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Interfaith Dialogue and the Aad Guru Granth Sahib 1
This article is about the ecumenical nature
of Sikh faith as demonstrated by the AGGS, which includes the works of Indian
sages of diverse backgrounds: Bhagats
(saint) and Sufis. However, it contains
controversial statements and misinterpretation of Gurbani and Bhai Gurdas’ composition.
1. On page 6: “The holy city of Amritsar was founded four centuries
ago to overcome the conflict among various religions and between heaven and
earth, the sacred and the secular.”
First, what was the conflict between heaven
and earth four centuries ago? Besides, Gurmat rejects the concept of heaven.
Second, the founders didn’t name the
city, Amritsar; rather it acquired this name gradually after the compilation of
Adi Granth in 1604. Here is a brief history of the development of Amritsar.
Guru Amar Das purchased the land from the
villages of Tung Gumtala and Sultanwind in 1564 and directed his son-in-law,
Bhai Jetha (Guru Ram Das), to set up a town there. He first dug up a pool and then
established the town in 1574, named it Guru Da Chak. Later, Guru Arjan renamed
it as Ramdaspura in 1581. The pool was lined with bricks and a congregation
hall (kotha) was constructed. In
1604, Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth (Pothi)
and installed it in the congregation hall. Slowly, the congregation hall
acquired the name Harimandar/Darbar Sahib (God’s Temple). The Adi Granth was
regarded as amritsar “pool of the
nectar of Naam).” Gradually, the name
of the city also got changed from Ramdaspura to Amritsar.2
2. On page 7: “Guru Nanak tells in the AGGS that one is born with
innate tendency to seek four life objectives. But soon after birth, one finds
oneself trapped in the house of Maya,
the great illusion of a Pseudo-self. So blinded, one misses the objective and
is lead away from Reality.”
Humans are born with an inborn drive to
secure four life objectives (dharam,
arth, kam and mokh): thus they start living within the walls of Maya (illusion). In addition, as they
are blinded by darkness of Maya, they
forget about [nomenon NAAM] and lose contact with the cosmic Creative Self
leading to defeat in the purpose of this life.
First,
of the four only kam (sexual drive)
and arth (economic drive, the need
for material goods for survival) are innate, the other two, dharam (religious duties), and mokh (salvation) are man-made, the products of the environmental influence under
which a person grows up.
Second,
Maya (material world) is not illusion
according to Nanakian philosophy.3 For the Gurus, the world is real,
not illusion and their emphasis is on the authenticity of life – becoming a gurmukh leading to union with the
Creator.
Liberation
(mukti) from ignorance and falsehood and
union with God is possible while performing worldly duties, fulfilling worldly
needs and enjoying worldly pleasures:
According
to Nanakian philosophy, Maya is the corrupting influence of the world that
alienates humankind from God. Whosoever is afflicted by duality is the slave of
Maya. Intoxicated with Maya one is vain and mean, thereby getting away from
God. Maya is that which causes humans to forget God through attachment.
Maya
is Haumai and its
progeny of five: Kam (lust,
sexual drive), Kroadh (anger), Lobh
(covetousness, economic drive), Moh (attachment) and Ahankar (pride with arrogance). The five
drives/instincts are responsible for the corruption of morals and the
development of criminal behavior. Behind all human problems from individual
suffering to bloody international conflicts is the invisible fire of Haumai fueled by
these five elements. That is why in the AGGS the Gurus warn us not to yield to
the pressure/temptations of - Kam, Kroadh, Lobh, Moh and Ahankar, and to live a life of restraint and modesty:
Third, Lal’s interpretation of verses is Brahmnical, and thus not
consistent with Nanakian philosophy (Gurmat). Here Guru Nanak is commenting on
the four Brahminical objectives of human life. The desire to achieve these four
objectives leads to entanglement with Maya,
which causes alienation from God. The primary objective of human life
according to Nanakian philosophy is union with God. Furthermore, the concept of
mokh or mukti (salvation) is also different in Nanakian philosophy.
3. On page 7, Prof. Lal
interpreted incorrectly the following two verses of Bahi Gurdas.
The interpretation of the first verse does not match the verse, as
there is no mention of sexually intoxicated female elephant in it. In this
verse, Bhai Gurdas has described the moral degradation of the society of his
time:
The second verse is also about the moral degradation of society. The
problem was not the lack of respect for the deities as interpreted by Lal, but
the absence of morality -- alienation from the “Real Deity,” God. And, ooch neech means good and bad. Hence
this verse should be interpreted as:
4. On page 11, Lal says that Bhai Bala was a
life long companion of Guru Nanak.
This is a false and misleading statement, as Bhai Bala was not
associated with Guru Nanak. Generally, Lal quotes Bhai Gurdas’ works abundantly
in his writings. However, he has ignored the eleventh Var (ballad) wherein Bhai Gurdas has listed the names of prominent
Sikhs. While the name of Bhai Mardana occurs near the top, there is no mention
of Bhai Bala.4 Hardly a surprise, as the name of Bhai Bala is not
mentioned in other Janamsakhis
(biographies) of Guru Nanak. Most historians agree that “Bhai Bala Janamsakhi” is the work of Hindalis5
(also known as Niranjanis), who were the bitter enemies of Sikhs.6
This sect played an active role, along with other Hindus, in the extermination
of Sikhs during the time of Zakaria (Zakariya) Khan and his Diwan (minister) Lakhpat Rai.6
Therefore, Bhai Bala was either a member of the Hindali sect, or a fictitious
character and not a companion of Guru Nanak as claimed by Lal.
References
1. H. Lal. “Interfaith
Dialogue And The Aad Guru Granth Sahib.” Understanding
Sikhism Res. J, 2001. 3(2), pp. 6-13.
2. Giani Sher Singh. “Meaning of ‘Amritsar’ and ‘Ishnan’ (bathing) in
Gurbani and their ritualistic misinterpretation.” The Spokesman (monthly), May 2001, p. 17.
3.
Daljeet Singh. Sikhism: A Comparative
Study of its Theology and Mysticism. Amritsar: Singh Brothers, 2nd ed.,
1994, pp. 186, 206-208.
4.
Bahi Gurdas. Varan Bhai Gurdas
(Punjabi). Amritsar: Jawahar Singh Kirpal Singh and Co., 1976 ed., pp. 90-102.
5.
W.H. McLeod. Guru Nanak and the Sikh
Religion. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 22-24.
6.
Sangat Singh. The Sikhs in History.
New Delhi: Uncommon Books, 4th ed., 2001, pp. 96-98, 100-101.
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