The Sikh Ideology & Identity
Sikhism is an original and independent faith, the so-called assertions to the contrary notwithstanding. Some people try to look at it as a puritan form of Hinduism, which had, by the sixteenth century, degenerated into polytheism, idol worship, ritualism and Brahmanical priestly exploitation. Some scholars have called Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture another version of the Vedas. There are others who would try to label as a synthesis of Islamic monotheism and Hinduism. There are still others who consider the creation of Sikhism as a device to meet the onslaught of Islam on Indian Sub-continent. The recent trend is to pick up some verses from the Guru Granth, compare them with some selected verses of the Vedas and Kuran and then strive to arrive at the conclusion that the Guru Granth Sahib is a compilation of eclectic ideas.
All this reflects a poor or surface study of the doctrine of Guru Nanak or a deliberate attempt to claim this great heritage for Hinduism. This is what tentamounts to denying the existence of separate entity of the Sikhs, since the time of Guru Nanak, who proclaimed “There is no Hindu, no musalman.” This is perhaps due to the Hindu psyche of damning anything and every thing which claimed originality to the prevalent Hindu beliefs and practices. European historians were fed with the theory of Bhakti cult and Sikhism being an extension of Hinduism. The twentieth century Hindu politician flushed with new confidence has been too eager to see Sikhism lapse into Hinduism. One such politician, Dr. Kailash Nath Katju, one time home minister of Indian had the audacity to pour out an advice that the Sikhs should give up their separate entity and join the “national main stream.”
Recently a new trend has set in at the international level. Certian missionaries have begun to feel that Sikhism with its one-fresh gospel might take over as the religion of the world. In the new world of science and dialectic logic, the gospel of resurrection and passage to heaven on the doomsday are likely to lose their appeal. Sikhism aims at reaching the Infinite through the finite and thereby developing a system of human values that leads to universal belief in the ultimate Truth. The dialectics sought to bring a new dimension to Sikhism. They have little to deny the distinct identity of Sikhism. But they have tried to shake the essentials of the Sikh faith by challenging the authenticity of Guru Granth Sahib on the one hand, and questioning the observance of outer symbols for the sake of material pursuits.
Arguably, the identity of Sikhism was clearly delineated during the life time of Guru Nanak Dev himself. Bhai Gurdas (1550-1647), a contemporary of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth Gurus and a celebrated exponent of Sikh thought, says in his vaar 1, pauri 31.
"Sabd jitti Sidh mandli kito su apna panth nirala”.
Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru says, “I have broken free from Hindus and Mohammadans”:
“Hindu Turk Doha Nabera” (SGGS-1136)
Guru Gobind Singh advised the Sikhs to maintain their separate identity and gave a stern warning not to take to Brahmanical ways of ritualism, in unequivocal terms:
Jab lag rahe khalsa niara, tab lag tej deo maen sara.
Jab eh gahan bipran ki reet, maen na karun in ki partit.
i.e. Sikhs would lose Gurus, confidence if they take to the ritualist ways.
What is unique (niralapan) about Sikhism that should form the basis of its separate entity and separate identity?
According to Duncan Greenlees, a theosophist from the United States, there is no doubt that all religions advocate the pursuit of the ultimate Truth, but it falls to the credit of Sikhism alone that it is so perfect and so thorough that it takes Truth to logical ends and allows no faltering and no let up, not any arbitrariness or deviation from the postulates of the Truth. H.L. Bradshaw, a British writer says that whereas all other religions contain the Truth, Sikhism imbibes the fullness of Truth. This perfection and fullness has to be guarded and maintained at all costs and at all levels.
Guru Nanak arrives at this perfection by expounding a complete, harmoniously integrated and working unity between the creator and His creation, i.e. God, man and universe, through his concept of Naam and defines the ultimate truth in terms of this unity. This harmoniously integrated and working unity of Naam has been brought about by the active participation of God Himself, through what is called His Hukam or Will, which remains unabated, undeterred and unchallenged. According to Guru Nanak, God created His ownself and then the entire universe, providing a definite working character to each of the individual phenomenon and is very carefully, Himself supervising the harmonious working of these phenomena in their minutest details to create this well integrated and living unity. It is this working unity which creates a link between the visible reality, i.e. nature and the ultimate Reality i.e. the Absolute Truth. The functional character of each of the phenomena reflects, in its turn, the character of the Creator. The enormousness of the totality of the phenomena involved would imply an enormous and unfathomable and, at the same time, formless character of the ultimate Truth which eludes any definition. Guru Nanak has used the term to denote the unfathomable character of the creator. It is for this reason that ultimate Truth is also called Sabd and becomes synonymous with Naam, Hukam and Harmony i.e. Sehaj in Sikh literature. The importance of the relationship between Truth and Hukam can be guaged from what Guru Nanak has said in Japuji:
Kiv sachiara hoviye, kiv kurhe tutey pal?
The only discipline to approach the ultimate Truth is to follow the Hukam in word and deed.
Sikhism considers Absolute Truth, The Creator as the spring-head of all the qualitative values and virtues respected, prized and honoured by all the people the world over. These values are abstract in nature, such as grace, kindliness, happiness, sympathy and help particularly in the time of adversity, guidelines altruism and to crown all, Love. God in Sikhism is considered as Love, and is to be approached through Love. Guru Gobind Singh says:
Sach kahon sun leho sabhe: jin prem kio tinn hi Prabhu paiyo.
Regarding complete reliance upon God in the hour of adversity Guru Gobind Singh writes:
Dukalang pranasi, dayalang sarupe
Sada ang sange, abhangang bibhute.
In order to be in consonance and unison with God man, according to Sikhism is required to acquire and imbibe these values through concentrating and meditating upon Sabd which in itself is the embodiment of these values. In fact every verse in Gurbani also known as Sabd, is an exponance of these qualitative values and virtues of God, also known as His praises. Special significance is attached to concentrating upon sabd in the early hours of the morning and signing these praises of God in the Sangat, congregation.
Amrit vela sach nao vadiyai veechar,
is Guru Nanak’s advice for approach to Truth. However, complete reliance is placed upon His kindliness and Grace, rather than man’s personal effort. Man is to pray to God, with all the humility, so that He bestows His Grace. Meditation in the early hours of the day, and humble prayer for His Grace are unique features of Sikh approach to religion, Sikhism does not contribute to the Hindu idea of following a system of the so called religious rituals and practices, nor the Muslim practice of ‘hajj’ and namaz, etc.
Truth, according to Guru Nanak is the One that is beyond the beyond of time and therefore it is outside the circle of birth and death. It cannot have a body form. God is therefore reckoned as a Spirit - a living spirit and hence referred to as Jagat Jot. Being the sole authority in running the affairs of the universe, God, according to Guru Nanak, is not confined to a solitary place of rest in His Heaven. Rather, He is actively involved in His work single handedly - without the help of any deputies, gods and goddesses. Guru Nanak does not recognize the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu or Mahesh, nor does he recognise any such Shakti as Durga. He therefore eliminates polytheism of the Hindus from his thought. Again, he does not contribute to the Hindu idea of considering any one of the phenomena of nature such as the sun, the air, water, a mountain, fire or rain (Inder) etc. in its individual form, to represent the ultimate Truth, or propitiate it as a god for approach to the Absolute. Such a thought will create a break in the living totality and unity of Nature, wherein each phenomenon has to work in a sort of cause and effect relationship with others, under the command and supervision of God Himself so as to create an integrated working unity with one another as well as with God.
Guru Nanak does not contribute to the idea of Sankhya Shastra, wherein nature is considered as an independent entity having no attachment with God. Sidh Yogis preaching celibacy and renunciation and recognising the formless God as Sunnya i.e. not a living spirit, were decried by Guru Nanak. He completely discards the way of the Jain monks who do not drink clean water, wear cloth-covers over their mouth, get their hair pulled out and avoid bath. All this does not fit into his concept of harmony and free flow of His Will in maintaining the integrated unity of nature. The idea of Shankracharya to consider the nature and the world as unreal and maya does not find favour with Guru Nanak. Sikhism considers maya, or the changing nature of phenomena and their value to man with time, as an integral part of His Will, a part of the great harmony.
Man is therefore not to reject Maya altogether, but utilize it for wholesome living, avoiding too much and unnecessary attachment with it. Guru Nanak therefore takes a balanced view about maya and discards Shankaracharya’s idea of total rejection and renunciation.
Since Sikhism rejects the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh as deputies of the Almighty for running the organisation of the universe, there is therefore no scope of Avataras or incarnation in Sikhism, as all these Avataras, like Rama Krishna, Narsing etc. are said to be incarnation of Vishnu. No individual, howsoever exact he may be can have the idea of perfection. It is for this reason that the collective personality of the sangat - men, women and children of the all ages and all walks of life put together and oriented towards Naam, is considered as a total representation of God-The-Truth.
It is this collective personality which is termed as Khalsa, whom Guru Gobind Singh calls worthy of worship.
Guru Nanak rejects the idea of religious sanction attached to Caste system. He took the idea of the All-pervasiveness of the Truth to its logical end and saw in caste a rejection of the spirit of the ultimate truth i.e. God in every individual. Similarly, he saw in every profession, His Will or order of things for creating a harmony in the integrated working unity of the totality of the universe. He thus advocated the equality of all men, and women, each of whom was free from all encumbrances of the previous birth and similarly an equally honourable place for all the professions. Regional and caste disparities - a bane of Hindu religious social order - were set aside by Guru Gobind Singh by initiating the order of the Khalsa with Khanda-da-Amrit, whereby men from different high and low castes, having different professions and coming from different areas were welded together. Similarly, women were made to be as equal and honoured members of Khalsa Panth as men. This was all a revolution aiming at unity between all the human beings as a part of the Grand harmony of the creation and removal of all types of false beliefs and barriers.
Another very important, as well as interesting, aspect of the Sikh way of life, as enunciated by the Gurus, is that the compartmentalization of human life into what is termed as Brahmacharya, Grahasth, Ban-Prastha and Sanyas ashrams has been done away with. Sikhism is a whole life religion, wherein the entire life is considered as an integrated whole - an integrated continuity right from birth till death.
Sikhism rejects the ideas of celibacy and renunciation of the world for achieving the so called mukti, and considers family life based upon earnings with ones own toils and labour, as the norm, which is very much in line with the harmony of the Will of the Lord. It also enjoins upon people to share the profits of their earning with others for uplifting the poor and needy ones, so that the eye is always on trying to maintain an equality with others.
The propitiation theory is altogether rejected in so far as different gods and goddesses are propitiated for worldly riches while living and for mukti after death. Both the aims are rejected in Sikhism in favour of love for the Lord.
And this love for the Lord does not require such practices as fasts, pilgrimages, forced donations and other so called religious rituals for which the priestly Brahmanical class had hitherto been working as agents. Guru Nanak calls these agents as hypocrites and challenges the credentials of the holy Brahmanical class in strong words. Uniqueness of Sikhism lies in rejecting the idea of heaven and Mukti, which weigh so heavily in all other religions.
This love for the Lord requires selfless abdication to His Will, so that man as in complete harmony with the smooth flow of His Will, he is in complete concordance with and in unison with Him, which in its turn requires a person to remember and concentrate upon His qualities as contained in the Sabd.
Then, above all, it is His Grace which pulls you out of muddle of the ego and embraces you.
Like Semitic religions, Sikhism does accept the one-ness of the All pervading, formless and fathomless omnipotent God. But it does not accept the fable of Adam and Eve. All the religious formulations accruing therefrom also stand rejected. God in Sikhism is neither annoyed with man nor confined to a solitary corner in the heaven. He is kind and bestows His Grace upon any one and every one and grants protection in the hour of adversity. He also offers guidance to man, like a guide or Guru. If man is suffering in the world, it is not because of any curse but because of man’s ego. God’s grace has to be solicited by shedding ego and reciting His praises in the form of Sabd i.e. reciting naam. Sikhism respects but does not accept the idea of a messenger, prophet or the son of God specially deputed by man to bring him to faith. Sikhism does not contribute to the idea of circumcision or the observance of fasts, going on pilgrimage or Hajj and offering namaz five times a day. God is just and kind and there is no hell or heaven where the human beings could be sent by Him. Man is not required to wait in his grave after death, for resurrection and the present to God for mercy on the recommendation of the Prophet or son of God on the doomsday. What is to happen after death is left to God Himself - the creator.
Sikhism does not accept the breaking up of the multitude into what can be termed as people of faith and pagans. They are all equal to be judged, not on the basis of any faith or followers of a particular prophet but by their own deeds. The division of man into men of faith and heathen and particularly the latter being looked down upon with scorn and coerced to conversion to a particular faith is against the spirit of equality and therefore against the teachings of Sikh faith.
According to Sikhism man comes to the earth without any burden of the curse to suffer. Human birth is an opportunity provided to him to come nearer God.
He is in fact considered as born to rule over all other forms of creation like a chief - sardar.
Sikhism therefore offers a positive and constructive approach to life. Women are considered in no way inferior to man, rather equal to them, and as good and honourable part of the creation as men. Then, according to Semitic religions one has to wait for resurrection and presentation to God on the doomsday and has to lie in his grave till then. This concept has encouraged the worship of the dead. Faith in life is beyond doubt more positive than faith in the dead. Sikhism surely stand for this maxim.
The Sikh faith strictly conforms to the principle of the all-pervading, every green, living Truth which is benevolent and merciful God who can be loved and possessed by a devotee as one’s personal God. All this transcends the principle of a chosen people.
By giving all these details in the form of comparisons, no disrespect is meant to other faiths; what I want to emphasise is that Sikhism is neither an extension of Hinduism, nor a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam, nor created for protecting Hinduism against the onslaught of Islam. It is not an extension of the Bhakti Movement either. It is an independent and unique religion based upon revelation of the Truth.
Sikhism is a revealed religion. The ten Sikh Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh, themselves experienced direct communion with God in a state of complete consonance, unison and merger with Him. This is a state, described by Guru Gobind Singh. In such a state when their identity and entity was completely lost in Him, whatever comes out of the mouth of the Guru was His word. This is how the revealed word came to each one of them. It was as if the ultimate Truth-God-Spoke through the mouth of the Gurus. Guru Nanak himself testifies in these words:
“As I do receive the word of the Lord, so I do pass to you. O Lalo.”
“It is He - the Lord alone, and there is more else. I speak as and when He makes me speak.”
Similarly, Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru says:
“I know not what to say
I say only what is commanded by my Lord.”
It is believed that revelation descended upon the prophets of semitic religions. The scriptures were prepared at a later stage and were based upon either the discourses of these prophets or their life styles or their conduct in particular situations. In the case of the Sikh scriptures the message received by the Gurus was recorded by the Guru themselves. Then in order to ward off any heresay, stories and exaggerations about the life styles of Gurus, Guru Nanak himself advised not to follow the Gurus’ actions, but his word alone is to be reckoned.
The Sikh Scriptures - The Adi Granth is in poetic form to be sung under definite musical notes, so that there is no scope left for any adulteration of interpolation. Then the entire compositions were collected verified and compiled in the form of Granth Sahib, so that any unauthorised version, or "Kachi Bani” was weeded out of the text.
The word of the Guru, which, as stated above, not only describes the Truth, but also represents and constitutes Truth itself. Known as Sabd, it describes the Sabd, i.e. Truth. It makes a person understand, appreciate and recognise the Truth and ultimately transcends him to merge with the Truth, if proper atmosphere is created.
It should be noted that the role of the Guru in Sikhism cannot be compared with the role of the semitic prophets, who help a person cross over to heaven on the doomsday merely because of his faith in a particular prophet.
The Guru in Sikhism, with his kindness and grace, helps a person realize the Truth and transcend so as to merge with the Truth during his life-time. The Guru, in the form of word is Guru Granth Sahib, is the living Guru-Sabd, it should be remembered, never dies. Unstinted faith in Guru Granth Sahib constitutes the major form of the identity of Sikhism. Guru Granth Sahib is not to be considered as a Book of knowledge or philosophy, nor a piece of literature, etc. It is to be reckoned, considered and respected as a living Guru - a guide to connect man with the Truth, and merge him with the Truth. This is the order of the tenth master, Guru Gobind Singh. It is a matter of faith in Sikhism to obey the order of the Guru, and faith requires no questioning, no analysis.
For merger with the Truth, man is required to give up his ego and abdicate his self to The Will or Hukam. By concentrating and meditating Gurus Sabd, the entire attitude of the mind is diverted from the self to the Sabd. The ego vanishes, by the bestowal of kindliness and Grace of God, and the process of realization of the Truth gets going. For this purpose an early morning concentration and meditation upon Sabd also called Naam Simran is the Sikh way, advised by the Guru.
This leads to union with God. One who comes in consonance with Him in This manner is on the way to become a part of the Truth - A Sachiara.
The daily attendance of Sangat - the Sikh congregation, in the presence and patronage of Guru Granth Sahib, provides a person with an opportunity to be one with many people who are on the same path. The melody of the birth through which His praises are sung transcends his mind to The realms of the formless and, whose all pervasiveness can be felt in this congregation.
This provides him not only the necessary atmosphere but rather a first hand experience of union with the Truth. All this is peculiar to Sikhism and lends it a distinct identity.
The outer symbols of Sikh identity, peculiar and distinct in themselves, are the Five K’s wearing of which has been ordained by the tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh who initiated the order of the Khalsa. They constitute a matter of faith for Sikhism and faith does not require any rationale. However it would be interesting to understand their logical relationship with the Sikh religion. All these symbols combine together to guild an aura of Naam around you, very much like discipline of a particular way of life, and discipline does not permit any let-up. The most important outward symbol of the Sikh identity is kesh the unshorn hair, and beard (for men), which constitute a symbol of obedience of His will - The prerequisite for Naam. so much of importance is attached to the unshorn hair and beard, that cutting them is regarding as if a Sikh has fallen from grace. Dyeing cutting the hair and shaving the beard represents a daily exercise of disobedience to His will. This is, therefore, the basic and integral part of the Sikh faith. The comb - Kangha, cleans the hair and the turban covers them. Again, turban is a symbol of respect for the master, who being omnipresent is always with you and you respect His presence by keeping your head covered. Kesh and turban always go together in Sikhism. Kara - the iron bangle is a reflection of unflinching faith in His suzerainty, patronage and protection. Again, it reminds you of His presence in all your actions and dealings, wherein you are required to be as just and as fair as your master the Truth. Kachh - the breeches is the symbol of firmness of personal character, observance of restraint on all types of biological urges and indulgences. Strength of character is the best guarantee against being swayed by worldly pleasure. Kirpan is a symbol of independent conscience, free from all types of fear and rancour.
No one can enjoy dignity if there is any type of fear from any worldly power, or feeling of revenge against any one. Again, Kirpan reflects use of minimum force for self-protection and self respect, but with an eye on mercy and kindly behaviour even with your enemy. Kirpan combines in it Kirpa i.e. kindliness and aan i.e. self respect - where Kirpa comes first and aan afterwards. As such, it is a symbol of authority as well as justice, two big virtues of God Himself. God is addressed as Kirpan in Dasam Granth.
Every Sikh is required to enter the order of the Khalsa, by taking Amrit - a ceremony which implies a pledge to be under the direct control, authority and governance of the Super Being - the Ultimate Truth - which is Naam translated into actual life. Amrit is Khande da Amrit and Khanda stands for the Supreme authority - the creator Himself. Recognizing Khanda as a symbol for the creator and owning direct allegiance to the creater and to none else is something which makes Sikhism distictive and unique.