The Indweller (Antarjami or antaryamin) of Granth drawn from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

[Guest guest]

The unbreakable Hindu – Sikh bond

 

Copyright Organiser (published Aug 21, 05 issue)

By Dr. Arvind S. Godbole

 

The claim of many Sikh politicians and authors that Sikhism is a

separate religion, calls for an objective and a nationwide debate.

In this debate, we can keep aside, the semantic of the terms dharma

and `religion' and use the term `religion', as it is commonly

understood at present.

 

To qualify as a `separate religion' it must have a theology and

philosophy distinct from other religions. The revered, Shri Guru

Granth Sahib (Granth, G.pp. no) is the most important source of Sikh

theology and philosophy. According to the Granth, the supreme Being

is sans beginning (G.1351), primordial being (G.129), complete or

integral (G.705) eternally true (G.1,119), sans human birth

(G.1,99), transcendent as well as immanent (g.79, 102 etc),

antarjami (G.13,43,454 etc.) nirvairu or sans enemity (G.1,99),

fearless (G.199), fearless (G.1,464 etc.), supremely resplendent (

G.13,277 etc.), supreme bliss (G.814), untainted or niranjana

(G.119,597,1353) and both sarguna and nirguna (G.128,862).

 

These basic theological concepts are of the Sanatana Hindu religion.

Shankara in his Vivekachudamani (225) calls Parabrahma as nitya or

eternal. Bhagvadgita (9.18) regards the supreme as the primordial

origin of the universe. The Chandogya Upanishad (8.3.8) holds that

the truth is His name. Bhagvadgita, (7.25), declares that the

ignorant think that the Supreme Being has a birth. The immanence of

the Supreme being, a cardinal tenet of the Sanatana Hindu religion

and the Sikhism differentiates then clearly from the Semitic

religions, who do not to that doctrine. Several hymns of

the Granth, bring out very eloquently, the contrary attributes of

God e.g. `You are the teacher, you are the disciple')G.69); ` You

are water, you are the fish' (G.85). This is a corollary of the

doctrine of total immanence of God and is an echo of the Taittiriya

Upanishad. Antarjami (antaryamin), an attribute of God, is drawn

from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The epithet, nirvairu of the

Parabrahma is a corollary of the doctrine of immanence. The

Amritbindupanishad (6) holds that God is impartial. This doctrine

differs from the Old Testament concept of `chosen people' or the

Quranic concept of the `favoured believers'. That the Supreme is a

bliss is a Vedantic concept, endorsed both by The Brahmasutra and

the Tejabindupanishad. That the supreme is untainted is the doctrine

of the Upanishads, later adopted by the Nath samparadaya. Guru Nanak

has sung the glory of Om (G.929-930) as the creator of the Vedas,

etc. Needless to say the Om is the Vedic mantra as well as a pan

Hindu symbol. Expressions like, `Uradh mula jasu sakha' (Guru Nanak,

g.503), `Neta neta kathanti beda' (Guru Arjuna, g.1359),

`Brahamgiani sada niralepa jaise jalamahi kamal alepa' ( Guru

Arjuna, G. 272) are but echoes of the Vedas and the Bhagvadgita.

 

The philosophical concepts of the Granth like indestructibility of

soul, the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, evil impulses viz lust,

anger, etc., maya, brahamgiani, cardinal importance of guru, the

importance of recitation and meditation of Hari or Ramanama,

realization of soham for the liberation, jeevana mukti, the merger

of the individual soul with the supreme soul, during life time or

the mukti, the two categories of people viz the manamukha seeking

ephemeral pleasures and the gurumukha or the god oriented people,

are Sanatana Hindu Concepts.

 

The Philosophical nomenclature of the Granth viz Parabrahma, Ghata,

Pinda, Atama, Moksha, Mukti, jeevan Mukti, Maya, Mithya, Sarguna and

Nirguna, Bharamanda, Jogu (yoga), Raja Jogu (rajayoga), Isaru

(Ishvara) is same as that of the Sanatana Hindu religion. The term

like four yugas, four padaratha goals of life-viz the purushartha,

tribhuvana, amrita, lakha chourasiha 84 lakh species, which appear

so often in the Grantha denote its Sanatana Hindu ethos.

 

Neither Guru Nanak nor any of the other Sikh Gurus declares in their

hymns that he is founding a religion. Guru Amardas declares that `He

gave the smritis, the Shastras (Vedas) and the reckoning of punya

and papa' (G.949). " You are the Shastras, you are the Vedas " , sings

Guru Arjun (G.1150). Not only the Smritis and the Shastras but

Puranas also were created by His order, declares Guru Arjun (g.261).

A distinct civil code and a distinct mythology are hallmarks of a

separate religion e.g. Islam, Old Testament as the mythology of the

Semitic religions. The Sikhs share the same mythology, as elaborated

by the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, Shrimad Bhagvata, with the

Sanatani Hindus. The Sikhs never had and could not have a separate

civil code, given the reverence of the Sikh Gurus for the Smritis

and the absence of any declarations, in the Granth on marriage,

divorce and inheritance. The recent practice of many Sikh authors to

present ten Sikh Gurus as ten prophets does not have a scriptural

basis. Sikh Gurus never claimed to be prophets or having received

any messages from God. With great humility, they said that they were

but the dust of the feet of saints.

 

The rejection by the Sikh Gurus of the Vedic rituals and their

insistence on inner realization of God is consistent with the

Upanishads. Although the hymns of the Granth repeatedly describe god

as formless, a nirguna, they do describe, in many places, the

physical attributes of God. Wherever they do so, the description is

invariably that of Vishnu or one of His incarnations

(G.567,1082,1402). The argument that because Sikhism is

monotheistic, it is akin to Islam and or a different religion is

unfounded. The monotheism of Sikhism is different from that of

Islam. While revering the One Parabrahma, Sikhism like the Sanatana

Hindu religion, does not reject other Gods. The expression like `

Suri Nara' (G.775), devate kodi tetise' (G.1079), `tritia brahma

bisanu mahesa' (G.839), Yama, Yamaduta, Yama danda appear in the

Granth. The Farid Bani in the Granth does not support the notion

that there is a Sufi element in Sikhism. The Farid Bani deals with

general themes like inevitability of old age and death. It does not

bring out any basic philosophical doctrines. Unlike the Bhagat Bani,

which appears uninterrupted, in the Granth, the Farid Bani is

interspersed with the Guru's verses, indicating that the Gurus

desired to comment on it. The Sufi nomenclature is conspicuous by

its absence in the Granth. The Guru's criticism of mechanical

relation of the Vedas without understanding their meaning and their

insistence on the inner God realization is consistent with

Shankara's Vivekachudamani V. The rejection of idol worship by the

Sikh gurus has been mistakenly interpreted as rejection of the

Sanatana Hindu religion. `He is not in any symbol' declares the

Brahma sutra ((4.1-4). Idol worship is not an essential component of

the Sanatana Hindu religion. The claim that Sikhism rejects the

avatara concept of the Sanatana Hindu religion is also

baseless. `Sunnahu upaje dasa avatara, `declares Guru Nanak

(G.1038). ` Assuming the form of a child, you killed Kamsa, Keshi

and Kuvalyapida', says Guru Ramadas (G.606). In one hymn, Guru Arjun

enumerates various avatara (G.1082). Story of Prahlad (Narasimha

avatara) appears in many places in the Granth, Guru Gobind Singh

wrote Ramavatara, Krishnavatara and and Chobis avatara. Guru Gobind

Singh says in his autobiographical `Bachitra Natak' that the Bedis

(Guru Nanak's clan) and the Sodhis, his own clan originated,

respectively, from Kusha and Lava, the sons of Shri Rama. It should

be remembered that Guru Gobind Singh did not make the initiation

into the Khalsa, mandatory for all Sikhs. Bhai Nandlal, an important

member of the court of the tenth Guru and an author of a famous Sikh

Rahatnama and Bhai Kanhaiya were not Khalsa Sikhs.

 

The fear that the Sikhs will lose their identity if they are

included in the Hindu society is unfounded. Without losing their

characteristic features and individual identity, the Varkaris, the

Ramadasis, the Swami Narayan Panthis have remained within the Hindu

society. In the present controversy of the nature of `Sikh

religion', let us keep aside the current and past politics and in

the Sikh tradition, seek the guidance from the Guru Granth Sahib.

 

http://esamskriti.com/index.asp

(Dr. Arvind Godbole is author of Guru Nanak Guru Gobind Singh (

Marathi) and Philosophy of Shri Guru Granth Sahib' (English) and

many articles on Sikh history and Sikh Philosophy.)

[Guest guest]

In , " jagbir

singh " <adishakti_org wrote:

 

" Bhagvadgita, (7.25), declares that the ignorant think that the Supreme Being

has a birth. "

 

 

Dear Jagbir and All,

 

This one point is very interesting:

 

" Bhagvadgita, (7.25), declares that the ignorant think that the Supreme Being

has a birth. "

 

Going by the Scriptures (Bhagvadgita in this case)... it is obviously not

'scriptural' when WCASY or Sahaja Yogis call Shri Mataji " The Almighty God " ...

since it is clear from the Bhagvadgita, that the Supreme Being Whom we know to

be " The God Almighty " , does not have a birth, and that it is ignorance to even

'think so'. Neither then, for similar reasons, can it be correct for Christians

to call Shri Jesus " The God Almighty " !

 

So... it is a bit comical, that as it stands between Christianity and the Sahaja

Yoga Subtle System Religion (SYSSR)... that we now have two (2) " The God

Almighties " ... one being Shri Jesus and one being Shri Mataji. (That is... if we

are prepared to believe that the Supreme Being who is " The God Almighty "

actually takes human birth!)

 

Here is evidence to show that WCASY is purveying such ignorance, and not only

that; they are also proclaiming that " this God Almighty " is " our God Almighty "

(in other words, One Who belongs exclusively to WCASY and Sahaja Yogis!):

 

" On this day, the twenty-first of March, 2006, in the city of Sydney, on the

occasion of the most auspicious Birthday Puja Celebration of our Divine Mother,

our God Almighty, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi " (End Quote)

 

(/message/6642)

 

What WCASY are proclaiming is in contradiction to the truths in the Bhagvadgita

and there are two distinct disadvantages for WCASY followers and for Christian

followers in believing such non-scriptural ignorance, although there is no

particular disadvantage for the priestly classes themselves.

 

The two distinct disadvantages to the mass of humanity is:

 

1. There is no advantage in calling Shri Jesus or Shri Mataji " The God

Almighty " ... except to serve as a clever psychological ploy to augment priestly

power over the masses. As the mass of humanity have tended to rely on leaders to

tell them the truth... in return, they remain as spiritually uninformed and

ignorant as the 'blind leaders of the blind' themselves!

 

2. If Jesus attained his resurrection because he was " The God Almighty " ... that

would not give any hope for humanity to attain the same... because being " The

God Almighty " means he would not have needed to be spiritually resurrected in

the first place! It is precisely because Jesus " was a man " who however became

the " God-man of the ages " ... which is why we too can have confidence that we can

also become spiritually resurrected. This is because, as a man, Jesus suffered

and endured all the temptations and the trials of the flesh like every other

human being has to do. He had to overcome all that. Therefore, if one man can do

it, so can we! That is Jesus, the Christ's Message to us. We too... can have our

spiritual liberation, our salvation, or our moksha. We too... can experience the

Divine Within, the Indweller or the Antaryamin; just like Jesus did!

 

Eva Dowling says it most clearly, when in her Intro to the Aquarian Gospel of

Jesus, the Christ, she says that:

 

" We recognise the facts that Jesus was man and that Christ was God, so that in

very truth Jesus the Christ was the God-man of the ages. "

 

/message/6679

 

That makes a lot of sense to me too, and it gives us all hope that we too can

attain the Christ Spirit Within (a.k.a. the Indweller or the Antaryamin,

depending upon which spiritual tradition you come from.)

 

best wishes,

 

violet

 

 

> The unbreakable Hindu – Sikh bond

>

> Copyright Organiser (published Aug 21, 05 issue)

> By Dr. Arvind S. Godbole

>

> The claim of many Sikh politicians and authors that Sikhism is a

> separate religion, calls for an objective and a nationwide debate.

> In this debate, we can keep aside, the semantic of the terms dharma

> and `religion' and use the term `religion', as it is commonly

> understood at present.

>

> To qualify as a `separate religion' it must have a theology and

> philosophy distinct from other religions. The revered, Shri Guru

> Granth Sahib (Granth, G.pp. no) is the most important source of Sikh

> theology and philosophy. According to the Granth, the supreme Being

> is sans beginning (G.1351), primordial being (G.129), complete or

> integral (G.705) eternally true (G.1,119), sans human birth

> (G.1,99), transcendent as well as immanent (g.79, 102 etc),

> antarjami (G.13,43,454 etc.) nirvairu or sans enemity (G.1,99),

> fearless (G.199), fearless (G.1,464 etc.), supremely resplendent (

> G.13,277 etc.), supreme bliss (G.814), untainted or niranjana

> (G.119,597,1353) and both sarguna and nirguna (G.128,862).

>

> These basic theological concepts are of the Sanatana Hindu religion.

> Shankara in his Vivekachudamani (225) calls Parabrahma as nitya or

> eternal. Bhagvadgita (9.18) regards the supreme as the primordial

> origin of the universe. The Chandogya Upanishad (8.3.8) holds that

> the truth is His name. Bhagvadgita, (7.25), declares that the

> ignorant think that the Supreme Being has a birth. The immanence of

> the Supreme being, a cardinal tenet of the Sanatana Hindu religion

> and the Sikhism differentiates then clearly from the Semitic

> religions, who do not to that doctrine. Several hymns of

> the Granth, bring out very eloquently, the contrary attributes of

> God e.g. `You are the teacher, you are the disciple')G.69); ` You

> are water, you are the fish' (G.85). This is a corollary of the

> doctrine of total immanence of God and is an echo of the Taittiriya

> Upanishad. Antarjami (antaryamin), an attribute of God, is drawn

> from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The epithet, nirvairu of the

> Parabrahma is a corollary of the doctrine of immanence. The

> Amritbindupanishad (6) holds that God is impartial. This doctrine

> differs from the Old Testament concept of `chosen people' or the

> Quranic concept of the `favoured believers'. That the Supreme is a

> bliss is a Vedantic concept, endorsed both by The Brahmasutra and

> the Tejabindupanishad. That the supreme is untainted is the doctrine

> of the Upanishads, later adopted by the Nath samparadaya. Guru Nanak

> has sung the glory of Om (G.929-930) as the creator of the Vedas,

> etc. Needless to say the Om is the Vedic mantra as well as a pan

> Hindu symbol. Expressions like, `Uradh mula jasu sakha' (Guru Nanak,

> g.503), `Neta neta kathanti beda' (Guru Arjuna, g.1359),

> `Brahamgiani sada niralepa jaise jalamahi kamal alepa' ( Guru

> Arjuna, G. 272) are but echoes of the Vedas and the Bhagvadgita.

>

> The philosophical concepts of the Granth like indestructibility of

> soul, the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, evil impulses viz lust,

> anger, etc., maya, brahamgiani, cardinal importance of guru, the

> importance of recitation and meditation of Hari or Ramanama,

> realization of soham for the liberation, jeevana mukti, the merger

> of the individual soul with the supreme soul, during life time or

> the mukti, the two categories of people viz the manamukha seeking

> ephemeral pleasures and the gurumukha or the god oriented people,

> are Sanatana Hindu Concepts.

>

> The Philosophical nomenclature of the Granth viz Parabrahma, Ghata,

> Pinda, Atama, Moksha, Mukti, jeevan Mukti, Maya, Mithya, Sarguna and

> Nirguna, Bharamanda, Jogu (yoga), Raja Jogu (rajayoga), Isaru

> (Ishvara) is same as that of the Sanatana Hindu religion. The term

> like four yugas, four padaratha goals of life-viz the purushartha,

> tribhuvana, amrita, lakha chourasiha 84 lakh species, which appear

> so often in the Grantha denote its Sanatana Hindu ethos.

>

> Neither Guru Nanak nor any of the other Sikh Gurus declares in their

> hymns that he is founding a religion. Guru Amardas declares that `He

> gave the smritis, the Shastras (Vedas) and the reckoning of punya

> and papa' (G.949). " You are the Shastras, you are the Vedas " , sings

> Guru Arjun (G.1150). Not only the Smritis and the Shastras but

> Puranas also were created by His order, declares Guru Arjun (g.261).

> A distinct civil code and a distinct mythology are hallmarks of a

> separate religion e.g. Islam, Old Testament as the mythology of the

> Semitic religions. The Sikhs share the same mythology, as elaborated

> by the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, Shrimad Bhagvata, with the

> Sanatani Hindus. The Sikhs never had and could not have a separate

> civil code, given the reverence of the Sikh Gurus for the Smritis

> and the absence of any declarations, in the Granth on marriage,

> divorce and inheritance. The recent practice of many Sikh authors to

> present ten Sikh Gurus as ten prophets does not have a scriptural

> basis. Sikh Gurus never claimed to be prophets or having received

> any messages from God. With great humility, they said that they were

> but the dust of the feet of saints.

>

> The rejection by the Sikh Gurus of the Vedic rituals and their

> insistence on inner realization of God is consistent with the

> Upanishads. Although the hymns of the Granth repeatedly describe god

> as formless, a nirguna, they do describe, in many places, the

> physical attributes of God. Wherever they do so, the description is

> invariably that of Vishnu or one of His incarnations

> (G.567,1082,1402). The argument that because Sikhism is

> monotheistic, it is akin to Islam and or a different religion is

> unfounded. The monotheism of Sikhism is different from that of

> Islam. While revering the One Parabrahma, Sikhism like the Sanatana

> Hindu religion, does not reject other Gods. The expression like `

> Suri Nara' (G.775), devate kodi tetise' (G.1079), `tritia brahma

> bisanu mahesa' (G.839), Yama, Yamaduta, Yama danda appear in the

> Granth. The Farid Bani in the Granth does not support the notion

> that there is a Sufi element in Sikhism. The Farid Bani deals with

> general themes like inevitability of old age and death. It does not

> bring out any basic philosophical doctrines. Unlike the Bhagat Bani,

> which appears uninterrupted, in the Granth, the Farid Bani is

> interspersed with the Guru's verses, indicating that the Gurus

> desired to comment on it. The Sufi nomenclature is conspicuous by

> its absence in the Granth. The Guru's criticism of mechanical

> relation of the Vedas without understanding their meaning and their

> insistence on the inner God realization is consistent with

> Shankara's Vivekachudamani V. The rejection of idol worship by the

> Sikh gurus has been mistakenly interpreted as rejection of the

> Sanatana Hindu religion. `He is not in any symbol' declares the

> Brahma sutra ((4.1-4). Idol worship is not an essential component of

> the Sanatana Hindu religion. The claim that Sikhism rejects the

> avatara concept of the Sanatana Hindu religion is also

> baseless. `Sunnahu upaje dasa avatara, `declares Guru Nanak

> (G.1038). ` Assuming the form of a child, you killed Kamsa, Keshi

> and Kuvalyapida', says Guru Ramadas (G.606). In one hymn, Guru Arjun

> enumerates various avatara (G.1082). Story of Prahlad (Narasimha

> avatara) appears in many places in the Granth, Guru Gobind Singh

> wrote Ramavatara, Krishnavatara and and Chobis avatara. Guru Gobind

> Singh says in his autobiographical `Bachitra Natak' that the Bedis

> (Guru Nanak's clan) and the Sodhis, his own clan originated,

> respectively, from Kusha and Lava, the sons of Shri Rama. It should

> be remembered that Guru Gobind Singh did not make the initiation

> into the Khalsa, mandatory for all Sikhs. Bhai Nandlal, an important

> member of the court of the tenth Guru and an author of a famous Sikh

> Rahatnama and Bhai Kanhaiya were not Khalsa Sikhs.

>

> The fear that the Sikhs will lose their identity if they are

> included in the Hindu society is unfounded. Without losing their

> characteristic features and individual identity, the Varkaris, the

> Ramadasis, the Swami Narayan Panthis have remained within the Hindu

> society. In the present controversy of the nature of `Sikh

> religion', let us keep aside the current and past politics and in

> the Sikh tradition, seek the guidance from the Guru Granth Sahib.

>

> http://esamskriti.com/index.asp

> (Dr. Arvind Godbole is author of Guru Nanak Guru Gobind Singh (

> Marathi) and Philosophy of Shri Guru Granth Sahib' (English) and

> many articles on Sikh history and Sikh Philosophy.)

>