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REVIEWS
Ethico-Spiritual Dimensions of Sikh Philosophy
A Review by Prof Kulwant Singh*
Author : Dr Anita Malhotra
Publisher: Ajay Book Service, New Delhi - 002
Price : Rs 395/- Pages : 203
The
major ethico-spiritual tenets of Sikh philosophy according
to Dr Anita Malhotra, author of the book under review, are:
Sikh belief in the monotheism of the godhead which in the
form of eternal primal energy and life force is a creator,
beyond fear and rancour, dimensions of time, birth, death
and is universally and indiscriminately compassionate and
immanent. Besides these divine attributes, the other ethico-spiritual
tenets which form the bedrock of Sikh philosophy are belief
in and practices of the integrated spiritual and active
social life of a householder completely opposed to a life
of renunciation; creation of an egalitarian society based
on equality and amity free from the shackles of caste, peaceful
coexistence; fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man, and
emancipation of man jiva from a state of egocentrism manmukh
to a state of spiritual enlightenment gurmukh through devotion
and faithful obedience to God’s will. The Sikh way
of life and practice of social activism demonstrated through
acts of community service, charity, active defiance of tyranny
and exploitation, and inculcation of moral values of truth,
honesty, uprightness in words and deeds, are a natural corollary
and a practical manifestation of the basic ethico-spiritual
tenets of fundamental Sikh philosophy and belief.
Before we elaborate the basic tenets of Sikh philosophy
as recorded by the author, a few words about Dr Malhotra’s
credentials as a serious scholar of Religion and Spiritualism.
A teacher of philosophy at Miranda House, Delhi, she has
completed her post doctoral research in philosophy from
university of Delhi. A few of her well-researched articles
on Gita, Guru Granth Sahib and Sikh philosophy have been
published. Thus, she seems to be fully qualified and competent
to write on the subject she has chosen for this book.
Tracing the origin of the concept of monotheism from the
ancient Judaic tradition with God’s revelation and
commandment to Moses on Mount Senai, through the monotheistic
concept of God in vedanta, the author delineates the course
of monism to Guru Granth Sahib with its explicit declaration
in Moolmantra. She interprets Guru Granth Sahib as a text
expounding Sikhism as a “Monotheistic – Monistic
creed”. She writes, “Guru Nanak’s emphasis
on the numeral One in the prologue to Japuji tends to emphasize
the unity of Godhead while rejecting the existence of the
lesser gods. Of course there is a mention of names of different
gods such as Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma and many others, but
this does not mean they have their existence as God. These
are only used as the powers of the God.”
Thus, Sikhism emphasises ‘non-duality of absolute
reality.’ Gurbani’s use of two symbolic names
Ekonkar and sat are most important. “Ekonkar is the
holiest of all the symbols taking into its fold the entire
Sikh metaphysics and philosophy”, she writes. The
other Divine attributes enumerated in the Moolmantra are
further dimensions of the same Absolute Reality. Like the
philosophical streams of Satkaryavada, Sankhya and Ramanuja
of Indian philosophy about the integration between causation
and effect, Sikh philosophy also believes in the inclusive
reality, she opines. Since God is the only eternal creator,
and created the creation on His own volition, it is wrong
to confuse several incarnations of other gods with Him.
Myriads of such spiritual entities are at His command.
From the Divine to the human, man has been created by the
creator and placed on this earth. Being the Creator’s
own creation, man has all the attributes of the Divine.
But His creation has been mainfested through human body.
Man is made of body and soul. Since body is made of flesh
and blood, it is subject to all the pulls and pressures
of the flesh. But equally strong is the soul inside the
body. It is this tug of war or co-ordination between the
two which determines the quality of life that a human being
lives on this earth. Here a certain amount of free will
has been granted to man to choose his course of life. It
is this choice which makes a man manmukh (ego-centric) or
gurmukh (God-oriented). But this choice is not for once
or forever. At each stage, man can change his choice. Gurbani
in the role of Guru is always there to help man to make
the right choice and then enable him to continue to exercise
the right choice. Infact, the road map has been made clear
for the life’s voyage from the state of manmukh to
that of gurmukh. For the “pilgrim’s progress”
towards emancipation of man or jiva, Gurbani guides man
to complete this voyage. A Sikh, believing in Sikhism and
its ethico-spiritual tenets, must keep on discarding the
bodily urges and go on imbibing spiritual attributes till
his soul develops a good coordination and communication
with the Divine. The Higher the degree of this synchronization,
the greater is the presence in man of the Divine attributes
of love, compassion, co-existence, absence of rancour and
malice. Such an enlightened man or jiva is an asset not
only to his own self but to his family, society and world
at large as well.
The author states that concept of Guru and concept of Naam
are interrelated and interreplaceable in Gurbani. Naam stands
for word or sabad denoting God. Sabad or word, which is
coterminous and equivalent to logos in Greek terminology,
is to be concentrated upon, repeatedly articulated, and
its melody, both heard and unheard, is to be followed, experienced
and finally embedded in human body and soul. Gurbani, as
one reads and understands, keeps on highlighting the word
or Naam which, in turn, keeps bridging the gap between the
human and the Divine. Thus sabad word or naam is the medium
between Divine and the human, and Gurbani is the guide,
Guru or technique to use this medium for human emancipation.
The Sikh Gurus, Gurbani and Guru Granth Sahib give the highest
significance to Naam and discarding all other kinds of rituals
and elaborate ceremonies. Naam and its cultivation is the
noblest and highest occupation worth man’s cultivation.
Spiritual progress and emancipation are guaranted through
practice of this activity. It is the panacea for all human
ills.
Finally, another corollary and logical consequence of this
course of life is the adoption and cultivation of moral
values and life of social activism. Once the dirt and dross
has been washed out of body and mind by the cultivation
of Naam and jiva is purified inside out, the urge to do
noble deeds such as service of humanity, charity, love and
amity for others is born spontaneously and instinctively.
Thus, the seeds of social emancipation lie in individual
emancipation. Triple principle of Sikh philosophy Naam Japo,
Kirat Karo, Wand Chhako (meditate, work and share) sums
up this interlinked progress of individual and social emancipation.
The author singles out the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak for
his singular service in reforming the society and places
his role above the role of other Indian reformists like
Sankara, Ramanuja, Ramanand, Kabir and other leaders of
the Bhakti Movement. As compared to their piecemeal and
segmental reforms, Guru Nanak’s contribution is greater
and unique in the sense that he laid the foundation of a
society based on equality and egalitarian values. Guru Nanak
also had the courage to denounce the barbarity and brutality
of foreign invaders as well as the exploitation of the masses
by his contempory priestly class.
The book gives the impression of a scholarly understanding
of Sikh philosophy and a critical analysis of its ethico-spiritual
dimension vis-a-vis the tenets of other Indian religions
and their philosophical tenets. It is a fine synthesis of
the conceptual and practical aspects of Sikhism. The book
is worth perusal for scholars and enlightened sections of
society. However, the text suffers from infinite number
of spelling mistakes which disappoint the reader coming
as it does from a scholar with a post doctoral degree. A
little more minute proofreading would have made it a perfect
read.
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