श्री पटना साहिब, गुरू दी नगरी विखे दशमेश पिता साहिब श्री गुरू गोविंद सिंह जी महाराज दे जन्‍म दिहाड़े ते गुरू साहिबानदी बख्‍शीश लेन आई साध-संगत, तुहाणु मैं जी आईयां आखदां हां। इस पवित्र दिहाड़े ते मैं तुहाणु सारियां नू नवे साल दीलख-लख बधाईयां भी दिंदा हां।

We are fortunate to celebrate the Prakash Parv today on this holy land of Patna Saheb. But, the government of India has made a plan to celebrate the Prakash Parva through our embassies wherever Indians live in the world, wherever Sikhs live so that not only in India but the whole world realizes that 350 years ago there was  a great soul Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj who gave such a great inspiration to the world. The government of India has made every effort to familiarize the world with this.

I convey my special regards to Shri Nitish Ji, to all his colleagues and the people of Bihar because this Prakash Parv celebration in Patna Saheb is specially significant. The celebration of Prakash Parv in Patna Saheb can convey a very strong message of India’s unity and integrity, brotherhood, social harmony, equal respect for  all faiths. I was told that Nitish ji  himself  did a lot of hard work, he visited Gandhi Maidan and planned this grand gsathering after going into minute details.  

Though the venue of the celebration is Patna Saheb it inspires whole of India; inspires the entire world. And therefore, this Prakash Parv is an opportunity to remember what our values are, what our culture is and what way to humanism we should follow and what we can give to mankind. This is an opportunity to remember these things once again and move forward with a new zeal, new enthusiasm and energy.  

Guru Gobind Singh was an embodiment of renunciation. We can imagine that he saw his revered father’s sacrifice in front of him, he saw the sacrifice of his kids for the values, for the ideals, for the humanism and despite that see the height of renunciation; Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj could have continued with this tradition of Gurus, but he had that foresight and by keeping the knowledge in the centre, in the end he left this message for all of us that now Guru Granth Sahib, every single word of Guru Granth Sahib, every single page Guru Granth Sahib, will continue to inspire us for ages. This was also an example of his renunciation; and going beyond the creation of Panch Pyare and Khalsa Panth was an attempt of him to unite India.

When people talk about Adi Shankaracharya they say that by establishing four Muths (temples) in the four corners of India, Adi Shankaracharya tried to strengthen the unity of India. In that period, Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj Saheb also made an unique attempt by selecting five Panch Pyares from the different corners of India to unite the country through Khalsa sect, and that is our heritage even today. I always feel deep down in my heart that I have some spiritual relation with this because it was not told to those Panch Pyares that you will be given this position so please come forward. It’s not like that, his standards for testing were very high. He invited people for sacrificing their lives through beheading; please come forward, you will be beheaded, and on the basis of that sacrifice it will be decided how to move forward. And people from different corners of the country came forward to sacrifice their heads and one of them was the son of a tailor from Dwarka, Gujarat, he also came forward and got a place among the Panch Pyares. Guru Gobind Singh embraced him.  Guru ji  said that: I will follow what to do and what not to do, when to do and how to do decided by these Panch Pyares and this Khalsa tradition that has been created.

I think nobody can imagine of a bigger sacrifice of Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj Saheb that he accepted the control of the system, he dedicated himself to that system which he himself and created, to a system which was created due to his inspiration and it is the result of that greatness that today after 350 years when Prakash Parv is celebrated and you visit any corner of the world and if there is a person associated to Sikkh tradition he bows down there, he submits himself. And he follows the traditions, the tradition that was laid out by Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj Saheb.

When we remember Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj some historians only discuss the aspects related to his valour and bravery. His bravery and his patience were unique. He fought battles but the extreme limit of his renunciation was unprecedented. He used to fight against the social evils. The feeling of one’s superiority and others inferiority, the poison of caste system, uniting the society by fighting against these things, equality for all and there should not be any feeling of superiority or inferiority, he dedicated his entire life in persuading others, including his own people to accept these things.

He was a social reformer, an inspiration for the  brave, a personality who dedicated himself to renunciation and hard work and equipped with all the virtues. May the life of Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj continue to inspire future generations.

We too need dedication and renunciation to strengthen the country’s integrity and take development to new heights.  We need bravery and we need patience too; we need chivalry, we need valor. Every single word of Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj Saheb, every single work of his life inspire us. 

Today, I got the good opportunity to bow down to Guru Granth Saheb by coming to the place of Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj Saheb. Here Nitish Ji has touched upon an extremely important issue. The centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran movement, but I salute Nitish Ji for one more thing. It’s very difficult to reform the society, it’s too difficult. It takes a lot of courage to even initiate this thing but despite that the way he has started the project to de-addict, took upon himself the task of saving the future generations, I salute him, I congratulate him for this thing.

And I appeal to all the people of Bihar, to all the political parties, to all the people working in the field of social service that this endeavor does not belong to the government alone, this does not belong to Nitish Kumar alone, this work does not belong to any single political party but this belongs to everyone. And if we make it successful then Bihar will become inspiration for the country. 

And I am confident that Nitish Ji will succeed in his endeavor and this Prakash Parv of Guru Gobind Sigh Maharaj will also bless him, will give him a new strength in his this work of saving the future generations. And I’m confident that Bihar will become an invaluable strength of the country and will make a very big contribution in taking the country forward. Because it is the land of Bihar that has given us several great souls, from Guru Gobind Sigh Maharaj Saheb to till now. We should remember Rajendra Babu. This is the land of Champaran movement, this is the place where civil disobedience was conceived. Jai Prakash Narain, Karpuri Thakur, this land given numerous human jewels in the service of mother India. Guru Gobind Sigh Ji Maharaj on such a land, it gives all of us a new ideal, new inspiration, a new power. We should celebrate this Prakash Parv, this occasion with the determination to internalize this Prakash Prav for the rest of our lives.

This Prakash Parv is being celebrated through the missions of government of India, through the embassies spread throughout the world. I congratulate and convey my best wishes to all those people settled across the globe who remember Guru Gobind Sigh Ji Maharaj Saheb

The Government of India has planned to celebrate this Prakash Parv within and outside India in a very comprehensive manner, it has created a committee for this thing and fund of 100 crore rupees has been spent on this. In addition to this, the railways has created permanent facilities for Prakash Parv by spending 40 crore rupees. The culture department of Government of India has spent nearly forty crore rupees in implementing several schemes so that this occasion becomes a reason for inspiration to future generations, we have been working in that direction and we will continue to take forward this work. Once again I consider myself blessed that I got the good opportunity to participate in this holy occasion.

I convey my regards to all of you, Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Shri Akal.

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AKT/AK/KT/DG/AK

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