Justice Choor Singh, Supreme Court, Singapore
The Sikh religion was founded by Guru Nanak
who was born in 1469 in the village of Talwandi, not far from Lahore. Today
named Nankana Sahib, out of respect for its most famous inhabitant, it lies in
Pakistan. Guru in the Sikh tradition means Enlightener. Thus a Guru is one who
delivers those who accept his teachings and discipline from darkness to
enlightenment, from samsara, the road of rebirth to moksha,
spiritual realisation and release.
Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
Sikhism began with the preaching of Guru Nanak. He laid
strong emphasis on the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Worship and
piety, he proclaimed, had no meaning if they failed to promote truthful conduct
and compassion for the less fortunate. He inculcated love and devotion, the
repetition of God’s name and the lesson that as men sow so shall they reap.
Guru Nanak based his right to teach on his personal
experience of a command(hukum) received directly from God.
The new religion founded by Guru Nanak was nurtured by nine
other Gurus who succeeded him in the holy office of Guruship.
The period of Guru Nanak’s ministry was that of the education
and enlightenment of the people. Guru Nanak broke the first sod and cleared the
ground for the building of a national character of the Sikhs. It was reserved
for his successors to give them the lessons in obedience, service,
self-sacrifice and other national virtues, with the final touch of perfection by
the last prophet, the warrior saint Guru Gobind Singh, who by founding the
Khalsa created a new martial race with a distinct identity, which in time became
a nation of warriors and conquered the whole of North India. It is most
fortunate that the teachings of the Sikh Gurus are preserved in their original
form in their scripture.
Guru Nanak Devji
The scripture of the Sikhs is contained in a 1430 page Volume
called “Sri Guru Granth Sahib”. It is also sometimes referred to as the “Adi
Granth” (first book). It is the Holy Bible of the Sikhs. It contains a
collection of the writings of their Gurus and some other Bhagats
(saints).
The Granth Sahib contains the compositions of the first five
Gurus, Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan, and of
Guru Teg Bahadur (the ninth Guru), a couplet of Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth
Guru), panegyrics of bards who attended on the Gurus or admired their
characters, and hymns of medieval Indian saints. The cardinal principle of the
Gurus and Bhagats whose writings find a place in the sacred book of the Sikhs is
the unity of God. This is everywhere inculcated in the Sikh sacred writings with
ample and perhaps not unnecessary reiteration, considering the forces Sikhism
had to contend with in an age of ignorance and superstition.
The origin of the Granth Sahib lies in the hymns of Guru
Nanak, the first Guru of the Sikhs. He was succeeded to the office of Guruship
by nine other Gurus. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last living Guru of the
Sikhs, ordained that after his death the Granth Sahib shall be the Guru of the
Sikhs. He installed the Granth Sahib as his successor and this conferred
Guruship on the scripture. The recognition which the Tenth Guru gave the
scripture made de jure what was in a sense already de facto.
Golden Temple and Sri Akal Takhat
Sahib - Amritsar
Both gurus and Granth Sahib deserve the respect which they
are accorded because of the Gurbani which they express, the word of
divine truth. Even Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru who compiled the Granth Sahib
bowed before the collection which he had compiled and installed in the newly
built Darbar Sahib(the Golden Temple) in 1604, for he was acknowledging the
higher authority of the Gurbani to that of personal importance and
significance which he possessed as Guru.
In the hymns of the Gurus, Nirvan, or absorption in
God , is proposed as the supreme object of human attainment.
Contrary to the practice of the ancient Indian ascetics, the
Gurus held that a man might obtain eternal happiness without forsaking his
ordinary worldly duties. All the Gurus and the Bhagats whose writings find a
place in the Granth Sahib emphasise that reunion with the Absolute should be the
supreme object of all Sikh devotion and aspirations.
The hymns of the Gurus and the saints are not arranged in the
holy volume according to their authors, but according to the thirty-one Rags
or musical measures to which they are composed. The Gurus whose compositions
appear in the Granth Sahib adopted the name of Nanak as their nom de plume,
and their compositions are distinguished by Mahallas or quarters. The
Granth Sahib is likened to a city and the hymns of each Guru to a ward or
division of it. Thus, the compositions of Guru Nanak are styled Mahalla one,
that is, the first ward; the compositions of Guru Angad the second ward, and so
on. After the hymns of the Gurus are found the hymns of the Bhagats under
their several musical measures.
The pride of place in the Granth Sahib is given to the Japji
of Guru Nanak. It is one of his most famous and soul stirring compositions. The
Japji commences with the Mool Mantar which also prefaces many other hymns
in the Granth Sahib. The Mool Mantar is the basic belief or the
fundamental doctrine of the Sikh faith.
The Mool Mantar defies translation. The following is a
mere paraphrase:
“There is one God
Eternal truth is His name
Creator of all things and the all-pervading spirit
Without fear and without enmity
Timeless and formless
Beyond birth and death
Self enlightened
By His grace
Thou shall worship Him.”
The finale to the Japji is an Epilogue (Stokas).
“Air, water and earth, of these are made
Air, like the Guru’s word gives the breath of life
To the babe born to the great mother earth.
Sired by the waters Day and night our nurses be
That watch us in our infancy.
In their laps we play, the world is our playground.
Our acts, right and wrong, at Thy court shall come to
judgement
Some shall be seated near Thy seat,
Some shall ever be kept distant The toils have ended of
those
that have worshipped Thee O’Nanak, their faces are lit
with joyful radiance
Many others they set free”
The epilogue is just as important as the Mool Mantar
in Sikh worship as it is recited on almost all occasions and precedes the formal
prayer (Ardas).
The Granth Sahib was compiled by Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru.
He collected the hymns of his preceding Gurus. Some of the writings of the
Guru’s immediate predecessors called Bhagats or Saints are also preserved
in the Granth Sahib collected by Guru Arjan. He selected for inclusion therein,
with equal impartiality, the writings of both Hindus and Muslims, as they suited
his purpose and contributed to the great cause of religious reformation.
Guru Arjan’s own immense contribution of 2,218 hymns in the
Granth Sahib must not be lost sight of. He was a great poet and his most famous
composition is undoubtedly the Sukhmuni. It is one of the greatest
spiritual masterpieces ever written. It is completely multi-faith. It advocates
no special spiritual path - only that we must try and find the presence of God
within ourselves. It was written for the benefit of all people - particularly
the heavy laden and those who have lost hope. Those who are depressed will find
within it hope and a new outlook on their adverse situation. It should be read
with an open mind, with understanding, sincerity and humility. It restores peace
of mind. No wonder it has been called “The Psalm of Peace”.
In the Sukhmani of Guru Arjan is the hymn Too
Thakur Tum Pah Ardas which is sung by a Sikh congregation before the
Ardas (the formal prayer or supplication) (AG 268).
Thou art the Lord; to thee I pray
My body and soul are Thy property.
Thou art Mother and Father, We are Thy children!
We draw manifold blessings from Thy grace.
No one knows thine extent;
O God, Thou art the most exalted of the exalted.
All creation is strung on Thy string,
And must obey all orders that come from Thee.
Only Thou alone knowest Thy condition and extent.
Nanak, Thy slave is ever a sacrifice unto Thee.
Sometimes concern has been expressed that the treatment of
their scripture by the Sikhs is so excessively reverential that it amounts to
idol worship. This is not so. When a Sikh prostrates before the Granth Sahib he
does so in reverence to the Gurbani (the divine scripture) that it
contains and not to the physical form of the book. It is the scripture, the
Gurshabad (divine word or instruction), the eternal Guru of Sikhs, which
they respect and cherish in the same way and to the same extent as their ten
living Gurus were reverenced by the Sikhs of the day. It is the Gurshabad
which is the reigning Guru of the Sikhs. In every respect the scripture is what
the Guru were. The Ten Gurus were not worshipped; neither is the Book even
though the worshipper bows or prostrates fully before it. The Sikhs worship God
alone and nothing else. The Granth Sahib is the basis and not the object of
worship; its true worth lies in its teachings, not in its physical form or
presence.
The Granth Sahib is the sacred book of the Sikhs and from it
they obtain consolation, joy and encouragement. It forms the basis of their
meditation, understanding of God and world outlook. To a Sikh his Gurbani
is God. Guru Armadas has said: (AG 39)
The Gurbani is God himself and it is through it that
man obtains union with God.
Guru Ram Das expressed the same thought in slightly different
words: (AG 1239)
The Gurbani is the Lord’s name and this name I
enshrine in my mind.
The compiler of the Adi Granth, Guru Arjan said: (AG 1226)
The holy book is the abode of God.
