Sikhism

Sarah Beth Campbell

 

Keywords    India, Punjab, Guru, Sant, Adi Granth, Nanak, Panth

 

I. Abstract

        The Sikh tradition, established by Guru Nanak in the fifteenth century, originated in an environment in which both the Hindu and Muslim traditions were active.  The Sikhs were originally contained in the Punjab province of India but have now transcended these borders.  The main goal of the Sikhs is the release from the cycle of transmigration, or birth and death, and ultimate unity with God.  They believe God to be the destroyer of this cycle.  Sikhs gain knowledge by means of mystical experiences similar to the practices of Yogi in which they shut out the world by ceasing to use their senses.  The Sikhs as a whole gradually acquired a more solid and individual identity from the surrounding religions, ultimately becoming a strong military force and maintaining a passionate religious and political presence in India.  Today, they remain a cohesive society ardent about their rights as a dominant religion in India. 

 

II. Scope and Purpose

A Sikh once defined his religion as “the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man” (McLeod, Who is a Sikh? 1).  Located in the Punjab province of India, the Sikh community originated with the teachings of a man named Nanak, who, after traveling around Punjab, settled in the village of Kartarpur.  The inhabitants of this village eventually became his following (McLeod, Exploring Sikhism 50).  Retrospectively speaking, Nanak was the first of a line of ten human gurus, the leaders of the Sikh community.  The primary goal of the Sikh is to reach such a high spiritual level so as to escape the cycle of birth and death, called transmigration.  One who falls short of this level of spirituality continues to be subject to transmigration (Banerjee 105). To the Sikhs, God is the destroyer of transmigration and the creator.  He is without fear and does not undergo the process of birth and death (Banerjee 114, 102). 
            Guru Nanak denounced the ever rigid caste system which pervaded the Hindu and Muslim religions (McLeod, Exploring Sikhism 50).  Nanak required no caste qualifications, only “a personal craving for spiritual bliss” (Banerjee 121).  Nanak aimed to construct a strong society of seekers of salvation (Banerjee 114).  Nanak’s vision has been realized as the Sikh community has evolved into a unique, cohesive community grounded in sacred scripture and able to withstand threats of surrounding societies.

 

III. Authority Structure

a.   Sources and Criteria of Valid Knowledge

The main source of knowledge in the Sikh religion is their sacred scripture, the Adi Granth—Adi meaning “first” or “original,” and Granth meaning “book” (McLeod, Evolution 59). Consisting of 5,894 hymns of different people from all parts of India between the 12th and 17th centuries, the Adi Granth was compiled by the fifth guru, Arjan.  Though the two main contributors are Guru Nanak and Guru Arjan, the work also contains thought of early saints and thinkers.  This thought connects the Sikh religion with its Indian heritage.  Because the Adi Granth was written in the vernacular, the religion was contained in the Punjabi region (Banerjee 186-92).  This confinement within one province produced a positive effect that distinguishes the Sikhs from other contemporary traditions: “living within the boundaries of one single province, speaking the same language, molded by the same social, economic and political conditions, the Sikhs developed a unique solidarity as fellow-members of a common society, united by religious and social ties” (Banerjee 193).  Along with spiritual text, the Adi Granth includes information on the religious, social, and economic circumstances of Punjab during the 15th through 17th centuries (Banerjee 194).  W.H. McLeod describes the basic message conveyed by the Adi Granth: “salvation is obtained by means of regular, persistent, disciplined meditation on the manifold expressions of the divine presence in the physical world and in human experience” (Evolution 73). 

 

b.  Methods of Inquiry

One of the main methods of acquiring knowledge in the Sikh tradition is the personal experience with the Divine.  The “mystic experience” is the essence of Guru Nanak’s teachings.  This experience is not merely emotional and sensational.  In fact, according to J.R. Puri, it is “devoid of any sensation at all.”  The main characteristic of mystical experience is “an ultimate non-sensuous unity in all things, a oneness or a One, which the senses or the reason cannot penetrate” (54).  The mystic experience ultimately “gives the mystic the realization that he has attained the ultimate Truth” and then feels that he is “truly alive (56).  Specifically, Nanak emphasizes what philosophers call “introvertive mysticism.”  This involves the eliminating the use of the physical senses, the eliminating of all thoughts, reasoning, and volition.  What is then left is the state of pure consciousness.  Guru Nanak writes:

O close thou thine eyes, thine ears and thy lips,

And if thou dost not behold the secret of God,

then laugh at me. (Rumi: Masnavi)

(Puri 60).

 

Thus, the means to knowledge involves literally separating oneself from the world around him by ceasing use his senses. 

            The main tangible source of knowledge is the Adi Granth.  The hymns contained in this volume written by Gurus and other religious leaders are instructional and insightful to those seeking unity with God.  These hymns convey experiences of suffering, with which Sikhs of all time periods can identify.  For example, Guru Nanak writes

Though my body be crippled with disease,

Though the relentless stars bring endless misfortune on me,

Though bloody tyrants fill my soul with terror,

Though all these miseries be at once heaped on my head,

Even then, my Lord, I shall praise Thee:

And I shall not grow weary of exalting Thy Holy Name.

                                                            Rag Majh ki Var, page 142  (Singh 78)

 

One can see that the reader can identify with the suffering of the author of this hymn and gains knowledge on how to respond to this suffering: by praising God.  Thus, by reading the Adi Granth, Sikhs attain knowledge.

 

c.   Institutions and Professional Structure

 How are the practice and preservation and teaching of knowledge organized?

            The ultimate authority of the Sikhs is God, or Akal Purakh, who M.A. Macauliffe calls the “Guru of Gurus” (Banerjee 100).  The Mul Mantra in the Adi Granth begins with a hymn which conveys the essence of God:

There is one God,

Eternal Truth is His Name;

Maker of all things,

Fearing nothing and at enmity with nothing,

Timeless is His image;

Not begotten, being of His own Being:

By the grace of the Guru, made known to men. (Singh 28)

 

The Guru was the leader of the Sikh community.  John Clark Archer describes the gurus as “personal guides and counselors” (4).  The Gurus served to guide and unite their followers.  They did this by being examples to the community and by instituting changes to spur the positive development of the community.  Nanak was the first guru.  His selection of Guru Angad to succeed him established the criteria of a qualified guru.  Most importantly, the successor had to be a “true disciple” of the guru.  According to the Bhai Gurdas, “a disciple must be patient, faithful, possess a martyr’s spirit, and free himself from superstition and fear.  He must be like a purchased slave fit to be yoked to any work which may serve his Guru.  He must never be hungry, and never require sleep […] He must be a sedate servant and never laugh or cry” (Banerjee 147).  Such high standards were required of a future guru, because the guru must be able to sustain the development of the Sikh community towards greater unity and strength (Banerjee 149).  Gurus are trained by the previous guru.  Lahina, who later became the second Guru, Guru Angad, spent most of his time with Guru Nanak, listening to him and learning from him.  Guru Nanak valued obedience as the most important attribute of a future Guru.  For example, he tested Lahina by ordering him to lick a stone.  Because Lahina proved obedient, Nanak trusted him to be faithful to his teachings as Guru (Banerjee 147-48).  It was thought that the new Guru was actually “produced” from the old Guru’s body (Banerjee 150).  Succession later became strictly hereditary, but these early criteria for succession illustrate desirable strengths in a Guru (McLeod, Exploring 63).

            Gurus possessed much power within the Sikh community.  They initiated significant changes which greatly affected the condition of the panth, some of which include the invention of an alphabet, the establishment of a place of pilgrimage, and the compilation of sacred scripture (Banerjee 157, 169, 208).  Concerning the first significant change, the second Guru, Angad, felt that the compositions of Guru Nanak deserved to be written in a language of their own, because previously most works of saints and reformers had been written in Sanskrit.  Though the Punjabi alphabet was not fully developed yet, the Guru adopted it “as a medium for expression of abstract spiritual ideas in poetic form.”  In fact, the alphabet was called the Landa, meaning “clipped,” because of its incomplete vowel sounds.  However, because Sikh hymns were liable to be misinterpreted in this language, Guru Angad modified the alphabet by adding characters from the Devanagari alphabet, which was used for Sanskrit manuscripts.  The resulting alphabet of the sacred scriptures became known as the Gurumukhi, which means “the alphabet proceeding from the mouth of the Guru” (Banerjee 156). 

            Concerning the second significant change, Guru Amar Das asked the third Guru, Ram Das, to build a new residence for himself and a place of Sikh pilgrimage.  Construction of the city, Ramdaspur and the tank of worship, Amritsar, probably began under Guru Ram Das, but might have been completed by Guru Arjan (Banerjee 176-77).  The city itself, eventually known as  Amritsar, became the location of the Golden Temple, the “holiest of Sikh holies,” and the “centre of Panthic authority” (McLeod, Exploring Sikhism 92, Banerjee 208). 

            The compilation of the Adi Granth, the main scripture of the Sikhs, was Guru Arjan’s most significant accomplishment and a milestone in the history of Sikhism.  As Sikhism spread and it became impossible for the Guru to personally guide his disciples, the need for written directions concerning daily religious duties and rites became increasingly apparent.  Arjan compiled words of previous Gurus which had been recorded and “his own compositions and those of his father as well as selections of bhagats or saints, both Hindu and Muslim, whose teachings agreed fundamentally with the message of the Sikh Gurus” to form the Adi Granth.  Arjan then dictated them to Bhai Gurdas in a tent in a secluded place near Amritsar. These accomplishments and others distinguished Sikhism from surrounding traditions, solidifying the identity of the Sikhs and thus promoting continuing development within the community (Banerjee 187). 

            However, after the tenth Guru died without recognized heirs, the authority shifted from a person to the sacred scripture itself.  The Adi Granth therefore became the Guru Granth Sahib, “sharing divine authority with the Guru Panth”, and the line of human Gurus ended (McLeod, Exploring Sikhism 63).

 

IV. History

 

            The cultural context from which Sikhism emerged must be mentioned to dispel the claim that Sikhism is simply a mixture of the Hindu and Muslim traditions (McLeod, Who is a Sikh? 1).  According to W. Owen Cole, “the cultural world of Guru Nanak was Hindu” (15).  Nanak makes references to several aspects of the Hindu culture that are evidence of the context in which he lived.  He makes reference to the importance of ritual purity, pollution, and Hindu mythology to the Hindus.  W. Owen Cole identifies his surrounding culture as “the rural Hinduism of marriages, social relationships, Puranic mythology and the local Brahmin priest” (23). 

            Likewise, Nanak alludes to aspects of the Muslim thought, making it appear that he had a general knowledge of the tradition (Cole 25-6).  The Lodi Dynasty, which was overthrown in 1526, was Muslim, and Nanak comments on “the ineffectiveness of Muslim prayers in averting Muslim defeat” (Cole 28).  However, many claim that by the time of Guru Nanak, “Sufism [Muslim mystics] had lost much of its early vision” (Cole 35).  Hinduism seems to have had a more significant influence. 

            The tradition of Yoga, however, receives the most attention by Guru Nanak.  He frequently uses Yogi terminology and refers to Yogi practices and beliefs.  More than all of these three traditions, however, the Sant tradition had the most influence on Sikhism:

The conclusion to which our examination points is that Sufi influence evidently operated upon the thought of Guru Nanak but that in no case can we accord this influence a fundamental significance.  Sufi and

Qur’ anic imageries have certainly made their impress, and there must have been encouragement to tendencies which accorded with Sufi teaching; but no fundamental components can be traced with assurance to an Islamic source.  Guru Nanak’s principal inheritance from the religious background of his period was unquestionably that of the Sant tradition, and evidence of other independent influences is relatively slight.

(McLeod, Exploring Sikhism 30)

 

Much of Sikh thought originated in the Sant tradition of Northern India.  W.H. McLeod claims that Nanak “gave uniquely clear and attractive expression to doctrines and ideals which had developed within the Sant tradition (What is Sikhism? 7).  The Sant tradition emphasized the importance of interior devotion and discipline, as opposed to exterior displays of piety including idol worship and pilgrimages.  They saw rejection of exterior religious practice as “a means to liberation” (McLeod, Who is a Sikh? 8).  Thus, the Sant tradition had a significant influence on Guru Nanak when he founded Sikhism.

            The initial emergence of the Nanak-panth occurred in early sixteenth century Punjab.  Nanak had been traveling around preaching and eventually settled in the village of Kartarpur on the Ravi river.  Kartarpur became “the focus of attention and devotion” for Nanak.  Through his spiritual commitment and devout lifestyle, he attracted disciples.  The word Sikh, in fact, means “disciple” (McLeod 230). 

            Nanak noticed the religious rivalry around him:

There are many dogmas, there are many systems,

There are many scriptural revelations,

Many modes to fetter the mind:

But the saint seeks for release through Truth…

But Truth is nowhere to be found:

In the dark night of falsehood

I espy not the moon of Truth anywhere…

 (Sri Rag, p. 62, Rag Majh ki Var, p. 145) (Singh 75, 82)

 

            W. H. McLeod in his book The Evolution of the Sikh Community, outlines three major stages in the evolution of Sikhism.  The first stage was the establishment of the new religion by Nanak in the first half of the 16th century.  His following was drawn mainly from Muslims and Hindus.  The second stage was a major transition point in the history of Sikhism.  The fifth guru was executed in 1606 by Muslims while in custody.  He was regarded as a martyr; therefore, his death triggered his son who succeeded him, Guru Hargobind, to arm the Sikhs militarily (McLeod, Evolution 4).   In the final stage, the military identity of the Sikhs as a militant sect was solidified.  In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh established the Khalsa.  The Khalsa was a religious order within the Sikh community, which included a code of discipline, “to which all dedicated Sikhs were expected to belong” (McLeod, Exploring Sikhism 59).  The purpose of such an establishment was to strengthen the previously weak potential of the Sikhs to successfully resist threats which eventually would cause open conflict.  As a result of the establishment of the Khalsa, the Sikhs were transformed into “a community dedicated to the defense of righteousness by the use of the sword” (McLeod, Evolution 4). 

            Within this broad outline, there were many other factors which have contributed to the evolution of the Sikh identity.  The most significant period of the history of the Sikhs probably occurred within the reigns of the third, fourth, and fifth Gurus.  According to author Anil Chandra Banerjee, during their pontificates, “the Sikh community passed through far-reaching changes.  The most important of these was consolidation: separation from the Udasis and the general Hindu community, the development of Amritsar as a sacred place and centre of Panthic authority, numerical expansion, and compilation of the [Adi] Granth” (208).  The most significant of these developments are described under Institutions and Professional Structure.

Furthermore, after the death of Guru Gobind Singh, there was no heir due to the fact that his sons had predeceased him.  A new pattern of authority began: “the functions of the Guru were to vest jointly in the scripture and in the Panth” (McLeod, Evolution 44).  During this period, the effects of the Khalsa code of discipline were reflected in the Panth.  However, “the doctrine of the corporate Guru effectively lapsed and an undisputed primacy was assumed by the scriptural Guru theory, a primacy which continues to this day” (McLeod, Evolution 45).

            The influence of the establishment of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh, however, cannot be overemphasized.  Today, it remains a significant feature of Sikh culture.  Events of the twentieth century have “raised Khalsa consciousness,” including the Akali campaign, which occurred from 1920-1925.  The Akali, one of the major political parties of India whose membership is almost completely Sikh, has been a means by which “the Panth of today seeks to maintain its cohesion” (McLeod, Exploring Sikhism, 87, McLeod, Evolution, 57-8).  The invasion of the Golden Temple, the central Sikh shrine, by the Indian army, further served to impassion and unify the Sikhs (McLeod, Exploring Sikhism 73, 88).  Today, the Sikhs’ dissatisfaction with the Indian government reflects the strength of their identity, molded by a history of threats and persecutions, for there is among the Sikhs a “widespread belief that due rights are being withheld by a government that offers the unity of India as a convenient pretext for justifying its own political interests” (McLeod, Exploring Sikhism 88).

 

V. Representative Examples of Argumentation

        The teachings of Guru Nanak came into conflict with the surrounding traditions.  His views towards Hinduism best illustrate these conflicts and his response to these conflicts.  Most importantly, criteria for Guruship differed.  In the Sikh tradition, it was imperative that each Guru “ensure the uninterrupted development of religious fellowships created by them.”  The importance of the Guru as a means of the continued advancement of the community is missing in the Hindu tradition (Banerjee 151).  Nanak’s response to these conflicts was usually open criticism of Hinduism or other systems.  For example, Nanak viewed the ritualistic practices of the Hindus as mere superstitions.  Instead, he valued true inward devotion to God (Banerjee 109).  About sacred Hindu scriptures, he writes in the Adi Granth: “Some read the Sanskrit Vedas and others the Puranas.  Some recite the name on their malas and so keep their attention fixed.  I know nothing of now and then but recognize only your one name, O Lord. (Cole 20).  Most of the Adi Granth having been written after Nanak’s time, the scripture provides examples of other Gurus’ efforts to validate Sikhism.  One hymn contrasts the Muslims and the Hindu Yogis’ attempts to understand time with the Sikhs’ more lax approach:

The pundits know naught

Of the dawn of Thy creation

To record it in the Puranas,

Nor have the qazis seen that time

To put it down in the Quran,

Nor do the yogis know

Of that season, hour, date nor day…

All attempts to describe Him are lost…

Ours is to lose ourselves

In worship and adoration

Nor need we ask, Why?

                                    No need to fathom the unfathomable.  (Japj, p. 4)

                                    (Puri 120-21)

 

Thus, Guru Nanak, through his hymns in the Adi Granth, explains and defends the fundamental positions of the Sikhs.

 

VI. Suggested Position in Comparative Scales

Emphasis on traditional authority:

traditional authority                                           testimony of experience

            1***************************6*********************10 

        Because the line of Gurus was abolished after the tenth, there is now less reliance on that traditional authority.  Rather, there is reliance on the Guru Granth, or the idea established after the tenth Guru of the sacred scripture as sharing authority with the Guru.  Even Guru Nanak, however, emphasized the importance of the mystical experience.  Though there was the central authority figure of the Guru, there was a basic reliance on personal experience of the Divine through the shutting out of the senses and therefore the separation from the world (Puri 54-6).  Once the Adi Granth was compiled by the fourth Guru, writings about such mystical experiences were accessible and therefore dependence on personal experience probably increased.  Thus, generally over time, the dependence on traditional authority has waned and personal mystical experiences have become more relied upon. 

Centralization of Authority:

centralization of authority                                   decentralization

            1**********3********************************10

            The abolition of the human Guru line also affected the centralization of the Sikhs.  There was less centralization in corporate Guruship.  However, as political conflicts began to arise with the Punjab government and surrounding traditions, the Sikhs became once again more centralized under the Khalsa code and its ideals as a military force.  One manifestation of this new authority was the SGPC, or the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, a group appointed by the Punjab government to oversee funds received by the gurdwaras, or the Sikh shrines.  Control of the SGPC is strongly desired by the political parties of India (McLeod, Evolution 57).  Therefore, the Sikhs are somewhat centralized, but probably much less so than when they was a central religious figure, the Guru, to lead them.

Emphasis on invisible realities

emphasis on invisible realities                 material, earthly realities

                        1***************************************10

            There is a very strong emphasis on invisible realities in Sikhism.  As elaborated on earlier, Guru Nanak wrote many hymns on the value mystic experience.  He considered interaction with the divine through separation from the material world absolutely imperative.  It is only when one severs the connections to the world—the senses—that he can receive and learn truth.  It is only then when God can rescue him from the cycle of transmigration.  Thus, invisible realities are highly emphasized (Puri 54-60).

Spiritual or moral objects

spiritual objectives                                            pragmatic aims

            1*****************************************10

            Likewise, all the emphasis in Sikhism is on spiritual objects.  There exist virtually no pragmatic aims.  The goal of Sikhs is to be released from the earthly cycle of birth and death, and to ultimately be united with God.  This is an entirely spiritual aim (Banerjee 105).  Furthermore, Guru Nanak despised everything to do with the external, especially external piety: Guru Arjan, in section II, hymn 9 of the Adi Granth, illustrates the sole purpose of life according to the Sikhs in an apologetic tone:

Thou hast acquired this human frame,

This is thy opportunity to be one with God;

All other labours are unprofitable…

Thy life is being wasted

In Love of the world’s illusions.

I have not repeated His name,

Nor made penance, practiced austerities, nor been pious:

I have not served my Lord’s saints nor thought of Him.

Nanak saith, my acts have been low;

Preserve me from shame O Lord,

Since I take my shelter in Thee. (Singh 58-9)

 

 Thus, the purpose of the Sikh is the pursuit of an ideal totally spiritual and internal, not pragmatic and external.

Divine being                                        realizable individual

1***************************************7***********10

            Since the termination of the line of Gurus, most power has been reserved entirely for the God, the divine being, and writings about this divine being, the Adi Granth.  Power is reserved for God to interact with Sikhs in mystical experiences.  However, though all may not experience mystical encounters, God, the “True Guru,” is present in everyone’s heart (Puri 113-18).

Bibliography

 

I. Primary Sources:

Puri, J.R. Guru Nanuk: His Mystic Teachings. Mystics of the East. Punjab: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1982. 

    This source included hymns from the Adi Granth, the main scripture of the Sikhs in order to illustrate the main claims of Nanak.  I found the book extremely helpful in understanding especially Nanak’s view of the interaction with the Divine.  The publisher of this book is not a Sikh organization, but is connected with another religious movement

Selections from the Sacred Writings of the Sikhs. Trans. Trilochan Singh, et al. New York: Macmillan, 1960.

   This source was my more useful primary source.  It included the Adi Granth as well as much useful commentary.  Some of my other sources referenced this particular book.  I

II. Secondary Sources

Banerjee, Anil Chandra. The Sikh Gurus and the Sikh Religion. New Delhi: MJunshiram Manoharlal, 1983.

   This book was extremely helpful in explaining the history of the religion, Guru by Guru.  Although it was very detailed, by skimming it I was able to understand the overall transitions and trends in the history of Sikhism.

Cole, W. Owen. Sikhism and its Indian Context. London: Darton, 1984.

   This book was extremely helpful in understanding how Sikhism related to Hinduism, Islam, and the Yogi culture.  It contained lots of hymns or parts of hymns from the Adi Granth. 

McLeod, W.H. Exploring Sikhism. New York: Oxford UP, 2000.

      I found this book to be very helpful in understanding the history of Sikhism and its background and context within India.  It was probably the easiest to understand out of all the books I consulted.

 

McLeod, W.H. “The Development of the Sikh Panth.” The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India. Ed. Karine Schomer and W.H. McLeod. Berkeley: Berkeley Religious Studies Series, 1987. 229-49.

   This collection of essays, and in particular this essay, was very helpful in discerning the influence of different traditions on Sikhism and the thoughts of Guru Nanak.

McLeod, W.H. The Evolution of the Sikh Community. Oxford: Clarendon, 1976.

    This book was a collection of essays concerning different topics related to Sikhism.  I found the essays “The Evolution of the Sikh Community”  and “Cohesive Ideals and Institutions in the History of the Sikh Panth” to be helpful in understanding the background and history.

McLeod, W.H. Who is a Sikh?. Oxford: Clarendon, 1989.

   This book was especially helpful in understanding the origins of Sikhism.  McLeod explains clearly its relationship to the Sant tradition, Hinduism, and Islam.