Satwant Kaur is a story which imbibes in the
reader’s mind the Sikh faith founded by the godly figure, reverend Guru Nanak Dev Ji
backed by the religious support of the leaders who propagated Sikhism to a
great extent to make it more known among the masses. Sikhism and its faith as proclaimed
by Shri Guru Nanak Dev had a life span of 5 centuries and was less known in the
later period. Sikhism is one of the ten great religions of the world. It
possessed within its principles of monotheism, egalitarianism and the feeling
of strong martyrdom. This religion also led to the development of great
philosophies.
Bhai Vir Singh was a great writer, poet and
thinker of his times. Considered as the modern Doyen of the Sikh world of
letters, he made people aware of the Sikh culture and their ways of life, and
living together with a feeling of universal brotherhood with all and especially
with people belonging to the Sikh religion. Among his great works is ‘Satwant Kaur’, the
story of a heroic lady who always went a step ahead in helping people a Muslim
soldier who worked under Amir, the tyrannical ruler. It was translated to
perfection by Mrs. Bimal Kaur. She helped the soldier from drowning inside a
well but later was abducted by the same to lead the life of a slave in the household
of Khan Sahib.
This story also
revolves around the notion of unity among the Sikh Jatha (group). Once an Afgan
saw a bunch of Sikhs sitting and discussing something. He asked them the topic
of their discussion. They explained that two Sikh brothers had a distinction of
opinion and that they were helping them to come to a conclusion and sort things
out. The Afghan asked them why they were so concerned and what good is there is
interfere in their matter. The Sikhs replied that they will make sure that
everything is fine between those two Sikhs since they are all a big family
belonging to the same community. In this way we will stay sturdy jointly and will
not get divided amongst ourselves. This shows however the love and concern the
fellow Sikhs.
The story points out with another instance, the
unity of the Sikhs that prevailed in those times. It was known as Gurumatta.
There were times when important decisions were taken with great precision by
the group that went according to group acceptance for situations like deciding
whom to attack, once to attack, the way to shield themselves etc..All important
decisions were made after prior consultation with the senior member of the
Jatha for their Gurumatta after which prayers and religious scriptures were
read which was known as Ardas (Prayer to the Lord).
Bhai Sahib narrates
however Sikhs never stopped craving for their lost ones and continually pray
for his or her safety. Bhai Vir Singh goes on to elucidate and narrate the
meeting of Satwant Kaur with her family who were ever since searching for her.
Her family had that faith that if their girl is alive she is going to stay a
Sikh and can come to them and if she isn't alive she would have died a Sikh.
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