INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

identity to maintain a separate tradition and thereby differentiated the Sikhs from the
Hindus. 188
Instead of reviewing a large number of accounts that in some way or another
communicate and support the dominant master narrative of Varanasi, it is possible to
approach the matter from a Sikh point of view and focus on the imagery that appears
in religious writings of the broader Sikh tradition. The early poetry of the Gurus and
the subsequent prose literature of the janam-sakhi tradition are historical sources that
may serve as examples to illustrate how a city and its inhabitants have been imagined
and represented by the Sikhs. While the Gurus utilized acknowledged images of
Varanasi as allegories and metaphors to elucidate their teachings, the janam-sakhi
narrators embroidered stories about characters and events in Varanasi for the purpose
of glorifying the mission of Guru Nanak. The imaginations of Varanasi materializing
in the janam-sakhi literature operate on a level of generality: selected fabrics of
the master narratives on Varanasi are represented in plot constructions and dialogues
to mould a typicality of people in Varanasi which eventually only the Sikh Gurus
alone have power to reshape.
Compositions in the Guru Granth Sahib elucidates that the Sikh Gurus were well
acquainted with the reputation Varanasi enjoyed in the Hindu world as the foremost
center of pilgrimage and religious learning. From their poetry emerge images of a city
crowded with idols, sacred shrines and temples; Sanskrit speaking and upper-caste
learned scholars – the pandits ‒ are engaged in religious discourses on the Vedas and
ritual conducts. In the center flows river Ganga which attracts pilgrims for purifying
baths. 189 The Gurus’ descriptions portray Varanasi as the stronghold of Hindu orthodoxy
where people assemble for ritual services and the upper-caste society protects
the scriptural riches of religious wisdom. Although the Gurus condemned the hegemony
of Brahmins as a social phenomena and reliance on ritualism without inner
commitment, the linguistic images of Varanasi are utilized as metaphors to point
towards inner knowledge and devotion of the Guru-oriented person, that is, move
the readers to new semantic horizons of their own teachings. 190
A more provocative approach is expressed in the verses of the Muslim weaver
Kabir included in the Sikh scripture. Kabir descended from Varanasi and his religious
poetry diligently conjures up humorous and unflattering pictures of the Brahmins
and pandits with whom he coexisted. In one famous hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib,
Kabir excoriates the pandits preparing food with deep concerns about ritual purity
188
Throughout my fieldwork the notion of Sikhism as a main protector of Hindu dharm up to
the creation of Khalsa appeared in multiple conversations with local Hindus of various social
backgrounds as well as with individual Sikhs.
189
See e.g. GGS: 358, GGS: 1100, GGS: 491, GGS: 986.
190
In one hymn, for example, Guru Amardas states that the guru-oriented devotee preserves the
whole city of Benares, all pilgrimage shrines and Holy Scriptures, within the mind. GGS: 491.
Similar references to Varanasi as a holy place and pilgrimage center of Hindus are found in the
writings of Bhai Gurdas (1551 ‒ 1636) from the seventeenth century. See Var 24:4, 33:2, 38:9, 39:10
in Jodh Singh 1998 (Vol. 2): 66, 270, 395, 416.
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008