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God in Sikhism

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God in Sikhism Dr. Rajinder Kaur M. A., Ph. D. SIKH ITIHAS RESEARCH BOARD Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak committee Amritsar Published By: Secretary Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Amritsar. First Edition November 1999 2000 Second Edition June 2003 3000 Printed at: Golden offset Press (S.G.P.c.) Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib, Amritsar. Introduction Faith in God is the hub ofSikh theology. A Sikh is essentially a man of God. God, in Sikhism is Akal Pmakh, the Person. Devotion, adoration, prayer, recitation and meditation on Mis name is central and cardinal feature of the life of a Sikh. According to Sikhism, the ultimate goal of a man's life is union with the Almighty. In order to achieve this stage a Sikh must know what 'God' is and how can we become self-realized. This bookby Dr. Rajinder Kaur is based on herthesis "TheSikh Conception ofGodhead" (1961). She has diligently dealt with the issue ofthe concept ofGod in Sikhism. The author has elaborately and clearly presented the issues involved in Sikh concepts. It is remarkable to note that, though Dr. Rajinder Kaur completed her research in 1961, none has been able to surpass her thesis. This remains to be the best work on the subject. Dr. Rajinder Kaur was not just a scholar but a practicing devoted Sikh as well. She was the daughter of the famous Akali leader Master Tara Singh. She was an active politician too. She participated in all the Akali agitations. She was also elected to the Upper House of Indian Parliament. During her term She made several speeches onvarious issues concerning the Sikhs, the Punjab as well as otherissues. She spenther life as aSant-Sipahi. She lived and died for the Sikh nation. Dr. Rajinder Kaur was bornon February 10, 1931, at Amritsar. She received her Ph. D. degree in 1961. She was the first Sikh female to achieve tIlis honour. Besides this thesis She contributed hundreds ofarticles. editorials and essays. She W£L'> the editor ofthe famous magazine Sani Sipahi from 1983 to 1989. She was superb 4 COD IN SIKHISM as ajournalisttoo. She was killed by agroup ofmilitants inFeburary 5, 1989 at Batginda. She was a great leader of the Sikh nation. Sikh Itihas Research Board is proud to publish her scholarly work all the eve of the tercentenary of Khalsa. I hope that the scholars and the average readers shall equally be benefitted by tIlis book. Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer Director Sikh Itihas Rescach Board. CONTENTS CHAPTER I The Need ofthe Present Study Page 7 CHAPTER II The Sources of the Present Study Page 19 CHAPTER III The Knowability of God Page 23 CHAPTER IV The Unity of God Page 32 CHAPTER V The Creativity of God Page 39 CHAPTER VI The Immanence of God Page 50 CHAPTER VII The Transcendence of God Page 59 CHAPTER VIII Immanence And Transcendence of God Page 66 CHAPTER IX God, The Person Page 72 6 GOD IN SIKHISM CHAPTER X God and Man Page 81 CHAPTER XI The Realizability of God Page 89 CHAPTER XII The Names of God Page 97 CHAPTER XIII Conclusion Page 110 THE PUNJABI SUPPLEMENT Page 114 BIBLIOGRAPHY Page 141 NOTE :- A large number of lines from Guru Granth Sahib have been used in this book. Wherever the reader fInds just the page number it would mean page number of Guru Granth Sahib. The Need OfThe Present Study Sikhism is the religion founded by Guru Nanak Sahib (1469-1539). He had nine successers..Ofthemthe poetry ofthefirst, second, third, fourth and eighth successor is preserved in its authentic form inGuru Granth Sahib, and that ofthe ninthsuccessor is found inthe Dasam Granth (The BookofThe Tenth Master). The poetic utterances ofall the Sikh Gurus form the sacred Scripture of the Sikhs. All the ten Masters are treated as one, the form changed but the spirit of the founder remained the same, and abided in the succeeding nine forms 1. The tenMasters are known as Ten Nanaks. The sacred Scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, is treated as the Eternal Successor Guru ofthe Ten Gurus (the Guru-Eternal?, and is worshipped as the embodiment of the Eternal Divine Word communicated to the world through the Word ofthese ten Nanaks who were as if incarnations of the Word3 (Shabad=Sabda) and whose Words4 (Bani) therefore came straight from the one source, the one inexhaustible, uninterrupted source of all revelations. Sikhism, as such, is, however, not exhausted, as far as its contents are concerned, bythe sacred Scripture (Guru Granth Sahib and Dasam Granth). Sikhrevelation and inspiration is not confined to the sacred Scripture; it also includes the lives of the Gurus themselves, the lives ofthe individual Sikh saints (Gurmukhs) and martyrs (Shaheeds), and the life ofthe community as a whole in its historical evolution, from Guru Nanak to the Khalsa, and on to the Sikhnation. In other words thefour pillars ofSikhismare, the Guru­ Bani or Saba Gur Karni; Gurmukh Rahini, and Guru Panth. The Khalsa (the Order ofthe Sovereign, and belonging to God Himself) or the Sikh Panth (The Sikh way), a compact, easily distinguishable body, was organised by the tenth Nanak, Guru GobindSinghSahib(1661-1708). He was notonly aprophet-mystic butalso agreat social revolutionary, apolitical architect and welder, 8 GOD IN SIKHI.SM a far-sighted military republican creative general and one of the world's greatestnarrative, descriptive, autobiographical and martial­ ballad writers. The Sikh Community5 is the smallest religious-cum-cultural­ cum-linguistic-cum-political minority in India. There are only twenty million Sikhs. "But their importance in the Indian Social, political and religious life is out of proportion to their number", 6 writes Duncan Greenless • Almost the same idea is expressed by Cunningham, "The Sikhs do not form a numerous sect, their strength is not to be estimated by tens ofthousands but by the unity and energy of religious fervour and war-like temperament. 'Illey will dare much and endure much?" Pre-1947 Punjab was the homeland of the Sikhs and they look upon it as the jews do upon Israel except for the fact that the Sikhs made the Punjab and ruled over it with justice, equity and fairplay until the British cheated Maharaja Dalip Singh out ofhis territory. Every dust particle ofthe Punjab, their homeland, is dyed in the blood of the Sikh martyrs. "In fact the Sikh religion is the one which should appeal to the occidental mind. Itis essentially apractical religion. Ifjudged trom the pragmatical stand-point, it would rank almost the tirst in the world. Of no religion can it be said that it has made a nation in so short a time; that it should have transformed the outcast Indian, a notoriously indolent and unstable person, into a tine and loyal warrior, is more than amiracle. A religion which combines the most passionate devotion with heroic conduct in daily life is really worthy of study. Guru Granth Sahib, apart from its religious importance, is certainly one ofthe world's masterpieces ofpoetry. Among the world's scriptures, few, ifany, attain so high a literary R level or so constant aheightofinspiration",writes DuncanGreenIess • Notwithstanding the important role played by Sikhs and Sikhism, this religion has not received a fair deal at the hands ofthe non-Sikh scholars. Some have presented Sikhism as a minor otl­ shoot of Vaishnavism or Bhagawatism and have linked it with GOD IN S'lKHlSM !) medieval Hindu saints, notbothering themselves about the particular distinguishable Sikh contributionto Eastarnreligion andphilosophy. Sikhism came up not as a growth out ofnational life and character, but appeared or manifested as a new original religion under the intluence of the great prophet, Guru Nanak Sahib. Although the intluence of national life can not be denied yet it may have a negative intluence. Like the Catholic religion, Sikhism came abruptly not so much by development but by a kind ofcrisis under the original intluence of the inspired soul of Guru Nanak Sahib, Some ideas in Sikhism are indeed similar to the ideas in the already existing religions. lbis, however, does not mean that Sikhism is identical with one school of Indian thought or the other, even though ithas been said, "In religion there is no new thing, the same 9 ideas are worked up again and again ." Sikhism is individual in character. Individuality means independence ofgrowth. It is not necessarily unlikeness. There can not be complete unlikeness, since man, the world over, is the same, especially so far as the aspects of his spirit are concerned. Resemblances in religions are necessary traits that must exist between inspired or revealed spiritual systems; they show that all religions have for their purpose, leading ofman to a higher life than that of the lower passions and appetites. The Gurus believe that ditlerences between religion and religion and between one way of worShip and the other are due to the ditferent environments and ditlerent conditions ofdifferent countries, but inreality all religions are one and the same. "Thetemple and mosque are the same; Hindu 'Puja, Muslim 'Namaz' are the same; the apparent difference is the effect of the differing social and climatic conditions in different lO countries", says Guru Gobind Singh • The inabIlity of the non-Sikhs to appreciate the essential and distinguishing characteristics ofSikhismis retlectedin the following quotations, which reveal a sad lack of research and valuation, of sympathetic appreciation and comparative stUdy :- 10 GOD IN SIKHISM (i) "Sikhism may be regarded either as a reformed Brahmanism 11 or as a separate religion. It was started by Kabir ." (ii) "A synthetic cult like Sikhism only increases the number of creeds, although their contribution to mutual understanding 12 cannot be questioned ," (iii) "The most remakable ofthe numerous sects connected more or less directly with Kabir is that ofthe Sikhs, the 'disciples', which alone ofall the branches ofHinduism tookshape inthe 13 end as a national religion ." As a student ofphilosophy and religion I long felt the need of the present study when I met statements like the foregoing.
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