What SGGS Teaches When India and Pakistan Face Each Other
A Gurbani‑first reflection (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji only) — written for non‑Sikhs and Sikhs who want a plain, honest lens.
Note on references: “Ang” means page number in the standard printed saroop of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (SGGS). Each quoted line includes its Ang so readers can verify directly.
A match that becomes a mirror
When India and Pakistan play cricket, it can feel bigger than sport. Old memories, family stories, and national pride rush in. For some people, that energy turns into anger — and anger quickly becomes a habit: a way of seeing millions of human beings as one hostile “other.”
Gurbani does not pretend history is simple, and it does not ask you to ignore real danger. But SGGS does insist on something that challenges every form of hatred: if you want to walk the Sikh path, you do not train your heart to become an enemy‑factory. You train it to become fearless and without enmity.
Nirbhau, nirvair: the starting point
Japji Sahib opens with a description of the One Reality that is not optional in Sikhi. It is the first lens.
SGGS, Ang 1 (Mool Mantar): ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ
Transliteration: Ik ōaṅkār sat nām kartā purakh nirbhau nirvair
Plain meaning: The One Reality is fearless (ਨਿਰਭਉ) and without enmity (ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ). If this is the starting point, then hatred cannot be our identity — even when politics is tense or memories are painful.
This is not a “soft” idea. It is a discipline. Fear often tries to turn itself into hate, because hate feels like power. Gurbani’s move is different: be fearless, but keep your heart clean.
No enemy, no stranger
SGGS is blunt about what it means to drop an enemy‑identity.
SGGS, Ang 1299 (Rāg Kānṛā, Mahallā 5):
ਨਾ ਕੋ ਬੈਰੀ ਨਹੀ ਬਿਗਾਨਾ ਸਗਲ ਸੰਗਿ ਹਮ ਕਉ ਬਨਿ ਆਈ ॥੧॥
Nā ko bairī nahī bigānā sagal sang ham ka▫o ban ā▫ī. ||1||
Plain meaning: “No one is my enemy; no one is a stranger. I can live in balance with everyone.”
People sometimes read this as “pretend no threats exist.” That is not what it is doing. It is naming a change inside the mind: the collapse of enemy‑identity. You can be alert in the world without making hatred your inner home.
On the same Ang, the shabad gives the reason:
ਸਭ ਮਹਿ ਰਵਿ ਰਹਿਆ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਏਕੈ ਪੇਖਿ ਪੇਖਿ ਨਾਨਕ ਬਿਗਸਾਈ ॥੩॥੮॥
Sabh meh rav rahi▫ā prabh ekai pekh pekh Nānak bigsā▫ī. ||3||8||
Plain meaning: The One is present in everyone; seeing this, the heart opens instead of hardening.
One Light, many flags
SGGS refuses the lazy shortcut: “My group is pure good; that group is pure evil.” It does not deny wrongdoing. It denies the dehumanising verdict.
SGGS, Ang 1349 (Bhagat Kabīr Ji):
ਅਵਲਿ ਅਲਹ ਨੂਰੁ ਉਪਾਇਆ ਕੁਦਰਤਿ ਕੇ ਸਭ ਬੰਦੇ ॥
ਏਕ ਨੂਰ ਤੇ ਸਭੁ ਜਗੁ ਉਪਜਿਆ ਕਉਨ ਭਲੇ ਕੋ ਮੰਦੇ ॥੧॥
Aval alah nūr upā▫i▫ā kudrat ke sabh bande. • Ek nūr te sabh jag upji▫ā ka▫un bhale ko mande. ||1||
Plain meaning: One Light is the source of all. So who can claim “these people are purely good” and “those people are purely bad”?
This also answers a common trap in conflict: shrinking the Divine into a team‑flag. SGGS keeps breaking that habit.
SGGS, Ang 885 (Rāmkalī, Mahallā 5):
ਕੋਈ ਬੋਲੈ ਰਾਮ ਰਾਮ ਕੋਈ ਖੁਦਾਇ ॥
ਕੋਈ ਸੇਵੈ ਗੁਸਈਆ ਕੋਈ ਅਲਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
Ko▫ī bolai rām rām ko▫ī kẖudā▫e. • Ko▫ī sevai gus▫ī▫ā ko▫ī alāh. ||1||
Plain meaning: People use different names and languages — yet the One is not owned by any camp.
Anger is not strength
In war‑talk and match‑talk, anger can feel like loyalty. SGGS describes it differently: anger lives inside you and starts controlling you.
SGGS, Ang 759 (Sūhī, Mahallā 5): ਬਸਇ ਕਰੋਧੁ ਸਰੀਰਿ ਚੰਡਾਰਾ ॥
Basai krodh sarīr chaṇḍārā.
Plain meaning: Anger lives inside the body like an outcaste/demon. It does not protect you; it corrodes judgment and makes you easy to provoke.
Nirvair is not a slogan you repeat. It is a mind you practise. One sign you’ve left Gurbani is when you need hatred to feel strong.
Reader questions people will ask
Reader question:
“If Pakistan is ‘evil’ and will attack us, isn’t it irresponsible to speak about nirvair?”
SGGS does not ask you to ignore threats. It asks you to stop turning fear into hatred. You can support strong defence and still refuse to dehumanise whole peoples. Nirvair is about the condition of your heart while you act, not about pretending the world is harmless.
Reader question:
“Does nirvair mean we should never fight?”
No. Nirvair means you do not fight from revenge‑identity. In Gurmat terms, firmness can be required, but hatred is never required. Justice and protection are miri (responsibility); hatred is haumai (ego‑fuel).
Miri: strong defence without hatred
Some people will say: “This is naive. Pakistan has attacked. India has attacked. There is terrorism. There are nuclear weapons.”
SGGS does not ask you to deny any of that. It asks you to be realistic without becoming hateful — and to act from dharam (right responsibility), not from revenge‑identity.
One practical line from Bhagat Kabīr Ji is to stop feeding the two‑sided splitting inside the mind:
SGGS, Ang 343 (Bhagat Kabīr Ji): ਦੁਬਿਧਾ ਮੇਟਿ ਖਿਮਾ ਗਹਿ ਰਹਹੁ ॥
Dubidhā met khimā gahi rahahu.
Plain meaning: Drop the two‑sided splitting, and hold tight to khimā (forbearance/forgiveness). In Gurbani, khimā is not weakness. It is refusal to let the mind become a hostage of anger.
Being nirvair does not mean “no borders, no defence, no accountability.” It means: do not poison your own mind, and do not punish whole peoples for the actions of some. Seek justice without making hatred your inner fuel.
A clear line that keeps the heart clean even while you act firmly:
SGGS, Ang 1077 (Mārū, Mahallā 5): ਬਿਨਸੇ ਬੈਰ ਨਾਹੀ ਕੋ ਬੈਰੀ ਸਭੁ ਏਕੋ ਹੈ ਭਾਲਣਾ ॥੧੩॥
Binse bair nāhī ko bairī sabh eko hai bhālṇā. ||13||
Plain meaning: Hatred is gone — no one remains my enemy; I see the One in all.
Closing
Cricket will end in a few hours. Headlines will change. But the mind you practise during these moments becomes your character.
If we want to live near SGGS, the goal is not to build a bigger hate‑identity. The goal is to become the kind of human being Gurbani points to: fearless (ਨਿਰਭਉ) and without enmity (ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ), able to act responsibly without losing the Light in the other.