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Sabad 2: The Plight of Women in War

Babarvani: Guru Nanak Sahib on War & Tyranny - Part 2

Tuesday
,
12
August
2025

This session focuses on the second sabad from Babarvani (Utterances on Babar) and also in Rag Asa (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 417).

This session focuses on the second sabad from Babarvani (Utterances on Babar) and also in Rag Asa (Guru Granth Sahib, p. 417). Here, Guru Nanak Sahib vividly portrays the suffering of Hindustan’s wealthy and elite women, who, in the wake of the Mughal invasion, face assault, humiliation, and devastation.

The sabad explores spiritual and physical loss themes and the seemingly indiscriminate nature of survival in times of calamity. More importantly, Guru Nanak Sahib centers the voices of women, highlighting their suffering in war, a reality often overlooked in historical narratives.

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In This Video

Santbir Singh

Research Associate

Santbir Singh is a Research Associate with SikhRI. He is currently doing his Ph.D. in Sociology at York University. His graduate research focuses on Sikh activism and the inherent relationship between Sikhi and anarchism explored through historical and contemporary Sikh movements, such as the Kisān Morcha (Farmer’s Protests) of 2020-2021. 

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