Introduction To 'Guru Nanak And The Indian Society' By Harbans kaur Sagoo

Guru Nanak Bani has been commonly used and interpreted in the religious context. Very few scholars of medieval Indian society have cared to study the Bani" as an authentic source of socio-economic conditions of the country in the later half of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth century. No doubt such conditions are not fully described in any single chapter of the Adi Granth. But the author has carefully interpreted the idioms, metaphors and similies frequently used in the Bani to depict with authenticity the overall scenario of the period.

The present book discusses the existing state, the political institutions and their functioning, the character of the ruling class, the law and order situations, various profes­sions and vocations, caste system, socio­religious ceremonies and customs, women's status and lastly the concept of an ideal society envisioned in the precepts and prac­tices of Guru Nanak and his followers. The model of such a society was evolved by the Guru himself. After completing his five long Udasis, he settled at a village on the banks of river Ravi and named it Kartarpur, the abode of God. It was here that the high ideals of earning one's livelihood, through honest means, sharing one's bread with others and always remembering God were put into practice. The social world which Guru Nanak was seeking to create was one. of complete understanding and equality between men and women, the high and the low, the rich and the poor and free from rituals. The people of such a world were not to be guided by imposters. They were not upposed to cling to superstitions or man­ade prejudices. For them the mind was to the only lamp that illuminates the dark path of ignorance. This lamp was to be kept ernally burning.

This pioneering work will be of interest not only to scholars and students of history Sikh studies, but to all general readers and libraries.