A History of Agriculture in India v2.c64: Chapter 12. Hindu Reaction to Islamic Monotheism

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c64

Language: English

v2.c64.s1 Guru Nanak, Prophet and Farmer (A.D. 1469-1538) — 21 parts
v2.c64.s2 References — 1 part

Chapter 12. Hindu Reaction to Islamic Monotheism

The monotheism of Islam had an impact on the Hindu religious thought. Islam declared that One Great God was the supporter of the world and helped the virtuous. The Hindu masses keenly felt the need of a personal God. Such personal God for them was Krishna, who was identified with Vishnu. Thus arose a doctrine of passionate personal devotion, *bhakti*, or faith in an incarnate deity in the form of Krishna. Krishna was a pastoral god who lived among Ahir herdsmen, grazed the cattle, and experienced the joys and sorrows of pastoral life (Fig. 7). His brother Balarama, also called Haldhar, was the bearer of the plough, a symbol of agriculture (Fig. 8).

v2.c64.6

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in India saw the rise of a number of poets, saints and *bhaktas*, viz. Ramanand, Vallabhacharya, Chaitanya, Kabir and Nanak, who were contemporaries.

v2.c64.7

Ramanand (A.D. 1398-1518), born at Melkote, in South India, was a great religious teacher. He settled at Benares, where he attracted a large number of devotees. He popularized the worship of Rama and Sita as incarnations of Vishnu and Lakshmi.

v2.c64.8

Vallabhacharya (born A.D. 1478), a Telugu Brahman, founded a school of poets in Vraja, the country around Mathura. Vallabha places *bhakti* (devotion) on a higher level than *jnana* (knowledge). He propagated the worship of Krishna as Srinathji. His doctrine of Krishna worship had a profound effect on the social life of Rajasthan.

v2.c64.9

Kabir (A.D. 1398-1516) was a disciple of Ramanand. According to tradition he was the abandoned child of a Brahmin widow, who was adopted by a Muslim weaver, Niru by name. In Indian miniature paintings Kabir is shown working on a loom (Fig. 9). This great mystic denounced the pretences of the Brahmin priests and the *mullahs* of Benares. Kabir had followers both among the Hindus and the Muslims. His writings, which form the cornerstone of Hindi literature, were compiled by one Dharam Das. When Kabir died, his corpse was claimed both by the Hindus and the Muslims. According to a legend, when the shroud was lifted only a heap of flowers was found, which both the parties divided among themselves. The Hindus cremated them and the Muslims buried them.

v2.c64.10

Eastern India, the provinces of Bihar and Bengal, became the home of the Radha-Krishna cult in the 15th century. Vidyapati (fl. A.D. 1400-1470), the poet of Bihar, wrote in the Maithili dialect on the Radha and Krishna theme. He was the most famous of the Vaishnava poets of Eastern India.

v2.c64.11

FIG. 7. Krishna and Balarama having a feast in the forest with cowherds. Food is served in leaf cups of Butea monosperma. Kangra painting, 18th century. (Courtesy: Chandigarh Museum)

v2.c64.12

FIG. 8. Balarama diverting the Jamuna with his plough. Balarama is also called Haldhar, or bearer of the plough. Kangra painting, 18th century.

v2.c64.13

FIG. 9. Kabir working on a loom. Mughal, 17th century.

v2.c64.14

FIG. 10. 'As rotate the buckets hung on the chain of the Persian wheel, one being emptied and the other being filled, so is the play of God', said Guru Nanak. Guler, 1810. (Courtesy: Chandigarh Museum)

v2.c64.15

Chaitanya (A.D. 1486-1533) was the high priest of Krishna cult in Bengal. Nimai, as his original name was, belonged to a Brahmin family of Nadia. While still a young man he felt the urge for renunciation of worldly ties and left his home and a young wife. He reached Puri, and Prataparudradeva, the Raja of Orissa, became his disciple. From there he wandered into South India, where he discoursed to people in Tamil. He taught loving devotion to Krishna. He lays stress on our capacity of realizing God as lover, the soul being his bride. Radha is the soul, which seeks Krishna, the God.

Guru Nanak, Prophet and Farmer (A.D. 1469-1538)

v2.c64.s1.1

The leading factor in human progress in the historical period is the advent of men who pass beyond the accepted ideas of their day and become the discoverers of truths hitherto unknown or imperfectly known. They are the prophets, the men on whom the transformation of the spiritual life of mankind depends. One such person was Guru Nanak.

v2.c64.s1.2

Nanak was born in A.D. 1469 when Bahlul Lodi was the Sultan of India. It is necessary to examine his career and teachings in greater detail, as they led to the rise of a farming community which played, in due course, a significant role in India's Green Revolution. Nanak's father, Mehta Kalian Das Bedi, was the accountant of village Talwandi Rai Bhoe, about forty miles from Lahore. At the age of twelve he was married to Sulakhni, daughter of Mool Chand Chona of Batala. Two sons, Lakhmi Das and Sri Chand, were born to them. His sister Nanaki was married to one Jai Ram Uppal in Sultanpur Lodi, now in the present Kapurthala district. Jai Ram got Nanak employed as an accountant in the service of Nawab Daulat Khan Lodi.

v2.c64.s1.3

It was at Sultanpur that Nanak had his first mystic experience. He realized that the division of people according to their religions was arbitrary, and humanity was one. He declared, 'There is no Hindu, there is no Mussalman.' To make such a declaration in Lodi rule, when there was no freedom of thought and expression, was indeed courageous. This happened in A.D. 1499. Thereafter he travelled extensively, visiting different parts of India.

v2.c64.s1.4

During his travels, he went to Saidpur (now called Emenabad in the present Gujranwala district in Pakistan). There, he accepted the hospitality of an humble carpenter, Lalo, and declined the sumptuous feast of a corrupt official, Malik Bhago. When Bhago protested that he had been insulted, Nanak told him that his food was soaked with the blood of the poor and oppressed, while the food of Lalo, who earned his livelihood with hard labour, tasted like milk.

v2.c64.s1.5

Another anecdote concerns a millionaire, Duni Chand, who was making an ostentatious display of his wealth by planting flags on the roof of his house. Each flag represented a lac of rupees. Guru Nanak sent him a needle with the message that he should deliver it to him in the next world. Duni Chand replied that it was not possible. The Guru told him that if he could not take even a needle to the next world, how did he expect his millions to accompany him? Duni Chand realized the folly of hoarding wealth, and gave some of it in charity to the poor.

v2.c64.s1.6

On a visit to Hardwar, Nanak saw the Pandas, the Brahman priests, offering water to the dead relations of their clients, the Hindu pilgrims, by throwing it towards the East. Nanak started throwing water towards the West. When asked why he was doing so, he replied that he was irrigating his fields in the village of Kartarpur in the Punjab. The Pandas asked him how he expected water to reach his fields four hundred miles away? He replied that if water could reach the souls of their clients millions of miles away in other planets, why could his water not reach Punjab? It was with such simple examples that he taught the truth to the people whose minds were clouded with superstition.

v2.c64.s1.7

Similarly, when he reached Mecca, he reclined with his feet towards the Ka'baa'. This was an act of daring. When an infurated mullah protested that he was committing a sacrilege by reclining with his feet towards the house of God, Nanak asked him to turn his feet in the direction where God was not. The mullah became speechless and realized the truth that God is everywhere.

v2.c64.s1.8

Nanak realized that the prevalent Islamic notion of the Universe comprising only of seven heavens and seven underworlds was limited. According to him space was limitless and there were unlimited numbers of planets and stars. He also taught people that God who was all-pervading and revealed Himself in His creation and could not be confined to the four walls of the temples or the mosques. When he visited Jagannath Puri, he saw the Brahman priests performing *arti* by waving lights in silver salvers and offering flowers and incense to the idol. He told them that the sun, the moon and the stars were the lights placed on the salver of heaven, and fragrant mountain breezes were the incense, and the entire blossoming vegetation was the flower-offering to God, who is pervading the Universe.

v2.c64.s1.9

The followers of Nanak were humble workers and peasants. Cobblers, tanners, weavers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and farmers flocked to him. He freed them from the shackles of the caste-system and gave them social equality. The bulk of his followers were the Jats, the farmers of the Punjab, who are known for their expertise in agriculture. Khushwant Singh states, "The Jat was born the worker and the warrior. He tilled his land with his sword girded round his waist. He fought more battles for the defence of his homestead than the Kshatriya, for unlike the martial Kshatriya the Jat seldom fled from his village when the invaders came. And if the Jat was mal-treated or if his women were molested by the conqueror on his way to Hindustan, he settled his score by looting the invaders' caravans on their return journey and freeing the women he was taking back. The Punjabi Jat developed an attitude of indifference to worldly possessions and an instinct for gambling with his life against odds. At the same time he became conscious of his role in the defence of Hindustan. His brand of patriotism was at once hostile towards the foreigner and benign, even contemptuous, towards his own countrymen whose fate depended so much on his courage and fortitude.¹

v2.c64.s1.10

¹ Khushwant Singh, *A History of the Sikhs*, Vol. I, pp. 15, 16

v2.c64.s1.11

It was in the company of such people that Nanak settled around A.D. 1520 on the right bank of the Ravi, and there founded the village of Kartarpur. The land for the farm was donated by a Jat devotee, Ajita Randhawa. A young boy named Ram Das, also of Randhawa clan, about seven years of age, who was grazing cattle, met him in the pasture-land of village Kathu Nangal. He told the Guru that he was very much afraid of death. When the Guru asked him why a person so young be afraid of death, the boy replied, ‘I saw my mother lighting a fire. It is the small sticks which burned first.’ Guru Nanak told him that he was wise beyond his years, and would live long. He came to be known as Bhai Budha (A.D. 1518-1631). He lived with the Guru at Kartarpur and served him devotedly. He was installed the first Granthi of Harimandar (or the Golden Temple, as it is now known) by the fifth Guru, Arjan.

v2.c64.s1.12

An anecdote illustrates the character of the Punjabi Jat farmers who lived in the vicinity of Kartarpur. One morning, Guru Nanak was passing by on his way to his home when he saw a farmer with two heaps of wheat grains in front of him. One heap was larger than the other. He asked the farmer about the significance of two unequal heaps. The farmer replied that he was carrying on joint cultivation of land with his younger brother and they were dividing the produce. The larger heap he had allocated to his younger brother while the smaller heap was his. On Guru Nanak asking the reason for this, he replied that his younger brother had a larger family and hence he deserved a larger share. In the evening when Guru Nanak again passed by that spot, he saw that the elder brother had gone home and the younger one, who was present, was transferring wheat grains from the heap allocated to him to that of his elder brother. Guru Nanak asked why was he doing that. He replied that his elder brother was a very hospitable person and he entertained lots of guests and hence he deserved a larger share. Guru Nanak blessed both of them for their largeheartedness, fairness and generosity. It was this type of peasantry which became the followers of Guru Nanak *en masse* and became the backbone of the Sikh community.

v2.c64.s1.13

At Kartarpur, Guru Nanak started the cultivation of land. He himself participated in the ploughing of the land and in other agricultural chores. His wife looked after the *langar* (the community kitchen). ‘The combination of piety and practical activity which Guru Nanak manifested in his own life he bequeathed to his followers’, states McLeod, ‘and it remains characteristic of many who own him as Guru today. At its best it is a piety devoid of superstition and a practical activity compounded with determination and an immense generosity. It explained much that has happened in the Punjab during the last four centuries and it explains much that can be witnessed there today.’² The food produced was donated to the *langar*, the community kitchen, in which all visitors irrespective of caste and creed ate together. People belonging to all castes participated in cooking and serving food. High and low, they ate together sitting in a row. This was the first experiment in socialism in rural India. Even now in this commercial age free food is provided to all visitors in Sikh gurdwaras.

v2.c64.s1.14

² McLeod, W. H., *Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion*, pp. 231, 232

v2.c64.s1.15

Guru Nanak by his personal example laid down the rule that his followers must earn their livelihood by manual labour and share the produce with others. ‘*Kirat karo, wand chhako*’. What Guru Nanak preached he also practised. *Kirtan* was held in the early morning and in the evening after the day’s work.

v2.c64.s1.16

When Guru Nanak met the recluses, the *Siddhas*, he told them that salvation was not attained by abandoning the world and in ascetic practices. One should live actively in the world and yet remaining detached from its impurities, just as a lotus has its roots in the mire of the pond, but the beauty of its flowers is not marred by the water which surrounds it. True religion, he said, is to be found not in external practices, but in the inward discipline of love, faith and compassion expressed in righteous deeds.

v2.c64.s1.17

Most of the similes which Guru Nanak gave are derived from agricultural practices. How should a man achieve salvation? Thus spoke Guru Nanak, ‘Regard your body as a field, your mind the plough, your actions the ploughing, and effort the irrigation.’ ‘The body is the farm, thy actions the seed, it is watered by the Name of God, in whose hands is the whole earth. The mind is the farmer.’

v2.c64.s1.18

How life should be lived is thus laid out: ‘Let Love be the farm, Purity the water, and Truth and Contentment the two bullocks; and Humility the plough and Consciousness the tiller, and God’s Remembrance the right soil, and the season, Union with God, and the seed be of the Name, and the crop of Grace; then before it the whole world seems an illusion.

v2.c64.s1.19

...if such be one's deeds, by the Lord's Grace, then one is separated not from God.'

v2.c64.s1.20

Guru Nanak thus describes the play of God in men's lives. 'As rotate the buckets hung on the chain of the Persian wheel, one being emptied and the other being filled, so is the play of God; He acteth as is His wondrous glory...' (Fig. 10).

v2.c64.s1.21

Guru Nanak died in A.D. 1538, when Humayun was reigning in Delhi. His remains were claimed by both the Hindus and the Muslims. The Hindus regarded him as their Guru and the Muslims as their Pir. A few years after his death, the Ravi washed off the colony at Kartarpur. The landowners provided land to his son Lakhmidas on the opposite bank. It has grown into a small township and is known as Dera Baba Nanak. Kartarpur, later rebuilt, is now in Pakistan.

References

v2.c64.s2.1

Gopal Singh, *Guru Nanak*, New Delhi, 1968 Khushwant Singh, *A History of the Sikhs*, Vol. I, Princeton, 1963 McLeod, W.H., *Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion*, Oxford, 1968 Talib, G. S., *Guru Nanak, His Personality and Vision*, Delhi, 1969

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c64: Chapter 12. Hindu Reaction to Islamic Monotheism

Contents

Chapter 12. Hindu Reaction to Islamic Monotheism

Guru Nanak, Prophet and Farmer (A.D. 1469-1538)

References