INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

two scholars Ganga Ram and Chattur Das together visited the fifth Guru Arjan at
Amritsar during the compilation process of the Sikh scripture in the beginning of
seventeenth century. The grandsons presented the Guru with Shalok Sanskriti and
supposedly said: “Guru Nanak Dev ji came to Varanasi and gave us teaching in
Sanskrit. We have recorded a hymn (bani) that you may include in the scripture to
immortalize it.” According to this legend the offspring of the two scholars preserved
Shalok Sanskriti for almost a hundred years before they handed it over to the Guru
for incorporation in the Guru Granth Sahib.
The episode about Guru Tegh Bahadur’s visit in Varanasi is considerably
shorter and seems to be a local legend which presupposes the existence of a Sikh
community since the time of Guru Nanak. As claimed, Guru Tegh Bahadur reached
the city in 1666 and stayed for seven months and thirteen days at the house of his
disciple Kalyan Das, located in the Nichibagh Gurdwara in Chowk. The Guru was
granted a seat in an underground chamber to pursue his daily routine of meditation
in the early nectar hours. Similar to the anecdote on Nanak, the episode centers upon
a miracle worked by the Guru to counteract essential beliefs in the Hindu society: on
the day of eclipse crowds of pilgrims flocked to Varanasi for a holy dip in the sacred
river Ganga. Kalyan Das desired to accompany Guru Tegh Bahadur for a bath as the
Hindu custom prescribed. In response, the Guru told his disciple to induce mother
Ganga to extend her waters to his residence. The rational Kalyan Das was perplexed
by this answer since his house was located one kilometer from the riverbed on the
highest level in the city. Nevertheless he dug up a heavy slab in the courtyard on
order of the Guru. When the slab was removed, holy water of river Ganga sprang
forth to serve Guru Tegh Bahadur and his disciples. After having subserviently
touched the feet of the Guru, the river gushed back on his request. 218 The Guru did
not go to mother Ganga, but instead the holy river submitted to the Guru’s command
and came to him. For this reason local Sikhs believe that the river Ganga is still flowing
under the building of Nichibagh. The water collected from a well inside the
gurdwara is treated as immortal Ganga nectar (amrit) from the Guru’s power.
CREATING A COUNTER
The outline and story construction of the emic history is characterized by differentiation
and essentialism. The personification of Guru Nanak and his teaching is defined
in relation to the significant Hindu “other” represented by the three disoriented and
rival scholars with whom he meets. The profile of the Hindu otherness is exclusively
restricted to particular features ‒ upper-caste and Sanskrit-speaking Brahmin scholars
‒ that are kept in line with the dominant discourse of Varanasi, while other elements
and activities in the social reality are suppressed. The Hindu elite of learned scholars
are invested essential characteristics which stand as discursive icons of the broader
cultural life of people in Varanasi.
218
Varanasi Dian Kuch Itihasik Yadan, pp. 9 ‒ 12.
94
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008