Hinduism & Sikhism

[Guest guest]

Some Thoughts on the Links between Sikhism and Hinduism

 

 

 

A. From the Hindu perspective:

 

1. Guru Nanak (the founder of Sikhism) was born in a Hindu family in a Khatri

(Kshatriya) family.

 

2. Sikhism accepts the law of karma and reincarnation: two core doctrines which

are unique to Hinduism.

 

3. Notwithstanding Guru Nanak's preaching, there exists in the Sikh world a

birth-based caste system: a social practice unique to historical Hinduism.

 

4. Sikhs refer to God as Truth, not unlike Vedic seers: in fact, both use the

same word (sat).

 

5. It has sometimes been stated that Guru Nanak himself descended from the

lineage of Lord Rama.

 

 

 

B. From the Sikh perspective:

 

1. Sikhism explicitly rejects the authority of the Vedas: this makes Sikhs

Non-Hindus.

 

2. Sikhism (in principle) rejects the caste-system, allowing everyone to enter

the place of worship.

 

3. Unlike in Hinduism, one is not born a Sikh, but is initiated into the

religion.

 

4. Unlike traditional Hinduism, Sikhism permits/welcomes converts.

 

5. The whole purpose of Sikhism was to free itself from the constraints of

Hinduism and form a more universal religion which would incorporate whatever is

best in Hinduism, in Islam, and in the new visions of the Gurus.

 

 

 

C. From a General perspective

 

1. Like Protestantism in the Christian world and Buddhism in the earlier Hindu

world, Sikhism started as a rebel religion whose founder rejected the authority,

and some of the practices enjoined in, the traditional religion into which the

founders were born.

 

2. Though the followers of the new religion wanted to become a separate entity,

the mother religion did not (does not) like to see them move away.

 

3. One may compare Sikhism and the Ba'hai faith. The Bab and Baha'ullah were

both born as Muslims, but Baha'ullah broke away from Islam, even while accepting

Mohammed as a Prophet. Also, both religions explicitly preach universalism and

the commonalty of the religious quest.

 

4. One may contrast Sikhism and the Ba'hai faith in that the founder of Sikhism

was not persecuted or put to death by the mother religion. Hindus are eager to

accept Sikhs as their own. Ba'hais are unwelcome in the Islamic world.

 

5. That many Punjabi Hindus feel closer to Punjabi Sikhs than to South Indian

Hindus is very true. But this has to do with language and regional culture much

than with religious identity. Many Bangladeshis feel closer to West Bengalis

because of the language: this does not prove that their religions are the same.

Many Jews in America feel closer to American Protestants than to Hebrew-speaking

Israelis. This does not mean that Judaism and Christianity are the same.

 

 

 

V. V. Raman

 

August 24, 2002