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BACHITRA NATAK
Dr. Jodh
Singh
Head,
Encyclopedia of Sikhsim. Punjabi University, Patiala.
BACHITRA
NATAK (bachitra = marvellous, wondrous + natak = drama, play) is the
name given a
complex of compositions, commonly attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth
Guru or prophet teacher of the Sikh faith, assembled in his book, the Dasam
Granth: hence, the name dasam (tenth) granth (book), i.e. Book of the Tenth
Master to distinguish it from the earlier work, the Adi (first, primary or
original) Granth, now venerated as Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The most familiar
section of compositions collectively called Bachitra Natak Granth is the
Bachitra Natak itself, some of the others being Chandi Chritra
Ukti Bilas, Chandi Chritra, Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki (or Chandi di Var),
Gian Prabodh, and Chaubis Autar.
The
composition of Bachitra Natak may have begun in 1688, at Paonta during the
first spurt of Guru Gobind Singh's literary activity. The date (Bk 1755/AD
1698) of completion of the section "Ramavatar," as mentioned in that section,
may also be that of the completion of the whole work. In any case,
autobiographical Bachitra Natak must have been completed before 1699, when
Guru Gobind Singh inaugurated the Khalsa Panth, for the text does not refer to
the event. The poem, however, contains a detailed description of the battle of
Bhangani which took place in 1688, which lays down the other end of the date,
i.e. the work was completed after 1688.
The Bachitra
Natak opens with an invocation to Bhagauti, i.e. sword embodying the divine
principle of justice. In the second canto the poet says that limitless is the
Divine Reality, fathomless its deeds. The poet then says that he would narrate
his own story. The implication appears to be that the Divine has relevance for
man only in its role in the human context. This seems to be the reason why the
poet provides his story with a
long preface
(cantos 25) giving its mythical, legendary, historical and genealogical
antecedents which link the action in heaven to that on the earth. He traces
the lineage of his house, the Sodhis, to Lava, the son of Rama, a scion of
Raghu. The Sodhis were long in conflict with the descendants of Kusa (Lava' s
brother). Eventually when the latter, over thrown, immersed themselves in the
Vedas (hence called Vedis/Bedis), the Sodhi king, in recognition of their
profound learning, gave them his throne. The Bedi chief, in return, promised
that the throne would be returned to the Sodhis during the Kali age. So after
Guru Nanak, a Bedi, had shown the way, the leadership in the person of Guru
Ram Das passed to the Sodhis. All the Gurus from Guru Nanak to the tenth and
last successor, Guru Gobind Singh, embodied the light of Nanak. The poet
recalls their names pausing particularly to reflect upon the martyrdom of the
Ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, "who sacrificed his life to save the symbols of
Hinduism, a deed unparalleled for heroism in the Kali age."
In the sixth
canto, beginning with the words ab mai apani katha bakhano (now I relate my
own story), the narrative becomes more personal. The poet tells us how in a
previous life he practised intense meditation and austerity on the mount Hem
Kunt until
his spirit
merged with the Divine. Then, how despite his desire to stay absorbed in
harmony at His feet, he was told by the Almighty to take birth in the Kali age
to show the world the path of truth, to rid it of superstition, and to teach
it to worship God alone.
Guru Gobind
Singh accepted the charge humbly: "Thy word shall prevail in the world, with
Thy support." Without fear or malice, he would, he said, proclaim what God had
told him. Lest people should start worshipping him instead of God, he warns
them,
"Those who
call me God shall into the pit of Hell be cast. I am but the slave of the
Supreme Being come to watch the world spectacle." Guru Gobind Singh adored
none but God and attached no importance to any religious garb or practice
except the constant remembrance of God's Name.
Cantos 7 to
13 treat of the poet's life as Gobind Rai, name by which Guru Gobind Singh was
earlier known. (Gobind Singh was the name he assumed after he had himself
admitted to the Khalsa Panth). Apparently, owing to the hostility of the
neighbouring hill
rajas, he
moved to Paonta where he lived happily for some time. Then Fateh Shah (the
Raja of Srinagar) attacked him "without provocation." The rest of the
autobiography is largely a description of the armed conflicts between the Guru
and his adversaries. He defeated Fateh Shah, and his allies at Bhangani. At
Nadaun he defeated Alif Khan, a Mughal commander sent to exact tribute from
the hill chiefs. The Guru's former enemy, Bhim Chand of Bilaspur, sought the
Guru's help in this action. Three expeditions sent by Dilawar Khan were also
put to rout. The first, under Dilawar's son, turned back merely upon hearing
the tumult of assault by the Guru's forces. The second and third, under strong
commanders Hussain and Jujhar Singh, were distracted by other hill chiefs and
ended in the
death of these commanders. Guru Gobind Singh ends the story in canto 14
reaffirming his faith in God's cosmic play. "All Time saveth His saints and
punisheth those who renege on Him. He protecteth his saints from all harm ....
He hath succoured
me. His own
slave." Bachitra Natak is a clear and strong statement of God's, and Guru
Gobind Singh's role in history. That is what gives it central importance in
the formation of Sikhism. Guru Gobind Singh confirmed the preceding Guru's
teaching centring on the oneness and perfection of the Absolute. Such oneness
also implied the essential perfection of creation as part of the Absolute. But
creation is perfect only in relation to the Creator not in itself.
To see it as
self sufficient is to distort reality and convert its goodness into evil. If
human life is believed to be a separate and complete affair in itself,
selfishness prevails and human existence is perverted.
Men thus
immersed in the world are eventually chastised by God as is illustrated in
Guru Nanak's treatment of Babar's invasion of India. One very common way of
being severed from the Divine is to attach meaning to the external forms of
religion in
themselves
rather than as means of attaining the Divine. Guru Gobind Singh conceived God
as the embodiment of the fighting spirit. But as the evil is in man's
perspective, it must be remedied in human terms; the visible action in God's
war on evil must be performed by men of realization. The Guru's proclamation
of his gospel is but a readiness to fight in God's name and when he goes to
battle, he does God's work. No wonder, he always wins. The Bachitra Natak is
an exultation over God's
triumph
acted out by noble souls on the world's stage and an expression of faith in
future victories. It is a confident call to saints to put on arms in
continuation and transformation of earlier Sikhism.
Consequently, Bachitra Natak is largely a series of vivid battle scenes
created with forceful imagination. Through a variety of generally quick and
sinuous metres, apt descriptions and a profusion of appropriate similes and
metaphors, mention of the entire
paraphernalia of battle, diction reproducing its very sounds and sensations,
and glimpses into the psychology of the Warriors, the poet captures the verve
of battle and quickens the reader's spirit. To reproduce an image, Mahant
Kirpal Das rising in his stirrups and shouting Sat SRI Akal smote Hayat Khan's
head with his wooden truncheon that his skull
was crushed
and "his brains, spilt forth as butter flowed from the Gopi's pitchers broken
by Krishna."
References
1. Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909
2. Gopal Singh, Thus Spake the Tenth Master. Patiala, 1978
3. Ashta, Dharam Pal, The Poetry of the Dasam Granth. Delhi, 1959
4. Loehlin. C.H., The Granth of Guru Gobind Singh and the Khalsa Brotherhood.
Lucknow, 1971
5. Jaggi, Ratan Singh, Dasam Granth Parichaya. Delhi, 1990
6. Randhir Singh, Bhai, Shabadarth Dasam Granth Sahib, vol. I. Patiala, 1973
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ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦੇ ਆਸ਼ੇ ਸਿਧਾਂਤ ਅਤੇ
ਹੁਕਮ
‘‘ਆਦਿ ਅੰਤ ਏਕੇ ਅਵਤਾਰਾ, ਸੋਈ ਗੁਰੂ ਸਮਝਿਯਹੁ ਹਮਾਰਾ।’’ (ਚਰਿਤ੍ਰ 405,
385)
‘‘ਹਮ ਇਹ ਕਾਜ ਜਗਤ ਮੋਂ ਆਏ, ਧਰਮ ਹੇਤ ਗੁਰਦੇਵ ਪਠਾਏ।’’ (ਬਚਿਤ੍ਰ, 5,
42)
‘ਮੈਂ ਹੋ ਪਰਮ ਪੁਰਖ ਕੋ ਦਾਸਾ, ਦੇਖਨਿ ਆਯੋ ਜਗਤ ਤਮਾਸਾ।’’ (ਬਚਿਤ੍ਰ, 6,
33)
‘‘ਨਮਸਕਾਰ ਤਿਸਹੀ ਕੋ ਹਮਾਰੀ ਸਕਲ ਪ੍ਰਜਾ ਜਿਨਿ ਆਪ ਸਵਾਰੀ।’’ (ਚਰਿਤ੍ਰ
405, 386)
‘‘ਅਸਿ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾਣ ਖੰਡੋ ਖੜਗ ਤੁਪਕ ਤਬਰ ਅਰ ਤੀਰ। ਸੈਫ ਸਰੋਹੀ ਸੈਹਥੀ ਯਹੈ
ਹਮਾਰੇ ਪੀਰ।’’ (ਸਨਾਮਾ, 3)
‘‘ਪੰਥ ਚਲੇ ਤਬ ਜਗਤ ਮੈ ਜਬ ਤੁਮ ਕਰਹੁ ਸਹਾਇ।’’ (ਬਚਿਤ੍ਰ, 6, 30)
‘‘ਆਦਿ ਪੁਰਖ ਜਿਨ ਏਕੁ ਪਛਾਨਾ, ਦੁਤੀਆ ਭਾਵ ਨ ਮਨ ਮਹਿ ਆਨਾ।’’ (ਚੌਬੀਸ,
21)
‘‘ਜੇ ਹਮ ਕੋ ਪਰਮੇਸਰ ਉਚਰਿ ਹੈ, ਤੇ ਸਭ ਨਰਕਿ ਕੰਡ ਮਹਿ ਪਰਿ ਹੈ। ਮੋ ਕੋ
ਦਾਸੁ ਤਵਨ ਕਾ ਜਾਨੋ, ਯਾ ਮੈ ਭੇਦ ਨ ਰੰਚ ਪਛਾਨੋ।’’ ।’’(ਬਚਿਤ੍ਰ 13, 32)
‘‘ਜਿਸਨੋ ਸਾਜਨ ਰਾਖਸੀ ਦੁਸਮਨ ਕਵਨ ਬਿਚਾਰ। ਛ੍ਵੈਂ ਨ ਸਕੇ ਤਿੰਹ ਛਾਂਹਿਕੋ
ਨਿਹਫਲ ਜਾਇ ਗਵਾਰ।’’ (ਬਚਿਤ੍ਰ 13, 24)
‘‘ਜਾਂਤੇ ਛੁਟਿ ਗਯੋ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਉਰਕਾ ਤਿਹ ਆਗੈ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਕਿਆ ਤੁਰਕਾ।’’ (ਚੌਬੀਸ,
19)
‘‘ਦਸਮ ਕਥਾ ਭਾਗੌਤ ਕੀ ਭਾਖਾ ਕਰੀ ਬਨਾਇ, ਅਵਰ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਨਾਹਿ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਧਰਮ
ਜੁੱਧ ਕੇ ਚਾਇ।’’ (ਕ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਨਾਵ, 2491)
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