SikhSpectrum.com Quarterly                                                           Issue No.19, February 2005
 
Reflections on the Bhakti Movement in Tamil Nadu and Punjab

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M S. Ahluwalia

Before the appearance of Islam on Indian soil, there had been two major traditions of thought in India: Vedic and non-Vedic. The Vedic tradition which we call Hinduism in modem terminology, believes in the Ultimate authority of the Vedas. The Vedas, which are the primary testimony in matters related to religion and philosophy in Hinduism, are considered Shruti i.e. revealed by God himself. Upanishads are a part of the Vedas and the puranas, Itihasas, Shastras and Bhagwad Gita are considered as Smriti.

There were non-Vedic schools of thought also as old as Vedic traditions, These traditions did not believe in the ultimate authority of the Vedas, rather they opposed it. Sikhism too belongs to non-Vedic tradition, as it does not believe in the ultimate authority of the Vedas. Its ultimate authority lies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikhs. That way it is a non-Vedic tradition and Sikhism is a revealed and independent religion.

Beginning from the South under the inspiration of reformers, mystics and poets, a wave spread throughout India. This has often been called the Bhakti movement, for the promoters of this wave sought to bring the desired change through love and devotion to the Almighty. Beginning with protection from fear as a starting point, religion has developed into a combination of love and yearning which presently is known by the generic name Bhakti.

Bhakti in Hindu context has been conceived as an integral and natural development since it has obvious advantages over complicated ritualism of sacrifices and over the pain inherent in penances and other austerities. Bhakti is simple, easily given, open to all and does not involve any special exertions. However, the major element of Bhakti from the devotee's point of view surely involves surrender to the lord. Its popularity lies in the fact that it is regarded far superior to the sophisticated Vedic worship-forms favored by the Brahmins.

It appears that one major problem in the history of socio-cultural and religious ideas in our own times is to study inter-relationship between the Bhakti movement in the North and South of Vindhyas, particularly relating to the Tamil and the Sikh Bhakti movements. As pointed out by a number of scholars, the term Bhakti has been used as a blanket term to denote movements, which have different backgrounds and purposes. The powerful and the direct impact of the Tamil and the Sikh movement on the contemporary religion and culture may be considered as an important feature of these two movements. The question therefore, arises as to how these movements originated and developed almost in isolation and to what extent these influenced each other in their own specific ways.

Tamil Nadu and Punjab are isolated from each other due to geographical distance but have intimate connection in the field of religious and cultural ideas, which got wide acceptance in North beyond the Vmdhayas and vice-versa. In spite of almost negative mutual contact, there had been much greater interplay of ideas from time to time and it is wrong to say that it was a great divide between the North and the South or that these regions lived in isolation and developed on separate lines. In fact there was and has been a regular contact and absorption of new ideas in religion and culture between the so-called Aryan North and the Dravidian South.

There has been in fact so much of give and take, at least in the field of religion and culture, which led to close contact and adjustment between the North and the South. This is more true in case of the Bhakti movement. It is now an established fact that the Bhakti cult of North India had been very much influenced by the saints and philosophers of South, notably of Tamil Nadu. It may be noted that the Aryanisation of the South, particularly of the Tamil Nadu, was not one-way phenomenon but resulted in Dravidianisation of Brahamanism to a great extent as can be seen from the Brahmanical devotion to the institution of the temple.1 During medieval period, at least, the country South of the Vindhyas contributed to the enrichment of the Indian culture as much as it had earlier imbibed from the North.2

Any scholarly study of the Bhakti movement during medieval period would reveal that it traveled from South to North. The process of change through Bhakti movement not only provided a powerful base and ideology but also integrated various components of culture both in South and North India. The transformation, which the movement brought at various levels - social, economic, religious and cultural - on the Indian society, can no longer be viewed as isolated developments. In fact South India can proudly claim to have laid the cultural foundations of India. Although several aspects of the medieval Bhakti movement are known to us, much remains to be known, understood, and interpreted with regard to the two parallel movements going in North and South, particularly with regard to Tamil Nadu and Punjab, to know precisely as to who borrowed from whom and to what extent.

Thus from the historical point of view, the Bhakti mode of worship begins with the teachings of the Bhagvad Gita in the pan-Indian context.3 Later during the imperial Guptas, Hinduism spread its wings through Sanskrit exerting great influence all over India. South also could not avoid this influence but it emerged victorious with the torch of Bhakti held afloat and burning into two flames - Shaivite and Vaishnavite. It has been rightly pointed out that when the fire of Bhakti was waning in the North and was going to be nearly extinguished, it was the flames from the South that revitalized it.

As early as the post-Sangam era, religious changes and practices are broadly viewed as a revival of orthodox forms, though not strictly a revival of the Vedic religion in South India. These changes are visible in Puranic and epic stories, new iconographic concepts, both of the Vaishnava and Shaiva, new forms of art and architecture, especially the rock cut forms of the Dravid architecture and a boost to temple building activities by the Pallava-Pandya ruling families, the creation of Brhamadays (or Brahmins created through land-grants to Brahmins by the ruling chiefs) and land and other gifts to the temples as is well known to the students of Indian history.

The changes are also reflected in the literary output of the Age. The Bhakti or devotion was expressed through emotionally powerful hymns of the Bhakti saints. The movement assumed the form of popular resurgence intended to bring a mystic religious experience within the reach of the common folk through personal relationship i.e. communion, between the individual and God through devotion. It was undoubtedly a popular dissent or protest against the social hierarchy of the Brahmanical order. Two important aspects characterized the nature of Bhakti movement in South. It was not only a response to the challenge posed by the orthodox religions of Jainism and Buddhism but also a change in the occupational background of the early Bhakti exponents.

True Bhakti Age in the history of the Tamils is generally believed to have lasted from sixth century A.D. to the end of the Vijayanagara period. It can further be divided into two broadly recognizable divisions. In the earlier phase of Bhakti, a number of saintly and pious persons, endowed with poetical and musical talents, wandered about the country, visiting temple after temple, and sang hymns in praise of deities presiding there. They drew a vast following and moved the common man to religious fervor who became god-conscious in their own way. These men belonged either to the Vaishnavite sect or to the Shaivite.

The basis for the very thought-system, termed as Bhaktivad, was founded by Ramanuja and Srikantha. But the emergence of distinct Bhakti cult in South hidia was the result of the emotional fervor of Alvars and Nayanars who flourished between the seventh and eleventh centuries and had drawn their ideas from ancient scriptures and the epics. It is important to note that in South India the Bhakti ideology helped in transformation of Vedic Brahmanism into sectarian religions of Shaivism and Vaishanavism. The former, however, acquired a stronger and more extensive material base which was achieved through incorporation of worship of mother Goddess and tribal forms such as the tree and pillar deities associated with funerary practices which became major components of Shiva worship.

The Vaishanavite saints called Alvars and the Shaivite saints called Nayanmars, spearheaded the Bhakti movement in the Tamil country. For the Vaishavites, the Lord is Narayana and to the Shaivites, Shiva is the Lord. In the earlier stages of the Bhakti movement, Shaivism was dominant, while in the later stages Vaishavism took over. The triumph of Vaishavism was achieved mostly by philosophers like Ramanuja and his successors who produced excellent commentaries on the Alvar hymns that were considered no less sacred than the Vedas.

The Bhakti tradition created by the Nayanmar saints later developed into a religio-philosophical system called Shaiva Siddhanta. Likewise various Vaishnava schools were also formed in which Bhakti and liberalism were grafted on the theistic interpretations of the Vedanta. But neither the Shaivites nor the Vaishnavites ever denied the Vedas or supremacy of the Brahmans in the social order, these sects did not coexist peacefully, as is generally claimed by many historians of the Indian culture. Their hostility to each other or the schism may be attributed to the veritable consequences of earlier polytheism.

The Bhakti way, in theory, as well as in fact, was open to all irrespective of caste, creed or sex. But the Hindu social organization was thrown in Varnashrama framework, which is based on the philosophy of inequality. Bhakti was riot concerned with social relations among men but dealt only with God. However, it laid down the principle of equality among all people in the presence of God and of social respectability of pious people even belonging to the lower castes.

The Bhakti movement in Tamil Nadu was characterized and emanated in an urban milieu and its propagators also mostly came from the upper castes. However, as we shall see in case of Punjab, the movement gradually acquired popular character with the inclusion of members of the underprivileged castes like weavers, bards, cobblers, fishermen, washermen and even untouchables.

The next phase of the socio-cultural transformation falls in the period of the Cholas i.e. tenth to thirteenth centuries when Shaivism, centering round the temple, favored an institutional base and, a part of Tamil social and cultural organization which is best illustrated by the Thanjavur and Gangakondacholapuram temples. The royal authority of the Cholas is clearly visible in these spheres including temples in stone, which, represented Shiva Bhakti centres. During the same period singing of Bhakti hymns became an integral part of the temple ritual. The sectarian rivalry between Shaivites and Vaishnavites and the initial lukewarm attitude of the Cholas toward Vaishanvism continued till the twelfth century.

A new phase begins with Ramanuja who tried to bring about a conciliatory approach or synthesis between Vedic, Sanskritic and Tamil traditions of the Alvars, between Vedanta and Bhakti tradition, between the varna basis of Vedic social division and the sectarian orientation of Bhakti in the South. Ramanuja, however, was far more liberal than Shankaracharya in the choice of his congregations, for he endeavored to bring men of the lowest castes, Shudras etc. within the influence of his church, though he kept up the social barrier between them, and firmly upheld the principle of the Bhagvad Gita which emphasizes that by the performance of religious and social duties of the caste, and not by knowledge alone, can salvation be won. He established schools and monasteries, recognized the worship of the temples and thus placed his church in a position of such strength in South India that its only serious rival was the church of Shiva.

This phase not only witnessed a new category of Shudr afunctionaries called Sattada Mudlias (or holy men without wearing a sacred thread) but also liberalization in the temple worship even in well known sanctuaries such as Tirupati and Kanchipuram through the worship of twelve Alvars. The Bhakti movement in South was thus made possible through th e nucleus of great temples starting with the Pallava period, maturing during the Chola-Pandya periods and achieving great embellishment during the Vijayanagara period.


II


With all its attractions and success, the Bhakti movement, though in different forms, traveled to North during early medieval period as a representative of the Aryan culture in the South, which had introduced the cults of Vishnu and Shiva with the rest of Aryan pantheon into the midst of Dravidian animism. The cults of Vishnu and Shiva in South, which were based on scholastic philosophy, were the forerunners of many popular religious movements in the North. Out of these movements, one, which appealed directly to the hearts of the people, was that of the Bhakti movement in North, in Punjab, which culminated in the birth of Sikhism five centuries ago.

Whereas the Hindu community suffered immensely due to change in political leadership during the Muslim rule in India, there was one group of Hindus who also suffered immensely at the hand of other Hindus, namely Brahmins, who considered themselves as superior to all others. The so-called low-castes, about one-sixth of the population, were considered untouchables and treated like animals.

The Hindu society in Punjab presented a sorry spectacle on the eve of the Muslims invasions. Their social structure, just as in case of the Tamil country, consisted of four primary castes. The doors of knowledge were closed to all people except Brahmins and any person who attempted to cross the barrier was severely punished. It was the privilege of a Brahmin to say the prayers, recite Vedas and offer sacrifices to the fire.

It was the rigidity of the caste system, which considerably contributed to the defeat of North Indians, particularly the Punjabis, to foreigner invaders. Although the whole population was in arms, yet nine-tenths were serving as menials in the fields and the rest slept in distant villages. Eating alone with the lower caste was regarded as a disgrace, and association of people of one caste with the other was forbidden. Individuals cooked food according to their own special rites. Even the funeral rites of the dead at home or in the battlefield were performed by members of the same caste. Witnessing such a state of affairs in Punjab, Guru Nanak realized that "religious revival was the only remedy which could save it from intending destruction".4

Guru Nanak (1469-1539 A.D) established a new religion, with a distinct scripture and social culture. He harmonized the idea of God in the light of truth, which was bestowed on him as a prophet of God through revelation. He did not reject the essentials of any religion, but tried to give them practical shape to be useful for self-realization. As Sri Guru Granth Sahib5 teaches, “Revelation essentially is One; comes from One and is the description of One".6

When Guru Nanak used the names of God as Rama or Krishna in his verses, he did not mean incarnation of Vishnu but the un-incamate absolute God. He not only described God as Rama or Krishna or Gopal, but also as Allah, Karim, and Rahim. He maintained that the children of God cannot become rivals. Guru Nanak was not a mediator between Islam and Hinduism, but a mediator between man and God.

The idea of revelation in Sikhism is very unique. Guru Nanak does not claim himself to be the incarnation of God. The Guru had the direct experience of Truth and then expressed this experience in the form of language. Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, contains this mystic experience of the Guru in the form of Bani. It is the expression of Divine Truth. So Sikh revelation is in the form of Bani as recorded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, on which the Guruship has been bestowed by the Guru Himself.

Sikhism no doubt shares some doctrines with Hinduism as well as Islam, but there are several significant points at which it differs from them. In fact there are some meeting points in the mystic experiences of all spiritual preceptors who happened to live in different cultural milieus at different points of history. Interestingly, some of these meeting points are found in traditions, which till recently, remained in comparative isolation from one another. One such is the determination of self-realization, or the realization of God as the ultimate end of human life. Sikhism holds that each human soul is essentially divine and to realize this truth, and to assimilate this spark with its Original Source, i.e. the Divine Being, is the ultimate aim of man's life. For this purpose, he need not and, in fact, must not be an ascetic as in Hinduism or consider others kafirs, i.e. atheist, incapable of achieving this, as Muslims do. Sikhism refuses to separate life into the sacred (spiritual) and profane (the secular). The emphasis is on a householder's life, which is considered no hindrance in the way of self-realization.

In Sikhism self-realization is the moral ideal for man to be achieved. Those actions are good for man which help him in the way of self-realization and those which become hindrance in this path are considered bad. Self is not only the material being. Materialism makes man to leave the spiritual and inspire him towards the world only. This takes him towards slavery. Moral is the centre which is to determine the praxis and its spiritual context is the Ultimate Reality towards which he is to move. How much was Nanak indebted to the Bhakti ideas can be illustrated from the following words of his:

"If one gains anything from visiting places of pilgrimage, from austerities, acts of mercy, and charity, it is of negligible value. He who has heard, believed and nurtured love in his heart has cleansed himself by bathing at the tirth which is within".7

The Guru's teachings were not based on hollow rituals but on the a basic principle of love for mankind irrespective of birth, caste, color or gender. As in case of the South, the movement in Punjab also culminated in the popular form of dissent or protest against social hierarchy of the Brahmanical order. The Guru's spiritual guide was none other than He hirnself. He said:

"For my spiritual guidance I do not believe in Hinduism or Islam and nor do I follow their rituals. My path is the love of Almighty, who is the Lord of our bodies and souls. He is addressed as Ram by the Hindus and Allah by the Muslims."

Five centuries ago Guru Nanak preached that the whole world is to be treated as one vast multi-cultural society. Mutual regard and respect among people are the foundation of true religion. There is no religion superior to this. He said in the Jap:

Ayee panthee sagaljamati, Map jeete jag jeer
(A person who accepts all humans as class-fellows and loves them as equal, is a holy person of the highest kind. One who controls his mind and does not let it hate anyone, wins the world with love.)

A few words may be added here regarding the Tamil and Sikh scriptural tradition. In the Indian context the Tripitakas of Buddhism and even the Jaina writings do not ascribe rigid status to their scriptures and these are to be understood as no more than the enlightened words of Lord Buddha and Bhagwan Mahavira. The Bhakti tradition also produced certain sacred texts, namely the eighteen Mahapuranas, which describe in detail the birth, life and mysteries of the gods and their avtars. These writings became the object of veneration and worship thus giving birth to various types of popular cults.

In the given Bhakti tradition, the word lost its meaning in the ocean of mythology which occupied the entire sacred space. As against this, the scripture of the Sikhs. Sri Guru Granth Sahib, represented the return of democratic spirit allied with the .interests of the common masses. It exemplifies the spiritual expectations that emerged form below. It was an attempt in tune with the aspirations and the anticipations of the people and laid the foundations of a scriptural tradition which was open to all people. It was the first Holy Scripture that was composed in people's language with the sole aim of spreading the universal religious message to the people of all walks of life.

The Sikh scripture does not pass any stricture against the religious message of any other religion of the past or future. Again it falsifies the belief that either Sanskrit or Arabic is the exclusive divine vehicle to carry religious message. It treats them both as equal to articulate the religious experiences of the Gurus by freely using Hindu and Muslim nomenclatures to describe God. It opens itself up to the ethics and to the themes of social justice. Apart from the Bani of Sikhs Gurus, the Adi Granth is unique in giving inter-religious space to other contemporary writings of the saint and Sufis. It thus becomes a unique text of inter-religious spirituality unknown to the history of other religions.

The Adi Granth is a treasure house of the Word (or the Bani) of the Gurus. The Sikhs tradition cherishes it as the spoken word of the Gurus which are compiled in the form of melodious hymns. It is a reservoir of the inspirational experiences of the Gurus, that is, a receptacle of the wisdom of the Gurus gained through their divine and temporal experiences. It is thus the Shabad of the Gurus. However, the Sikh conception of Skabad is entirely different from the Vedic tradition The Vedas claim that the word (Shabad) was revealed to the rishis, a select few, to be transmitted again to a selected section of people. The Vedas claim that it is Apaurushya, i.e. non-human or beyond human. To discourage the idea that Vedic hymns were recited by people, they were said to be Shrutis i.e. they were heard.

TThe Sikh conception of Shabad, has somewhat different connotation from its Vedic counterpart. There is something human when we say that it is the word of the Guru, which also means a continuation of the divine and human. While the term Shabad Pramana in Vedic tradition stands to indicate the closure of the text, the term Shabad Gurbani in Sikh tradition opens up the scripture to more and more experimental reading by humans. This explains the reason why there were conscious attempts to prohibit the spread of Vedic scriptures by constructing cultural and even physical barriers among people by the Brahmins, both in South as well as in North India.

The mystery of Hindu religion lies in its holistic vision of Brahma (the Ultimate Reality) which in its turn is embodied in the Vedas, embodied in a particular sacred language (Sanskrit), conception of Aham Brahman, the identity-defining category of Hinduism of ethno-cultural character.10 In Sikh religion, however, the Word does not become incarnate in flesh, in the bodily form. It is rather, the Spirit that becomes determinate in the Word (Shabad Gurbani) through the Guru which emanates the revelation. The Sikh Gurus in their verses again and again stress that they acted only as a medium for transmission of the Word i.e. the Divine message:

'Jaisi Mai Awe Khasam ki bani, Tesra Kare Gyan we Lalo'
(O Lalo, I utter the Word as I receive it from the Lord)

It is interesting to note that there is a striking similarity in Tamil Bhakti and the Sikh Bhakti tradition. In Tamil Bhakti, the hymns are called with the general name Vaaymozhi, literally meaning the speech uttered by mouth. This term was used to indicate the devotional hymns composed by the Tamil Shaivite and Vaishnavite saints. They are not considered exclusively as the word of God; but as in case of the Sikh Gurus, are inspired by the divine experiences of the Tamil saints. Although categorized in the Shruti after Vedic tradition, the Tamils took pride in being Shruti oriented, and consequently named theirs as spoken or recited. Due to the fact that they were sung by devotees, the Tamils do not think that they are in any way lower in religious status.8 Again, like the Sikh Guru's Shabad, in the local Punjabi language, the Tamil devotional songs too were articulated in the Tamil language. Both are thus associated with the land and the language spoken there. Although containing a universal message, there is an element of human involved in the divine experience as well as a moment of cultural specificity related with the land and language.

Sikh scripture has been bestowed the status of the living Guru, thus making the scripture combine both personal and the impersonal and the scripture thus becomes dearer and nearer to every Sikh. The Sikh lives with his Guru who participates in every day life of the Sikh who takes intimate counseling from the Guru's scripture. Since Guru Granth Sahib carries the compositions not only of Sikh Gurus but also of Hindu and Muslim saints, it occupies a unique status of inter-religious spirituality unknown in the history of world religions and gives a message to both Hindus and Muslims to follow the best of heir religious traditions truly and honestly, without falling prey to ritualism and dogmatism".9

Both in the Tamil and the Sikh Bhakti literature, the institution of family gets a special treatment. Thiruvaluvar, who has greatly influenced the Tamil religious thought has devoted a special section to the state of house-holder in his celebrated work Thirukural. He states that of all the aspirants to Dharma, the householder who lives up to the standard is most estimable.16 Guru Nanak too had a positive outlook on life and family in contradiction to denunciation and renunciation of wordily life in earlier religious traditions. With the Guru, Sikhism became a religion of the householders.

Both Guru Nanak and Tiruvalluvar were house-holders-cum-teachers. Domestic virtue, truth, purity, humility arid charity form the favorite themes of some of their finest verses couched in simple and straight-forward manner in their respective languages. Again, their views about vast variety of themes such as good and bad actions, love, truthfulness, virtue, humility and good conduct etc., have been expressed without entering into dogmatic or doctrinal controversies. While trying to lead men from darkness to light, from evil to righteousness and from mortality to immortality, neither of them posed as a prophet or law-give.11

Mysticism, however, is not a striking feature of Guru Nanak's teachings. On the contrary, he presented before the people a very simple form of creed which the common man could understand and follow without any difficulty. His concern for life in this world was so large that he was opposed to asceticism. He neither preached nor followed the path of renunciation in order to attain spiritual unity with God, He killed "by example and precept, that old idea that a householder's life was a barrier to spiritual progress."12

The opposition to asceticism was given an explicitly social character by a series of measures adopted by the Guru such as institution of Dharamsalas (the earlier nomenclature of the Gurdwaras meant for public worship), Langar (public kitchen ) and Kirtan (collective singing of hymns) have come down to the Sikhs since the days of Guru Nanak. The cohesive rote played by these institutions has done much to hold the family and community together. This has undoubtedly helped to create a new image of a new faith and a new society based on family life, which indeed became one of the main planks of the mission of Sikhism and Sikh society.13 The Sikhs have and are living as fellow members of a common society and family, united by religious and social ties which have since become stronger with the passage of time.14

However, the Bhakti movement, particularly Vaishanav Movement in Tamil Nadtf and thfe Sikh Bhakti Movement in PJhjab, had fundamentally different religious and cultural origins. It is wrong to say that Sikhism was a historical development of Vaishanav Bhakti, that began in Tamil country and was introduced in the North by Ramanuja (traditionally, 1017-1137 A.D.). The Vaishnava Bhagats maintain that God, known by many names and beyond comprehensions, is the one and only reality; that alt else is illusion (maya) and the best way to approach God is through repetition of His name (Sanskrit Nama), singing hymns of praise (Punjabi Kirtan) and meditation under the guidance of a Guru etc.

The literature on Sikhism and Vaishnavism, if studied in proper perspective, would reveal that Sikhism, as claimed by Guru Nanak, is a revelatory religion, its principles, therefore, are diametrically opposed to those of Vaishnavism. The spiritual experience of the Gurus being Love, and dynamic Reality, is radically different from the quietist concept of the Sat Chit Anand.. It is this fundamental difference that makes for completely divergent religious path in two systems. In the Sikh concept of Bhakti, a man develops ethically, society and spiritually, as an integrated person, and a useful person. In simple terms the Sikh idea of Bhakti is devotion to Waheguru as well as to the society.

While Sikhism is life affirming, and the world is called real by the Gurus, Vaishnavism is life-negating in which the world is Mithya or Maya. Further, while Sikhism combines the spiritual path with the empirical path of life, there is clear dichotomy in Vaishnavism with the empirical path being entirely separate from the spiritual path. Thus while Vaishnavism recommends monasticism, asceticism, celibacy, withdrawal from life and the downgrading of women, Sikhism categorically rejects these and recommends a householder's life with total social participation and responsibility in all walks of life. For that matter, the brotherhood of man and equality between man and woman,are recommended, work is regarded as a part of worship, and resistance to oppression and injustice becomes a religious duty.

Again, while in Vaishnavism, Ahimsa (non-violence or pacification) is recommended, Guru Nanak dearly rejects it. In their goals, methodology, and ethics, these two systems are poles apart. In one case, merger or union with Brahman or the realization of Ahama Brahaman is the goal, in Sikhism the recommendation is for an ever active life of virtuous deeds by carrying out the altruistic Will of God.

In Vaishnavism, the methodology is ritualistic, formal or meditational., whereas in Sikhism, man's assessment is based purely on his deeds. While Sikhism is uncompromisingly monotheistic, making a clear distinction between the Creator and the creation, Vaishnavism, according to Ramanuja, its chief exponent, is pantheistic, the world being the body or the attributes of Brahman. In short there is hardly a meeting ground between the world views of Vaishnavism and that of Sikhism.15

It is also important to note that the Hindu trio Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram has not been given much importance in Sikhis. The emphasis is only on Sat, i.e. existent or the Rea. Till this day, the popular way for Sikhs to greet each other is Sat Sri Akal. Thus the essence of God lives in us as Sat and Truth is what this essence speaks. The God is Akal i.e. beyond time. We have to remember Him as the one whom time cannot touch and is in fact the creator of time. In our insignificant and enslaved bodies none else but God Himself is our soul.

Guru Nanak's name is interlocked not only with the idea of one integrated India, but also with the vision of one world and with the unity of man. When he started his mission, the first slogan he raised was, “There is no Hindu and no Mussalman", meaning thereby that all human beings were brothers and sisters and it was wrong to segregate them into different groups and sects.

A word of caution: In the name of comparative study of religious some times one tends to assimilate and appropriate into themselves a minority religion. This is how Sikh religion has been treated as a species of the Vedantic genus by stretching the annotations of the Mul Mantra - Ik Onkar Satnam..- back to one or the other system of Upanishad thought. These terms showing similarity with those of the earlier Vedantic schools, are thereby not seen in the perspective of the paradigm shift brought about by Guru Nanak in the evolutionary course of spiritual consciousness of mankind. Unfortunately, even in our own times, tendentious stress on certain concepts and elements supposedly common to Sikhism and the Vedantic system ends up in treating Sikh religion as a species of Vedantic genus, or an updated version of Hinduism and the revealed originality is denied in search of the so-called common denominators and thus the radical ideology of Sikhism is made to stand on a derivative philosophical foundation. Needless to say that a religion or a religious tradition must be approached in terms of its own self-definition and self-defined identity.16

To sum up Guru Nanak's teachings, are modem and scientific and can be accepted universally. Take for instance his conception of Godhood. He rejects categorically the idea of polytheism- a typical medieval Bhakti concept-and advocates monotheism a distinctly modem idea. His preference for "one" to "many" is a belief shared by Christians, Muslims and Arya Smajists. Similarly his strict injunction to his followers not to believe in caste or creed is another modem idea and should appeal to all people who believe in equality, justice and social harmony. Lastly his clarion call that salvation of mankind depends on the performance of noble actions should come as an inspiring message to all who are groping in darkness for want of a dependable creed. Judged by most exacting standards, the Sikh religion strikes us as a religion propounded by a modem prophet whose message to the twenty-first century can play an effective rule in the much desired religious and cultural regeneration of mankind.

In tune with Guru Nanak's teachings that the right to life, the right to equality and the right to worship Him are God-given gifts to every person and that no religious or political authority can take them away, the world has formally accepted the preaching of equality of humans. In commemoration of the tragic event of apartheid in South Africa on March 21,1990, the United Nations declared March 21, the International Day for the elimination of racial discrimination. Thus a seal of approval in the inter-religious spirituality of the Guru Granth Sahib, which finds expressed in giving priority to ethical concerns than sectarian interests of a particular religion, has been put on the Holy Granth.

It is earnestly hoped that the history of the Indian culture and religious life, as reflected in the Bhakti movement during medieval period in South as well as North India, will not only receive due attention but will also be re-examined in the light of the few observations made above so that the sanctity of our cultural heritage is preserved and appreciated.


NOTES & REFERENCES

1 See N. SubramaniaiVs article in S.P.Sen (ed.) North and South in Indian History: Contact and Adjustment, (Calcutta 1976), p. 46

2 G.S. Dikshit's article in S.P.Sen, op. cit, p.64

3 Vaishnavism in Punjab was very much existing in medieval period. The Bhagwat Gita, the Bhagwat Purana and the Vishnu Purana, which are regarded as the Vaishnava texts par excellence, were known even to Al-beruni, whose information may be presumed to have been collected chiefly from the Punjab.

4 W.H. Macleod. Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion (Oxford, 1968), p.157

5 Sri Guru Granth Sahib contains the spiritual poetry of 36 great contributors. These contributors are: 6 Gurus, 15 Bhagats, 11 Bhats and 4 Gursikhs. The contributors, although came from different language regions, lived in different cultures, enjoyed different rituals and belonged to different faiths, they all reiterate the beliefs of the Sikh Gurus and are full of devotion and humanitarianism. See Debabrata Das, Bhakti Tradition and Sikhism, The Sikh Review (Kolkata) January, 2004, pp. 29-31

6 Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Japji p. 4

7 Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Japji p. 1136

8 N. Muthu Mohan, Inner Dynamics of Guru Granth Sahib, The Sikh Review, (Calcutta), April 2003, pp. 6-12

9 Ibid.,p.7

10 Thiruvalluvar, Thirukural, a compilation of more than a thousand (1330) maxims, contains lofty thoughts couched in pure powerful Tamil and is popularly known as The Tamil Veda. G. Vanmikanthan, The Tirukhural, Tiruchirapalli, 1969. See also Thirivalluvar, op.cit.,lllara lyal- Athikaram 5 to 24; cited in Prema Kasthuri's paper "Advocacy to Strengthen the Family Values in the New Millennium", (unpublished), contributed at 7th Annual Conference of the Association of the Third World Studies, Chennai, 2002.

11 For a detailed study of Tiruvalluvar and Guru Nanak, see Harnam Singh Shan, Tiruvatiuvar and Guru Nanak: Their Moral Teachings, published by Punjab University, (Chandigarh, 1976), pp. 11-34.

12 A.C. Banerjee, Guru Nanak and His Times (Patiala, 1984), p. 161

13 N.R. Ray, "One Message, One Mission: A Study in Social Analysis from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh" in The Sikh Review, Calcutta, Feb. 1999.

14 Max Arthur Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, vol. I (Oxford, 1909), p. 60.

15 For a detailed study of Vaishnavism see R.G. Bhandarkar, Viashanvism and Shaivism; G.S. Ghurye, Indian Sadhus; C. Sudhakar, Evolution of Theistic Sects in Ancient India; Suvira Jaiswal, Origin and Development of Vaishnavism; H.V.S. Murthy, Vaishnavism of Shankaradeva and Ramanuja. For a comparative study of Vaishnavism and Sikhism, see also Daljeet Singh, Sikhism - A Comparative Study of Theology and Mysticism (Delhi, 1979) and the Sikh Ideology (Patiala, 1979), Gurdev Singh, Perspectives on Sikh Tradition (Chandigarh, 1986) and Advanced Studies in Sikhism (California 1989), Cited in Kharak Singh, "Encyclopaedia Britannica Entry on Sikhism" The Sikh Review (Calcutta, June, 1993, pp. 24-25.

16 J.S. Ahluwalia, Liberating Sikhism from the Sikhs (Chandigarh, 2003) p.35


Copyright ©2005 M S. Ahluwalia. About the author

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