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APPENDIX A
Appendix A cited in
Evaluating Dayanand's Views on Guru Nanak & the Sikhs
1. Guru Nanak’s
unique, revolutionary and liberating philosophy of universal humanism - love,
respect, justice and equality — is applicable for all. Sikhs and non-Sikhs
alike have written abundantly about him and on his philosophy in Punjabi,
English and some other languages. Regrettably, most if not all, is addressed in
a superficial, superfluous and contradictory manner-so much so that some
authors in the spirit of ignorance -- even exercised repudiation of Nanak’s
precious thoughts which are enshrined in the Aad Guru Granth Sahib (AGGS), the
only authentic source of the Nanakian philosophy (Gurmat).
2. To my knowledge Guru Nanak is the only one among the founders of major world religions, who wrote down his teachings. His immense contribution to the development of Punjabi language and literature has been eclipsed by his spiritual greatness and gone unnoticed by scholars. There is no evidence that before Guru Nanak there was any writer of prose or poetry in the Punjabi language. As a matter of fact Punjabi literature was nonexistent except for the small poetic composition (slokas) of Baba Sheikh Farid in Multani, a dialect of Punjabi. Guru Nanak is indeed the father of Punjabi poetry and literature. Before him it is fair to say that Punjabi was the spoken language of all Punjabis, except the Muslim elite (rulers and Ashrafs). He enriched the Punjabi language by adding words from Indian, Arabic, and Persian languages. He transformed the rustic Punjabi language to the language of philosophy and poetry by incorporating religious terminologies of other faiths and folklore and idiom of Punjab to expound his own thoughts. He was a poet par excellence. His poetry covers a wide spectrum of Punjabi dialects set in tunes of classical Indian musical modes of ragas and rhythms. No Punjabi poet has so far matched the beauty of his poetry, wide range of subjects he discussed, and his effectiveness and efficiency of use of words, idioms and metaphors.
Further during Guru Nanak’s time, Persian was the language of the rulers, (both Muslim elite and the government) while Sanskrit was the monopoly of Brahmans, the highest caste, who had exclusive right to teach, preach and study religion. The Punjabi Brahmans (priests) used Punjabi in daily life and Sanskrit only for conducting religious services.
Guru Nanak wanted to communicate his message in the languages of the populace. Therefore, he rejected Sanskrit and Persian languages and their scripts for expressing and writing his thoughts. He and his successor, Guru Angad constructed a new script, Gurmukhi, from existing crude scripts. According to recent research there are words of more than twenty-five languages in AGGS, which is written in verse form and its language is understandable to a large section of the Indian population.
God
It must be acknowledged at the outset that the concept of
“One God” was known long before Guru Nanak.
However, that “one God” idea is nothing more than a “tribal god.” In addition
to millions of gods/goddesses, Hindus also believe in a “God” who communicates
only through the Brahmans (highest caste) and then there is a “God” for the
chosen people, the Jews. The Christian “God” is approachable only through His
only son, Jesus Christ, whereas the Muslim God, Allah is accessible only
through Mohammed--Allah’s final Prophet in a long line of prophets. Muslims
claim that theirs’ is the only true prophetic religion. On the other hand Guru
Nanak proclaimed that the “One and Only” Entity, the Cause of all causes and
Source of all sources, That is manifest as the Cosmos, is beyond the scope of
Hindu and the Semitic texts. Guru Nanak fundamentally differs with earlier
religious traditions on the concept of God.
To refute the notion
of the exclusive nature of God or exclusive path to God and the coercion or
manipulation of others to follow that exclusive path, Guru Nanak emphasizes
very clearly again and again the infinite, ineffable and unfathomable nature of
God.
How many speak of God and how many are attempting to
describe It? How many have departed doing the same. If God were to create as
many more as already created; even then they would not be able to describe how
great God is. God is as great as It wants to be. O Nanak, the True One alone
knows Its greatness.
AGGS, Jap 26, p. 6.
If all the people get together even then after their
best efforts they can’t describe even an iota of God’s greatness. And then what
they say does no enhance or diminish God’s greatness.
AGGS, M 1, p. 349.
Mathematically/scientifically speaking, a finite entity
can’t define or estimate an infinite entity.
Neither the Vedas
(four Hindu texts) nor the four Katebas [Semitic texts: the Torah,
the Zabur (Psalms), the Injil (Gospel), and the Quran] know the
mystery (of the Creator of the Cosmos).
AGGS, M 1, p. 1021.
O baba (Sir), Allah is unreachable and infinite
(beyond human comprehension in totality). Sacred is Its name and sacred is Its
abode and It is eternal and cherisher of all. Pause. Even
the power of Its immutable Hukam (Cosmic Law) is indescribable, no one
could write it down. If hundred poets get together to try to
describe it, they could not describe even a tiny bit of it after racking
brains. Allah
does not consult anyone when It builds or destroys, or when It gives or takes
away. Allah alone knows Its qudrat (power and creation -- naturalism).
It alone is the Doer. It watches over all kindly and provides them
according to their needs.
AGGS, M 1, p. 53.
Summing up Guru
Nanak’s commentary on Vedas, Guru Angad declared unequivocally that:
It is the teachings of Vedas, which has created the concepts of sin and
virtue, hell and heaven, and karma and transmigration. One reaps the reward in
the next life for the deeds performed in this life -- goes to hell or heaven
according to one’s deeds. The Vedas have also created the fallacy of inequality
of caste and gender for the world.
AGGS, M 2, p. 1243.
Guru Nanak rejected the reincarnation of God, Hell and
Heaven, Karma and Transmigration, Varna Ashrama Dharma/Caste System and, the
Hindu and Muslim concepts of Soul and Salvation. Guru Nanak also rejected the
notion of miracles and denounced those who claim to posses supernatural powers
and perform miracles.
Further Guru Nanak
glorified and sang the praises of the “One and Only" Entity by proclaiming
that It is accessible(understandable) to all seekers of “Truth” irrespective of
their creed, caste, gender, color, ethnicity and geographical consideration. He
did not assign any specific gender or name to the Entity; he called It Gur (Enlightener),
Satgur (True Enlightener) or Nirankar (Formless One) or Kartar
(Creator) or Sach (Truth). And he used the prevalent Islamic names for Allah
and those used by the Hindus for their respective deities without any
distinction along with adding and addressing new names of his own. Besides,
most often in the AGGS, the Entity is described by Its attributes like --
Transcendent, Omnipotent, Merciful, Loving, Forgiving, Bounteous, Protector,
Emancipator, Infinite, Ineffable, Great, Almighty, Supreme Being, Master, King,
True King, Husband, Lover, Sabad (Knowledge), Naam (attributes of
God) or simply as True One, One or You or Oh meaning That or He/She. In
the opening verse of AGGS, Guru Nanak has given some of the attributes of the
“One and Only" Entity that constitute the foundation (creedal statement)
of his philosophy.
One and Only -- that
(is Infinite), known as Truth, Creator, Omnipresent, Sovereign and
Self-sufficient/Self-sustaining, without enmity/non-retributive, Timeless
Entity (unaffected by time), does not incarnate (beyond birth and death),
Self-existent (created by Itself), Enlightener and Bounteous.
AGGS, Opening Verse, p. 1.
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