Sikhs and Hinduism

BY Prof. PRITHAM SINGH, M.A., Lahore.

I

Sikhs are reformed Hindus, Originally their movement belongs to the great family of reforms that made their appearance in the 15th and 16th centuries and may be classed with the Bhakti cults started by Ramanand, Kabir, Dadu and Chaitanya and by many other mediaeval saints, who gave the message of love and truth with emphasis on Nam. Whereas other movements developed on traditional Hindu lines and quieted down into mystical sects, the Sikhs evolved into a crystallised Church. Simple monotheism found expression in the hymns of Guru Nanak, who may be regarded as a great mystic saint. He and the succeeding Gurus aimed at social emancipation and religious uplift, but later on the movement took a strange turn and became political in its aims and military in its methods. From a theocracy to a confederation and a monarchy are steps in the evolution to this reform movement. With the latter phases, however, we are not concerned at present.

A Sikh is really a shish or a disciple of the Guru. He seeks communion with God and to him religion means righteousness or right living, which means rejecting every kind of violence and the completest forgiveness of wrongs. This movement broke down all barriers of cast just as Buddhism had done before and other saints did in the 15th an 16th centuries. The whole character of the movement however, changed when a peaceful sect was turned into a military order and the devotee developed into a soldier-saint. In course of time Sikhs or disciples of the Guru reacted to the environment and became sectarian in character and turned into a military theocracy.

From the days of Guru Nanak to the time when Granth Sahib was completed (1500-1604) the movement ran on peaceful lines. After the martyrdom of Guru Arjan, his son Guru Hargobind resorted to the policy of armed resistance. Sikh institutions known as Panthic came into existence in the second period, which extended from 1605 to 1700, when the Khalsa, or the "pure one," was brought into existence. The 9th Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed in Delhi and as a result his son and successor Guru Gobind Singh the last Guru had to fight Muslim persecution. He lost four of his dear sons and many followers in this struggle.

It may be noted that in the beginning of the sixteenth century the Hindu mind was not stagnant or retrogressive. Islamic influence was of course there, but Ramanand, Kabir and others were engaged in reforming the Hindus. As a matter of fact, Kabir’s hymn have been incorporated in the Granth Sahib and his Ram was not different from the Ram of Sikh Gurus. Kabir was as much a monotheist as Guru Nanak. Most of the other sects reverted to mythology and tradition but the Sikh reform remained free from those shackles and adjusted itself to the changing conditions. The earlier phases of the Sikh movement have been coloured more or less by the reflected glory of its later days.

II

GURU NANAK.

Guru Nanak, the Founder of the Sikh Faith, was born in 1469 and died in 1538. There is no contemporary account of his life and all we know of him is from records written half a century or so after his death. Even in those early records, which are scrappy, a lot of myth has been mixed up with facts and they are not free from supernatural touches here and there. The only reliable account is to be found in Mohsin Fani’s Dabistan, a book that was written in the times of Guru Arjan and Guru Hargobind, the 5th and 6th Gurus. According to Dabistan, Guru Nanak was born in Talwandi now known as Nankana, a village 35 miles south-west of Lahore. His father’s name was Kalu. Guru Nanak held a job for some time under Daulat Khan Lodi at Sultanpur where he made that significant observation that there is ‘no Hindu and no Musalman,’ meaning thereby that he was to reform both the religious systems.

He was married and had two sons and possibly also daughters. From early life he showed signs of renouncing the world and his father Kalu tried him for different occupations but with no result. He was working as a store-keeper of Daulat Khan Lodi when one day he suddenly disappeared. He would pass all his time in the company of mendicants and faqirs. The stories that Guru Nanak visited Ceylon, Baghdad and Mecca seem to be so mixed up with the miraculous, that they become mere fables. His visit to Sayyidpur, now known as Emnabad, is indeed a historical incident and it occurred during the third expedition of Babar and must therefore be placed in the year 1524, when Guru Nanak was about 55 years old. His biographers also tell us that he revisited his home after 12 years as was the custom among Hindu sanyasis. It is also interesting to note that during the earlier days of Sikhism animal diet was not tolerated.

The writer of Dabistan says: "Having prohibited his disciples to drink wine and to eat pork, he (Nanak) himself abstained from eating flesh and ordered them not to hurt any living being." After him, this precept was neglected by his followers, but Arjunmall, his successor, renewed the prohibition to eat flesh and said, ‘This has not been approved by Nanak.’ (see Dabistan Vol. II. page 248).

Regarding the Guru’s visit to Ceylon, Trump (the translator of Sikh Scriptures) wrote: "It is based on altogether erroneous suppositions: the King and the inhabitants of Ceylon being represented as common Hindus, the Sikh author being quite unaware of the fact that the popular religious belief there was Buddhism. That Nanak founded there a ‘Sangat’ (congregation) the order of whose divine service, even as detailed, contradicts all history and is an invention of later times." As a matter of fact, Sikhism never spread in South India.

Nanak’s visits to Baghdad and Mecca appear to be inventions also. Dr. Bannerjee, the author of the Evolution of the Khalsa, observes ‘that Nanak’s meeting Babar, though not impossible is not very probable’. Guru Nanak of course visited many places in the Punjab and among those particularly mentioned are Pakpatan, Depalpur, Kanganpur, Kasur, Patti, Goindwal, Vairowal, Jalalabad and Kiria (Kari Pathandi) near Amritsar. The story about Hasanabdal (Panja Sahib) is absolutely a myth. At the close of his life he settled in a place known as Kartarpur (Dera Baba Nanak) and passed away having appointed Lahina, a Khatri by caste and a resident of the village Khadur, as Guru and called him Angad or his own ‘limb.’ Dr. Bannerjee, the author of the Evolution of the Khalsa, observes: "The sweetness of his character and the simple truth behind his teachings made him an object of love to all and even today he is remembered as:

"Guru Nanak Shah Fakir
Hindu ka Guru, Mussalman ka Pir".

Guru Nanak’s message was one of truth and of peace and was very simple. Repetition of the Nam with devotion led to salvation. The externals in religion were decried and emphasis was laid on the spirit of religion. The Hymns and compositions of Guru Nanak are replete with the idea of the greatness of God and the comparative insignificance of every- thing else. ‘Ritualistic practices are of no avail’, says he. He makes purity a supreme test of religious life. But this purity had little to do with outward practice; it was primarily a matter of inward devotion and consisted in abandonment of egotism and selfishness. Guru Nanak tried his best to break the shackles of conventionalism and wanted his disciples to come face to face with the Supreme Spirit. The Japji and Asa di war are the two principal prayer books composed by Guru Nanak and every Sikh recites them early in the morning, or listens to them being recited accompanied with music. As a matter of fact, the Sikh reform as inaugurated by Guru Nanak was a replica of the Bhakti movement, sponsored by the mediaeval saints like Ramanuja, Kabir and others. Granth Sahib also contains the hymns of Jaidev, Namdev, Ramdas, Pipa, Sadna and Farid. The sacred books of the Hindus are mentioned in the Granth Sahib. Kabir says, "Say not that the Hindu and Mussalman books are false; false is he who reflecteth not on them." As a matter of fact, the Sikh Scriptures reipterpret the Hindu sacred books in the popular language of the people of those days. Dr. Bannerjee says:

"It appears that there is no satisfactory evidence to contend that Guru Nanak denounced almost everything that he had found in existence and that it was his object to build an entirely novel structure on the ruins of the old. The Sikh movement is indeed a protest, but it is a protest against conventionalism and not against Hinduism."

III

The Successors of Guru Nanak

After the death of Guru Nanak, Lahina, a disciple, was nominated Guru but the eldest son of Guru Nanak, Sri Chand, was deprived of the gadi. Guru Nanak did this not with a view to found a separate religion but as Dr. Narang says: "It was simply to leaven the social and religious thought of the Hindus and to improve the general tone of their moral and spiritual life." There was not much to distinguish the followers of Guru Nanak from the general Hindu mass. As a matter of fact, it was not at all difficult for Hinduism to accommodate the followers of Guru Nanak within its fold and absorb them totally in course of time.

Guru Angad or Lahina (that was his real name) was a devoted follower of Guru Nanak and served his Master with a devotion that was remarkable. He was unlettered and could neither read nor write. Some Sikh writers call him the inventor of the Gurmukhi script but that is not true. All that Guru Angad did was to adopt the script known as Landa (vowel less) with no lines above the letters. He must have taken the assistance of a literate person to accomplish this. So it was in the time of Guru Angad that signs were borrowed from Devnagari and added on to Landa and the improved script came to be known as Gurmukhi, that is to say, what comes out of the mouth of the Guru. The language of the Sikh Scriptures is therefore the language as spoken in the 16th century and for all practical purposes it was Hindi.

The work of collecting and compiling the hymns of Guru Nanak was done under the supervision of Guru Angad and was continued in the time of the three succeeding Gurus and Guru Arjan, the 5th Guru, had the material ready for him when the Granth Sahib was finally completed in 1604 with the help of Bhai Gurdas.

Another great institution which was set up in this period was the Langar. The free offerings of the disciples were used for feeding the poor and the third Guru, Amar Das, who succeeded Guru Angad, used to earn his living by twisting the Munj and put his earnings in the Langar and then take his food. It may be noted in passing that the Udasis, as the, followers of Sri Chand, the eldest son of Guru Nanak, came to be known, took to asceticism and celibacy, but regarded the Guru with the same veneration as the Sikhs did. It was for this that the third Guru, Amar Das, who succeeded Guru Angad, declared the Sikhs to be wholly separate from the Udasis.

Guru Amar Das became Guru in 1552. An attempt was made by Datu, son of Guru Angad, to usurp the Guruship but without success. People flocked round Guru Amar Das who settled down in Goindwal. Langar flourished in his time and food was served irrespective of caste. What he daily received was daily spent and nothing was left over for the next day. The work of collecting and compiling the hymns went apace Guru Amar Das divided the Sikh spiritual empire into 22 bishoprics known as Manjis. A pious Sikh was placed in charge of a local centre and thus the movement came gradually to be organised. The Guru then visited Kurukshetra and made a pilgrimage to Hardwar. He proclaimed the gatherings of the Sikhs on the first of Baisakh and Magh and on the Diwali day, which are regarded as festival days by the Hindus. The strangest thing of all is that at the time of the passing away of Guru Amar Das, he instructed his disciples to perform Hindu rites (see Granth Sahib, page 923).

Guru Amar Das was succeeded by his son-in-law, Ram Das, whose father resided in Lahore. He was nominated Guru in 1574. This Guru founded the city Ramdaspur, which is now known as Amritsar or the "tank of nectar." The work was completed by Guru Arjan, the youngest son of Ram Das, who succeeded his father in 1581 at the age of 18. During this Guru’s regime tithes were collected from the followers and this strengthened the organisation still further. The Guru would tour the Manjah region and attract large Sangats and thus was laid the foundation ofTaran which is a place of pilgrimange for the sikhs and is next in importance to the Golden Temple at Amritsar. He also founded Kartarpur, a town near Jullundur, but as observed above his greatest work is the compilation and completion of Grant Sahib in 1604. Guru Arjan’sown composition Sukhmani, or Song of Peace, has been incorporated in the Granth. This Guru was a great mystic and had pantheistic leanings. He was martyred in Lahore by the orders of the Emperor Jahangir on account of complicity with his rebellious son Khusroe and also because of domestic intrigue, into which we need not enter. This incident was the first of a series of events that brought in a new phase of development and belongs more properly to the history of the transition to militarism under Guru Arjan’s son and successor, Guru Hargobind.

IV

Ideals and Institutions

After Guru Arjan’s martyrdom Guruship became hereditary. In the case of Guru Angad and Guru Amar Das it was personal and depended upon obedience and devotion to the Guru as was the rule in other sects. It is interesting to note that the rule of primogeniture was not strictly followed and the best available man was nominated. In the case of Guru Harikishan, son of Guru Hargobind, the brother and the uncle were passed over and he was made a Guru at the tender age of eight years. The Guru was however, to be implicitly obeyed and may be classed with the Murshid, among the Sufis of Islam. The Guru in Sikhism is to be taken as a vehicle of communion between God and man, the medium through which the Word and the grace of God descend on the disciple. The Guru is in possession of the wealth of God and he alone can give it. In Japji of Guru Nanak we read:

"The Guru is Shiva, the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma; the Guru is Parbati, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. (Japji V).

This is nothing new. This idea was there in Hinduism also. The Gurus could not have transcended the times or the environment in which they were brought up and nurtured. How could they? There is the belief in the doctrine of transmigration of soul which permeates the Granth Sahib and that doctrine is essentially Hindu,–at any rate it is not the characteristic feature of Islam. Monotheism and Pantheism merge into the Sikh movement as they do in Hinduism. And if Ramanujacharya and Shankaracharya could not resolve this riddle how can the Sikhs do it at the present day? We are therefore Hindus and will always remain Hindus.

V

Truth About Sikhism

Sikhism should be regarded as a reform movement within Hinduism. It had its rise in mediaeval India when Babar ruled us. Guru Nanak, the founder of the movement, was a Darvesh who had acquired a great insight into things spiritual through Bhakti, or devotion. He had a vision of Reality and believed in what the Upanishads had discovered long before, the One behind the many. Guru Nanak therefore preached the simple and the pure doctrine of higher Hinduism and he sang, in easy Hindi, the metaphysical and the philosophic teachings of the Hindu religion which had been handed down to us through an archaic language. The Sikh Gurus did not give us any new doctrine apart from what was already there in the Bhagavad Gita and in the Upanishads.

The Sikhs were originally recruited from among the Hindus and were required to pay homage to one God alone, the Creator and the Governor of the universe. Times, however, were changing fast and the Moghul Kings began to fear the growing power of the Sikh Gurus. The sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind, for example, became friendly with the Emperor Jahangir and thereby roused his suspicions and brought trouble for himself as well as for those who came after him. The credit of giving them an organised form, which the Sikhs retain till now, rests with the Tenth Guru, who staked his all for the sake of his devoted followers. Later events brought territorial power into the hands of the tribal chiefs or Misaldars, whom the genius of Maharaja Ranjit Singh consolidated into a sovereign state, which proved to be short-lived. The Sikhs to-day are a peaceful community engaged in agriculture and allied pursuits. They number about four millions in all and inhabit regions known as Manjah and Malwa, comprising the central districts of the Punjab. The Sikhs are a very simple people, a vast majority of them being ignorant as well as illiterate. Most of them take to military life as a duck takes to water. They have distinguished themselves on many a battlefield and they possess some very good fighting qualities, but when all is said and done a Sikh is a mercenary.

Unless steps are taken to educate the community on proper lines one may despair of the future of the Sikhs. They have a tendency to lapse into mediaevalism of which they are the product. They should not only march with the times; they should also live up to the ideals of their Gurus.

Guru Nanak had given them a message of peace and good-will; let them be what they profess–the true followers of the Gurus.