Sikh Ideology
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THE SIKH IDEOLOGY DALJEET SINGH February 1990 Price Rs. 50-00 CONTENTS I. Methodology of Comparative Study 8 II. Sikhism 22 III. Nathism 50 IV. Sikhism and Nathism : A Comparison 69 V. Vaisnavism 74 VI. Sikhism and Vaisnavism : A Comparison 104 VII The Radical Bhagats 106 VIII Sikhism and Radical Bhagats : A Comparison 123 IX Sikhsim, Nathism, Vaisnavism and Radical 129 Bhagats : Conclusion Notes and References Select Biblography THE SIKH IDEOLOGY BY DALJIT SINGH PREFACE This small volume, apart from having a brief introduction on the methodology of comparative study of religion, comprises an essay on a comparison of Sikhism, Vaisnavism, Nathism and Sant Tradition (Radical Bhagats). Parts of this essay include contents of lectures delivered at the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, the Punjabi University, Patiala, and the Guru Nanak Foundation, New Delhi. Despite a large body of recent literature on the lives of the Gurus, Gurbani and other aspects of the Sikh Religion and history, there still persists, in some quarters, ignorance or misunderstanding about the essentials of Sikh Religion and the message of the Sikh Gurus. It is still not uncommon for persons, even from among scholars, to say that Sikhism is a part and parcel of the Indian Bhakti movement; or that its doctrines are very much akin to those of the Nath Yogis, or the Radical Bhagats. While it is true that hymns of some of the Bhagats expressing devotion to God have been included in the Guru Granth Sahib, it should not be taken to mean that the Sikh ideology is a part or the product of the Bhakti movement. In this volume we seek to give a comparative picture of the fundamentals of Sikhism and the principles and practices of the three other religious systems with which Sikhism is believed to have basic affinities. Our study reveals that this belief is quite erroneous. In recent years some interested or psuedo literature has appeared which seeks to give a distorted view of Sikhism. It has been said that Guru Nanak made new contribution to the religious thought of India; or that there is gap between the Sikh Ideology 6 teachings of Guru Nanak and Guru Granth Sahib on the one hand, and those of Guru Gobind Singh on the other hand; or that the Singh Sabha Movement gave an entirely new trend or interpretation to the Sikh religion. It is common that during the period of a disturbed political climate such motivated literature should appear. Our analysis of the four systems shows that, apart from Sikhism being a revealed religion, independent in its identity, there was no trace of the fundamentals of the Sikh Religion in any of the earlier religious traditions. Guru Nanak completely changed the trend of religious life in India. Against the world being regarded as Maya, Mithya (illusion), or a place of suffering or misery, he called it real and meaningful. Against life-negation and consequent withdrawal into asceticism or monasticism, he recommended life affirmation and full and virtuous participation in the affairs of life. Against celibacy and the down graded position of women, he recommended a householder's life and equality to women. Against the withdrawal of Sanyasis, recluses, and Yogis, he proclaimed that he knows the way who works and shares his earnings with others. Against the general acceptance of the hierarchical caste ideology and the concept of pollution, he preached and practised the equality of man. Against a clear dichotomy between the religious life and the empirical life of man, he made an inalienable combination between the two, and wanted the Sikhs to accept not only participation but also total social responsibility in all spheres of life. We are not aware of any religion in India or the East having done that or proclaimed that the way to be a Sachiara or true man is to carry out the Attributive Will of God, or that higher than truth is truthful living. Infact, nothing could be more radical and revolutionary than what Guru Nanak and the Sikh Gurus did. It is hoped that this small volume will help to dispel misconceptions concerning Sikhism. It was very kind of the Guru Nanak Foundation, New Delhi, to have published, the first edition of this volume. I am Sikh Ideology 7 deeply grateful to the Sikh Missionary Society, Southall, (U.K.) for agreeing to take up the publication of the second edition of this book. February, 1989 Daljeet Singh 127, Sector 9, Chandigarh ¤. Sikh Ideology 8 CHAPTER I METHODOLOGY OF COMPARATIVE STUDY Comparative studies of religion are essential both for the proper appreciation of any religion and its features, and more specially for identifying the reasons for the wide varieties of religious doctrines and developments in the world. No doubt, the environmental situation and the social milieu in which a religion arises, do have their impact on its growth and the problems it seeks to tackle. Yet, it is very true that the perceptions, the internal strength, and the ideology of a religion are fundamentally the elements that give it substance and direction, and shape its personality. Unless some definite principles are followed in making a comparative study of different religious systems, confusions, misunderstandings and misinterpretations are bound to occur, in the presentation thereof. The important thing hence is to identify and compare the fundamentals and the essentials of different systems. Otherwise, similarities or dissimilarities in the ancillary or peripheral features of the two systems could be very misleading and give an entirely lopsided view of the traditions concerned. The following could be the basic issues on which it is necessary to ascertain and compare the answers of a system before arriving at any conclusion regarding its affinities, nature, class and stand. Sikh Ideology 9 1. THE METAPHYSICAL VIEW While it is true that a religious system is not a philosophy, yet its metaphysical assumptions and its views about the nature of Reality, so often determine its other basic characteristics and its approach to the world. For example, in Yoga, Sankhya and Jainism, two kinds of Reality, material and spiritual, are assumed, and man is a combination of both. No one basic Reality, much less a creative Reality of God, is assumed. The logic of such Dualism, therefore, involves, the isolation of the spiritual monad from its connection or combination with the material element. Thus, in each case, the ideal is of withdrawal from the world and its activities without any role for the ideal man. In the same manner, in the monistic system of Sankara, the world and its activities are Mithya or unreal. Therefore, monasticism or the virtual turning of the back to the world becomes necessary. Similarly, in a pantheistic system, moral life ceases to have a spiritual or primary value. Accordingly, the metaphysical assumptions of a religious system have a significant relevance for understanding a system and its character. 2. NATURE OF REALITY The nature of reality assumed by the tradition has also a crucial meaning. In case the Reality is attributive, world activity and moral life assume a primary and spiritual significance. Similar is the importance of the issue whether Reality is both Transcendent and Immanent. But, far more important is the assumption whether Reality is creative or not. For in a materialistic or deterministic system, creativity and freedom have not much of a place, or scope. 3. REALITY OF THE WORLD Answer to this issue makes all the difference between a system like Sankara's Vedanta where the world is Mithya, or unreal and a system like Sikhism or Islam, where the creation is not only real but creative activity in the world is essential for Sikh Ideology 10 the spiritual growth of man. The systems of the former kind recommend monasticism, involving withdrawal from life, whereas in the latter kind world affirmation becomes an essential feature. 4. IS WORLD WORTHWHILE ? So far as approach to the world is concerned, this is a very important issue dividing all systems into two categories, one of life-affirmation and the other of life-negation, For example, in Buddhism, world is a place of suffering. Salvation lies only in Nirvana through asceticism and withdrawal from life. Moral life could give one a better birth than before, but it could never lead to Nirvana. Similarly, in systems like Yoga, Nathism and some categories of Saivism, world is a place of misery. In Jainism, too, world activity, howsoever good or moral, is an involvement and has to be given up. As against that, in Sikhism, Christianity and Islam, creative activity in the world, or activity in carrying out the Will of God, is of the highest spiritual significance. As such, the world is a meaningful place for spiritual endeavours. It is far from being a place of suffering or misery, which has to be given up or from which release has to be sought. In fact, in systems like Sikhism, the entire growth of man and his spiritual stature are judged by the deeds performed by him in this world. Actually, divergent answers on this issue would place two systems entirely into widely varying categories of religious systems. 5. GOAL OF LIFE For obvious reasons, the goal fixed in a religious system is of fundamental significance. For, this determines in many ways its entire direction and world view, its values, and its methodology and discipline. Here, too, whatever, be the apparent similarities between the two traditions, these would be meaningless if the systems have opposing spiritual goals. In Sikhism, the goal is to carry out, through deeds, the attributive and the creative Will of God. It can have nothing in common Sikh Ideology 11 with a system, like Yoga or Sankhya, where no God is assumed and where the goal is the isolation of the spiritual element from the material element.