Chapter II
The great Pandits and Brahmans of Hinduism communicated their instructions in Sanskrit, which they deemed the language of the gods. The Gurus thought it would be of more general advantage to present their messages in the dialects of their age. When Guru Amar Das was asked the reason for this, he replied: 'Well-water can only irrigate adjacent land, but rain-water the whole world. On this account the Guru hath composed his hymns in the language of the people, and enshrined them in the Gurumukhi characters, so that men and women of all castes and classes may read and understand them.' A Brahman urged: That religious instruction ought not to be communicated to every one, it being forbidden to instruct Sudars and women in the sacred lore.[1] The Guru thus oracularly replied:—
O father, dispel such doubts.
It is God who doeth whatever is done; all who exist shall be absorbed in Him.
The different forms, O God, which appear are ever Thine, and at the last they shall all be resolved in Thee.
He who is absorbed in the Guru's word, shall thoroughly know Him who made this world.
Thine, O Lord, is the word; there is none but Thee; where is there room for doubt?[2]
Guru Nanak spoke of himself as neither continent nor learned, and was in every respect the essence of humility. His advent was heralded by no prophecies, and consequently he was not obliged to make or invent incidents in
- ↑ It is laid down in the twelfth chapter of the Institutes of Gautam that if a Sūdar even hear the Veds his ears must be stopped either with molten lead or wax; if he read the Veds, his tongue must be cut out; and if he possess the Veds, his body must be cut in twain.
In the eighteenth slok of the ninth chapter of the Institutes of Manu it is laid down that women may not take part in any Vedic rites. Their doing so, or having any concern with Vedic texts, would be contrary to dharm. Women were therefore deemed as Sūdars, and beyond the pale of religion.
- ↑ Gauri 51.
