Religious Problem in India

Author(s): Annie Besant
Publisher: Theosophist Office Adyar

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THE RELIGIOUS PROBLEM IN INDIA
you may understand how it came to pass that from a movement essentially of Bhakti, it became identified with the most gallant military spirit. And in doing this, I cannot, of course, give all the details that you may read for yourselves. But there is ever the difficulty in the minds of most that they lay too much stress on details in their study and lose sight of the broad outlines that alone render the whole intelligible. Professor Huxley used to complain of students of science that they lost sight of the forest in studying the trees, and that is continnally true. Men lose themselves in a maze of details, and they fail to grasp the unifying principles in history, and to see the main trend and current and meaning of events. Now all that I want to do, as regards the history of the Sikhs, is to give von a broad ontline which will make you understand how it came to be what it was. Ten Gurus, one after the other, in unbroken sncession, Gur Nanak the first, the purest, the saint-. liest and the noblest of all, the life, the heart and sonl of his followers. We will take his life presently (A. D. 1469-1539); for the moment I but name him. Followed by the second, Guru Angad (153915.52), of whom there is little to be said, save that he gathered together many of the songs and the teachings of his predecessor and so began the compilation of the Sikh scriptures, the idi Grantha Sahab. Then the third, Guru Amūr Das (1.5.52-1574), of whom one point is specially noticeable--that he met in conference the Musulmā Emperor, Akbar, on