Many many years ago our Gurus lit the lamp
And the Prakasham was born carrying power of the soul
This light of truth on the lands of five rivers
It orbited and orbited around the sun
Along with the earth that carried it as sindhur
This earthly Prakasham is so powerful
Of human’s universal message of one God
Four hundred orbits gone in no time
The great Prakasham has even out-glowed the Sun
As it orbits all around the sun, even sun bows in enhanced reverence
And salutes the earth, for all that it carries
The Greatest Prakasham of Guru Granth Sahib.

The Prakasham was born, how was it? The magic lies in the use and application of the word, as it is by the South Indians in their tone and tenor. What is Prakasham? How to get Light, Mystical, Mythical Light, Light Logical and Illuminating, Dispelling Darkness is the case in hand. But the Gurus saw it, felt it and acted as per Instruction. It illumined the Punjab, the place of the rivers. They spread their message, and it went far wide, moved beyond as for something exceptional and extraordinary to be given, hand over to humanity, never felt in terms of social equality, human goodness, charity, virtue, morality, mercy, kindness and congregational food. How to be practical, the men of practical wisdom? How to foster saintliness at the same time? They had been the men of earth, God-sent people as well who but preached a new lesson and precept. 

Many years ago, the Gurus saw the light, felt about it and willed to commune with the folks foreboding good and blessing irrespective of any division. They preached good and welfare of all dismantling the divisions made by man. They lit the lamp of jnan, buddhi and prakasham. Their adventures and excursions we could not envisage then even though they struck the chords with and tried to demolish inhuman discrimination.

It is really difficult to explain a poem without input, hints and suggestions. Here the poem has been during the spur of the invitation he received to visit in commemoration of  the 400th anniversary of the of the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib at the Golden Temple and to deliver at Guru Nanak Dev University with regard to it before an enthralled audience waiting to greet him and to see him speak. The President who flew in from New Delhi  felt the things in Tamil which he had been hearing since his childhood. The poem speaks of the ten gurus, their sacrifices and struggles, their journeys and undertakings. What has Sikhism offered to? How have its moral precepts and spiritual assimilations helped people in fostering humanity and its bonds? 

Without knowing the context, one may not explain a poem and even if one did, it will be misleading, the interpretation will not be exact. We are lucky to come to know about it from the Telegraph.

When we read the poem, the images and pictures of the Gurus dance before the eyes, the Guruvani strikes us. The Light is as such that it even out-glows the sun and the sun seems to be drawn towards the Prakasham which it is in the Founder Gurus of the Guru Granth Sahib.

A couplet from Kabir may explain it: 

The Teacher and the Lord per chance stand they both, whose feet to touch
The creditable Teacher who revealed the word about the Lord.

Guru Prakasham is one of the most representative poems of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam dawning upon the light which the enlightened Guru emits. How was light born? Who did it carry? The poem reminds us of the teachings and preachings of the Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh gurus. The poem is an extension of Guru as Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshvara and we bow before that Guru who can absolve and redeem us.

The poem is a dedication to the legacy and heritage of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Golden Temple, Sikhism and the Sikh gurus. The company of the sadhus, singing of psalms and hymns and a bit of meditation are good for mind and heart. The Light which they saw and felt can still be seen enclosed in the Guru Granth and those who come seeking for, get it blessed from the text archived and kept on display.

The heart is the temple of God, the Guru is in your heart, try to see Him, you will find Him smiling around. Look to your heart as for goodness and moral precepts. Try to remember Him, forget Him not. He is your Guide, Philosopher. God is in good action. Your karma is your dharma. Forget you it not the Guru’s words.