU SAHIB,
and instead look upwards to find GOD.


Sri
Guru
Amardaas
Ji
says
(
ang
853
):‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

gurmuiK sMsw mUil n hoveI icMqw ivchu jwie ]
The Gurmukh does not have an iota of skepticism or doubt; worries depart from within
him.

Doubt is a seed and the fruit of worries spring out of it.

A MAN WITHOUT FAITH IS LIKE A MAN WITH NO FATHER.






8. SAHIB SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI:--------------


LET
US
SEE,
WHO
ARE
IDOL
WORSHIPPERS
:‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐


Those persons, who bow their heads before SAHIB SRI GURH GRANTH SAHIB JI,
but doubt the correctness of Gurbani are idol worshippers.
We have gone so arrogant that we do not want to believe GURU SAHIB.
KALGIDHAR PATSHAH himself bowed ( matha tekna ) before SAHIB SRI GURU
GRANTH SAHIB JI and ordered the Sikhs to consider SAHIB GURU GRANTH SAHIB
JI as their next living Guru. For about 300 years, the Sikhs obeyed this order with
deep devotion and there was no controversy.

BUT LATELY SOME PERSONS, WHO THINK THEMSELVES HIGHLY EDUCATED ,

ARE QUESTIONING

GURU SAHIB’S AUTHORITY AND SAY THAT THIS IS ONLY A BOOK AND THERE
IS NO NEED OF ANY RUMALAS, OR CHAUR OR BHOG etc.

HAVE A LOOK, WHAT GURU NANAK SAHIB SAYS ABOUT SUCH A SCHOLAR,
WHO IS FULL OF GREED, PRIDE AND EGO. GURU SAHIB SAYS THAT SUCH A
SCHOLAR IS A FOOL: ( ang 140 )----------

‐‐piVAw mUrKu AwKIAY ijsu lbu loBu AhMkwrw ]

That scholar who is full of greed, arrogant pride and egotism, is known to be a fool.

iliK iliK piVAw ]

The more one write and reads,

qyqw kiVAw ]

the more one burns

AND GURU NANAK SAHIB SAYS THAT MORE SUCH A PERSON IS EDUCATED, THE MORE
HE IS BURNING WITH EGO.( ang 467 )

AND DHANNA JAT WAS TOTALLY UNEDUCATED, BUT HE HAD FULL FAITH, had
CHILDLIKE INNOCENCE, had NO DOUBT AND NO EGO AND HE HAD THE
DARSHAN OF THE LORD out of a stone. THAT IS WHY SRI GURU ARJAN DEV JI
PROCLAIMS LOUDLY : ( ang 197 )--------------

jo pRwxI goivMdu iDAwvY ]

That mortal who meditates on the Lord of the Universe,

piVAw AxpiVAw prm giq pwvY ]1]

whether educated or uneducated, obtains the state of supreme dignity. ||1||

These so called educated people are totally ignorant of the spiritual heights of the
faithful people. They question the order of SAHIB SRI GURU GOBIND SINGH JI :--

“ GURU GRANTH JI MANYO PARGAT GURAN KI DEH “

They do not believe it.

Their argument is that this is only a book and a book ( pothi ) cannot be a living guru.

Let us have the darshan of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji’ s Bani ( ang 1226 ) :-------------

poQI prmysr kw Qwnu ]

This Holy Book is the home of the Transcendent Lord God.

So if this is a book, then it cannot be a home of GOD.

It is to be regretted that we Sikhs are having so much doubts on our GURU SAHIBAN
and their commandments, the example of which is not to be found in any other
religion. Hindu religion is so old, but the Hindus never doubt their deities. They
worship these with utmost devotion. But if we worship our Gurus or true Sants, then
these egoist Sikhs make a noise that this is all brahminical custom. Have we ever
thought, if the stone of DHANNA BHAGAT can take the form of GOD and take food,
then can GURU SAHIB not appear before us in real form? What we need is childlike
innocence, which is totally absent in an egoist mind, because it is full of pride, doubts
and duality and Sri Guru Amardaas Ji says ( ang 491 ) :-----------------

ijsu nr kI duibDw n jwie Drm rwie iqsu dyie sjwie ]3]

That man, whose sense of duality does not depart - the Righteous Judge of Dharma
shall punish him.

A Brahmin, whose sole purpose was to rob innocent persons gave DHANNA JAT a
stone and told him that it was GOD. DHANNA did not have a doubt on brahmin and
was blessed with the darshan of the LORD, as that stone took the form of LORD. And
SHAME on those Sikhs, who cast a doubt over SAHIB KALGIDHAR PATSHAH’S
ORDER and say that this cannot be PARGAT GURAN KI DEH, but it is a book. They
argue that if we say that this is PARGAT GURU, then it will be idol worship.

NOT THE LEAST. The persons, who bow before GURU SAHIB WITH TRUE
DEVOTION AND TRUE FAITH do not do idol worship, but the persons, who consider
this a book and bow halfheartedly are REAL IDOL WORSHIPPERS. They say there is
no need of Rumalas or Chaur or Bhog etc. What are they doing? They like to destroy
even our most respected devotional worship. There is no doubt that they are on the
payroll of the enemies of Sikhs. They are doing an immense harm to Sikh religion. A
handful of Sikhs have been bought by our enemies and they are instigating other
innocent Sikhs, who do not actually see their wickedness.

Their argument is that the Sikhs, who consider this as PARGAT GURAN KI DEH are
living in 15th. Century.

What a wonderful thinking! Let me ask them, if they are in 21st. century, then are they
obliged to disobey their dad? Their dad will remain their dad, may be they are in 15th.
Century or in 21st. century. Let me share with you a real incident. In my college days,
there was a class fellow of mine, whose dad was uneducated and a simple farmer. He
came to see his son. That class fellow told us that he was their servant ( in English ).
But when he went to take some refreshment for him, we came to know that he was
his dad. What a shame! The same thing is happening with these 21st. century guys.
They feel themselves downtrodden to obey KALGIDHAR PATSHAH’S order.

The Sikhs with great devotion went on obeying this order of GURU SAHIB that SRI
GURU GRANTH SAHIB is PARGAT GURAN KI DEH. Now they devised a new
proposition and began to say that GURU SAHIB did not order that. GURU SAHIB had
said that shabad or khalsa is pargat guran ki deh. They are compelled to say so,
because they are on the pay roll of those people, who want to destroy our heritage.

At first, they began to preach against GURU SAHIBAN’S photos. slowly and step by
step, and now they are preaching this and saying that it is idol worship, but they
should realise that if they have no faith, do not want to listen to what shabad is saying
and bow before shabad, then that is ALSO THE WORST KIND OF IDOL WORSHIP.

Sri Guru Ramdaas Ji says ( ang 305 ) :-----------------

ijsu AMdir pRIiq nhI siqgur kI su kUVI AwvY kUVI jwvY ]

Those who have no love for the True Guru within their hearts come with falsehood, and
leave with falsehood.

Sri Guru Ramdaas Ji says that the persons, who close their eyes and pretend to chant
NAAM without any faith on Guru Sahib are false ones. ( ang 734 ) :----------

jo ibnu prqIqI kptI kUVI kUVI AKI mItdy aun kw auqir jwiegw JUTu gumwnu ]3]

Those who lack faith may close their eyes, hypocritically pretending and faking
devotion, but their false pretenses shall soon wear off. ||3||
When a person has no faith on GURU SAHIB, then he thinks of most stupid
propositions. Such a person does not hesitate to make a mockery of our GURU
SAHIB. But intelligent persons know that he is a fool and stupid. Such a guy was
laughing loudly after saying, “Do whatever you do, but do not throw SAHIB SRI GURU
“GRANTH SAHIB” JI in a tub of water.” What a nonsense kind of thinking!

If he had a little bit of knowledge of Gurbani, he would not have dared to say such a
foolish nonsense.

If DHANNA’S stone and NAAMDEV’S diety could take a form, then can SRI GURU
GRANTH SAHIB not take a SARGUNN SARUP? There are so many examples, when
GURU SAHIB blessed a faithful person with darshan in SARGUNN SARUP.

The persons, who devise their own ethics contrary to GURU’S word and philosophy
are in real terms atheists in sikhi sarup. They are out to destroy Sikhism in whatever
method they conceive. GURU’S WORD has all the powers, only if we open the doors
of our mind to understand it. But if someone is determined to devise different methods
to destroy Sikhism, then no one can prevent him. So these modern sikh atheists now
have dared to attack SAHIB SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI. They know that if they
are successful in doing that, then they can please their pay roll masters. They are
happy to preach against AMRIT PARCHAR, against AKHAND PATHS, against Sikh
heritage, against everything, which the Sikhs worship.

THEY DO NOT TAKE THE TROUBLE OF UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE

OF IDOL WORSHIP AND SHOWING RESPECT. BY RAISING THE BOGEY OF
IDOL WORSHIP, THEY ARE OUT TO ATTACK EVERY SIKHI RELATED ARTICLE
(EVEN SAHIB SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB JI )

BUT THERE IS A MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION. CAN THEY BE SUCCESSFUL IN

THEIR NEFARIOUS DESIGNS?

LET US SEE WHAT SRI GURU ARJAN DEV JI SHOWS US THE WAY (ANG 500 ):--
------------

Aibcl nIv DrI gur nwnk inq inq cVY svweI ]2]15]24

Guru Nanak has laid the immovable foundation, which will grow higher and higher each
day. ||2||15||24||