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Guru Nanak's Japu ji
– Part II –
Dr G S Randhawa
EGO (Haumai)
Haumai or ego lends itself to a very interesting study in Sikhism. It is a firm belief with all the major faiths in the world that Man's segregation from the Universal Soul resulted in giving him a distinct individuation. The Sufis hold this individuation, which is but another name for man's very existence (hasti), responsible for all his woes on earth. They, therefore, decry life and claim that, but for this existence on the terra-firma, man would have been part and parcel of the Universal Soul, i.e., the Divine Spirit.24
The Sufis denounced life (hasti) to such an extent that at one point Sheikh Farid, one of the foremost of them, bemoans:
O Farid, the day my naval-cord was cut,
Had, but my throat too been slashed,
I would then not have had to suffer so many afflictions,
And would have been spared so much agony.25
The Sikh Gurus, however, do not subscribe to such a view of life as this. The fifth Nanak, the compiler of the Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth, far from subscribing to such a negative view, rebuts it when he says: O Farid, this world is a beautiful garden,
Though it has some prickly briars too.
Yet, one blessed by an enlightened guide,
May steer quite clear of these.26
Sikh thought, thus, does not decry life. Instead, it pleads for a fuller involvement in it; and at the same time cautions Man against losing his balance and sight of a higher purpose in life and indulging in baser animal pleasures. It takes note of two facets of the concept of ego (haumai)—the life-promoting and the life-debasing. The first facet manifests itself in Man asserting his individuality towards a nobler end; and the other in succumbing to his morbid passions; and thus being susceptible to all that is demeaning and degenerating. Sikhism has all the use for the former, but altogether decries the latter.
Yet, it does not require much probing to discover that much of the progress in human thought and action in world history has been on account of individuals who, in response to an irresistible call from within, took it upon themselves to influence, shape and divert human energy and thought on to a certain higher end. Certainly, this could not have been possible unless these leaders of human thought and action had not had the potential and the will to project themselves and impose their will on others. What could it be if not a highly assertive projection of their selves with a very live, healthy and vigorous ego. This sort of an ego is life-promoting. It does not render its holder a 'pariah'. If anything, society is richer for the assertion of the irrepressible ego of such people.
On the other hand, total suppression of ego or self in man would mean a negation of all that is assertive, innovative and dynamic in the human spirit. An individual with such a suppressed ego would lack the will and confidence for self-assertion. He would be in no position to contribute anything worthwhile towards his personal or social good; and would, at best, be something in the nature of a 'living vegetable'.
It is also interesting to observe that all human action is goaded by two animal instincts inherent in man's very being: sex and pugnacity. Pugnacity is fighting or combative instinct, which goads man to strive, to excel over others as also to face situations and accept challenges around him. Now, one is too well aware that most of world's conflicts on individual, communal or international plane have been there because of these two driving forces, which when given free-play, have led to jealousies, conflicts, wars, destruction and bloodshed. Yet, when held in check and sublimated, these have given birth to man's finest, achievements in art, painting, sculpture, scientific discovery and even in the emergence and propagation of new faiths and ideologies.
However, when haumai or ego, which is an expression of these two instincts is not bridled and channelised into a higher purpose, it tends to sink into a degenerative process and makes man self-loving, conceited, unduly ambitious, exploitative and even aggressive. This is the life-debasing or morbid ego. It is somewhat of this state that the two dicta in the New Testament refer to:
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abashed; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
(St. Luke, 14:11)
The above-mentioned two facets of Man's ego — a healthy or life-promoting one and the debasing or the morbid sort — help us to understand a paradoxical dictum of the second Nanak, Guru Angad. This states that haumai is a chronic malady; and yet its cure too lies within its own self.27 What the Guru seems to stress, is that unhealthy haumai or self-love or self-centredness leads to denial of God, of His Will, and of all that flows from the Lord's boundless love and benevolence. This causes man's further alienation from his Creator. Such an ego-centric person (manmukh) lives in a world of his own. He thinks of his own self only, and of his own advancement in a ruthless race for personal satisfaction and advancement in every sphere. He raises a wall between himself and others and even between himself and his Creator; and therefore turns oblivious of the feelings and interests of others. He, thus, not only distances himself from his fellow-beings but also from his Supreme Master.
Such a person has no inhibitions in his dealings with others and is prone to unbridled indulgence in the five traditional vices which flow from his two basic instincts 'sex and pugnacity'. These vices are traditionally believed to be: lust (kam), anger (krodh), greed (lobh), infatuation (moh) and arrogance (ahamkar). The manmukh or ego-centric individual mars his own peace and spiritual health as also the peace and harmony of others. Rather than promote the peace, progress and moral well-being of the society, such an individual becomes a malignant element. Like a lower animal he unhesitatingly caters to his baser corporeal instincts and remains oblivious of the questionings and calls of reason. In fact, mentally and spiritually he remains un-evolved. This is how the materialistic and animalistic ego, if not channelised properly, becomes a malignant affliction.
Haumai or ego is however not an unmitigated evil, for its cure also lies within haumai itself, i.e., in its sublimation, or in subduing the life-debasing ego. Once the morbid ego is curbed and harnessed, its healthier counterpart automatically receives an impetus and improves the very quality of man's moral and spiritual life. This can, however, be brought about by man becoming God-conscious. As one sheds one's baser self, the higher traits find environment conducive to the evolution of a nobler and more purposeful life.
Man, thus, has to be God-centred (gurmukh) rather than be self-centred (manmukh). The need is for an individual to consciously surrender himself to the Divine Will and seek in the Lord's Will a nobler purpose of life. This would ensure a 'sublimation' of the self-same ego, and its diversion and harnessing for individual amelioration and social good. It is, no doubt, likely to prove to be a prelude to experiencing once again that bliss, which Man stands bereft of, because of his segregation from his Real Self—from a life in close communion with the Supreme Master, Man's Sole Creator. To recall a savant, Samuel Rutherford, 'We are as near to Heaven (that man has lost) as we are far from self and far from the love of sinful world'. Confucius makes it even more explicit when he says, 'Heaven means to be one with God'. Yet another statement reads, 'Heaven is (nothing) but the presence of God'.
The Divine Order or Will
On the spiritual plane thus the only method for getting rid of haumai or morbid ego is to perceive and abide by hukam or Divine Will. Hukam originally an Arabic and Quranic expression for command, and raza (will), both connote the same thing. That is why both have been used conjointly in the first stanza as hukam razai chalana. There is yet another word bearing the same semantic import as 'Will'. This is bhana of the Punjabi idiom. Bhana, raza or Will is, in fact, a manifestation of the Divine Order. Appearing in the Japu ji in stanzas VI and XXV, it connotes both Will and Order (hukam). The Guru views hukam as the Divine Order that governs all Cosmos.
Hukam implies that life and all other goings-on in the Universe, no less than in the life of every individual, are ruled by 'order' and not by 'accident'; by 'law' and not by 'chance'; by 'intelligence' and not by 'blind purposelessness'. In fact, there is a benign intelligent direction behind all phenomena of life and things in the Cosmos. In fact, Guru considers hukam to be the motive force behind creation, sustenance and disintegration of Man and the Universe:
All that is, is in His Will;
Beyond His Will doth abide nil.27
(II. 5)
And in the next stanza he stresses this point again and touches upon yet another chord which lends some insight into the purpose behind the Divine Order:
Lord's Will directs His Dispensation Divine,
The Imperturbable One watches it in His Grace Benign.28 (III. 13-14)
The allusion, nodoubt, is to His lila (or handiwork), which He views unperturbed and in Bliss Sublime. In these and other verses, Gum Nanak insists upon implicit faith in the Divine Will. Such a faith ties man to the feet of the Lord and fills the human heart with His love. With love and faith in the Lord's Will firmly lodged in the human heart, chaos and confusion, accident and chance, as also pain and suffering in human life become only casual experiences, and not 'durable realities'. The mind views all things in the light of that which is Universal and Absolute. Speaking precisely, it is love for the Lord that expels all misery from the human heart and makes it an abode of serene bliss. In the ultimate analysis of things, it is the right receptivity of the human spirit to welcome and imbibe the Divine Will and thus pave the way for the Light of the Lord to settle therein, that determines the stage to be attained by the human spirit, for –
Mighty emperors with dominions vaster than the seas,
Holding mounds of wealth besides,
Match not, O Master, the puny ant,
Whose heart nurtures an iota of Thy Love.29 (XXIII. 3-4)
Guru Nanak concedes the ineffability of the Divine Order; yet he sets out to describe, in quite a few stanzas (XVI-XIX, XXII-XXVII), the limitlessness and the astounding variety of the Lord's creation and His inscrutable providence. This is only to help promote that feeling of visrnad, or wonderment and ecstasy which helps man to advance closer to the 'Beatific Vision'. It is like preparing the ground for the ultimate object of union with the Lord — a goal that has in all ages goaded and inspired man and has been the most cherished yearning of his soul.
Total surrender to God's Will or implicit faith in the Divine Dispensation helps resolve that conflict which man sometimes experiences, when a thing that happens, turns to be at variance with his cherished goal. In such a state, a person who surrenders to God's Will begins to deem himself an instrument of the Divine Will. He begins to realize that whatever befalls him comes from the Creator and hence is for his good.
'Affliction is not sent in vain from the compassionate God who chastens those that whom loves', says Robert Southey, a nineteenth century poet. Likewise, a Jewish savant, Rabbi Eleazer Ben Jacob vouchsafes that 'when sufferings come upon him, man must utter thanks to God, for suffering draws man near unto the Holy One'. Besides, 'strength', they say, 'is born in deep silence of suffering hearts'. This being the case the inner conflicts, then, tend to get resolved and even when things go contrary to man's cherished goals, he still views these as welcome tokens of the Divine Dispensation. The Japu Ji refers to this state in one of its verses thus:
Numberless others writhe in hunger and pain.
Bountiful Lord, in Thy Cosmic plan,
Even his tribulations, indeed, are boons for man.30
Free Will and Determinism
Conceded, that God's hukam or Will directs the Divine Dispensation, a question arises, as to how far Man is free to act; and to what extent is he merely a helpless and passive spectator of the human panorama? This question has moral, religious and social dimensions and frequently crops up before thinkers and expounders of religious faiths. Guru Nanak has also expressed himself on this score at two points in the Japu ji and at several other places in the rest of the Holy Scripture. The two references in the Japu ji are:
Abide ye, O Nanak, by the Divine Will,
Ordained, as it is, in thy being.31 (I. 6)
In words it is, we converse and scribe.
In words do Ye ordain our destiny.32 (XIX 6-7)
Of his numerous utterances elsewhere, in the Holy Scripture the following two may suffice:
As is ordained the destiny of man,
So shall he receive his meed.33
Destiny that has been ordained by the Lord,
O dear me, may never never be altered.34
On the face of it, these may lead one to the conclusion that Guru Nanak is out and out for what they in philosophy call Determinism. Determinism in philosophy implies that, given certain initial conditions, everything that happens is bound to occur as it does, and in no other possible way. Thus nothing in nature is contingent; nor is there any scope for freedom of thought or action for man. Those believing in or rather those resigned to inflexible determinism hold that none of our actions are free, but only appear to be so. Consequently, moral responsibility is an illusion. On the other hand, soft determinists believe that while our actions are indeed caused, we are nevertheless free; since causality does not compel our will.
Against the background of the verses quoted above which seem to affirm the Doctrine of Determinism, the following from the Japu Ji are significant:
Such as be our actions, such a meed shall we take.35 (XX. 8)
At the Lord's Court shall man's deeds
be judged aright,
According as their nature be;
Some shall draw closer to Him;
While others farther recede.36 (Concluding Sloka, V. 3)
These and a number of other verses, found in the Sikh Scripture, point to the fact that Guru's Determinism is but another facet of the Law of Karma, so peculiar to indigenous faiths, to wit, Jainsim, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Sikhism and even to the beliefs of Parsis and other animistic religions. The Doctrine of Karma rests on action and reaction in the long series of reincarnations; but is sometimes erroneously viewed as rigid universal determinism, fate and even retributive justice. Actually, karma compasses the unity and inter-relatedness of all phenomena, their fundamental contingency and acts as capable of destroying the bonds of transmigration. Under the Law of Karma, an individual is essentially free to accept or to attempt to change the course of events for himself—which in other words means that man can undoubtedly help influence the course of his destiny by changing the nature and complextion of his character, intelligence and values.
In Sikhism, God is absolutely unattached and imperturbable. His judgement is true and infallible; and through his Divine Dispensation, He fixes his trappings in accordance with man's karma. For the rest, man is free to act in the light of his own will. This position is analogous to Albert Einstein's observation that 'Human will is free only within the bounds of a determined cosmic system'. Niccolo Machiavelli too endorses the Doctrine of Free Will, and circumscribed by the nature of his political philosophy, he does not accept any encumberance on it. He writes, 'God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory that belongs to us'. Epicurus is said to have expressed himself on the point thus: 'A strict belief in fate is the worst kind of slavery; on the other hand there is comfort in the thought that God will be moved by our prayers'; and, one might add, 'by our efforts too'. Dr. Samuel Johnson too spoke in the same strain when he said, 'All theory is against freedom of will, all experience for it'.
Karma, Predestination and Fate
In this context, three allied concepts that of karma, predestination and fate warrant some examination. Karma of the Indian concept is not the same as Predestination of the West. Karma is self-caused inevitability and not predestination; for, within the limits inherited from actions of the previous birth, man is free to choose his course and act accordingly. These limits are marked by Man's inherent traits, situation and the social milieu inherited by him as punishment or reward for his acts of autonomous choice in previous lives. Predestination, on the other hand, takes everything, indeed every act of the person in question, as preordained and predestined, over which he has no control. This view of the doctrine finds expression in the writings of Cicero, St. Augustine, Martin Luther and many other thinkers of the West. Yet dissenting voices are not altogether missing. J.E. Booden writing in God and Creation (1934) opines, 'If everything happens according to the eternal knowledge and act of the Creator, the responsibility for evil recoils upon God'. The argument is very valid. Another thinker has chosen to clinch the issue thus : 'God predestinates every man to be saved. The devil predestinates every man to be damned. Man has the casting vote'.
The Easterners are wont to call things which happen against their expectations as 'fate' and equate karmas with predestination. This is a false syllogism. Karmas, within certain limits, connote free will; whereas predestination, being altogether inflexible, points to rigid determinism. This vital difference may not be ignored in any examination of the two. Even if any such happening were to be attributed to the Will of God, it will ultimately revert to karma; for God's justice does not operate arbitrarily. Belief in fate leads to inaction and breeds inertia. Therefore, it has always been denounced by all right-thinking people. The great Persian poet, Hafiz Shirazi, decries it saying,
It is written on Paradise's gate,
Woe to the dupe that yields to fate!
Pursuit of the Quest
Man's Quest and Aim, as propounded in the Japu Ji, reveal that Man, once part and parcel of the Eternal Reality — the Supreme Being, got segregated from Him and got thrown on the stormy ocean of this phenomenal world to seek his destination and strive for reunion with the Creator. The famous mystic poet, William Wordsworth, expresses the same idea with the same metaphor thus:
Hence in a season of calm weather
Though inland far we be,
Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea,
Which brought us hither.37
This consciousness on the part of Man, of his home being elsewhere in Eternity, haunts him continuously till he, through his efforts and the Grace of the Lord, regains it. The same mystic poet quoted above vouchsafes that:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
This means that as Man in the Lord's scheme of things, takes birth in this phenomenal World, he in his infancy remains close to God (his primal home); but as he grows he recedes far from it and gets enmeshed in sensual pleasures and baser pursuits. Thereby he gradually loses the sense of his Divine ancestry and falls prey to the menacing onslaughts of his morbid ego or haumai, which Japu Ji brands as the 'pall of sham and untruth', referred to by Swami Vivekananda as 'the little prisoner individuality' which he asserts 'must go' to become one with Brahman. Anyway, it is this 'pall of sham and untruth' or 'the little prisoner individuality' that is responsible for segregating Man from his Master. This is what, in the foregoing pages, has been referred to as 'malignant affliction'. The Japu ji, takes cognizance of this hurdle and lays down the remedy. This is to lead a life that involves bridling and harnessing of 'self and total surrender to God's Will. In other words, it involves launching on a path of loving adoration of the Lord, for, as the great Muslim theologian, Al-Ghazali, says, 'Love of God is the furthest reach of all stations, the sun of the highest degrees, and there is no station after that of love, except its fruit and consequences'.38
The same truth is found very pithily expressed by St. Francis of Sales in the aphorism : 'Love is the abridgement of all Theology'.39
The Paths to Salvation
For the redemption of man's soul, the Indian spiritual tradition envisages three paths or margas, also known as yogas. These are the Karma Marga, the Gyan Marga and the Bhakti Marga.
The Sanskrit yoga and the English "yoke" stem from the same stock of Indo-European vocables-Latin jugum, German joch, and Greek zygon. These bring to mind the contraption used to tie two bulls to make them tread in harmony. Now, in religious thought, mind is considered to be the main agent susceptible to a vast variety of distracting and disturbing factors. Hence, in the spiritual context, Yoga has come to mean a system or technique employed by its practitioners for the suppression of psychomental states (chitta vritti nkodha)40 with a view to enabling man to concentrate on his real self. This harnessing of the mind to things spiritual, helps him concentrate his energy which, in the long run, equips him with the laser-beam capable of destroying the pall of hypocrisy and falsehood, so pointedly referred to in the Japu Ji.
The Karma Marga or the Path of Action envisages the cultivation of this energy through concentration on action. The facets Karma Marga assumed in its evolution over a long time and amongst different culture-groups, are multifarious. These comprise all those actions that are performed by people of different religious groups to appease and ingratiate themselves with their deities. At times, these include irrational actions based on superstitions, whims, black magic, meaningless rituals and, even, reprehensible human sacrifices. These, however, do not altogether exclude rational actions enjoined upon man by prophets and enlightened guides for the harmonious development of the individual and healthy functioning of society. These cover actions designed to inculcate higher values among individuals or groups.
In the Samarta tradition (Early Vedic Period), this cult conformed to the performance of sacrifices and other rituals accompanied by the chanting of mantras, as also for fulfilling other obligations (samskars) enjoined upon by religion and society. These acts were supposed to generate spiritual potency, which was believed to be able to interfere with the natural course of events. These were also very often performed for achieving definite objectives. In the Later Vedic Period, the Doctrine of Karma was stretched to the performance by each individual, of acts or duties assigned to him or her by the socio-religious order then prevailing — without, of course, entertaining any desire for reward. The world-renowned and highly venerated Hindu Scripture, the Bhagavadgita, dwells chiefly on this form of the Karma Yoga; though it does not altogether fail to take cognizance of the other two paths as well.
The Gyan Marga or the Path of Knowledge is opposed to the Karma Marga; and yet is, in some respects, complementary to it — nay the very first step, as is vouchsafed by a great savant, Lactantius Firmianus. He writes: 'Wisdom precedes; religion follows, for the knowledge of God comes first. His worship is the result of knowledge'. The advocates of this path hold that the root cause of man's ills and his failure to free himself from the cycle of birth and death, is sheer ignorance. So long as ignorance is not dispelled, man cannot attain salvation. They, therefore, insist firstly on cultivating a keener insight into the true nature of this phenomenal world, which is illusory (Maya); secondly, on comprehending the Ultimate Reality, i.e., Brahman as eternal, immutable, all-pervasive and the only Essence; and lastly, on realizing the kinship of Man's soul with Brahman. The Gyan Marga, therefore, stands for Man's total detachment from things other than spiritual, and seeks his steady absorption in Brahman.
Sikhism does not agree with this approach. The famous Indian Saint, Swami Ramakrishna Paramhamsa also holds a different view. He, in one of his sermons, observes that 'the Eternal is to be reached by means of the non-eternal, the Real through the help of the unreal, and the Noumenon through the help of the phenomenon'.41 Abhorence and renunciation of the world is thus no remedy.
The Bhakti Marga or the Path of Loving Adoration or devotion to God is the third in the series. It rests on devotional faith. It is not a belief, but is a strong affection, directed, in the case of sagun bhakti, towards a personal God, and, in the case of nirgun bhakti, towards His Essence, the nam or Word. Shri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, referred to earlier, vouchsafes that 'through the path of devotion the subtle senses come readily and naturally under control. Carnal pleasures become more and more insipid as Divine love grows in one's heart'.42 He advises the devotee 'to take His 'name', constantly. This will', he asserts 'cleanse all sin, lust, anger; and all desire for pleasures of the body will vanish'.43
He exhorts the devotee to find joy in His Name. He holds that 'knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, in whatever state of mind a man utters God's Name, he acquires the merit of such utterance … immortality in the end'. He further insists that mechanical utterance of Holy Name is not enough; The soul must hunger for God.44
Alongwith intense yearning for God, the Path of Loving Devotion demands total surrender to God's Will, which brings man deliverance from the clutches of ego and helps him demolish the 'pall of sham and untruth'; yet something more has to be done to have a vision of the Divine, and to quicken man's pace towards union with Him. This is to enter into a communion with Him through intense loving adoration.
The Yoga
Before explicating the Sikh path of Loving Devotion of God or the Sahaj Marga, it would be pertinent to examine the traditional system of Yoga itself. Etymological meaning of the term yoga has been already indicated above, and it has been noted that it is a discipline developed by our ancient seers or rishis to control psychomental states (chitta vritti nirodha). It is supposed to be something in the nature of an esoteric discipline and involves many intricate processes and practices.
The first systematic study of Yoga is set out in Patanjali's Yoga-sutras. It recognises two entities: the drashta and the drisya. The first is identified with purusba (the soul or spirit) and the other with prakriti (nature, the material world). Patanjali holds prakriti to be the material cause and the purusha to be the efficient cause of Creation. The essence of purusba is pure consciousness whereas that of the prakriti, is unconsciousness. Both are co-eternal. The purusba or soul is in the bondage of prakriti. It can be ended with the help of yoga. It advocates chitta vritti nirodha, i.e., control of psychomental states by means of samadhi. As soon as man's soul is retrieved from the clutches of prakriti, he attains kaivalya, i.e., aloofness or deliverance from all other things. This is akin to mukd—a state of 'perfect bliss'.
The way to attain this stage, it is further claimed, is through vairaga or renunciation of the world and the adoption of the technique of Hatha Yoga. Thus, the initial prerequisite is for a person to forsake society in order to curb the cravings of his mind. It is for this reason that the yogis retired to places far away from human habitation, and practised yoga.
The practice of Hatha Yoga is very intricate, ha (h) in the vocable hath, is believed to represent the sun, and tha (T), the moon. Hence the yoking of the powers of the sun and the moon is believed to be the object of the Hatha Yoga. Yet another belief is that sun represents prana-vayu or the breath of life, and the moon stands for apana-vayu which originates in the intestines. Seeking union of these two through pranayam is Hatha Yoga. Yet another version of Hatha Yoga is the belief that sun indicates ira nerve and the moon the pingla; and by energising kundalini through an intricate process and interaction of ira and pingla, the yogi reaches sushumna (Pbi, sukhmana), in other words, obtains liberation. The Samadhi thus attained is called mahalaya in which the yogi is supposed to be immersed in the ocean of bliss. Much of all this, however, cannot be verified and established by even an advanced study of anatomy; and the state supposed to be reached by yogis can only be visualized mystically through sadhana — spiritual exercise.
The Hatha Yogis advocate a few steps towards realizing man's final goal. These are : yam(a) (self-restraint), niyama (voluntary penance), asanas and mudras (physical postures), pranayam (control and regulation of breath), pratyahar (abstention from lust), dharna (memory, retention), dhyan (concentration on a particular object or idea) and samadhi (estasis or deep absorption of mind in one's innerself). The system arrived at through these processes is known as Ashtangyoga.
Such yogis, it is claimed, succeed in attaining kaivalya or sushumna, i.e., the surya (sun) state; acquire the status of a siddha, and possess riddhis and wield siddhis—miracles and occult powers.
While riddhis refer to material gains, siddhis refer to miracles or supernatural powers which include such things as reducing or increasing the size of the body at will (animamahima), the power to increase or decrease weight at will (garima-laghima), telepathy (prakamya), doing away with hunger and thirst (anurami), hearing inaudible sounds over remote distances (dursravan), conquest of space and distance (manovega), entering into a foreign body at wil (parkaya pravesh), etc.
It may be observed that the projected attainment of all these powers does not get an individual a whit closer to the Supreme Consciousness (Divine Soul). These may be good pastimes for appeasing one's ego or for playing with the gullibility of the ignorant folk; but they certainly do not contribute anything to man's spiritual advancement. Hence, Guru Nanak unequivocally decries these pursuits.
Loving Adoration of God
While speaking of Love in connection with God, someone has beautifully said: 'Love is more than a characteristic of God; it is His character'. The Bible too declares, 'God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him' (Old Testament). God thus is loving, kind and benevolent; and is always readily inclined to welcome all sweet loving hearts into close proximity to Him. Man has only to learn the idiom proper to converse with Him. This is none other than that of loving adoration of Him:
Hear and sing of His Glories,
And let thy heart brim with love of the Lord;
Thus shall all misery depart;
And an abode of peace be thy heart.45
(V. 5-6)
To initiate dialogue with Him, we have to resort to the time-old practice, that we mortals are wont to use in this phenomenal world for winning the object of our love. This is to eulogise the object of our love and seek proximity to it by striking a very personal note and ascribing to it a personal name according as it appeals to our hearts. The same approach, in case pursued with single-minded devotion, pays dividends in the spiritual world too. In the case of God, it amounts to singing His praises, listening to accounts of Him (hearkening), reflecting on His essence (meditation) and having an abiding faith in Him and in His Dispensation. The efficacy of this course can be visualized by an utterance of Henry Ward Beecher who vouchsafes that 'of all earthly music that which reaches farthest into heaven is the beating of a truly loving heart'. The same thing one finds echoed in the New Testament: 'He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is Love.' Writings of Martin Luther too testify that 'Love is an image of God and not a lifeless image, but the living essence of the Divine nature which beams full of all goodness'. That is what the Guru emphasises in stanzas VIII to XV of the Japu Ji.
Repetition of his Name (nam-simran) with loving adoration is seen as the surge of the spirit of man upward and Godward. It is believed to pave the way. It is supposed to make for a deeply personal and intimate relationship. It may, however, be clearly understood that Name, in religion, usually stands for the proper Name of the deity, whatever it be— Yahweh (Jehova), Allah, Hah, Om, Rama, Vahiguru or Sat[i]nam[u]. In the ultimate analysis, Name, Woid or Bani point to the same Divine Being. Indian magical positivism assumes that the name of an object is the key to its essence. This belief persists in all great religions of the world. Repetition of the Name (nam-simran) is thus believed to develop in man, in the course of time, a feeling of intense involvement with the Lord leading ultimately to an ever-closer communion with Him (stanzas V-VII). Loving adoration, manifested by the seeker through hearkening, reflection and repetition of Lord's Name, opens up vast new vistas of nature's marvels and God's manifestations before him. By striking awe and wonder in him, it rewards the seeker by arousing in him an aesthetic feeling of wonderment (vismad), which has great potentiality for further intensifying Man's yearning for God and thereby quickening the pace for communion with Him.
A Muslim mystic dwelling on the nature of love that is required of a seeker writes: 'Love is of two natures, the love that is tranquil... and the love that is rapture'. The latter he observes 'is the road that leads direct to God... .Therein the lover is absorbed in the vision of God and what is from Him'.46
In such a state, the expression Vahiguru connoting 'Wonder is Thine, O Lord'—the Sikh Jap-mantra or the meditational formula—escapes spontaneously from the lips of the seeker and he attains a state of spiritual elation and elevation which, in its turn, leads to the purging of his soul of the dross it may have accumulated:
When hands, feet and body be soiled,
Water may cleanse these sure.
When clothes too are with grime soiled,
Soap may their cleansing ensure.
But when human spirit is defiled by sin,
Meditation on the Name alone may scrub it clean.47 (XX. 1-6)
Nam-simran, thus, has a special significance in Sikhism; and, for that reason, it is referred to as the Nam-yoga Marga, or the Path of Name. The Japu Ji testifies to its potency to draw the seeker to the abode of the Lord for an ultimate union with Him:
If a hundred thousand tongues I bore,
Nay, even twenty times that score,
And pray, if I were with each tongue to chime,
The Creator's Name a hundred thousand times,
Thence may I crawl up the steps my dear Lord to meet.48 (XXXII. 1-3)
However, nam-simran may not be taken to be a mechanical repetition that could earn merit. Such a view has no place in Sikhism. On the contrary, nam-simran Sikhism is viewed as a sublimating process, as an instrument for reconditioning of the mind and the heart, and as a means for attuning individual soul for a union with the Universal Soul. It does not end up in deep reflection or meditation either, but in a yearning for Him and in experiencing a sense of loving proximity to Him.
The Sahaja Marga of the Sikhs
As distinct from these margas, Sikhism has developed its own system which gives it a distinct identity and name. This is the Sahaja Marga. All the great religions that believe in the existence of God, hold that God created man in his own image; and that, in essence, Man is not totally alien to Him. The Sikh Scripture abounds in categorical assertions to this effect. The Sikh faith accepts this insight and is in conformity with the thinking of the Gyan Margis. It regards God as an embodiment of Truth, Consciousness and Beatitude. Gyan Margis regard the World of Appearances as Maya, something illusory and misleading. Hence, they advise Man to renounce the World, retire into solitude, get detached and thereby free the mind from emotions responsible for ego or haumai. It is here, that the Sahaja Marga of the Sikhs departs from the Gyan Marg.
Guru Nanak, while enjoining upon Man to seek Truth and become sachchiar (truthful), does not approve of asceticism, renunciation or man's withdrawal from the world. He views renunciation of the world as a negative and escapist approach, fit to be shunned. He is for maintaining a harmonious balance between activities mundane and spiritual.49 In Sikh parlance, this is known as the sahaja avastha or the state of equipoise, because of which the Sikh path is sometimes referred to as Sahaja Yoga or Raja Yoga, i.e., the chief of the Yoga systems.
Sahaja literally means 'born with', 'innate' or 'natural'. Naturalness or moderation are the hall-marks of the state of sahaja or 'equipoise'. In spiritual sphere, the Sahaja Marga advocates the traversing of the spiritual path in a very natural state or disposition. This is a middle course and steers clear of both—the path of renunciation and penances followed by the Vedantists and the Yogis, as also a state of wild ecstasy sought by certain Sufi orders.
In his Siddha Goshti, Guru Nanak defines the sahaja state as one wherein the seeker leads a normal life so far as his mundane activities are concerned; and yet does not altogether lose himself in these. In mind and spirit he is ever a seeker of the higher truths and is constantly endeavouring to meet his Master in a spirit of loving adoration.
He elsewhere says that Man must live and grow out of the meshy worldly environment much like a beautiful lotus which grows in muddy waters, yet is altogether unaffected by these; or be like an acquatic bird that lives on and floats in streams and yet can, at will, take off the sheet of water with ease — dry and unruffled.50
This Sahaja Marga of the Sikhs does not subscribe to elaborate rituals and superstitious acts of the karma-kandis as well. It exhorts its followers to discern and reason of things before initiating any act—social, religious or even a purely ritualistic one. It lays stress on a clean moral, social or professional life pursued as a householder and not as a recluse. With this very important proviso, the Sahaja Marga, in most other respects, partakes of the character of loving adoration of the Lord, of which nam-simran is but a very important constituent.
Maya (Illusion)
In Gyan Marga, Maya has been referred to as a delusion and something unreal leading man away from Brahman (God), who is real and eternal. In the context of Sikh thought, this needs further elucidation. The concept of maya was elaborately developed by the Vedantists, the chief exponent amongst whom was Shankaracharya who preached in the ninth century A.D. His maxim was: brahman satyam, jagat mithya, jiva brahmansnaparah—Brahman is the only Reality—the World is an illusion or a false appearance and the individual soul is identical with Brahman/Brahma. For that very reason the Jap mantram of the Vedantists is said to be aham brahma asmi (I am God). The Sikh thought accepts the insight provided by the Vedantists that Brahma or God alone is real; that human soul is identifiable with God, i.e., the Universal soul; and that the World of appearances is unreal and transitory. But the Sikh thought does not accept their injunction that it need to be abjured and shunned. It regards the world as God's Lila ((handswork) which is synonymous with the Universe; which has according to Sikh thought the potentiality to strike that feeling of wonder (vismad) which in Sikhism is treated as a very important step towards soul's deliverance from 'the pall of sham and untruth'. The Sikh thought disapproves of the slogan aham brahma asmi too, for it breeds self-love or ego which is the main cause of Man's estrangement from the Universal Soul. Thus, this World of Appearances or Maya is not abhorrent to the Sikh way of thinking as being an unreal and illusory creation; yet some of its facets such as lustful indulgence and pursuit of pelf and power lead man astray and drive him away from a healthy and soul-enriching exercise. The New Testament too has this injunction: 'Abstain from fleshy lusts which war against the soul'.
For that reason, wherever Maya has been referred to in the Sikh Scripture, the reference has always been to its seductive force which weans man away from his real goal.
The Cultivation of Virtue
Nam-simran is considered to be the keystone to man's spiritual edifice. Its efficacy in cleansing human soul of the dross it might have accumulated in the temporal world, has already been referred to with reference to stanza XX above.51 Yet an essential prerequisite, even to nam-simran, is the cultivation of virtue—of righteousness in thought and action. A Chinese sage, Shu Ching, who flourished in circa 490 B.C. is on record having observed that 'only virtue can compel Heaven, and there is no distance to which it cannot reach'. Such is the power of virtue. And, precisely, for that very reason, St. Augustine seems to have held virtue 'to be nothing else than perfect love of God, leading man to a happy life'. Anyway, this aspect of the spiritually oriented man has been much stressed in JapuJi. The Guru drives home in no uncertain terms that even loving adoration may fail to help in the attainment of its objective, if it were not reinforced with the cultivation of virtue or moral qualities:
Prayers without virtue are shallow whine.52 (XX. 6)
Being truthful or sachchiar—set forth in the Japu Ji as the aim of man's spiritual quest—is itself a pointer to the demands that it should make on the moral conduct of a seeker of the Lord. The observation that the earth has been installed by the Lord as a dharamsala, wherein actions of humans are to be adjudged by fairest norms (XXXIV 3-6), further stresses this point.
Some of the cardinal virtues that the Guru wants Man to cultivate are contentment, modesty, a feeling of loving fraternity for one and all, suppression and harnessing of ego (XXVIII), continence, patience and love (XXXVIII). All of these are felt imperative for a balanced and harmonious development of the human personality and for the smooth and orderly running of society, which, in fact, is and should be the prime concern of every religion. This, it does by binding men together and by inculcating moral virtues in them. It has been very rightly said:
Educate men without religion and you make them but clever devils.
This is a very apt assessment of the true role of religion in human life, and warrants no further elaboration.
Reverting to religion's role for developing a harmonious human personality, it may be recalled that mind, which has been viewed as a bridge between the body and the soul, gets soiled through vices; and once it gets opaque, little hope is left for the Divine ray to penetrate it. The Guru, as has already been shown,53 pointedly refers to this state and suggests the very pertinent remedy for cleansing it with the meditation of nam.
The Five Realms
As indicated earlier, human life is, in Guru Nanak's view, an incessant struggle for spiritual evolution and not merely a stance of static speculation. In its raw and untended state the human spirit roams, beguiled by low animal instincts, and gropes well-nigh lost in 'misleading bylanes'. In this situation, man is not even conscious of any higher purpose of existence or of any nobler ideals to be pursued. From this turbid state, he has to extricate and elevate himself through persistent spiritual endeavour, so as to rend the 'pall of sham and untruth' and attain the Ultimate Reality.
While the final goal is the realisation of Truth and the attainment of the 'beatific vision', this goal is, for certain, attainable only through a sustained process of spiritual discipline and experience. The discipline lies in the annihilation of ego, haumai, through a voluntary and total acceptance in all humility of the Divine Will, and by imploring the Grace of the Lord through loving devotion. This state of mind and spirit may be roused through hearkening His Name, reflection on it by steadily withdrawing oneself from the animal pursuits of mundane life and by involving oneself in the love and service of the Supreme Master and His Creation.
The seeker has to further meditate on the immensity and vast diversity of Lord's Creation, and thereby experience the feeling of wonderment that helps involuntary escape from his mouth of the ennobling expression vahiguru (vah-e-guru), 'Wonder is Thine O Lord'. Man wonders how magnanimous and how bountiful is the Master! This feeling is then to be experienced incessantly and continually by the remembrance of Name, i.e., practice of the Nam Yoga.
Having spoken of hearkening, meditation and loving adoration as prerequisites for man's spiritual progress, the Guru proceeds to explain the stages or states of the mystic experience or spiritual evolution which he terms khands or realms.
The basic or initial Realm is that of Dharma. For that purpose Earth, on which we dwell has itself been referred to as Dharamsal or the Arena of Dharma. In it, every object, animate or inanimate—no matter what be its nature—is required to carry on its duty for the fulfilment of the grand design of the Supreme Creator. Accordingly, temporal entities represented by days and nights, years and seasons, are seen performing their tasks dutifully. Physical forces, symbolized by air, water and fire, too run their respective errands ungrudgingly. The spatial entities covered by earth and nether regions, in fact, the entire vast expanse of this Universe as a whole, are busy dutifully carrying on their duly assigned tasks. Further, infinite variety of creatures and beings with myriad names, hues and traits are also engaged in carrying on their assigned duties. Such is the dispensation of the Realm of Dharma. While traversing this realm, man has to discharge his obligations and attend to functions imposed upon him by the Supreme Master. In fact, a special responsibility devolves upon him; for, endowed with a higher consciousness, he is expected to carry on functions—both mundane and spiritual; and be involved in a constant effort to justify the Creator's trust in him.
Guru Nanak says that the natural goal and challenge for the human spirit is to 'crawl up the steps my dear Lord to meet', for
His inspiring Name tempts even the puny ant to His feet.54 (XXXII. 4)
If a puny ant's yearning is to meet the dear Lord, Man whom God planted on Earth as the 'roof and crown of things' and created him 'in His own image' has it as his bounden and inescapable duty to try to deserve the innate faculties and potentialities that the Almighty has endowed him with. Man's placement on Earth in a pre-eminent position imposes upon him a firm obligation to perform his duties with utmost dedication; because his actions are subject to rigorous assessment and judgement. Man owes it to His Maker to justify his very existence and to acquit himself with honour and Lord's approbation. There is a clear incentive for man to do his duty, for he stands firmly assured that his actions shall be judged by fairest norms. These will be sifted and he shall be duly rewarded for all the good he does and also be pushed farther from the Master for all his failings and omissions. Such a level of consciousness, the Guru says, is to be gained in this realm — the Realm of Dharma.
Next is the Realm of Knowledge or Gyan khand. In it, Man's intellect and his spiritual vision steadily get keener and his mental and spiritual horizons widen. He starts perceiving cosmic mysteries through deliberate intellectual effort. The vastness of this Universe, its infinite variety and the grand design behind it begin to unfold themselves before him in this realm. Man begins to comprehend the basic unity underlying it, and becomes conscious of his own situation in it, as also of his kinship with the Supreme Being. He, Guru Nanak says, begins to realize that his 'ego' has been the cause of the loss of his primal home and of his close proximity to the Supreme Lord. It is 'the pall of sham and untruth' which has spelt his undoing. As a result, he initiates conscious efforts for reunion with the Divine Spirit; and begins to experience a yearning to regain his lost situation. In the spiritual parlance, all that is needed, is a turnabout and, rather than stray away from the Lord and seek the things mundane, look to Him and seek proximity to Him through self-surrender and loving devotion.
Thereafter, a proper integration of Man's spiritual powers and his intellectual faculties takes place; and he, not only becomes aware of the beauty and profundity of the Lord's Creation, but also of the deeper meaning and essence of things — all this far beyond what is manifest.
Armed with this awareness, he moves on to the next realm, the Realm of Spiritual Endeavour or Ascesis or Saram khand. Exquisite forms and beauteous shapes are the hall-mark of the images fashioned therein. Man's intuition, understanding and insight, all are superbly shaped there. In fact, Man begins to acquire the vision of sages and seers. His incessant labours in the spiritual field ultimately equip him to enter the next realm, the Realm of Grace or Karam khand The noblest and most exalted spirits abide in this realm, with their beings ever-saturated in the Love of the Lord. The blessed doughty spirits and mighty heroes abide here with the love of the Lord as their sole prop. They are their purest selves with their beings altogether untainted by any baser instincts. The transparent beauty of these nobler beings is the ethereal essence of their souls. Steeped are they altogether in the love of the Lord, and they stay forever-wrapped in His Grace Divine. In fact, their total involvement with the Name Divine itself comes of the Lord's own Grace.
The long and arduous journey of the human spirit is by now well-nigh over; and it enters the Realm of Truth—Sachch khand. This is the realm wherein the Almighty's Grace pervades in bounteous measure. Here Man's spirit is face-to-face with the Ultimate Reality. It finds itself in close communion with the Divine Spirit, and is almost lost in it. This is the ultimate goal of Man's spiritual endeavour, in which the once individuated soul attains a state of much-sought-after communion and merger with the spirit of the Lord Absolute.
This is a state that defies description and could, at best, only be visualized. It is beyond the three modes or qualities (gunas)—tamas (darkness, ignorance), rajas (passion, energy), sattva (luminosity, virtue). That is why, it is sometimes called the chauthapad—the fourth state. It is a state of absolute peace and tranquility. It is also of eternal constancy, because in it the soul attains a state that is beyond the cycle of birth and death or decay. The environment herein is of perennial bliss and total serenity. The merger here of the soul in the Universal Soul, it must be appreciated, is like the merger of the light of the individual in its primal source — the Divine Spirit. The same is like the mingling of a drop of water with the vast Ocean of Tranquility. It may be pertinent to recall in this context the words of Confucius, which echo much the same idea 'Heaven means to be one with God'. In conclusion, it may be added that the juxtaposition of these stanzas depicting realms suggests a geometrical presentation, i.e., rising to a higher state, step by step, in accordance with the norms of the gentle path of sahaja and not reaching some sort of a paradise as a geographical entity.
Life After Death
The idea of human soul reaching the Realm of Truth for final deliverance, as depicted in the foregoing account, raises a very pertinent question. Is the Realm of Truth (Sachch khand) something akin to the Paradise of the Semitic faiths, wherein human beings shall arise from their graves on the Day of Judgement and be arraigned before the Lord's seat to receive their meed as per their deeds — that, of course, through the intercession of the guides and mentors of their respective faiths? The answer is 'No', for such a concept is foreign to Sikhism and holds good only for such faiths as consider God to be transcendent. Much like the belief of Confucius, Heaven in Sikhism is 'being one with God'.
The substantive for God used in the original Punjabi version is the 'Formless One' (nirankar). Obviously, the Formless cannot be confined in space or time. How can He be bound down only to such a distant paradise ? Besides, God, as we have seen, is in Sikhism both Immanent and Transcendent. It would, therefore, not be correct to visualize the Realm of Truth as something of a distant paradise. It is only a state wherein the soul of the seeker succeeds in having a vision of Him in his own innerself; and enjoys that unique bliss which he experiences through communion with Him. The Bible too stresses this point reminding Man that 'the kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17:21).
According to the Sikh faith, life after death has only two facets : it either recedes into the cycle of Transmigration of Soul, or merges with the Absolute Being. Unless ego is subdued and individuation is ended, the cycle of Transmigration goes on and on. But when the pall of sham and untruth, which is the product of ego and individuation, gets demolished, man re-emerges as his real self.
Sikhism does not believe in Heaven or Hell signifying places of bliss or of torture, whereto people are supposed to retire after death to reap the fruits of their actions. References to narak (hell) and swarag (paradise) in certain hymns of the Sikh Scripture are only conventional devices to bring home truths of mystical life to laymen in the idiom that they have traditionally been familiar with. These are not to be viewed literally as the beliefs of the Sikh Gurus. Man in the Sikh faith is believed to suffer or enjoy his present life on the terra-firma on the strength of his deeds of the previous life; and, for his good or bad deeds done in this life, he is to be recompensed in the next one— till he is redeemed. This is the retribution of the inexorable Law of Karma, to which we find frequent references in the Japu Ji and in the rest of the Sikh Scripture.
Deliverance – Its Socio-Oriented Character
Though 'salvation' does find frequent reference in the Sikh Scripture, it is not viewed therein as an individual process in isolation. An individual effort might even seem rather selfish. The individual's spiritual evolution, Guru Nanak felt, must be in a social context, for the individual's moral, spiritual and social progress are inextricably linked with the social group which has nurtured him. Hence, a Sikh is expected to advance on the spiritual path too in such a manner as to become an instrument of amelioration and salvation for his fellow beings as well. The Epilogue to the Japu Ji brings this out forcefully:
Such as do the Lord's Word meditate,
Their life's toil, they duly sublimate.
Rapt they advance in effulgence wide,
Redeeming many a more in their stride.55 (The Concluding Sloka, V. 4 )
Precisely for this reason, the sangat (congregation) and the pangat (community kitchen) institutions have become the cornerstone of Sikh religious and community life. This social context of religion has not been lost sight of by other thinkers too. Thomas Fuller, a Western thinker, appears to be vehement in stressing that 'He will never go to Heaven who desires to go there alone'.
The Doctrine of Grace
Guru Nanak introduces another concept in religious thought, i.e., nadar or Divine Grace.
In all His Creation that I do behold,
Nothing, save through His Grace, avails.56 (VI. 2)
The Karma Theory appropriates conclusive merit for human action, which determines its own reward. Guru Nanak's Doctrine of nadar, however, has an overriding effect. According to it, even though prayer and righteous action are basic qualifying prerequisites, yet these by themselves are not enough. Above these and above all else, is the Grace of the Lord, which the great Indian saint, Ramakrishna aramhamsa, chooses to explicate in his homely way thus: 'The Policeman with his lantern (bull's eye) can see everyone on whom he casts light, but no one can see him so long as he does not turn the light on himself. So does God see every one; but no one can see Him until He reveals Himself to him in His mercy'.57
This mercy, or what we prefer to call Grace, is something in the nature of a responsive love of God. Although religious prophets have, from time to time, admonished their adherents and desired them to fear God, retribution on the part of the Almighty has never been deemed to be one of His attributes. A German proverb brings this truth home by reminding us that 'if God were not willing to forgive sin, heaven would be empty'! Miguel de Cervantes touches much the same chord when he says, 'Among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliance than justice'. Mercy, it may be recalled, is but another substantive name for Grace, leading to the same results.
No doubt, devotion and pious actions are basic essentials to merit His love; yet even these are not the final determinants, as beyond and overriding these, is nadar or karam (mercy). Even virtue may be imbibed, good deeds done and devotion offered only if the Divine Grace so ordains:
Yet to sing to Thee, such alone are privileged,
As Thy sublime Grace hath blessed;
And ever deeply steeped in Thy Love abide.58 (XXVII. 15)
In religious treatises we often come across such aphorisms:
'As the earth can produce nothing unless it is fertilized by the Sun, we can do nothing without the Grace of God';
'There is nothing but God's Grace; we walk upon it, we breathe it; we live and die by it'.
The Lord's nadar or Grace, thus, being the final determinant of things, truly blessed are only those whom the Divine Grace hath blessed.
Sikhism holds the idea of Grace in common with both Christianity and Sufism. Christianity holds that man's life is steeped in sin. For that reason, he neither claims, nor does he deserve any mercy from Lord-God, the Creator. Yet the Lord's Grace comes to him in bounteous measure because Lord-God is loving, generous and benevolent. He bestows His Grace through his son, Jesus Christ. Redemption of the Original Sin has already been obtained by him for his followers through his supreme sacrifice and by kissing the cross. Other graces of God too accrue to man through the gracious agency of Lord Christ, as also through undergoing sacraments. The redemption of man in Christianity is thus possible only through acceptance of the mediation of Christ. Till then, man's 'original sin' continues to haunt him.
In Sikhism however God's Grace may glow on all human beings:
For while this human form comes of our past actions,
Through His Grace alone may we attain salvation.59
(IV. 6)
In Christianity, Man must become aware of his inherent evil to achieve salvation. Sikhism, on the contrary, teaches that Man attains salvation by realizing the inherent goodness in his self; and then by giving expression to it in his thought and action. Lord's Grace initially descends on man in revealing to him the rich potential that lies within him. Thereafter, he is left to prove his bona fides to deserve God Lord's generosity, which does bless him in due course. This difference is basic to the concept of Grace in these two religions.
Orthodox Islam seeks salvation through the observance of what they call the five pillars of Islam. These are : (i) tawhid, belief in the Unicity of God and the Prophethood of Muhammad; (2) namaz or prayer, (3) roza (fasting); (4) hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) and (5) zakat (tithes). Sufis do not repudiate these, but place their reliance more on God's Mercy and Grace. Here is a verse from Abu-al-Sa'id Abu-al Khair (967-1049 A.D.) who flourished in Persia during the early years of the rise of Sufism:
Though sins of we folk be as forests beyond forests,
Yet weighed against Thy Grace, these are a mere blade of grass.
And though our sins be countless as rafts on an ocean,
Yet I am not scared, for Thy Grace is as many many an ocean.60
The renowned Sufi poet, Umar Khayyam (d. 1193 A.D.) too in his characteristic style touches upon this theme thus:
Though of righteous deeds I have not even one to show,
Nor have I scrubbed the grime of sin off my face;
Yet of the Lord's bounteous Grace I am not despaired,
For unshaken is my faith in Him and in His bounty.61
Sarmad whom Aurangzeb got executed for blasphemy writes in much the same vein :
Your Grace far outstrips my sins, O Lord;
Every moment and wherever I be, I am conscious of these.
Though I am sunk deep in my sins and lapses,
Yet, O Master, Your Bounteous Grace far outweighs these.62
Yet another quote from him reads:
Since God's Dispensation are His Mercy and His benevolence;
Why need your sins and foul deeds depress ye then?
Just as welcome downpour follows frightening thunder and lightning.
Much the same way does His Bounteous Grace follow every chastening by Him.63
The Gurus Role
The concept of Guru has already been discussed in the context of the Mulmantra. Its shorter form or the mangal (ek omkarsat[i] gurprasad), precedes as an invocation every division and subdivision of the Sikh Scripture. The count goes up to a formidable figure of 523. In the Sikh tradition it is considered to be a benedictory formula akin to the Bismillah-ar-Rahman-ar-Rahim of the Muslim tradition or Orn Namah of the Hindu one.
In the Japu Ji, Guru Nanak lays special emphasis on the need for the Guru — the Divine Preceptor — for the regeneration of Man. In the Mulmantra, preceding the Japu ji, he asserts that God can be attained only through the Grace of the Guru. And, in the concluding sloka again, he equates the Guru's Word or sabda with 'Air' which is vital for life signifying thereby Guru's indispensability in matters spiritual.
The Guru's indispensability conceded, what is expected of him, and what need his credentials be ? While the Japu Ji lends some light in this regard, Guru Nanak's utterances elsewhere in the Holy Scripture are even more specific. Here are two, the first from Raga Majh and the second from Sri Raga:
The Guru is benevolence incarnate,
Epitome of tranquility too is He.
The Guru is the lamp to enlighten Earth,
Heavens and nether Hades.64
The Guru is the ladder, the yacht, the raft, the ship
To ferry folk across the ocean of life;
Yea, the Guru is the mighty river of Nectar.65
The Guru, thus, true to the meaning implicit in the vocable assigned to him, is the Dispeller of Darkness. He is the God conscious guide, the enlightened preceptor and an invaluable link between Man and God. He is an object of utmost veneration; yet he is not to be worshipped as if he were God. God's gracious light rests on him; and, in his turn and through him, the Word is transmitted to mankind.
Since the Guru is ever in tune with God, who is the Ultimate Dispeller of all darkness, whatever proceeds from the Guru's mouth, is supremely efficacious, and has the power to convert the baser self of an individual into something meriting Divine approbation. That is why, stanza V of the Japu jl refers to the Guru's Word as 'supernal symphony' — the mystic sound yogis crave to hear. He has also been referred to as the 'loftiest scripture' that can reveal the highest Truth. Guru's Word embodies all that is deemed imperative for and a prerequisite to a spiritual regeneration of Man. The Guru's Word is all pervasive, for God's own Will bides therein. His Word is thus the holiest of all holies, as it imparts Eternal Truth to man. It is through the wisdom of the Guru that man's mind is attuned to the Lord in a state of equipoise. Thus the Guru through his Word rids the individual soul of darkness and lends it spiritual light and insight. He transmits God's Word, which enables the people to adore the Lord and thereby shed their phoniness.
Sikhism, however, does not subscribe to the need for a personal Guru. In it, as also in the entire Saint tradition avowing impersonal or nirgun form of Bhakti, the saints or Gurus, whenever they talked of their Guru, they meant the Divine Voice within them. They listened to it in their inner selves and transmitted it to the people around for their good. That is why, Guru's Word, i.e., banl (Skt. vani) is considered to be Guru par excellence—nay even a revelation from God Himself. Since the Word itself is embodied in Guru Granth, Sikhism firmly disapproves of the idea of the continuation of the line of personal Gurus in any form.
Formalism in Religion
Guru Nanak did not approve of formalism in religion. He saw little use for pilgrimages, rituals and austerities that had, for ages, been believed to be sure devices for gaining spiritual merit. A ritualistic religion, he felt convinced, was light and frivolous and not serious in spirit. Rituals led people to start and even end with these; and left with them little inclination to seek the true spirit of religion. They thus tended to take for kernel, what was mere husk.
In unequivocal terms, Guru Nanak denounces rituals, etc., when he says —
Pilgrimage, penance, compassion and charity,
May earn one merit—paltry as a sesame seed;
But he who hearkens, meditates,
And in the love of the Lord saturates,
Bathes in the sacred fount within him;
And his soul all grime forsakes.66
(XXI. 1-4)
Besides, the Guru felt that the need was for man to cleanse his soul and tie himself in loving devotion to his Creator. He felt, that the human heart so richly endowed by his Creator, needed to be further sanctified with nam-simran—meditation on the Word.
Dignity of Human Life
As if by sheer force of tradition, numerous religious groups in India had, for ages, been running down human life on earth; and had even been referring to the world itself as a mere illusion. This had resulted in a degree of diffidence and defeatism in people and had made them morbidly fatalistic. The belief in the transitoriness of the world and its illusory character had also generated a measure of lassitude and lack of faith in life. Escapist renunciation was a direct outcome of this approach. Guru Nanak, however, made people to realize that life is real and earnest; and that every new life implies the Creator's manifest indication that He has an abiding faith in the purpose and potentialities of human life. Guru Nanak thus reversed the earlier view by suggesting that 'Latent in the Spirit of Man rarest of gems do lie' (VI, 3), and that 'the sacred fount is within man's heart (XXI. 4). He thus lent unprecedented dignity to human life and revealed to the common man remarkable potentialities in his own being. Also referring to the Universe, he says:
The Creator, O Nanak, does with fond concern view,
The Universe created in His own image True.67
(XXXI. 4)
This restored people's confidence in the world, which being in the image of its Creator, was 'true' and invested with a real purpose. Since God is Eternal Truth, how could the Universe, which is a manifestation of His Immanent Self, be a mere illusion? This new outlook on life and things, in due course, caused a revolution in people's attitudes and revealed to them fresh horizons for spiritual endeavour.
Reaffirmation of the value and worth of life on Earth is thus a very important aspect of Guru Nanak's teachings. This is particularly so in the Indian context, in which most creeds preferred to lay emphasis on a life of renunciation. They were mistaken in regarding involvement in life as negation of godliness. They forgot conveniently what a Western sage has said, True Godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavours to mend it; not to hide their candle under a bushel, but to set it upon a table in a candle-stand'.68
The Ideals Highlighted
Japu Ji is not merely an exercise in pure metaphysical speculation. If it were merely that, it would have missed the solid substance of precise guidelines for Man's spiritual, moral and even social endeavour; which are in fact its chief merit. It expects man's mundane life to be moulded in accordance with the ideals held aloft in it; the foremost two of which are to be 'truthful' and to be loving', and the next two are to be 'fearless' and to be 'free of enmity'. The later two are, in a way, concomitant of the first two; for man cannot be truthful unless he is fearless, and he cannot be loving unless he forsakes hatred and enmity. Yet another, the fifth one, is quite significant. This is acquisition of the knowledge which has been recognized as an essential prop and hallmark of human life:
Let search for Light Divine sustain thee;
And Lord's benign compassion thy steward be.
Thence shalt thou taste of that rarest harmony,
That stirs in the human heart Supernal Symphony.69 (XXIX. 1)
Again, in the Realm of Knowledge, it is Reason which reigns supreme and opens up vistas of 'myriad melodies and visions' capable of enrapturing the soul (XXXVI. 2). Indeed in Guru Nanak's philosophy of religion, knowledge, whether it comes through intuition or study or through systematic reasoning, is a basic essential for an enlightened and purposeful life. In fact, Guru Nanak elsewhere strongly pleaded for reason, sanity and balance conditioning our views on things, not merely on issues secular but even in the sphere of religion.
Let reason condition man's adoration of the Lord;
Let sanity and reason fetch him honour and name;
Reason need help man to decipher what he does scan.
Sanity need determine even his acts of charity;
Of sanity alone, O Nanak, is the enlightened path;
Save sanity, it is all the Devil's vaunt.70
The Social Dimension of Gurus Teachings
For Guru Nanak, a truly religious life is an incessant struggle and not a matter of mere static speculation. Virtue and vice are no mere verbal expressions, for
Such as be our actions,
Such a meed shall we take.71
(XX. 8)
Besides
Prayers too, without virtue, are shallow whine.72
(XXI. 6)
Yet Man's imbibing of virtue and cherishing of the Lord are not to be individual acts in isolation. Man's spiritual endeavours are to be in an essentially social context. Man must not view of things merely in terms of his own salvation, for he owes an essential duty to his fellow beings too. Society contributes enormously to his total shaping and sustenance. Hence an unshakeable obligation automatically devolves upon him as regards his social commitment; for Guru Nanak says,
Meditation leades one to the portals of salvation;
The liberated one's fellows too find liberation.
(Firmly assured of one's own salvation,)
One leads on the congregation.73 (XV. 1-3)
Thus, just as a lamp, once lit, lights many a more, so a person, illumined in his own self, is duty-bound to lend light and direction to very many more of his fellow-beings. Acceptance of such a social commitment is an inescapable obligation for any enlightened soul. In fact, the unicity of God has the unity of the entire human family as its logical corollary. The brotherhood of all mankind automatically proceeds from the common Fatherhood of God. In Stanza XXVIII while addressing the yogis of the Aee sect, Guru Nanak suggests—'Let brotherhood of Man be as aee-panth to Thee'. In fact, the self-same golden chain of love that binds Man to the feet of the Lord, must also bind him to the Lord's entire Creation.
Cosmological Perceptions
Unlike many other prophets and seers, Guru Nanak makes no pretence at unfolding the mystery of Creation. Though various notions regarding Creation had been current, yet Guru Nanak feels that these were merely fanciful and arbitrary; and had had little rational basis. He, therefore, categorically rejects the traditional Indian and Semitic beliefs as to the time, occasion and sequence of the creation of the Universe. In his view, for anyone to try to arbitrarily fix the date, time, season, and circumstance of Creation, would be something altogether presumptuous,
For the Lord God who created the Universe,
Has had this mystery in His Will.74
(XXI. 14)
Besides
And he that vaunts, knowledgeable is he,
Welcome at the Lord's steps shall he never be.75
(XXI. 18)
Even as regards the size and expanse of the universe, Guru Nanak affirms that
Spheres there are beyond our own;
And numberless more beyond these.76
(XVI. 11)
It staggers human imagination to ponder how the Lord's one Word created the limitless Cosmic expanse; 'and instantly ran a myriad streams of life therein' (XVI. 20). The Guru, like other prophets, does envisage a stage, at which the Divine Essence lay dormant for billions and trillions of years of human calculation. This, in a revealing canto in Rag Maru, the Guru calls the dhundhukara—something analogous to the formless gaseous state of the present day scientific conception. In this state, regarded by the Guru as a state of quiescence (sunn samadhi) of the Attributeless Lord, nothing prevailed except His Will.77 Then, as He thought of manifesting Himself, He created this vast expanse of myriads of diverse hues and forms. This He did with one Word as if out of nothing. The antiquity, vastness and variety of this manifest form is so bewildering that Guru Nanak deems all speculations about it utterly futile:
Limitless is His Creation too;
Its bounds we simply never ken.
Millions have vexed to know its extent,
Yet success have had they none.78
(XXIV. 5-8)
Guru Nanak's view of Creation is thus nearer the modem scientific stance. It seeks to cleanse people's minds of the cobwebs of earlier fanciful and irrational beliefs. At the same time it excites in people's minds a state of 'wonderment', vismad, at the boundless enormity of the Lord's powers and at the inscrutable nature of His Will. It is indeed refreshing to find that in a single stroke Guru Nanak achieves two seemingly irreconcilable objectives : (a) cleansing peoples' minds of the ages-old irrational beliefs regarding the circumstance and process of creation and the shape, size and sustenance of the Cosmos, as also —and as a logical corollary thereto — (b) reaffirming and reinforcing their implicit faith in the Divine order manifest in the Cosmos with all its astounding expanse and bewildering complexity, as also precision and accuracy of its operation and sustenance.
24. The renowned Urdu poet, Ghalib, has expressed this t
beautifully in the following couplet:
na tha kuchh to khuda tha kuchh na hota to khuda hota
daboya mujh ko hone ne, na hota main to kiya hota?
(When nothing existed, God did exist,
If nothing had come into being,
God's Being would have still been there.
My relegation to the human form has spelt my undoing
For, had it not been so,
I would have been one with the Spirit Divine.)
25. ਫਰੀਦਾ ਜਿ ਦਿਹਿ ਨਾਲਾ ਕਪਿਆ ਜੇ ਗਲੁ ਕਪਹਿ ਚੁਖ ॥
ਪਵਨਿ ਨ ਇਤੀ ਮਾਮਲੇ ਸਹਾਂ ਨ ਇਤੀ ਦੁਖ ॥
– Sloka Farid, AG, 1381
26. ਫਰੀਦਾ ਭੂਮਿ ਰੰਗਾਵਲੀ ਮੰਝਿ ਵਿਸੂਲਾ ਬਾਗੁ ॥
ਜੋ ਨਰ ਪੀਰਿ ਨਿਵਾਜਿਆ ਤਿਨ@ਾ ਅੰਚ ਨ ਲਾਗ ॥
– Ramkali, Var, M5, AG, 966
27.ਹੁਕਮੈ ਅੰਦਰਿ ਸਭੁ ਕੋ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਹੁਕਮ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 1
28. ਹੁਕਮੀ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਚਲਾਏ ਰਾਹੁ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਵਿਗਸੈ ਵੇਪਰਵਾਹੁ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 2
29. ਸਮੁੰਦ ਸਾਹ ਸੁਲਤਾਨ ਗਿਰਹਾ ਸੇਤੀ ਮਾਲੁ ਧਨੁ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 5
ਕੀੜੀ ਤੁਲਿ ਨ ਹੋਵਨੀ ਜੇ ਤਿਸੁ ਮਨਹੁ ਨ ਵੀਸਰਹਿ ॥Japu ji, AG, 5
30. ਕੇਤਿਆ ਦੂਖ ਭੂਖ ਸਦ ਮਾਰ ॥ ਏਹਿ ਭਿ ਦਾਤਿ ਤੇਰੀ ਦਾਤਾਰ ॥ (XXV. 8-9)
31. ਹੁਕਮਿ ਰਜਾਈ ਚਲਣਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਨਾਲਿ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 1
32. ਅਖਰੀ ਲਿਖਣੁ ਬੋਲਣੁ ਬਾਣਿ ॥ ਅਖਰਾ ਸਿਰਿ ਸੰਜੋਗੁ ਵਖਾਣਿ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 4
33.ਜੈਸੀ ਕਲਮ ਵੁੜੀ ਹੈ ਮਸਤਕਿ ਤੈਸੀ ਜੀਅੜੇ ਪਾਸਿ ॥
– Var Ragu Asa, Sloka M2, AG, 466
34. ਲੇਖੁ ਨ ਮਿਟਈ ਹੇ ਸਖੀ ਜੋ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਕਰਤਾਰਿ ॥
– Sri, Ml, AG, 74
35. ਕਰਿ ਕਰਿ ਕਰਣਾ ਲਿਖਿ ਲੈ ਜਾਹੁ ॥
36.ਜਿਨੀ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਇਆ ਗਏ ਮਸਕਤਿ ਘਾਲਿ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਤੇ ਮੁਖ ਉਜਲੇ ਕੇਤੀ ਛੁਟੀ ਨਾਲਿ॥ Japu ji, AG, 8
37. 'Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood'.
38. Al-Ghazali, Alchemy of Happiness.
39. St. Francis of Sales, Treatise on the Love of God (1607).
40.ਚਿਤ ਵ੍ਰਿਤਿ ਨਿਰੋਧ
41. Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 331.
42. Ibid., pp. 118-119.
43. Ibid., p. 119.
44. ਗਾਵੀਐ ਸੁਣੀਐ ਮਨਿ ਰਖੀਐ ਭਾਉ ॥
ਦੁਖੁ ਪਰਹਰਿ ਸੁਖੁ ਘਰਿ ਲੈ ਜਾਇ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 2
45. Ibid.
46. Abu Bakr Al-Kabadi, Readings from the Mystics of Islam.
47. ਭਰੀਐ ਹਥੁ ਪੈਰੁ ਤਨੁ ਦੇਹ ॥ ਪਾਣੀ ਧੋਤੈ ਉਤਰਸੁ ਖੇਹ ॥
ਮੂਤ ਪਲੀਤੀ ਕਪੜੁ ਹੋਇ ॥ ਦੇ ਸਾਬੂਣੁ ਲਈਐ ਓਹੁ ਧੋਇ ॥
ਭਰੀਐ ਮਤਿ ਪਾਪਾ ਕੈ ਸੰਗਿ ॥ ਓਹੁ ਧੋਪੈ ਨਾਵੈ ਕੈ ਰੰਗਿ ॥
48.ਇਕ ਦੂ ਜੀਭੌ ਲਖ ਹੋਹਿ ਲਖ ਹੋਵਹਿ ਲਖ ਵੀਸ ॥
ਲਖੁ ਲਖੁ ਗੇੜਾ ਆਖੀਅਹਿ ਏਕੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਗਦੀਸ ॥
੪੯. ਨਾਨਕ ਸਤਿਗੁਰਿ ਭੇਟਿਐ ਪੂਰੀ ਹੋਵੈ ਜੁਗਤਿ ॥
ਹਸੰਦਿਆ ਖੇਲੰਦਿਆ ਪੈਨੰਦਿਆ
ਖਾਵੰਦਿਆ ਵਿਚੇ ਹੋਵੈ ਮੁਕਤਿ ॥
—Gujari, M5, AG, 522
50. ਜੈਸੇ ਜਲ ਮਹਿ ਕਮਲੁ ਨਿਰਾਲਮੁ ਮੁਰਗਾਈ ਨੈ ਸਾਣੇ ॥
ਸੁਰਤਿ ਸਬਦਿ ਭਵ ਸਾਗਰੁ ਤਰੀਐ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਮੁ ਵਖਾਣੇ ॥
– Ramkali, Siddha Gosht, Ml, AG, 938
51. See p. 66 above.
52. ਵਿਣੁ ਗੁਣ ਕੀਤੇ ਭਗਤਿ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥
53. Ibid.
54. ਕੀੜੀ ਤੁਲਿ ਨ ਹੋਵਨੀ ਜੇ ਤਿਸੁ ਮਨਹੁ ਨ ਵੀਸਰਹਿ ॥
55. ਜਿਨੀ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਇਆ ਗਏ ਮਸਕਤਿ ਘਾਲਿ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਤੇ ਮੁਖ ਉਜਲੇ ਕੇਤੀ ਛੁਟੀ ਨਾਲਿ ॥ AG, 22
56. ਜੇਤੀ ਸਿਰਠਿ ਉਪਾਈ ਵੇਖਾ ਵਿਣੁ ਕਰਮਾ ਕਿ ਮਿਲੈ ਲਈ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 2
57. Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 196
58. ਸੇਈ ਤੁਧੁਨੋ ਗਾਵਹਿ ਜੋ ਤੁਧੁ ਭਾਵਨਿ ਰਤੇ ਤੇਰੇ ਭਗਤ ਰਸਾਲੇ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 6
59. ਕਰਮੀ ਆਵੈ ਕਪੜਾ ਨਦਰੀ ਮੋਖੁ ਦੁਆਰੁ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਏਵੈ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਸਭੁ ਆਪੇ ਸਚਿਆਰੁ ॥ AG, 1091
60. 'asiyan-e-khalaiq archeh sahra sahra ast,
dar pesh-e-'anayat-e-tu yak barg-e-giya ast,
har chand gunah-e-maast kashti kasha,
gham rust kih rahmat-e-tu darya-darya ast.
– Ruba'iyat
61. gar gauhar-e-ta 'at na-suftam hargiz
gard-e gunah az chehra na ruftam hargiz
na-umid nayam zi bargah-e-karmat
zera kih yake ra-do-na-guftam hargiz
– Ruba'iyat
62. O sarmad kar-e-allah lutf-o-karam ast
az ma'siyat-u-siyahkari chihgham
rakhshidan-e-barq babm wa josh-e-baran
rahmat chih fuzun ghazb chih basiarkam ast
– Ruba'iyat
63. az ma siyatam besh bawad fazl tura
har lahza bakjiud hisab daram hamah ja
har chand kih sar ta baqadam asiyanam
az bakjishish-e-tu-mst fuzun kjjabram mara
– Ruba'iyat
64. guru dwqw guru ihvY Gru guru dIpku iqh loie ]
– Var Majh, Sloka, Ml, AG, 137
65. guru pauVI byVI gurU guru qulhw hir nwau ]
guru sru swgru boihQo guru qIrQu drIAwau ]
– Sri Rag, Ml, AG, 17
66. ਤੀਰਥੁ ਤਪੁ ਦਇਆ ਦਤੁ ਦਾਨੁ ॥ ਜੇ ਕੋ ਪਾਵੈ ਤਿਲ ਕਾ ਮਾਨੁ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 4
ਸੁਣਿਆ ਮੰਨਿਆ ਮਨਿ ਕੀਤਾ ਭਾਉ ॥ ਅੰਤਰਗਤਿ ਤੀਰਥਿ ਮਲਿ ਨਾਉ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 4
67. ਕਰਿ ਕਰਿ ਵੇਖੈ ਸਿਰਜਣਹਾਰੁ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਸਚੇ ਕੀ ਸਾਚੀ ਕਾਰ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 7
68. William Venn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693).
69. ਭੁਗਤਿ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਦਇਆ ਭੰਡਾਰਣਿ ਘਟਿ ਘਟਿ ਵਾਜਹਿ ਨਾਦ ॥
ਆਪਿ ਨਾਥੁ ਨਾਥੀ ਸਭ ਜਾ ਕੀ ਰਿਧਿ ਸਿਧਿ ਅਵਰਾ ਸਾਦ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 6
70. ਅਕਲੀ ਸਾਹਿਬੁ ਸੇਵੀਐ ਅਕਲੀ ਪਾਈਐ ਮਾਨੁ ॥
ਅਕਲੀ ਪੜਿ@ ਕੈ ਬੁਝੀਐ ਅਕਲੀ ਕੀਚੈ॥
Ml, AG, 1245
ਦਾਨੁ ॥ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਆਖੈ ਰਾਹੁ ਏਹੁ ਹੋਰਿ ਗਲਾਂ ਸੈਤਾਨੁ ॥
– Var Sarang, Sloka Ml, AG, 1245
71. ਕਰਿ ਕਰਿ ਕਰਣਾ ਲਿਖਿ ਲੈ ਜਾਹੁ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 4
72.ਵਿਣੁ ਗੁਣ ਕੀਤੇ ਭਗਤਿ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥Japu ji, AG, 4
73. ਮੰਨੈ ਪਾਵਹਿ ਮੋਖੁ ਦੁਆਰੁ ॥ ਮੰਨੈ ਪਰਵਾਰੈ ਸਾਧਾਰੁ ॥ ਮੰਨੈ ਤਰੈ ਤਾਰੇ ਗੁਰੁ ਸਿਖ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 3
74. ਜਾ ਕਰਤਾ ਸਿਰਠੀ ਕਉ ਸਾਜੇ ਆਪੇ ਜਾਣੈ ਸੋਈ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 4
75. ਨਾਨਕ ਜੇ ਕੋ ਆਪੌ ਜਾਣੈ ਅਗੈ ਗਇਆ ਨ ਸੋਹੈ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 5
76. ਧਰਤੀ ਹੋਰੁ ਪਰੈ ਹੋਰੁ ਹੋਰੁ ॥ ਤਿਸ ਤੇ ਭਾਰੁ ਤਲੈ ਕਵਣੁ ਜੋਰੁ ॥ Japu ji, AG, 3
77. ਅਰਬਦ ਨਰਬਦ ਧੁੰਧੂਕਾਰਾ ॥ ਧਰਣਿ ਨ ਗਗਨਾ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਅਪਾਰਾ ॥
…………….
ਖੰਡ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੰਡ ਪਾਤਾਲ ਅਰੰਭੇ ਗੁਪਤਹੁ ਪਰਗਟੀ ਆਇਦਾ ॥
– Rag Maru, Ml, Sohale, AG, 1035-36
78.ਅੰਤੁ ਨ ਜਾਪੈ ਕੀਤਾ ਆਕਾਰੁ ॥ ਅੰਤੁ ਨ ਜਾਪੈ ਪਾਰਾਵਾਰੁ ॥
ਅੰਤਕਾਰਣਿਕੇਤੇਬਿਲਲਾਹਿ॥ਤਾਕੇਅੰਤਨਪਾਏਜਾਹਿ॥ Japu ji, AG, 5
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