Sacred Texts

Guru Nanak founded the Sikh faith when God spoke to him and told him that Nanak holds the power of His name. Guru Nanak traveled throughout the land and taught that religion is all one, an attempt to understand God. Guru Nanak sang hymns and gathered followers of his composite faith. These hymns and teachings were passed along by word of mouth until the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan, collected the works into a single book. The Adi Granth was needed because confusion was arising as to the authenticity of certain hymns. The Adi Granth also is a compilation of works from many other religions. Sikhism is a religion of acceptance. They believe that God is too great for the multiple divisions and small differences amongst religions to matter. To them, it is far more important to simply practice a religion than it is to worry about petty differences. The Adi Granth is compiled according to who wrote it (With Guru Nanak being Mahalla 1), a title, and the type of hymn or the musical scale. It was translated from Sanskrit, and could have some possible translational and interpretable issues just like every other faith, but the English version of the Adi Granth seems to be relatively explicit in the message it is sending.

When Guru Gobind Singh chose the Adi Granth as his successor, the Adi Granth became the last of the Gurus. It embodies all of the Gurus, and is treated as a living soul, a divine, spiritually active being just like all the other Gurus. It is now known as the Guru Granth Sahib, and is very important to the Sikh faith. This is actually somewhat incorrect, as the actual book is no more important to the Sikhs than any other worldly possession. It is only the meaning captured by the book that is truly important. Ritualistic reading from the Adi Granth is meaningless without the name of God or if it is conducted for ritualistic reasons, without spiritual backing. As Guru Nanak once stated: “The only temple that matters is inside one’s self.”

1) "Burnt be the mouth that asserts, the Lord takes birth. He is neither born nor dies; neither enters birth nor departs. All pervasive is Nanaks Lord." (Guru Arjan Dev, Raga Bhairon)

This text is written by Guru Arjan Dev. It is a comment on the beliefs of many other faiths. Many religions including western Abraham based religions believe God took human form in Jesus and personify him in their minds as a human-like being with exceptional powers. Sikhism rejects these claims that God is anything like humans. They believe God is incomprehensible, and so beyond our realm of thought that we cannot and should not try to imagine Him until we have achieved an understanding of complete unity in the world. God cannot take human form in Sikhism, he is the essence of spirituality and he is within and is everything. It is the goal of humans to find this connection, and see it for how it really is. This text could very well be a direct response to western religion and their view on Jesus. Although it seems that in general, Sikhs are a very accepting people and eager to learn about the contributions other religions offer, this is one quote that seems almost hostile to me, out of place in the Adi Granth. It is odd to me that this quote appears, especially from a Guru, which leads me to believe that maybe it there was an issue in translation, or I am interpreting it wrong.

2) "I shall merge in the Lord like the water in the sea and the wave in the stream. The soul will merge in God and like air I shall look upon all alike. Then why shall I come again? The coming and going is under the Will of the Lord and Realising This Will, I shall merge in the Lord" (Bhagat Kabir, Maru)

This is a text by Bhagat Kabir, an Indian weaver and poet that harmonized Hinduism and Islam in the late 1400’s. He accepted many pieces of both faiths and dismissed what he felt unnecessary or unworthy. His work was collected in the original formation of the Adi Granth, and he had a large influence on Sikhism. He and his followers contemplated over and the articulated hymns such as this one as a path towards spiritual awakening. This hymn talks about the unity sought in Sikhism. It talks about merging with the Lord, a concept that Sikhs adopt and base their faith off of. The ultimate conceptualization of God is to become one with Him. Upon the discovery of this connection and the true and full understanding, one is said to have achieved mukti.

3) "Only fools argue whether to eat meat or not. They don't understand truth nor do they meditate on it. Who can define what is meat and what is plant? Who knows where the sin lies, being a vegetarian or a non vegetarian?" (Guru Nanak, Var Malar)

This is another commentary on the popular subject of rituals by Guru Nanak. He is stating that the simple act of practicing blind rituals is not productive to attaining spiritual unity with God. He is also commenting on the strict laws of many other religions about eating meat. Guru Nanak postulates that nobody really knows the true meaning or will of God, and that no person is in any position to judge the will of God and the sin of another human. This argument seems very valid to me not only from his perspective but also from those of the religions of which he speaks. If they know so well what God’s will and intent is, why are they still stuck in samsara? How is it that any person can be so sure of God’s will unless they are Him?