Gurunank Sahib
The great genius of Guru Nanak was that he :
· Simplified the process of devotion (by chanting) to the utmost and named it ‘Naam Simarana’. He had realized that understanding of Vedas esp. the ‘Advaitic philosophy’ of Upanishads for a man of the world was difficult, as availability of teachers had become difficult. This achievement of simplification is even more remarkable for he did not lose the philosophical essence of complex hymns of the Upanishads.
· Established the practice of group chanting daily in a regular and disciplined manner. Thus he developed social harmony and love.
· To avoid rituals, he started a separate temple, appropriately known as ‘Gurudwara’, – door of Guru - for congregational chanting.
· He used the language of common man like some other Sants. He also used Sanskrit for a few Shlokas (couplets).
· He started teaching congregations his message through devotional songs (not just poems but musical compositions), obviously one of the most attractive and effective methods. This was done for the first time probably after the compositions of ‘Saama Veda’ and some Upanishads.
· Although previous Sants had written devotional poems, they had not got them composed musically.
· In Gurudwaras he started the custom of distributing sanctified Karaaha Parsaada, a sweet food (halwa) which is prepared in a Karaaha – an iron cauldron, hence the adjective. In a congregation, while distributing parsaada, no differential treatment was given to any person based on his caste, gender, status or class. This was a very simple and yet extremely effective method of ensuring equality of all before the Supreme One and also in the society.
· Those who accepted his teachings were known as ‘Sikhs’21 literally meaning disciples. In the period of early Gurus, Sikhs basically remained Hindus. After considerable time the word ‘Sikh’ evolved into the meaning that we are familiar with today, and ‘Sikhism’ was established as a religion.
Dualism and non-dualism
The goal of both Sikhism22 and Hinduism is to achieve happiness here and now and also to attain ‘Moksha’ hereafter i.e. liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Looking at the complexity, and difficulty of the other three Paths or Yogas,
Guru Nanak chose the simplest ‘Path of Devotion’. In this Path there are three ways:
1. Dualist Path of devotionThere is the God and separately there is His creation. He gives His grace and is merciful, but no person’s soul can ever unite with the God. Some dualists believe that He has a form (saakaar or saguna i.e. Brahman with form).
2. Non-dualist Path of devotionThere is the Supreme One who is formless (Niraakaar or Nirguna23), and there is His creation, but in essence both are the same. Any person’s soul can unite with Him, indeed the soul is the same in every one, and the Atman and Brahman are the same.
3. Dualist–Non-dualist PathThe Supreme One is indeed formless, but He also takes forms when needed to restore justice. This path believes in ‘awataarawaada’ (the other two paths do not believe in this).
Out of these, Guru Nanak chose the Non-dualist (Advaitic or Nirguna) Path, which had been already used by Santa Naamadeva and Santa Kabir etc. who had been preaching the non-dualistic (Advaitic, Nirguna) Path for the past 200 years. And what I find extremely praiseworthy is that Guru Nanak deliberately uses the names of Hindu gods with forms (Saguna) in far too many places for it to be either a chance or to meet necessities of rhythm for the song, or merely to please any group. Names of Gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh (or Shiva), Rama, Gobinda, Krishna, Paarwatee, Har, Hari etc., who all have ‘forms’, have been used liberally. There is an apparent contradiction in believing in the Supreme One who is both ‘formless’ (Nirguna) and with form (Saguna). This does not throw any doubt on his firm faith in and experience of the non-dual (‘Nirguna’) Supreme One, but indicates that he is preaching that ultimately the Truth or Parabrahma (Supreme One) is both, formless and with form. Thus rather than merely condemn dualists and create a confrontation, he lovingly reconciles24 the difference. He says that Rama, Krishna, Shiva etc are the same as Parabrahma. Indeed Hindu scriptures keep reminding everyone about the same truth.25
Sikhism is not a Revelatory Religion
Sikhism is a realizational religion and not a revelatory religion. In some religions the spiritual Truth is revealed to some chosen person or persons by God. In a realizational religion, the Supreme One is not revealed by some one to some one else, but, the Supreme One is realized74 by the seeker himself; his own Self is the Supreme One.
The Moolamantra
Guru Granth Sahib opens with the Moolamantra (root-mantra; Seed-mantra) which is
“Ik’onkaara Sati-Naamu Karataa Purakhu Nirbhau Nirwairu Akaala - Moorati Ajuni Saibham Guraparasaadi .75”
Its meaning is as follows:
· Ik’onkaara76: He is the One Reality (described above) and there is nothing else. ‘Onkaara’ is the aural form of ‘Om’, the symbol, par excellence, of that One Reality. Amongst Hindus most of mantras or sacred songs or actions begin with the word ‘Om’77 or ‘Onkaara’. ‘Onkaara’ itself is a powerful mantra for chanting His name.
· Sati – Naam: Sat means Pure Existence78, that never changes and therefore Sat also means ‘True’. Naam (also Sabada79) means ‘Name’. Sati-Naam therefore means His name is Truth80 or ‘Pure Existence81’.
· Karataa Purakhu82: He is the Creator and the Doer of all that happens in the sense that every thing happens as per the divine laws83 as promulgated by Him.
· Ajuni84: Not born, without a cause, He has always been there and will remain so. He is the cause of all causes.85
· Nirbhau86 Nirwaira: He is fearless and has no enemy not only because He is all powerful but also because there is no one else, so no one else to fear or to create enmity with.
· Akaala - Moorati: He is formless. His form is beyond time. He is not bounded by space or time87. He created space and time.
· Saibham: He is His own creator. He has no beginning.
· Guraparasaadi: He is realizable through the grace of Guru88.
The Moolmantra means: “The Reality is One Onkaara, whose name is ever True; He is the Creator, Fearless, without enmity, whose form is beyond time, who is without birth, Self created and can be known through the grace of the enlightened Preceptor (Guru).