by Owen Cole
Most obvious and immediate is the name that Sikhs use. ‘Guru’ informs us that the scripture is their teacher. Sikhism’s scriptures, as you have noted, begin with the compositions of Guru Nanak, which were believed from the first, by Guru Nanak himself, to be divinely inspired. The story is told by Guru Nanak and Mardana, his rebeck-playing companion, walking along a road as part of a convoy of prisoners after the Mughal capture of the town of Saidpur. Guru Nanak told Mardana to prepare to play. ‘I feel the bani descending,’ he said. Mardana was hesitant to let go the lead of a horse he had been told to look after. The Guru sharply reminded Mardana of his priorities. ‘Let the horse go, the bani is descending!’
There is a statement in the Sikh scriptures themselves that Guru Nanak uttered the bani only when inspired. He said:
I speak, O God, only when you inspire me to speak. (AG 566)
and:
As you inspire me, so I praise you, for I, an ignorant man, can say nothing myself. (AG 795)
Sikh theology teaches that the Guru Granth Sahib is inspired scripture in the same way that Hindus believe the Vedas, Muslims the Qur’an and Christians the Bible to be inspired, not the human creation of pious and prayerful people. Before such a doctrine had been formulated, Guru Nanak and his followers held that view based on inner experience.
Whereas belief in the inspiration of the Vedas had resulted in them not being committed to writing for almost 3,000 years, Sikh belief in the inspiration of the bani meant that Guru Nanak’s hymns were soon written down as well as memorized. By the fifteenth century Hinduism, like Islam, was a religion with written scriptures. It was natural if not imperative for the Sikh movement to emulate the great traditions by which it was surrounded.
When Guru Arjan installed the newly completed Adi Granth in the Harimandir Sahib at Amritsar, he prostrated himself before it. In this most practical way the Guru reinforced the doctrine that the bani is of more significance than the human Guru. He was also beginning a tradition that Sikhs observe to this day. Each time they prostrate themselves when entering the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib they are also affirming its status as repository of God’s word.
The word adi is to be found in Hindu writings. Adi guru means the original guru, usually God, for example. Adi means first but in the cardinal rather than ordinal sense, when the word pehle would be used. ‘Adi Granth’ can be understood as a statement that the Sikh scripture can claim the same eternal quality as Hindus believe the Vedas to possess, and Muslims the Qur’an. However, a non-theological and more prosaic explanation is offered below.
The word sahib, which Sikhs use when they speak of the scripture, may become contentious in future. It was used respectfully in addressing, in particular, white men in the days of the Raj. The wife was known as the mem sahib, which indicated that her status derived from her husband. Sahib is used to acknowledge the status of the scripture in the same way, but some women writers may dispense with it, claiming that it reinforces the strong but unwarranted male dominance in the Sikh Panth.
Three stories from Sikh history further enforce the Sikh view of the authority of the scripture. The first concerns a companion of Guru Arjan’s, named Bhai Banno (1558–1645). When the Granth was completed in 1604, Guru Arjan deputed him to take it to Lahore for binding. On the way he stopped at his village and quickly made a copy. He had both bound and gave them to the Guru who installed the original one, which then became known as the Adi Granth to distinguish it from the Banno copy. During the process of copying, Bhai Banno added the rest of a verse by the bhagat (holy man) Surdas (AG 1253 in printed versions), and retained a verse by the woman poet Mira Bhai, which the Guru had deleted. Sikhs were angered at Bhai Banno’s effrontery in daring to alter the original text when they discovered what he had done and have ever since described it as the ‘bitter’ version compared with the ‘sweet’ original.
The second episode concerns Ram Rai, son of Guru Har Rai. The Guru sent his son to the Mughal court of Emperor Aurangzeb where mischief-makers told the emperor that the Sikh scriptures contained passages that were defamatory to Islam. Ram Rai was asked to explain the meaning of a verse which read:
The dust of a Muslim is kneaded by a potter into clay and he converts it into pots and bricks which cry out as they burn. (AG 466)
Guru Nanak had been responding to followers who were arguing whether cremation or burial was the proper way to dispose of the dead. He had dismissed both groups and in doing so might flippantly have commented on the rebirth of a Muslim’s body in a pot. (The best clay apparently came from burial grounds.) Ram Rai wriggled out of the difficult situation by saying that the copy that Aurangzeb had referred to must have contained a scribal error. The word ‘Musulman’ should have read ‘beiman’, which meant ‘faithless’. Guru Har Rai, on hearing of his son’s failure to stand by the text of the Adi Granth, said: ‘The Guruship is like tiger’s milk which can only be contained in a golden cup. Only he who is ready to devote his life thereto is worthy of it. Let not Ram Rai look on my face again.’ Harsh words perhaps when one considers that Ram Rai was only 14 years old, but the episode conveys some idea of the significance which the Adi Granth had for Sikhs within some 50 years of its compilation.
The third account is from more recent times. In 1920 large groups of Punjabis were converting to Sikhism in the hope of improving their social status, just as centuries earlier many had become Muslims, and in the nineteenth century there had been mass conversions to Christianity. The attempt was to prove unsuccessful, as it had been in the past. Social tradition had a greater influence than egalitarian teaching. The converts wished to offer karah parshad at the Harimandir Sahib as was customary. But these men and women were of lower caste than was usual and there was also fear that the Panth might be diluted by so many new low-caste and largely illiterate members. Reformers insisted on the openness of the religion; the karah parshad of the converts should be accepted. Traditionalists refused. It was eventually agreed to put the matter to the Guru Granth Sahib. A copy was opened at random after prayers had been offered and the following passage by Guru Arnar Das was read to the gathering:
Upon the worthless God’s grace is bestowed if they will serve the True Guru. Exalted is the service of the True Guru, to hold in remembrance the divine name. God offers grace and mystic union. We are worthless evil doers, yet the True Guru has drawn us into mystic union. (AG 638)
The congregation accepted the command of the Guru; the karah parshad offered by the converts was accepted.
Recently, the practice of taking a gurmatta has been revived. This is a method of taking decisions affecting the whole Panth by a properly constituted assembly in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib. According to the Sikh Code of Discipline (Rahit Maryada; see Chapter 14), the areas that might be covered are: ‘subjects calculated to clarify and support the fundamental principles of Sikhism, such as safeguarding the position of the Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib, purity of ritual and panthic organization.’
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Insight
A Sarbat Khalsa, meeting of ‘all the Khalsa’, is a comparatively rare occurrence but the practice is yet another, and the most formal, way of demonstrating the place of the Guru Granth Sahib as the focus of Sikh belief.
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The significance of the Guru Granth Sahib as seen through Sikh practices
This brings together points made elsewhere in this book. It is intended to help the reader by placing them together. Details are not repeated here.
When one enters the diwan hall of any gurdwara, one is immediately struck by the focal position of the scripture enthroned on the manji sahib and under a chanani, never left unattended.
Worshippers will prostrate themselves or bow low in front of the scripture and make offerings to it following the example of Guru Arjan. Physical respect also extends to not turning the back on the book when close to it, or sitting with the feet pointing towards it.
Sikhs should not smoke. Other visitors are asked to leave cigare
ttes and other forms of tobacco outside the gurdwara. Of course, everyone’s head is covered and no one wears shoes in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib.
At the end of the day it is customary for the Guru Granth Sahib to be closed ceremonially and it may be placed in a special room. This ceremony known as sukhasan is paralleled by another, parkash karna, in the morning, when it is returned to the diwan hall for installation. Sometimes the book is put to bed literally and occasionally a four-poster is used because it has an inbuilt canopy which serves as a chanani. Otherwise, a chanani will be hung from the ceiling. These ceremonies not only show the respect and devotion that Sikhs accord their holy book, but also demonstrate that it is to be regarded as the living word of God, not a dead letter.
The Guru Granth Sahib is also the focus of all Sikh ceremonies. Children are brought to it for naming. Weddings must also be solemnized in the scripture’s presence for them to be valid. At times of bereavement, a family will arrange a sidharan path, a complete but not continuous reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, lasting for some nine days at times when it is convenient for the family.
Many Sikh families may possess their own copy of the scripture. If they do they will open it formally at random every morning and take a vak – a verse that gives them the Guru’s guidance or command (hukam) for the day. In the evening they are likely to gather in its presence for a longer period to read it and listen to its message.
Amrit pahul, the initiation ceremony, must be performed in the scripture’s presence; some of its hymns will be recited by the panj piare as they prepare amrit.
Gurpurbs (anniversaries of the birth or death of a Guru) are marked by an akhand path. Unlike a sidharan path this is a continuous reading of the scripture which takes about 48 hours and is timed to end early on the morning of the gurpurb. Melas, the celebration of Divali and Vaisakhi, may not include an akhand path, but often the Guru Granth Sahib will be carried around the neighbourhood in procession. This is known as nagar kirtan.
Perhaps after reading this list one can begin to understand the feelings of the Sikh who asked to wash his hands before taking a gutka (anthology of texts) in his right hand to take an oath in a British court, and was told by the judge to get on with it and not waste time!
Figure 11.1 An open Guru Granth Sahib. The printed editions which are now used in homes and gurdwaras are always 1,430 pages long.
All the ceremonies mentioned above may be performed by any competent Sikh, male or female. The insistence on this ensures that the Guru Granth Sahib’s authority is unrivalled. There is no priest to interpret it or monopolize the performance of ritual actions, as in some other religions. This is also a reason why translations are not installed in gurdwaras and Sikhs insist on the importance of the original language, for all translations are interpretations to some extent. It is the message contained in the book that matters. This is considered to be the word of God, meditated by the Gurus whose role was that of messenger. No human being and no ceremony should detract from the authority of the word.
Some words of Guru Arjan’s placed near the end of the scripture, a passage called Mundavani, the Seal, state the Sikh belief about the value of its contents. It reads:
In the platter are placed three things, truth, contentment, and meditation. The nectar name of God, the support of all has also been put in it. Whoever eats this food, whoever relishes it, becomes spiritually liberated. (AG 1430)
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THINGS TO REMEMBER
Sikhism is as scriptural as any other religion. The Guru Granth Sahib is the focal point of worship and most ceremonies.
Observe and learn how Sikhs regard the Guru Granth Sahib and gutka s, which contain some of the major passages, and treat them with respect.
A key feature to which Sikhs call attention in a multi-faith age is the presence of verses by Hindus of many castes and Muslims in the Guru Granth Sahib.
Printed copies of the Guru Granth Sahib are always 1,430 pages long. This is a welcome twentieth-century innovation. Handwritten manuscripts might fill over 5,000 pages and references had always to be to the musical setting or rag to which a hymn belonged. To find the passage could be very difficult.
Because the Guru Granth is predominantly poetry and free from historical or biographical allusions to the lives of the Gurus it is saved from the kinds of analysis to which some other scriptures have been subjected.
The Dasam Granth, containing material composed yet not compiled by Guru Gobind Singh, is of equal authority to the Guru Granth Sahib but is less frequently found installed in gurdwaras.
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12
Sikh teachings about God
In this chapter you will learn:
about Sikh monotheism
about the nature of God
about God as Guru.
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion.
Perhaps because of the considerable variety of Indian beliefs about God, Guru Nanak provided a summary of his own. It is called the Mul Mantra (Figure 12.1). Tradition affirms that it was Guru Nanak’s first poetic utterance, though the great scholar Professor Sahib Singh, noting that it contains the essence of his teaching, suggested that it might have been written at a later stage, perhaps when the Guru settled at Kartarpur. Mul means essence and Sikhs describe it as the nearest formula they have to a credal statement. Like all the Guru’s poetry, it is extremely terse in form and is difficult to translate. It may be paraphrased as follows:
There is One supreme eternal reality; the true one; immanent in all beings; sustainer of all things; creator of all things; immanent in creation; without fear or enmity; not subject to time; beyond birth and death; self-manifesting; known by the Guru’s grace.
Figure 12.1 A printed form of the Mul Mantra in written Punjabi. The script is known as Gurmukhi.
These words were placed at the beginning of the Adi Granth by Guru Arjan, its compiler. They lead into Guru Nanak’s most important composition, the Japji. Their meaning will hopefully unfold in the course of the rest of this chapter but it might be appropriate to note here that ‘by the Guru’s grace’ is a reference to God as self-revealing, not to any human preceptor. In all Guru Nanak’s utterances ‘the Guru’ is God, unless it is clear that he has some other human teacher like himself in mind.
God is One
Time and again the Gurus proclaimed that God is ‘one without a second’ – that means having no partner or agent through whom creation, the sustaining of the world, or liberation, was effected. Guru Nanak said:
My God is one, truly, my God is one. (AG 350)
Guru Arjan was equally emphatic when he declared:
Apart from God there is no other. The Lord is both creator and cause. (AG 626)
Such a view sometimes appears to be monistic:
God is the fish and the fisherman, the water and the net, the float of the net and the bait within it. (Guru Nanak AG 23)
God is immanent and all-pervading
This is not too surprising when we remember that the Gurus were mystics and that the vision of such people is one that finds the presence of God in every experience and object. They also shared with many Hindus the belief that the atman, or jot (divine spark) or individual soul, is one with the Primal Soul, Brahman, though Sikhs tend not to use this particular term. Guru Amar Das spoke of the world as the image of God:
This whole phenomenal world that you see is the visible image of God. Yes, in it I see the face of God. (AG 622)
Guru Nanak said:
Seeing the marvel of God in nature, the mind is convinced. Through the Guru’s Word one realizes that all that exists is God. (AG 1043)
Sikhs, however, should not allow the belief that God is immanent within humanity or nature to become pantheism or to say that any created being is God.
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Insight
Sikhs are emphatically against the use of images (murtis) in worship, though they may worship in Hindu temples, especially in places where their numbers are small and there is
no gurdwara. Many Sikhs, however, might look on this with disapproval, believing Hindu worship to be idolatrous.
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God as Word
Shabad (or shabda/sabda), Word, is an equally rich term that Sikhs use. It is applied by Hindus to the sacred syllable Om, a combination of the sounds A, U and M, representing both the three Vedas and the trimurti of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. In the Bhagavad Gita, a scripture that many Hindus revere as containing the essence of the Vedas, it says ‘Om is Brahman’ (8:3), the Supreme Being, and God, Krishna, commends its liberating capability. Of the devotee he says:
‘Let him utter “Om”, Brahman in one syllable,
Keeping me in mind,
Then, when his time is come to leave aside the body,
He’ll tread the highest way’ (8:13)
Brahman is the Ultimate or Supreme Reality. Om, the sacred syllable, is the form taken by Brahman in becoming manifest in the world. It becomes comprehensible as the Vedas, which have sometimes been called Sabda Brahman or Vak Brahman to distinguish them from Para Brahman, Ultimate Reality (3).
Sabda is also an important term in the teaching of the nath yogis, a group who traced their origins to Gorakhnath, a fourteenth-century guru, but there is no need to expand further on the use of the term outside Sikhism other than to note its significance and widespread use in the Indian religious tradition.