God in Sikhism
Encyclopedia
The concept of God in Sikhism is uncompromisingly monotheistic
, as symbolized by "Ik Onkar" (one God), a central tenet of Sikh philosophy. The fundamental belief of Sikhism is that God exists, indescribable yet knowable and perceivable to anyone who is prepared to dedicate the time and energy to become perceptive to their persona.
The Sikh gurus
have described God in numerous ways in their hymns included in the Guru Granth Sahib
, the holy scripture of Sikhism
, but the oneness of the deity is consistently emphasized throughout. God is described in the Mool Mantar, the first passage in the Guru Granth Sahib, and the basic formula of the faith is:
Guru Arjan, Nanak V, says, "God is beyond colour and form, yet His/Her presence is clearly visible" (GG, 74), and "Nanak's Lord transcends the world as well as the scriptures of the east and the west, and yet He/She is clearly manifest" (GG, 397).
Knowledge of the ultimate Reality is not a matter for reason; it comes by revelation
of the ultimate reality through nadar (grace) and by anubhava (mystical experience). Says Guru Nanak, budhi pathi na paiai bahu chaturaiai bhai milai mani bhane which translates to "He/She is not accessible through intellect, or through mere scholarship or cleverness at argument; He/She is met, when He/She pleases, through devotion" (GG, 436).
Guru Nanak prefixed the numeral one (ik) to it, making it Ik Oankar or Ekankar to stress God's oneness. God is named and known only through his Own immanent nature. The only name which can be said to truly fit God's transcendent state
is Sat
(Sanskrit Satnam
, Truth), the changeless and timeless Reality. God is transcendent and all-pervasive at the same time. Transcendence and immanence
are two aspects of the same single Supreme Reality. The Reality is immanent in the entire creation, but the creation as a whole fails to contain God fully. As says Guru Tegh Bahadur, Nanak IX, "He has himself spread out His/Her Own “maya” (worldly illusion) which He oversees; many different forms He assumes in many colours, yet He stays independent of all" (GG, 537).
God is Karta Purakh, the Creator-Being. He created the spatial-temporal universe not from some pre-existing physical element, but from His/Her own Self. Universe is His own emanation. It is not maya
(illusion), but is real (sat) because, as say Guru Arjan, “True is He and true is His/Her creation [because] all has emanated from God Himself” (GG 294).
But God is not identical with the universe. The latter exists and is contained in Him/Her and not vice versa. God is immanent in the created world, but is not limited by it. “Many times He expands Himself/Herself into such worlds but He ever remains the same One Ekankar" (GG, 276). Even at one time "there are hundreds of thousands of skies and nether regions" (GG, 5). Included in Sach Khand (Realm of Truth), the figurative abode of God, there are countless regions and universes" (GG, 8). Creation is "His/Her play which He witnesses, and when He rolls up the play, He is His/Her sole Self again" (GG, 292). He is the Creator, Sustainer and the Destroyer.
What is the Creator's purpose in creating the universe? It is not for man to inquire or judge the purpose of His Creator. To quote Guru Arjan again, "The created cannot have a measure of the Creator; what He wills, O Nanak, happens" (GG, 285). For the Sikhs, the Creation is His pleasure and play "When the showman beat His drum, the whole creation came out to witness the show; and when He puts aside his disguise, He rejoices in His original solitude" (GG, 174, 291, 655, 736).
Purakh added to Karta in the Mool Mantar is the Punjabi form of Sanskrit
purusa, which literally means, besides man, male or person, "the primeval man as the soul and original source of the universe; the personal and animating principle; the supreme Being or Soul of the universe." Purakh in Mool Mantar is, therefore, none other than God the Creator. The term has nothing to do with the purusa of the Sankhya school of Indian philosophy where it is the spirit as a passive spectator of prakriti or creative force.
That God is nirbhau (without fear) and nirvair (without rancour or enemy) is obvious enough as He has no sarik (rival). But the terms have other connotations, too. Nirbhau not only indicates fearlessness but also the absence of fearfulness. It also implies sovereignty and unquestioned exercise of Will. Similarly, nirvair implies, besides absence of enmity, the positive attributes of compassion and impartiality. Together the two terms mean that God loves His handiwork and is the Dispenser of impartial justice, dharam-niau. Guru Ram Das
, Nanak IV, says: "Why should we be afraid, with the True One being the judge. True is the True One's justice" (GG, 84).
God is Akal
Murat, the Eternal Being. The timelessness involved in the negative epithet akal has made it popular in Sikh tradition as one of the names of God, the Timeless One, as in Akal
Purakh or in the slogan Sat Sri Akal
(Satya Sri Akal). One of the most sacred shrines of the Sikhs is the Akal
Takhat, the Eternal Throne, at Amritsar
. Murat here does not mean form, figure, image or idol. Sikhism expressly forbids idolatry
or image-worship in any form. God is called Nirankar, the Formless One, although it is true that all forms are the manifestations of Nirankar. Bhai Gurdas
, the earliest expounder and the copyist of the original recension of Guru Granth Sahib, says: "Nirankar akaru hari joti sarup anup dikhaia (The Formless One having created form manifested His wondrous refulgence)" (Varan, XII. 17). Murat in the Mool Mantra, therefore, signifies verity or manifestation of the Timeless and Formless One.
God is Ajuni, un-incarnated, and saibhan (Sanskrit
svayambhu), Self-existent. The Primal Creator Himself had no creator. He simply is, has ever been and shall ever be by Himself. Ajuni also affirms the Sikh rejection of the theory of divine incarnation. Guru Arjan says: "Man misdirected by false belief indulges in falsehood; God is free from birth and death. . . May that mouth be scorched which says that God is incarnated" (GG, 1136). Nevertheless, there are verses in the Guru Granth Sahib that seem to support the teaching that God incarnated, on which the some Sanatan Sikhs call on, like:
ਜਗ ਅਉਰੁ ਨ ਯਾਹਿ ਮਹਾ ਤਮ ਮੈ ਅਵਤਾਰੁ ਉਜਾਗਰੁ ਆਨਿ ਕੀਅਉ ॥
jag aour n yaahi mehaa tham mai avathaar oujaagar aan keeao ||
In the great darkness of this world, the Lord revealed Himself, incarnated as Guru Arjun.
ਤਤੁ ਬਿਚਾਰੁ ਯਹੈ ਮਥੁਰਾ ਜਗ ਤਾਰਨ ਕਉ ਅਵਤਾਰੁ ਬਨਾਯਉ ॥
thath bichaar yehai mathhuraa jag thaaran ko avathaar banaayo ||
O Mat'huraa, consider this essential truth: to save the world, the Lord incarnated Himself.
(GG 1409)
The Mool Mantar ends with gurprasadi, meaning thereby that realization of God comes through Guru
's grace. In Sikh theology Guru appears in three different but allied connotations, viz. God, the ten Sikh Gurus
, and the gur-shabad or Guru's utterances as preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib. Of God's grace, Gurus' instruction and guidance and the scriptural Shabad (Sanskrit
sabda, literally 'Word'), the first is the most important, because, as nothing happens without God's will or pleasure, His grace is essential to making a person inclined towards a desire and search for union with Him.
God is thus depicted in three distinct aspects, viz. God in Himself, God in relation to creation, and God in relation to man. God by himself is the one Ultimate, Transcendent Reality, Nirguna (without attributes), Timeless, Boundless, Formless, Ever-existent, Immutable, Ineffable, All-by Himself and even Unknowable in His entirety. The only nomenclatures that can rightly be applied to Him in this state of sunn
(Sanskrit
, sunya or void) are Brahman
and Parbrahman (Sanskrit, Parbrahman) or the pronouns He and Thou. During a discourse with Siddha
s|Hindu recluses]], Guru Nanak in reply to a question as to where the Transcendent God was before the stage of creation replies, "To think of the Transcendent Lord in that state is to enter the realm of wonder. Even at that stage of sunn, he permeated all that Void" (GG, 940). This is the state of God's sunn samadhi, self-absorbed trance.
When it pleases God, He becomes sarguna (Sanskrit saguna, with attributes) and manifests Himself in creation. He becomes immanent in His created universe, which is His own emanation, an aspect of Himself. As says Guru Amar Das
, Nanak III, "This (so-called) poison, the world, that you see is God's picture; it is God's outline that we see" (GG, 922). Most names of God are His attributive, action-related signifiers, kirtam nam (GG, 1083) or karam nam (Dasam Granth
, Jaap Sahib
). God in the Sikh Scripture has been referred to by several names, picked from Indian and Semitic traditions. He is called in terms of human relations as father, mother, brother, relation, friend, lover, beloved, husband. Other names, expressive of His supremacy, are thakur, prabhu, svami, sah, patsah, sahib, sain (Lord, Master). Some traditional names are ram, narayan, govind, gopal, Allah, khuda. Even the negative terms such as nirankar, niranjan et al. are as much related to attributes as are the positive terms like data, datar, karta, kartar, dayal, kripal, qadir, karim, etc. Some terms peculiar to Sikhism are naam
(literally name), sabad (literally word) and Vahiguru (literally Wondrous Master). While nam and sabad are mystical terms standing for the Divine manifestation and are used as substitute terms for the Supreme Being, Vahiguru is a phrase expressing awe, wonder and ecstatic joy of the worshipper as he comprehends the immenseness and grandeur of the Lord and His Creation.
Immanence or All-pervasiveness of God, however, does not limit or in any way affect His transcendence. He is Transcendent and Immanent at the same time. The Creation is His lila or cosmic play. He enjoys it, pervades it, yet Himself remains unattached. Guru Arjan describes Him in several hymns as "Unattached and Unentangled in the midst of all" (GG, 102, 294, 296); and "Amidst all, yet outside of all, free from love and hate" (GG, 784-85). Creation is His manifestation, but, being conditioned by space and time, it provides only a partial and imperfect glimpse of the Timeless and Boundless Supreme Being.
That God is both Transcendent and Immanent does not mean that these are two phases of God one following the other. God is One, and He is both nirguna and sarguna. "Nirguna sargunu hari hari mera (God, my God is both with and without attributes)," sang Guru Arjan (GG, 98). Guru Amar Das
also had said, "Nirguna sarguna ape soi (He Himself is with as well as without attributes)" (GG, 128). Transcendence and Immanence are two aspects of the same Supreme Reality.
The Creator also sustains His Creation compassionately and benevolently. "My Lord is ever Fresh and ever Bountiful" (GG, 660); "He is the eradicator of the pain and sorrow of the humble" (GG, 263-64). The universe is created, sustained and moved according to His hukam
or Divine Will, and Divine purpose. "The inscrutable hukam is the source of all forms, all creatures. . . All are within the ambit of hukam; there is nothing outside of it." (GG, p. 1). Another principle that regulates the created beings is karma
(actions, deeds). Simply stated, it is the law of cause and effect. The popular dictum 'As one sows so shall one reap' is stressed again and again in the Guru Granth Sahib (GG, 134,176, 309, 316, 366, 706, 730).
The created world, though real, is not eternal. Whenever God desires, it merges back into His Timeless and Formless Self. Guru Gobind Singh calls this process of creation and dissolution udkarkh (Sanskrit utkarsana) and akarkh (Sanskrit akarsana), respectively: "Whenever you, O Creator, cause udkarkh (increase, expansion), the creation assumes the boundless body; whenever you effect akarkh (attraction, contraction), all corporeal existence merges in you" (Benati Chaupai). This process of creation and dissolution has been repeated God alone knows for how many times. A passage in the Sukhmani
by Guru Arjan visualizes the infinite field of creation thus:
Man, although an infinitesimal part of God's creation, yet stands apart from it insofar as it is the only species blessed with reflection, moral sense and potentiality for understanding matters metaphysical. Human birth is both a special privilege for the soul and a rare chance for the realization of union with God. Man is lord of earth, as Guru Arjan says, "Of all the eight million and four hundred thousand species, God conferred superiority on man" (GG, 1075), and "All other species are your (man's) water-bearers; you have hegemony over this earth" (GG, 374). But Guru also reminds that "now that you (the soul) have got a human body, this is your turn to unite with God" (GG, 12, 378). Guru Nanak had warned, "Listen, listen to my advice, O my mind! only good deed shall endure, and there may not be another chance" (GG, 154). So, realization of God and a reunion of atma
(soul) with paramatma (Supreme Soul, God) are the ultimate goals of human life. The achievement ultimately rests on nadar (God's grace), but man has to strive in order to deserve His grace. As a first step, he should have faith in and craving for the Lord. He should believe that God is near him, rather within his self, and not far away. He is to seek Him in his self.
Guru Nanak says: "Your beloved is close to you, O foolish bride! What are you searching outside?" (GG, 722), and Guru Amar Das
reassures: "Recognize yourself, O mind! You are the light manifest. Rejoice in Guru's instruction that God is always with (in) you. If you recognize your Self, you shall know the Lord and shall get the knowledge of life and death" (GG, 441). The knowledge of the infinitesimal nature of his self when compared to the immenseness of God and His creation would instil humility in man and would rid him of his ego (a sense of I, my and mine) which is "the greatest malady man suffers from" (GG, 466, 589, 1258) and the arch-enemy of nam or path to God-Realization (GG, 560). Having surrendered his ego and having an intense desire to reach his goal (the realization of Reality), the seeker under Guru's instruction (gurmati) becomes a gurmukh
or person looking guruward. He meditates upon nam or sabda, the Divine Word, while yet leading life as a householder, earning through honest labour, sharing his victuals with the needy, and performing self-abnegating deeds of service. Sikhism condemns ritualism. Worship of God consists of reciting gurbani or holy texts and meditation on nam, solitary or in sangat
or congregation, kirtan
or singing of scriptural hymns in praise of God, and ardas
or prayer in supplication.
"Blessing us with His Grace, the Kind and Compassionate All-powerful Lord comes to dwell within the mind and body. (Guru Granth Sahib Page 49)"
"The Cherisher Lord is so very merciful and wise; He is compassionate to all." (Guru Granth Sahib Page 249)
"The Lord is kind and compassionate to all beings and creatures; His Protecting Hand is over all." (Guru Granth Sahib Page 300)
"O Nanak, God has been kind and compassionate; He has blessed me. Removing pain and poverty, He has blended me with Himself." ||8||5|| (Guru Granth Sahib
Page 1311)
"Nanak is attuned to the Love of the Lord, whose Light pervades the entire Universe." (Guru Granth Sahib
Page 49)
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
, as symbolized by "Ik Onkar" (one God), a central tenet of Sikh philosophy. The fundamental belief of Sikhism is that God exists, indescribable yet knowable and perceivable to anyone who is prepared to dedicate the time and energy to become perceptive to their persona.
The Sikh gurus
Sikh Gurus
The Sikh Gurus established Sikhism from over the centuries beginning in the year 1469. Sikhism was founded by the first guru, Guru Nanak, and subsequently, all in order were referred to as "Nanak", and as "Lights", making their teachings in the holy scriptures, equivalent...
have described God in numerous ways in their hymns included in the Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
, the holy scripture of Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
, but the oneness of the deity is consistently emphasized throughout. God is described in the Mool Mantar, the first passage in the Guru Granth Sahib, and the basic formula of the faith is:
Guru Arjan, Nanak V, says, "God is beyond colour and form, yet His/Her presence is clearly visible" (GG, 74), and "Nanak's Lord transcends the world as well as the scriptures of the east and the west, and yet He/She is clearly manifest" (GG, 397).
Knowledge of the ultimate Reality is not a matter for reason; it comes by revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
of the ultimate reality through nadar (grace) and by anubhava (mystical experience). Says Guru Nanak, budhi pathi na paiai bahu chaturaiai bhai milai mani bhane which translates to "He/She is not accessible through intellect, or through mere scholarship or cleverness at argument; He/She is met, when He/She pleases, through devotion" (GG, 436).
Guru Nanak prefixed the numeral one (ik) to it, making it Ik Oankar or Ekankar to stress God's oneness. God is named and known only through his Own immanent nature. The only name which can be said to truly fit God's transcendent state
Transcendence (religion)
In religion transcendence refers to the aspect of God's nature which is wholly independent of the physical universe. This is contrasted with immanence where God is fully present in the physical world and thus accessible to creatures in various ways...
is Sat
Sat
Śat is a letter of the Ge'ez abugida, descended from South Arabian . It represents both a historical "s" and "ṯ" .-See also:*Ḍäppa *Śawt *Proto-Semitic*Shin...
(Sanskrit Satnam
Satnam
Satnam is the main word that appears in the Sikh sacred scripture called the Guru Granth Sahib. It is part of the Gurbani shabad called Mool Mantra which is repeated daily by all Sikhs. This word succeeds the word "Ek-onkar" which means "There is only one constant" or commonly "There is one God"....
, Truth), the changeless and timeless Reality. God is transcendent and all-pervasive at the same time. Transcendence and immanence
Immanence
Immanence refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence, in which the divine is seen to be manifested in or encompassing of the material world. It is often contrasted with theories of transcendence, in which the divine is seen to be outside the material world...
are two aspects of the same single Supreme Reality. The Reality is immanent in the entire creation, but the creation as a whole fails to contain God fully. As says Guru Tegh Bahadur, Nanak IX, "He has himself spread out His/Her Own “maya” (worldly illusion) which He oversees; many different forms He assumes in many colours, yet He stays independent of all" (GG, 537).
God is Karta Purakh, the Creator-Being. He created the spatial-temporal universe not from some pre-existing physical element, but from His/Her own Self. Universe is His own emanation. It is not maya
Maya (illusion)
Maya , in Indian religions, has multiple meanings, usually quoted as "illusion", centered on the fact that we do not experience the environment itself but rather a projection of it, created by us. Maya is the principal deity that manifests, perpetuates and governs the illusion and dream of duality...
(illusion), but is real (sat) because, as say Guru Arjan, “True is He and true is His/Her creation [because] all has emanated from God Himself” (GG 294).
But God is not identical with the universe. The latter exists and is contained in Him/Her and not vice versa. God is immanent in the created world, but is not limited by it. “Many times He expands Himself/Herself into such worlds but He ever remains the same One Ekankar" (GG, 276). Even at one time "there are hundreds of thousands of skies and nether regions" (GG, 5). Included in Sach Khand (Realm of Truth), the figurative abode of God, there are countless regions and universes" (GG, 8). Creation is "His/Her play which He witnesses, and when He rolls up the play, He is His/Her sole Self again" (GG, 292). He is the Creator, Sustainer and the Destroyer.
What is the Creator's purpose in creating the universe? It is not for man to inquire or judge the purpose of His Creator. To quote Guru Arjan again, "The created cannot have a measure of the Creator; what He wills, O Nanak, happens" (GG, 285). For the Sikhs, the Creation is His pleasure and play "When the showman beat His drum, the whole creation came out to witness the show; and when He puts aside his disguise, He rejoices in His original solitude" (GG, 174, 291, 655, 736).
Purakh added to Karta in the Mool Mantar is the Punjabi form of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
purusa, which literally means, besides man, male or person, "the primeval man as the soul and original source of the universe; the personal and animating principle; the supreme Being or Soul of the universe." Purakh in Mool Mantar is, therefore, none other than God the Creator. The term has nothing to do with the purusa of the Sankhya school of Indian philosophy where it is the spirit as a passive spectator of prakriti or creative force.
That God is nirbhau (without fear) and nirvair (without rancour or enemy) is obvious enough as He has no sarik (rival). But the terms have other connotations, too. Nirbhau not only indicates fearlessness but also the absence of fearfulness. It also implies sovereignty and unquestioned exercise of Will. Similarly, nirvair implies, besides absence of enmity, the positive attributes of compassion and impartiality. Together the two terms mean that God loves His handiwork and is the Dispenser of impartial justice, dharam-niau. Guru Ram Das
Guru Ram Das
Guru Ram Das was the fourth of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and was given the title of Sikh Guru on 30 August 1574.-Early life:Ram Das was born in Lahore, Punjab on 24 September 1534[1] to a Sodhi family of the Khatri clan. His father was Hari Das and his mother Anup Devi. His wife was Bibi Bhani,...
, Nanak IV, says: "Why should we be afraid, with the True One being the judge. True is the True One's justice" (GG, 84).
God is Akal
Akal
Akal literally timeless, immortal, non-temporal, is a term integral to Sikh tradition and philosophy. It is extensively used in the Dasam Granth hymns by Guru Gobind Singh, who titled one of his poetic compositions Akal Ustat; i.e., In Praise of the Timeless One . However, the concept of Akal...
Murat, the Eternal Being. The timelessness involved in the negative epithet akal has made it popular in Sikh tradition as one of the names of God, the Timeless One, as in Akal
Akal
Akal literally timeless, immortal, non-temporal, is a term integral to Sikh tradition and philosophy. It is extensively used in the Dasam Granth hymns by Guru Gobind Singh, who titled one of his poetic compositions Akal Ustat; i.e., In Praise of the Timeless One . However, the concept of Akal...
Purakh or in the slogan Sat Sri Akal
Akal
Akal literally timeless, immortal, non-temporal, is a term integral to Sikh tradition and philosophy. It is extensively used in the Dasam Granth hymns by Guru Gobind Singh, who titled one of his poetic compositions Akal Ustat; i.e., In Praise of the Timeless One . However, the concept of Akal...
(Satya Sri Akal). One of the most sacred shrines of the Sikhs is the Akal
Akal
Akal literally timeless, immortal, non-temporal, is a term integral to Sikh tradition and philosophy. It is extensively used in the Dasam Granth hymns by Guru Gobind Singh, who titled one of his poetic compositions Akal Ustat; i.e., In Praise of the Timeless One . However, the concept of Akal...
Takhat, the Eternal Throne, at Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
. Murat here does not mean form, figure, image or idol. Sikhism expressly forbids idolatry
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
or image-worship in any form. God is called Nirankar, the Formless One, although it is true that all forms are the manifestations of Nirankar. Bhai Gurdas
Bhai Gurdas
Bhai Gurdas was a Punjabi Sikh writer, historian, preacher and religious figure. He was the original scribe of the Guru Granth Sahib and a companion of four of the Sikh Gurus.-Early life:...
, the earliest expounder and the copyist of the original recension of Guru Granth Sahib, says: "Nirankar akaru hari joti sarup anup dikhaia (The Formless One having created form manifested His wondrous refulgence)" (Varan, XII. 17). Murat in the Mool Mantra, therefore, signifies verity or manifestation of the Timeless and Formless One.
God is Ajuni, un-incarnated, and saibhan (Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
svayambhu), Self-existent. The Primal Creator Himself had no creator. He simply is, has ever been and shall ever be by Himself. Ajuni also affirms the Sikh rejection of the theory of divine incarnation. Guru Arjan says: "Man misdirected by false belief indulges in falsehood; God is free from birth and death. . . May that mouth be scorched which says that God is incarnated" (GG, 1136). Nevertheless, there are verses in the Guru Granth Sahib that seem to support the teaching that God incarnated, on which the some Sanatan Sikhs call on, like:
ਜਗ ਅਉਰੁ ਨ ਯਾਹਿ ਮਹਾ ਤਮ ਮੈ ਅਵਤਾਰੁ ਉਜਾਗਰੁ ਆਨਿ ਕੀਅਉ ॥
jag aour n yaahi mehaa tham mai avathaar oujaagar aan keeao ||
In the great darkness of this world, the Lord revealed Himself, incarnated as Guru Arjun.
ਤਤੁ ਬਿਚਾਰੁ ਯਹੈ ਮਥੁਰਾ ਜਗ ਤਾਰਨ ਕਉ ਅਵਤਾਰੁ ਬਨਾਯਉ ॥
thath bichaar yehai mathhuraa jag thaaran ko avathaar banaayo ||
O Mat'huraa, consider this essential truth: to save the world, the Lord incarnated Himself.
(GG 1409)
The Mool Mantar ends with gurprasadi, meaning thereby that realization of God comes through Guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
's grace. In Sikh theology Guru appears in three different but allied connotations, viz. God, the ten Sikh Gurus
Sikh Gurus
The Sikh Gurus established Sikhism from over the centuries beginning in the year 1469. Sikhism was founded by the first guru, Guru Nanak, and subsequently, all in order were referred to as "Nanak", and as "Lights", making their teachings in the holy scriptures, equivalent...
, and the gur-shabad or Guru's utterances as preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib. Of God's grace, Gurus' instruction and guidance and the scriptural Shabad (Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
sabda, literally 'Word'), the first is the most important, because, as nothing happens without God's will or pleasure, His grace is essential to making a person inclined towards a desire and search for union with Him.
God is thus depicted in three distinct aspects, viz. God in Himself, God in relation to creation, and God in relation to man. God by himself is the one Ultimate, Transcendent Reality, Nirguna (without attributes), Timeless, Boundless, Formless, Ever-existent, Immutable, Ineffable, All-by Himself and even Unknowable in His entirety. The only nomenclatures that can rightly be applied to Him in this state of sunn
Sunn
Sunn Amplifiers, are a brand of musical instrument amplifiers.- History :In early 1963, the Kingsmen, a band based in the U.S. state of Oregon, became known for the song "Louie, Louie". After its hit single, the band soon embarked on a fifty-state national tour...
(Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, sunya or void) are Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
and Parbrahman (Sanskrit, Parbrahman) or the pronouns He and Thou. During a discourse with Siddha
Siddha
A Siddha सिद्ध in Sanskrit means "one who is accomplished" and refers to perfected masters who, according to Hindu belief, have transcended the ahamkara , have subdued their minds to be subservient to their Awareness, and have transformed their bodies into a different kind of body dominated by...
s|Hindu recluses]], Guru Nanak in reply to a question as to where the Transcendent God was before the stage of creation replies, "To think of the Transcendent Lord in that state is to enter the realm of wonder. Even at that stage of sunn, he permeated all that Void" (GG, 940). This is the state of God's sunn samadhi, self-absorbed trance.
When it pleases God, He becomes sarguna (Sanskrit saguna, with attributes) and manifests Himself in creation. He becomes immanent in His created universe, which is His own emanation, an aspect of Himself. As says Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and was given the title of Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552.-His life:...
, Nanak III, "This (so-called) poison, the world, that you see is God's picture; it is God's outline that we see" (GG, 922). Most names of God are His attributive, action-related signifiers, kirtam nam (GG, 1083) or karam nam (Dasam Granth
Dasam Granth
Dasven Patshah Da Granth or Dasam Granth , often called Sri Dasam Granth Sahib with respect, is a scripture of Sikhism, containing some of the texts attributed to 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Although the Dasam Granth is commonly confused with the Guru Granth Sahib, there is no overlap in...
, Jaap Sahib
Jaap Sahib
Jaap Sahib is the morning prayer of the Sikhs. The Prayer or Bani was composed by the tenth Sikh Master, Guru Gobind Singh. This Bani is one of 5 Banis that a Sikh must recite everyday and is recited by the Panj Pyare while preparing Amrit on the occasion of Amrit Sanchar , a ceremony held to admit...
). God in the Sikh Scripture has been referred to by several names, picked from Indian and Semitic traditions. He is called in terms of human relations as father, mother, brother, relation, friend, lover, beloved, husband. Other names, expressive of His supremacy, are thakur, prabhu, svami, sah, patsah, sahib, sain (Lord, Master). Some traditional names are ram, narayan, govind, gopal, Allah, khuda. Even the negative terms such as nirankar, niranjan et al. are as much related to attributes as are the positive terms like data, datar, karta, kartar, dayal, kripal, qadir, karim, etc. Some terms peculiar to Sikhism are naam
Naam
Nāma is the Sanskrit for "name". Spiritually, it is the principal method or tool of meditation, which is meant to unite the soul with the Supreme Soul....
(literally name), sabad (literally word) and Vahiguru (literally Wondrous Master). While nam and sabad are mystical terms standing for the Divine manifestation and are used as substitute terms for the Supreme Being, Vahiguru is a phrase expressing awe, wonder and ecstatic joy of the worshipper as he comprehends the immenseness and grandeur of the Lord and His Creation.
Immanence or All-pervasiveness of God, however, does not limit or in any way affect His transcendence. He is Transcendent and Immanent at the same time. The Creation is His lila or cosmic play. He enjoys it, pervades it, yet Himself remains unattached. Guru Arjan describes Him in several hymns as "Unattached and Unentangled in the midst of all" (GG, 102, 294, 296); and "Amidst all, yet outside of all, free from love and hate" (GG, 784-85). Creation is His manifestation, but, being conditioned by space and time, it provides only a partial and imperfect glimpse of the Timeless and Boundless Supreme Being.
That God is both Transcendent and Immanent does not mean that these are two phases of God one following the other. God is One, and He is both nirguna and sarguna. "Nirguna sargunu hari hari mera (God, my God is both with and without attributes)," sang Guru Arjan (GG, 98). Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and was given the title of Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552.-His life:...
also had said, "Nirguna sarguna ape soi (He Himself is with as well as without attributes)" (GG, 128). Transcendence and Immanence are two aspects of the same Supreme Reality.
The Creator also sustains His Creation compassionately and benevolently. "My Lord is ever Fresh and ever Bountiful" (GG, 660); "He is the eradicator of the pain and sorrow of the humble" (GG, 263-64). The universe is created, sustained and moved according to His hukam
Hukam
Hukam is a Punjabi word derived from the Arabic hukm, meaning "command" or "order." In God whose is referred to as Waheguru. It is by the command of Him that we are born and we die. In the Sikh Scripture, the founder of the religion, Guru Nanak says:...
or Divine Will, and Divine purpose. "The inscrutable hukam is the source of all forms, all creatures. . . All are within the ambit of hukam; there is nothing outside of it." (GG, p. 1). Another principle that regulates the created beings is karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
(actions, deeds). Simply stated, it is the law of cause and effect. The popular dictum 'As one sows so shall one reap' is stressed again and again in the Guru Granth Sahib (GG, 134,176, 309, 316, 366, 706, 730).
The created world, though real, is not eternal. Whenever God desires, it merges back into His Timeless and Formless Self. Guru Gobind Singh calls this process of creation and dissolution udkarkh (Sanskrit utkarsana) and akarkh (Sanskrit akarsana), respectively: "Whenever you, O Creator, cause udkarkh (increase, expansion), the creation assumes the boundless body; whenever you effect akarkh (attraction, contraction), all corporeal existence merges in you" (Benati Chaupai). This process of creation and dissolution has been repeated God alone knows for how many times. A passage in the Sukhmani
Sukhmani
Sukhmani Sahib is the name given to the set of hymns divided into 24 sections which appear in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Scriptures on page 262. Each section, which is called an Ashtpadi, consists of 8 hymns per Ashtpadi. The word Sukhmani literally means Peace in your mind...
by Guru Arjan visualizes the infinite field of creation thus:
Man, although an infinitesimal part of God's creation, yet stands apart from it insofar as it is the only species blessed with reflection, moral sense and potentiality for understanding matters metaphysical. Human birth is both a special privilege for the soul and a rare chance for the realization of union with God. Man is lord of earth, as Guru Arjan says, "Of all the eight million and four hundred thousand species, God conferred superiority on man" (GG, 1075), and "All other species are your (man's) water-bearers; you have hegemony over this earth" (GG, 374). But Guru also reminds that "now that you (the soul) have got a human body, this is your turn to unite with God" (GG, 12, 378). Guru Nanak had warned, "Listen, listen to my advice, O my mind! only good deed shall endure, and there may not be another chance" (GG, 154). So, realization of God and a reunion of atma
Atma
Atma may refer to:*Atman , in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions: the higher self.* Atma, a 2011 album by the band YobATMA may refer to:...
(soul) with paramatma (Supreme Soul, God) are the ultimate goals of human life. The achievement ultimately rests on nadar (God's grace), but man has to strive in order to deserve His grace. As a first step, he should have faith in and craving for the Lord. He should believe that God is near him, rather within his self, and not far away. He is to seek Him in his self.
Guru Nanak says: "Your beloved is close to you, O foolish bride! What are you searching outside?" (GG, 722), and Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and was given the title of Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552.-His life:...
reassures: "Recognize yourself, O mind! You are the light manifest. Rejoice in Guru's instruction that God is always with (in) you. If you recognize your Self, you shall know the Lord and shall get the knowledge of life and death" (GG, 441). The knowledge of the infinitesimal nature of his self when compared to the immenseness of God and His creation would instil humility in man and would rid him of his ego (a sense of I, my and mine) which is "the greatest malady man suffers from" (GG, 466, 589, 1258) and the arch-enemy of nam or path to God-Realization (GG, 560). Having surrendered his ego and having an intense desire to reach his goal (the realization of Reality), the seeker under Guru's instruction (gurmati) becomes a gurmukh
Gurmukh
Gurmukh is the practice of following the "ways of the Guru" instead and following your animal instincts and basic desires of the mind. The opposite of Gurmukh is Manmukh.-External links:*...
or person looking guruward. He meditates upon nam or sabda, the Divine Word, while yet leading life as a householder, earning through honest labour, sharing his victuals with the needy, and performing self-abnegating deeds of service. Sikhism condemns ritualism. Worship of God consists of reciting gurbani or holy texts and meditation on nam, solitary or in sangat
Sangat
Sangat is a Sikh term with its origin in the Sanskrit word 'sangh', which means company, fellowship and association. In Sikh vocabulary, the word has a special connotation. It stands for the body of men and women who meet religiously, especially in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib...
or congregation, kirtan
Kirtan
Kirtan or Kirtana is call-and-response chanting or "responsory" performed in India's devotional traditions. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tablas, the two-headed...
or singing of scriptural hymns in praise of God, and ardas
Ardas
The Ardās is a Sikh prayer that is done before performing or after undertaking any significant task; after reciting the daily Banis ; or completion of a service like the Paath , kirtan program or any other religious program. In Sikhism, these prayers are also said before and after eating...
or prayer in supplication.
Sikhism attributes to God
Below are the main qualities that Sikhism attributes to God:- Only God is worthy of worship and meditation at all times
- He is the Creator, Sustainer but also the Destroyer
- God is Compassionate and Kind
- With His Grace, He comes to dwell within the mind and body
"Blessing us with His Grace, the Kind and Compassionate All-powerful Lord comes to dwell within the mind and body. (Guru Granth Sahib Page 49)"
- He is merciful and wise
"The Cherisher Lord is so very merciful and wise; He is compassionate to all." (Guru Granth Sahib Page 249)
- He is the ultimate Protector of all beings
"The Lord is kind and compassionate to all beings and creatures; His Protecting Hand is over all." (Guru Granth Sahib Page 300)
- Only with His Will can pain, poverty, disease and hardships be removed from one's life.
"O Nanak, God has been kind and compassionate; He has blessed me. Removing pain and poverty, He has blended me with Himself." ||8||5|| (Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
Page 1311)
- God is everywhere
"Nanak is attuned to the Love of the Lord, whose Light pervades the entire Universe." (Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
Page 49)
See also
- Conceptions of GodConceptions of GodThe God of monotheism, pantheism or panentheism, or the supreme deity of henotheistic religions, may be conceived of in various degrees of abstraction:...
- GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
- Existence of GodExistence of GodArguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by philosophers, theologians, scientists, and others. In philosophical terms, arguments for and against the existence of God involve primarily the sub-disciplines of epistemology and ontology , but also of the theory of value, since...
- Names of GodNames of GodNames of God, or Holy Names, describe a form of addressing God present in liturgy or prayer of various world religions. Prayer involving the Holy Name or the Name of God has become established as common spiritual practice in both Western and Eastern spiritual practices...