Sikhism

Introduction
Guru Nanak (1469-1539) laid the foundation of Sikhi (Sikhism) during the 15th century, the Period of Renaissance (between 14th century and 17th century) when the scientists were challenging some of the concepts of the church in Europe. During this period Guru Nanak was busy in challenging the ancient mythology and rituals in which the peoples of South Asia were shackled for centuries and were unable to express their free will in any aspect of their lives because their lives were controlled by their religious mentors. Consequently, Guru Nanak gave a unique philosophy that is scientifically and logically very sound having universal acceptability. This philosophy is called Nanakian Philosophy. It was preached and enriched by the nine succeeding Gurus to the House of Nanak called Nanakian School. The follower of his philosophy is known as the ‘Sikh’ and the philosophy is called as ‘Sikhi’ in Punjabi. The word ‘Sikhi’ (Gurmat) gave rise to the modern anglicized word ‘Sikhism’ for the modern world.

Sikhi (Sikhism)
Sikhi (Sikhism) is based on the advice/principles of Guru’s philosophy:
isKI isiKAw gur vIcwir ] AGGS, M 1, P 465.
“Sikhism is the philosophy of the Guru.”

Where can one find the philosophy of the Guru? It is found in the ‘Sabd’ (word) of the Guru. In the Gurbani, ‘Sabd’ is the Guru, and the philosophy of Guru Nanak.
sbdu gurU suriq Duin cylw ] AGGS, M 1, P943.
“Sabd is Guru, consciousness and intention toward it make one its disciple (Sikh).”
sbdu gur pIrw gihr gMBIrw ibnu sbdY jg baurwnM ] AGGS, M 1, P 635.
“The Guru’s Sabd is a deep philosophy and the world without it, is insane.”

gur miq jwgy dur miq prhwrI ] AGGS, M 1, P 904.
“Guru’s philosophy awakens and evil thinking is removed.”

Since the ‘Sabd’ is the ‘Guru’ for the Sikhs as declared by Guru Nanak, the same principle, ‘Sabd Guru,’ was taught by the succeeding Gurus to the Nanakian School in their Bani that has been incorporated into the Aad Guru Granth Sahib (AGGS). Similarly, Guru Gobind Singh reiterated that Sabd of the Sikh Gurus of the Nanakian School, incorporated in the AGGS, is the Guru of the Sikhs. Guru Nanak handed over his Sabd to the Second Nanak, Guru Angad; the Second Nanak added his own and handed it over to the Third Nanak, Guru Amardas; and so on, until it reached the Fifth Nanak, Guru Arjan. When he opened it he exclaimed in delight as follows:

pIau dwdy kw Koil ifTw Kjwnw ] qw myry min BieAw nDwnw ] AGGS, M 5, P 185.
“When (Guru Arjan) opened and saw (examined) the ancestral treasure (the Sabd of the first four Gurus of the Nanakian school), his mind got immersed in the treasure (wisdom of the Sabd).”

Aad Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Arjan took the ancestral treasure, the Sabd of the first four Gurus received from Guru Ramdas, and added his own in it and compiled it into a Granth in 1604 CE. Since the Sabd of the Gurus of the Nanakian School is the Guru, ipso facto, the Granth containing the Sabd is now called as the Aad Guru Granth Sahib (AGGS). The AGGS also contains the Bani of some Bhagats and Sants who revolted against the ancient mythology and rituals. In addition to these Banis, it also contains the laudation/eulogy of the first five Gurus of the Nanakian School, composed by Bhatts. The AGGS is the only primary source of the philosophy of the Gurus of the Nanakian School that has been authenticated by Guru Arjan, the Fifth Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Nanak. It has not been altered or mutilated in the past and will not be allowed to be altered or mutilated in the future. The Granth, that contains the Sabd Guru, was also declared as Guru (Enlightener) by Guru Arjan as indicated by his following verse:

poQI prmysr* kw Qwnu ] swD sMig gwvih gux goibMd pUrn bRhm igAwnu ]rhwau] AGGS, M 5, P 1226.
“The Granth is the Enlightener*. (From which) the noble people discuss (sing) the characteristics (attributes) of the Almighty and the philosophy in the congregation.” (* Parmesar = the Almighty = Guru = Enlightener)

It means, the day the Granth was compiled it was given the status of Guru as described above. The preaching of Nanakian philosophy was carried on from this Granth by Guru Arjan himself and by the succeeding Gurus to the House of Nanak. This situation is comparable to that of an author of a textbook, who teaches from his textbook. At the same time the other teachers can also teach from the same textbook. Therefore, from Guru Arjan up to Guru Gobind Singh a ‘Guru’ in Granth and a ‘Guru’ in person continued to exist side by side, however, all the preaching was done from the Granth. After Guru Arjan, it was Guru Teg Bahadur, the Ninth Nanak, who revealed some Bani. His Bani was incorporated at the appropriate places in the same Granth by Guru Gobind Singh in 1706 CE.

Gurdwara
The Sikh Gurus initiated the institution of Gurudwara or Gurdwara. In general a building where the Sangat (congregation) of Sikhs is held in the presence of AGGS is called Gurudwara. But in Gurbani ‘Guru Dwara’ or ‘Gurdwara’ has different meaning.

� gurU duAwrY hoie soJI pwiesI �] AGGS, M 1, P 730.

Gurdwara is composed of ‘Guru’, the metaphor of the Sabd as discussed earlier and ‘Dwara’ means a door, through which one enters into a certain realm. Therefore, Gurudwara means opening (parkash) of the AGGS then entering into the realm of the Sabd of the Nanakian School. Since one finds the Sabd (philosophy) of the Sikh Gurus in the AGGS, analogically, the place where the AGGS is enshrined is also called Gurudwara / Gurdwara. Consequently, the Gurdwara system became a great institute where the Sikhs can get together to deliberate on the Nanakian Philosophy, future of Sikhism, social projects and their problems and to eat together without any discrimination of caste, creed, color, sex, social status, etc. in a langar hall.

Sharing Material Wealth
Guru Nanak advises the Sikhs to share some portion of their truthful earnings, the material wealth, with others. It gave rise to a new system of pooling such contributions at a central place for spending on preaching of Sikhism and on the collective welfare of the Sikhs at large and the needy Sikhs in particular. This advice is clearly mentioned in the following verse:

Gwil Kwie ikCu hQhu dyih ] nwnk rwhu pCwxih syie ] AGGS, M 1, P 1245.
Nanak says: “The one, who earns with his sweat of brow and shares some of his earning with others, has recognized the real path of life.”

Guru Nanak suggests sharing material wealth without any definite proportion like, the tithe, but as a sort of sharing with others voluntarily without any force. The funds, thus collected, are not for personal use by the person/s controlling the Sikh institute/s but for the spread of Sikhism and the welfare of the Sikh Nation.

Sharing of Virtues
Guru Nanak developed a novel system of sharing virtues with other communities. Guru Nanak emphasized that one should not only share the material or cultural values of other communities, but should also adopt their virtues:

guxw kw hovY vwsulw kif vwis leIjY ] jy gux hovin swjnw imil swJ krIjY ] swJ krIjY guxh kyrI Coif Avgx clIAY ] AGGS, M 1, P 765-766.
“If you have virtues expose them and use them. If your friends also have virtues then share with them. One should share virtue and discord the evil characteristics.”

Freedom of Expression
Importance of first listening and then expressing oneself as long as one lives in the world, is an important feature of the Gurbani:

jb lgu dunIAw rhIAY nwnk ikCu suxIAY ikCu khIAY ] AGGS, M 1, P 661.
“As long as one lives in this world one should listen and say (one’s opinion to find out the truth).”

Intelligence and Discriminating Intellect
Guru Nanak (M 1 and M 5) emphasize the use of intelligence - the ability to learn or understand from experience; and the use of discriminating intellect to reason, to understand, or to perceive relationship and difference between good and bad, true and false, right and wrong, etc.:

AklI swihbu syvIAY AklI pweIAY mwn ] AGGS, M 1, P 1245
“Realize the Almighty by using intelligence (AklI) and achieve honor by using intelligence.”
AklI piVH ky buJIAY AklI kIcy dwnu ] AGGS, M 1, P 1245
“Discover by studying (piVH) intelligently and spread (dwnu) the discovery intelligently.”

bUJY bUJnhwru ibbyk ] AGGS, M 5, P 285.
“Those who have discriminating intellect can understand things in their real perspective.”

so DnvMqw ijsu buiD ibbyk ] AGGS, M 5, P 1150.
“The one who has the discriminating intellect is wealthy in knowledge (wise).”

Evaluation of Philosophy
Gurbani teaches that one must first evaluate the philosophy carefully, if convinced then accept or adopt it:

pihlw vsqu is\wix kY qw kIcY vwpwru ] AGGS, M 1, P 1410.
First evaluate the substance (philosophy) then trade in (accept/adopt).

Importance of Research
Gurbani explains that those who research progress while others disintegrate:

KojI aupjY bwdI ibnsY � AGGS, M 1, P 1255.
“The researchers progress while the others, who move aimlessly from one topic to the other, disintegrate.”

Threaten not and Fear not
To maintain universal brotherhood of mankind it is necessary to adopt the following principle according to the Gurbani:

BY kwhU kau dyq nih nih BY mwnq Awn ] khu nwnk suin ry mnw igAwnI qwih bKwin ]16] AGGS, M 9, P 1427.
“One who does not threaten anybody and is not afraid of anyone, is called an enlightened person.”

Idolism
According to the Nanakian Philosophy there is no place for idolism in Sikhism because the Almighty cannot be structured into any form:

QwipAw n jwie kIqw n hoie ] Awpy Awip inrMjnu soie ] AGGS, Jap 5, P 2.
“It (the Almighty) cannot be structured or created. It came into existence of Its Own.”

Therefore, in Sikhism worshipping of an idol is useless to attain salvation:

jo pwQr kau khqy dyv ] qw kI ibrQw hovy syv ] jo pwQr kI pWeI pwie ] iqs kI Gwl ajWeI jwie ] AGGS, M 5, p 1160.
“Those who call a stone as their god, their services are wasted. Those who fall at the feet of an idol, their endeavors (for salvation) go in vain.”

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Distinctive Nature of Sikhism
The distinctiveness of Sikhism has already been declared by Guru Nanak in his Bani. However, Guru Arjan clearly distinguishes the uniqueness of Sikhism for those who would club its philosophy with Islam or Hinduism:

vrq n rhau n mh rmdwnw ] iqsu syvI jo rKY indwnw ] 1 ] eyku gusweI Alhu myrw ] ihMdU qurk duhW nybyrw ] 1 ] rhwau ] hj kwbY jwau n qIrQ pUjw ] eyko syvI Avru n dUjw ] 2 ] pUjw krau n invwj gujwrau ] eyk inrMkwr ly irdY nmskwrau ] 3 ] nw hm ihMdU nw muslmwn ] Alhu rwm ky ipMf prwn ] 4 ] khu kbIr iXhu kIA vKwnw ] gur pIr imil Kuid Ksmu pCwnw ] 5 ] (AGGS, M 5, p 1136)
I neither keep the fast (of Hindus) nor observe the month of Ramdan (of Muslims). But I Serve the One who emancipates all. 1. The Gosain (of Hindus) or Allah (of Muslims) is the same as the One for me. Thus, I have released myself from both Hindus and Muslims. 1. Pause. Neither I go to Kaaba to perform the Hajj nor do I go to bathing pilgrimages to meditate. (Because) I contemplate the One, not any other. 2. Neither I worship the Hindu way nor do I pray like Muslims. (Because) I realize in my mind the only the One, the Formless. 3. I am neither a Hindu nor a Muslim. (Because) my body belongs to the One to whom you call Allah or Ram. 4. (Note: Guru Arjan has followed Guru Nanak not to give any specific name to the Almighty. Therefore, the most preferred word used to address the Almighty by all the Sikh Gurus in the AGGS is the “ONE”.)

As this verse was written to advise Kabir also on his verse incorporated in the AGGS at page 1159, thus the last stanza is for Kabir:

Hey Kabir! Say what is there in showing or practicing (the above mentioned rituals), because the Almighty can be recognized by oneself after meeting the Guru/ Pir (teacher).

In this verse Guru Arjan has reiterated in simple words what has already been laid in the Nanakian Philosophy. Here Guru Arjan rejects the old religious practices in the first part of each stanza of this verse then emphasizes on the new way of life, i.e., life of theism - (believing in only the One, the Almighty, described by Guru Nanak in the beginning of the AGGS). To emphasize the distinction of the Sikh way of life Guru Arjan declared that he is neither Hindu nor Muslim and does not practice any of their religious norms / rituals. It is clear that Guru Nanak’s mission was to develop a new way of life - theism (new religion) different from those already established.

Benign State (Haleemi Raj)
If everybody abides by the above principles laid out in the Nanakian Philosophy, it would definitely lead to the evolution of the benign sovereignty as conceived by the Fifth Nanak, Guru Arjan, under which the whole humanity would live in peace on this planet, the earth:

huuix hukmu hoAw imhrvwx dw ] pY koie n iksY r\wx dw] sB suKwlI vuTIAw iehu hoAw hlymI rwju jIau ] AGGS, M 5, P 74. “Now the Almighty has ordained that no one will have fear from any one and all will live in peace as it is the benign state.”

Miri-Piri Concept
In Sikhism Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) brought Miri-Piri concept in the forefront at the time (June 12, 1606 CE) of his succession to the House of Nanak. On that day he wore two swords declaring one to be the symbol of the spiritual (Piri) and the other that of his temporal investiture (Miri). Guru Hargobind was not establishing two opposite forces (Miri and Piri - temporal and spiritual). He means that in Guru’s house besides being religious one can enjoy all the worldly comforts and riches and must share with the needy and should be strong enough to defend oneself and others from oppression. The term ‘Miri’ (Persian word) has been used as a simile for the king, the ruler, and the rich, and ‘Piri’ (Persian word) for the spiritual leader, Guru, and even for the Almighty in the Gurbani to explain various themes. The following verse would explain the prevailing position of Mirs and Pirs during Guru Nanak’s time:

kotI hU pIr vrij rhwey jw mIru suixAw DwieAw ] Qwn mukwm jly ibj mMdr muiC muiC kuier rulwieAw ] koeI muglu n hOAw AMDw iknY n prcw lwieAw ] AGGS, M 1, P 417.
“Hearing of the invasion of Mir (Babur - Mughal), millions of Pirs (religious persons) were engaged by Pathans (Mirs) for performing miracles (praying and reciting of Kalmas /mantras) to check the attack. But he (Mir - Babur) burned all the age-old temples and resting places, and princes (the other Mirs - Pathans) were cut into pieces and were thrown away. Not even a single Mughal (Mir) was blinded by Pirs and none of their miracles could check the invasion of Mughals (Mir).”

At the end of the above verse Guru Nanak Says:

hukmI hukim clwey ivgsY nwnk iliKAw pweIAY ]
“Laws of the Nature are going on under the order of the Almighty. Therefore, every one gets what one sows (whether one is Mir or Pir).”

The theme of the above verse clearly indicates that Pirs engaged by Mirs (Pathans) had no power to check the invasion. Similarly, the Mirs (Pathan) having all the powers also failed to check the invasion by another Mir (Mughal). The winner was the one who had confidence in oneself (Piri) rather than dependence on other Pirs for miracles to be performed. The winner also had fighting ammunition (Miri) to defend and attack the enemy. Guru Hargobind was propagating the philosophy of Guru Nanak that none of the forces, Piri or Miri is superior to the other. Becoming of Pir by renouncing the household is of no avail. Similarly, establishment of Miri (kingship, power) without good deeds is not the way of salvation. There is nothing like superiority of Piri over Miri or vice versa in the Nanakian Philosophy. Guru Arjan had put the above philosophy of Miri-Piri in a precise and concise form as follows:

Gru bMDhu sc Drm kw gif QMmu AhlY ] Et lYhu nwrwiexY dIn dunIAw KlY ] AGGS, M 5, P 320.
“Build your homeland on truth and righteousness, the unshakable pillars. And take the support of the Almighty, who sustains the world.”

Here again there is no indication of superiority of one (Piri) over the other (Miri) or vice versa. The Gurbani teaches the development of truth and righteousness in individuals as well as in the governance. The critical analysis of the above verse of Guru Nanak favors the cultivation of Miri and Piri both in every individual Sikh.

Renunciation of Guruship in One Person

Guru Gobind Singh called five Sikhs one by one from the biggest gathering on the Vaisakhi of 1699, who could sacrifice their lives for the welfare of the Sikhs. On this day these five Sikhs, the Five-Elect, were initiated to the new system of Collective Leadership. In the literature the Five-Elect are commonly called as Panj Pyarae. Immediately, after their initiation to the new system of Collective Leadership, Guru Gobind Singh bowed before them and requested to be immersed into the newly created Collective Leadership. Thus, Guru Gobind Singh on this day of the great event renounced the system of continuity of Guruship in Sikhism in one person. By doing so, he gave practical shape to the Nanakian philosophy in which the Guru is equal to the Almighty; the Almighty is equal to the Guru; the Guru is equal to the Sikh; and the Sikh is equal to the Guru. Nanakian Philosophy supports his transformation of Guruship to the Sikhs as follows:

guru goivMdu gouivMdu gurU hY nwnk Bydu n BweI AGGS, M 4, P 442.
“Guru is in the Almighty and the Almighty is in the Guru, Nanak says there is no difference between them (the Almighty and the Guru).”

gurU isKu isKu gurU hY eyko gur aupdysu clwey] AGGS, M4, P 444.
(When the Sikh understands the philosophy of the Guru, then..) “The Guru becomes one with the Sikh and Sikh becomes one with the Guru, then the enlightened Sikh can disseminate the same philosophy of the Guru.”

Awpy siq guru Awip hY cylw aupdysu krY pRBu AwpY ] AGGS, M 4, P 605.
“The Almighty (Awpy) is the Guru that exists (siq) forever and the Almighty (Awpy) is the follower (Sikh) also. The Almighty (pRBu) Itself preaches.” (That means the Almighty preaches through Its Sikh - Chaela).

Awpy guru cylw hY Awpy Awpy guxI inDwnw ] AGGS, M 3, P 797.
“The Almighty (Awpy) is Guru as well as the follower (Sikh) and the Almighty (Awpy) is the treasure of virtues.”

qU Awpy guru cylw hY Awpy gur ivcu dy qJihu iDAweI ] AGGS, M 4, P 758.
“The Almighty is Guru Itself and is follower (Sikh) too at the same time. The follower (Sikh) dwells on the Almighty through the Guru.”

Since there is no difference between the Almighty and the Guru; and between the Guru and the follower (Sikh) thus, Guru Gobind Singh realized that the time had come to renounce the 230 year lineage of Guruship in one person and to vest the Guruship onto the Collective Leadership. He also reiterated that the Sabd incorporated into the AGGS is the spiritual Guru of the Sikhs. That is what happened 300 years ago on the Vaisakhi of 1699. It is inferred that on Vaisakhi of 1699 Guru Gobind Singh vested the political affairs of the Sikhs in the Five Elect, the Collective Leadership, and also terminated the 230-year lineage of Guruship in one person when he bowed before the Five-Elect for his own initiation to be the part of that Collective Leadership. Since the time of Guru Nanak Sabd is the Guru thus, Guru Arjan also declared that the Granth (Pothi), containing the Sabd of the Gurus of Nanakian School, is the Enlightener (poQI prmysr kw Qwnu ] AGGS, M 5, P 1226). On that very day, Guru Gobind reiterated that the Sabd, incorporated in the AGGS, is the Guru for the guidance of the Sikhs. In other words on this day of the great event practical shape was given to all the above great principles of Nanakian Philosophy by Guru Gobind Singh nine years before he left for heavenly abode.