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  An anthology of Khushwant Singh’s best writings on his favourite subjects – Women, Sex, Love and Lust – is at once witty, informative, thought-provoking and flagrant. Definitely a book you can’t afford to miss!

  Hay House Publishers (India) Pvt. Ltd.

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  Copyright © Khushwant Singh 2012,

  who asserts the moral right to be identified

  as the author this work

  The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s

  own and the facts are as reported by him, which have been verified

  to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way

  liable for the same.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any

  mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a

  phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system,

  transmitted or otherwise be copied for public or private use – other

  than for ‘fair use’ as brief quotations embodied in articles and

  reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN 978-93-81431-11-5

  Designed and typeset at

  Hay House India

  Printed and bound at

  Thomson Press (India) Ltd., Faridabad, Haryana (India)

  To

  Jaya Thadani

  Contents

  Publisher’s Note

  Chapter One

  The Need for a New Religion – without a God

  Chapter Two

  Religion, Tolerance, Revenge and Miracles

  Chapter Three

  The Beauty of the Quran

  Chapter Four

  Anti-Muslim Prejudices

  Chapter Five

  The Significance of the Ramzaan Fast

  Chapter Six

  The Sikh Religion and the Beauty of the Adi Granth

  Chapter Seven

  Sikh Prayers

  Chapter Eight

  Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh

  Chapter Nine

  Religion versus Morality

  Chapter Ten

  God Is Not for Sale

  Chapter Eleven

  The Need for a Ban on Religious Processions

  Chapter Twelve

  The Quest

  Chapter Thirteen

  A Man for All Reasons: The Dalai Lama

  Chapter Fourteen

  Five-Star Religion: Swami Vivekananda

  Publisher’s Note

  What makes Khushwant Singh tick? Is it his irreverence towards well-established shibboleths? Is it his posturing as the ‘sultan of sleaze’, whereas he is, in reality, a scholar in his own right? Is it his uncanny ability to debunk godmen, astrologers and other assorted types of so-called ‘spiritual gurus’? Is it his charisma that has created an aura around him? Whatever be the reason, the indisputable fact remains that his name has become synonymous with success. Book after book, he remains one of the highest selling Indian authors.

  In the tenth decade of his life, he stands out as a colossus among Indian writers. He is a novelist, journalist, historian, short story writer, political commentator and translator all rolled into one! His admirers are legion and so are his detractors. But he holds no malice towards the latter. In fact, he takes his critics seriously.

  He has been described as ‘a consummate artist; a conscious craftsman; and a master of his medium’. He has to his credit a vast corpus of work, which includes a variety of literary genres. Some of his books are considered classics. He himself is self-deprecatory; he has never laid claim to being a great writer and holds the view that ‘self-praise is the utmost form of vulgarity’.

  As a publisher, I can take credit for publishing the maximum number of Khushwant Singh’s books under various imprints. If Khushwant Singh has forgotten the number of books he has written (more than a hundred at the last count), I too cannot remember how many of his books I have published over the last three decades and more!

  Khushwant Singh, undoubtedly, is a publisher’s dream and is exceptionally easy to work with. He is quick to accept editorial suggestions and answer the numerous queries that an editor invariably raises. His oeuvre has stood the test of time and many of his books continue selling even decades after they were first published, despite the onslaught of 24x7 TV channels and despite the spectacular reach of the Internet, not to mention the proliferation of CDs and DVDs all around.

  My relationship with Khushwant Singh has been both professional and personal. I met him for the first time in 1970, when I was cutting my teeth in journalism. But it was in June 1978, when he had shifted back to Delhi from Bombay (Mumbai), that I got to know him well. He threw open his doors for me and, ever since, has been always very generous with his time. By that time, I had switched over from journalism to book publishing. I have travelled with him to various parts of the country and spent many a convivial evening with him in Delhi and Kasauli (a hill station in Himachal Pradesh). Over the years, whenever I called him to fix an appointment, he responded: ‘Come over right away.’

  True to form, Khushwant Singh begins this volume with his characteristic élan by injecting elements of controversy. He underscores the fact that, over the ages, religion has turned out to be more divisive than cohesive. He also questions the relevance of God in his inimitable style.

  However, he acknowledges the fact that religion cannot be wished away and has come to stay. He points out that holy books such as the Bhagvad Gita, the Quran and the Granth Sahib contain not only wisdom but also a lot of poetry and music. He provides relevant excerpts to drive home his point. The author next attempts to clear the cobweb of prejudices held by many non-Muslims against Muslims.

  Khushwant Singh’s study of the Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh eras and his in-depth analysis of the Granth Sahib reveal new aspects of a turmoil-filled phase in India’s history. There’s much more in this book that the reader can savour and relish. The menu is varied enough to tickle the palate! (The reader may find some repetitive matter, but such repetition is necessary to ensure that each chapter is complete in itself.)

  I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to N. Krishnamurthy of Chennai, a diehard fan of Khushwant Singh, who has collected all the articles written by him over the decades in numerous publications. He has been kind enough to offer me his entire collection to pick and choose from.

  I would also like to record my sincere thanks to Mustafa Quraishi, who opened up his treasury of Khushwant Singh photographs to select whatever I wanted.

  Finally, a word of thanks to my Hay House colleagues: Rajalakshmi for painstakingly typing the entire mansuscript; Aeshna Roy for designing the cover of this book and also that of the earlier volume, Khushwant Singh on Women, Sex, Love and Lust; Rakesh Kumar for the page layout and design; and K. J. Ravinder for fine-tuning the text. Without them, this book would not have been possible!

  – A. C.

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE NEED FOR A NEW RELIGION — WITHOUT A GOD

  On rare occasions when I visited a gurudwara or a temple, I made it a point
to watch people making obeisance before the Granth Sahib [the holy book of the Sikhs] or their favourite God. Those who took the longest time to rub their noses on the ground were usually those who more than others craved forgiveness for having lied, stolen, fornicated and made illicit money.

  George Bernard Shaw once wrote that every intelligent man makes his own religion though there are a hundred versions of it. Evolving a personal religion for myself has been a lifelong quest. It has been as the renowned poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal put it:

  Dhoondta phirta hoon main, ai Iqbal, apney aap ko

  Aap hee goya musaafir, aap hee manzil hoon main.

  (O Iqbal, I go about everywhere looking for myself

  As if I were the wayfarer as well as the destination.)

  I was born a Sikh and reared in Sikhism. My parents were orthodox Sikhs who observed the traditions of the Khalsa Panth (unshorn hair and beards for men and carrying other emblems of the militant fraternity). Many religious rituals were observed in our home. A prayer room was set apart for the Granth Sahib. One or the other member of the family had to instal it on its pedestal in the early hours of the morning and put it back to rest in a cupboard in the evening. Everyone was expected to say his morning prayer (Japji) and read a hymn or two from the scripture before he or she came to the breakfast table. The evening prayer (Rehras) was a joint affair. We took turns in reciting it while others listened. Most of us also recited the last prayer of the day (Keertan Sohila) before switching off the lights.

  My grandmother, with whom I shared a room till I was 18, spent the best part of the day mumbling prayers. There were frequent Akhand Paaths (non-stop reading of the Granth Sahib from cover to cover by a relay of paathees, professional priests, which takes two days and two nights). Occasionally, there was also a Sampat Paath, in which a favourite hymn had to be recited after every one of the 5000 hymns of the Granth; this could take upwards of a fortnight. All these paaths (at which attendance was de rigueur) were accompanied by keertans (devotional songs) sung by professional raagis (religious singers). On the birth anniversaries of the first Guru, Nanak, and the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, as well as the martyrdom anniversaries of the fifth Guru, Arjun Dev, and the ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, we joined processions taken out through the streets and worshipped in public gurudwaras.

  As a child of five I was initiated into reading the scriptures and could recite them by heart. At the age of 17, I underwent a baptismal ceremony (amrit chakna – sipping of ambrosial water), which symbolized that I had joined the Khalsa (the pure) fraternity. While in college, I began to question the value of these rituals and the need to conform to Khalsa traditions. However, I decided to go along with them rather than create trouble for myself. I took pains to understand the prayers I had been reciting. Good keertan continued, as it does to this day, to touch my emotional chords.

  Meanwhile, while studying at St Stephen’s College (in Delhi), I attended Bible classes. Although the emphasis was on the New Testament and the life of Jesus Christ, it was the language of the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms, the Song of Solomon and the Book of Job, that I found myself drawn to. Later, while working on the translations of the Sikh scriptures, I found so many references in them to the Vedas, Upanishads and the epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata (including the Bhagvad Gita or just Gita), that I decided to study them to better comprehend the meaning of my own Gurubaani or Gurbani (the voice of the Guru). Interest in religion also made me read whatever I could on Jainism, Buddhism and later developments in Hinduism. Islam was the last religion I turned to, largely to free myself of anti-Muslim prejudices, which had been instilled in me as a child. It was during the seven years in Lahore and my close association with Manzur Qadir (a leading jurist) that I began to question many of the assumptions made by all religions. He was a Muslim but did not offer namaaz (prayer) either at home or in a mosque even on the festival of Eid; neither did his uncle, Saleem, who was India’s tennis champion for many years and preferred living like a European aristocrat, rather than a Muslim nawab. Being Muslim meant little to them besides an accident of birth. Neither of them bothered to make religion an issue. I did. No religion evoked much enthusiasm in my mind. By the time India gained Independence on 15 August 1947, I had gained freedom from conformist religion and openly declared myself an agnostic.

  Following the publication of my two volumes on Sikh religion and history in 1963 titled A History of the Sikhs by Princeton University Press and the Oxford University Press, I was invited by the Spalding Foundation to deliver three lectures on Sikhism at Oxford University and also by Princeton, Swarthmore and Hawaii Universities (all three in the USA) to lecture on comparative religions. Once again I went over the scriptures and lives of the founders of the world’s major religions.

  Having done all this writing and lecturing, I felt mentally well equipped to express myself on religious beliefs and practices. And I feel more strongly than ever before the need to have not only a personal religion of my own but also to evolve a new set of beliefs for those Indians who have the courage to think for themselves. It is based on the assumptions that most people need some kind of faith to live with; that the emotional contents of that faith are best provided by the one into which one is born; and whose rituals have formed an integral part of his or her upbringing.

  I feel what is required today is the acceptance of what is basic and rational in the religion of one’s birth after removing from it the accretions of dead wood that have accumulated around it and militate against reason and common sense. I present this, the blueprint of my religion, for consideration and comment to my more enlightened countrymen.

  Before I do so, I will first deal with five items, which are generally regarded as the pillars of all religions: Belief in God; reverence for the founders of religions; the status of scriptures; the sanctity accorded to places of worship and pilgrimage; and the use of prayer and ritual. Since most of what I have to say on these topics may appear critical and negative, I will thereafter posit items for positive acceptance.

  The Concept of God

  Every religion has its own name and concept of God. He is Jehovah, Ishwar, Parmatma, Rabb, Khuda, Allah and Waheguru. He may be symbolized in the shape of idols, animals or other natural phenomena, or he may be regarded beyond physical representation in any form. He may be believed to be the only one, a trinity or a multiplicity of Gods. However different the ways of conceiving Him, what all religions have in common are the powers they attribute to Him. He is the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer; He is Omniscient (all-knowing), Omnipotent (all-powerful) and Omnipresent; He is just, benign and merciful to the faithful and at the same time an angry God who metes out dire punishment to transgressors. Whatever He be, we have to ponder over questions posed by the philosopher-saint, Adi Shankara, over a thousand years ago and find answers to them:

  Kustwam? Ko Ham? Kutah ayatah?

  Ko mein janani? Ko mein taatah?

  (Who am I? Where did I come from and how?

  Who are my real father and mother who gave me birth?)

  If there are none, then we have to admit that we have got the God business all wrong. Nevertheless, different religions have given different answers to these questions. These answers can be grouped into two categories: Those given by the Judaic family of religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – and those given by the Hindic family of religions: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

  The Judaic group maintains that God created the world, sent out Adam and Eve to propagate the human race and created all other forms of life. According to it, one day, all life on earth will end and there will be a Day of Judgement when people will rise from their graves to be judged for the good or evil they did in life and accordingly be sent to heaven or hell. The Judeo-Christian-Muslim view of life is linear: it has a beginning, a middle and an end.

  The Hindic view of life is cyclical: There is no beginning and no end but a continuing, unending cycle of births, deaths and rebirths. There is no heaven or hell
(although Hinduism has words like swarg for paradise and nark for hell) but would have you believe that reward for good deeds and punishment for evil acts are meted out in the form in which a person will be reborn. Its real equivalent to heaven is release from samsar/sansar (world) and union (yoga) with the infinite that is God. It is moksha (salvation). For the evil it will be a purgatory of rebirth in all the 84 lakh forms of life (joon) before release will be granted.

  However more sophisticated the Hindic theory of samsar may appear in comparison to the simplistic Judaic version, there is as little evidence to prove its validity as there is about Adam, Eve and the Day of Judgement. The honest truth is that we do not know where we come from, whether or not there is a divine purpose in our existence on earth; nor do we know where we will go when we die. The stark truth of our ignorance is summed up in a couplet by Shad Azimabadi:

  Hikayat-e-hastee sunee

  To darmiyaan say sunee

  Na ibtida kee khabar hai,

  Na intihaa maaloom

  (What I have heard of the story of life

  Is only the middle

  I know not its beginning,

  I know not its end.)

  Under the circumstances, the only honest answer an intelligent person can give to the question ‘is there a God?’ is: ‘I do not know.’

  It may be recalled that Gautama Buddha was put the same question, not once but several times, by his chief disciple and cousin, Ananda. The Enlightened One did not deign to reply. The only conclusion we can draw from his silence is that he either wanted people to find out the answer themselves or it must be taken as an admission that he did not know it himself.

  Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, in his scholarly commentary on the Surah-ul Fatiha, in the first of his three-volume translation and commentary on the Quran, Tarjuman-ul Quran, maintains that all mankind was, at one time, monotheist but with the eruption of different religious systems, departed from the concept of one Almighty God. He further maintains that the Islamic idea of the unity of Allah was the most advanced because it refused to give God shape or form and went beyond the Upanishadic definition in negatives neti, neti (not this, not this) but gave God positive attributes by calling him the Great Provider (Al-Razzaq), Ruler of the Universe (Rabb-ul Aalameen), Benevolent and Merciful (Al-Rahman, Al-Raheem) and the final arbiter of human actions (Malik-i-Yawmiddeen – Master of the Day of Reckoning).