ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GOD</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background:#EAF1F7 url('../images/gtbh.jpg') no-repeat fixed center; color: #0066CC} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="GOD"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279GOD, a term used to denote any object of worship or evocation, signifies the belief of most modern religions in the existence of a Supreme Being who is the source and support of the spatio-temporal material world. Theologians remember Him by the name of God. The fundamental belief of Sikhism, too, is that God exists, not merely as an idea or concept, but as a Real Being, indescribable yet not unknowable. The Gur&#363s, however, never theorized about proofs of the existence of God. For them He is too real and obvious to need any logical proof. Gur&#363 Arjan, N&#257nak V, says, "God is beyond colour and form, yet His presence is clearly visible" (GG, 74), and again, "N&#257nak's Lord transcends the world as well as the scriptures of the east and the west, and yet he is clearly manifest" (GG, 397) . In any case, knowledge of the ultimate Reality is not a matter for reason; it comes by revlation of Himself through <i>nadar</i> or grace and by <i>anubhava</i> or mystical experience. Says Gur&#363 N&#257nak, <i>"budhi p&#257thi na p&#257&#299&#257i bahu chatur&#257&#299ai bh&#257&#299 milai mani bh&#257&#7751e</i> (He is not accessible through intellect, or through mere scholarship or cleverness at argument; He is met, when He pleases, through devotion) " (GG, 436) .</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sikhism as a religion is uncompromisingly monotheistic. The Gur&#363s have described God in numerous ways in their hymns included in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, but the unicity of the deity is consistently emphasized throughout. Briefly, God for the Sikhs, as described in the <i>m&#363l mantra</i>, basic formula of the faith, viz. <i>Ik oa&#7749k&#257r satin&#257mu kart&#257 purakhu nirbhau nirvairu ak&#257l m&#363rati aj&#363n&#299 saibha&#7749 gurpras&#257di</i>, is the "One Supreme Being, the Immutable and Eternal Name, the Creative Masculine Principle, Without fear and Without rancour, the Timeless Verity, Unincarnated and Self-Existent, known through His grace." <i>Oa&#7749k&#257r</i> is a variation of the mystic monosyllable <i>Om</i> (also known as <i>anahata n&#257da</i>, the unstruck sound) first set forth in the Upani&#7779ads as the transcendent object of profound religious meditation. Gur&#363 N&#257nak prefixed the numeral one (<i>ik</i>) to it making it <i>Ik Oa&#7749k&#257r</i> or <i>Eka&#7749k&#257r</i> to stress His oneness. He is named and known only through His immanent nature. Almost all of His names are attributive. The only name which can be said to truly fit his transcendent state is <i>Sati</i> or <i>Satin&#257m</i> (Sanskrit <i>satya</i>), the changeless and timeless Reality. He is transcendent and all-pervasive at the same time. Transcendence and immanence are two aspects of the same single Supreme Reality. He is immanent in the entire creation, but the creation as a whole fails to contain Him fully. As says Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur, N&#257nak IX, "He has himself spread out His own <i>m&#257y&#257</i> which He Himself oversees; many different forms He assumes in many colours, yet he stays independent of all" (GG, 537).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; God is <i>Kart&#257 Purakh</i>, the Creator-Person. He created the spatio-temporal universe not from some pre-existing physical element, but from His own Self. Universe is His own emanation. It is not <i>m&#257y&#257</i> or illusion but is real (<i>sati</i>) because, as say Gur&#363 Arjan, "True is He and true is His creation [because] all has emanated from God Himself" (GG, 294) . But God is not identical with the universe. The latter exists and is contained in Him and not vice versa. God is immanent in the created world, but is not limited by it. "Many times He expands Himself into such worlds but He ever remains the same One Eka&#7749k&#257r" (GG, 276) . Even at one time "there are hundreds of thousands of skies and nether regions" (GG, 5). Included in <i>sach kha&#7751&#7693</i>, the figurative abode of God, there are countless regions and universes" (GG, 8). Creation is "His sport which He Himself witnesses, and when He rolls up the sport, He is His sole Self again" (GG, 292). He Himself is the Creator, Sustainer and the Destroyer.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;What is the Creator's purpose in creating the universe? It is not for man to enquire or judge the purpose of His Creator. To quote Gur&#363 Arjan again, "The created cannot have a measure of the Creator; what He wills, O N&#257nak, happens" (GG, 285). For the Sikhs, the Creation is His pleasure and play. "When the showman beat His drum, the whole creation came out to witness the show; and when He puts aside his diguise, He rejoices in His original solitude" (GG, 174, 291, 655, 736).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Purakhu</i> added to <i>Kart&#257</i> in the M&#363l Mantra is the Punjabi form of Sanskrit <i>puru&#7779a</i>, which literally means, besides man, male or person, "the primeval man as the soul and original source of the universe; the personal and animating principle; the supreme Being or Soul of the universe." <i>Purakh</i> in M&#363l Mantra is, therefore, none other than God the Creator. The term has nothing to do with the <i>puru&#7779a</i> of the S&#257&#7749khya school of Indian philosophy where it is the spirit as a passive spectator of <i>pr&#257kriti</i> or creative force.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That God is <i>nirbhau</i> (without fear) and <i>nirvair</i> (without rancour) is obvious enough as He has no <i>sar&#299k</i> or rival. But the terms have other connotations, too. <i>Nirbhau</i> not only indicates fearlessness but also the absence of fearfulness. It also implies sovereignty and unquestioned exercise of Will. Similarly, <i>nirvair</i> implies, besides absence of enmity, the positive attributes of compassion and impartiality. Together the two terms mean that God loves His handiwork and is the Dispenser of impartial justice, <i>dharam- ni&#257u</i>. Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, N&#257nak IV, says: "Why should we be afraid, with the True One being the judge. True is the True One's justice" (GG, 84) .</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; God is <i>Ak&#257l M&#363rati</i>, the Eternal Being. The timelessness involved in the negative epithet <i>ak&#257l</i> has made it popular in Sikh tradition as one of the names of God, the Timeless One, as in Ak&#257l Purakh or in the slogan Sat Sr&#299 Ak&#257l (Satya &#346r&#299 Ak&#257l) . One of the most sacred shrines of the Sikhs is the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t, the Eternal Throne, at Amritsar. <i>M&#363rati</i> here does not mean form, figure, image or idol. Sikhism expressly forbids idolatry or image-worship in any form. God is called Nira&#7749k&#257r, the Formless One, although it is true that all forms are the manifestations of Nira&#7749k&#257r. Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, the earliest expounder and the copyist of the original recension of Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, says: <i>"Nira&#7749k&#257r &#257k&#257ru hari joti sar&#363p an&#363p dikh&#257i&#257</i> (The Formless One having created form manifested His wondrous refulgence" (<i>V&#257r&#257&#7749 </i>, XII. 17). <i>Murati </i> in the M&#363l Mantra, therefore, signifies verity or manifestation of the Timeless and Formless One.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; God is <i>Aj&#363n&#299 </i>, Unincarnated, and <i>Saibha&#7749 </i> (Sanskrit <i>svayambh&#363</i>), Self-existent. The Primal Creator Himself had no creator. He simply is, has ever been and shall ever be by Himself. <i>Aj&#363n&#299 </i> also affirms the Sikh rejection of the theory of divine incarnation. Gur&#363 Arjan says: "Man misdirected by false belief indulges in falsehood; God is free from birth and death... May that mouth be scorched which says that God is incarnated" (GG, 1136).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The M&#363l Mantra ends with <i>gurpras&#257di</i>, meaning thereby that realization of God comes through Gur&#363's grace. "Gur&#363" in Sikh theology appears in three different but allied connotations, viz. God, the ten Sikh Gur&#363s, the enlightened ones and enlighteners, and the <i>gur-shabad</i> or Gur&#363's utterances as preserved in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Of God's grace, Gur&#363s' instruction and guidance and the scriptural <i>sabad</i> (Sanskrit, <i>&#347abda</i>, lit. Word), the first is the most important, because, as nothing happens without God's will or pleasure, His grace is essential to making a person inclined towards a desire and search for union with Him.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; God in Sikhism is thus depicted in three distinct aspects, viz. God in Himself, God in relation to creation, and God in relation to man. God by himself is the one Ultimate, Transcendent Reality, Nirgu&#7751a (without attributes), Timeless, Boundless, Formless, Ever-existent, Immutable, Ineffable, All-by-Himself and even Unknowable in His entirety. The only nomenclatures that can rightly be applied to Him in this state of <i>sunn</i> (Sanskrit, <i>&#347&#363nya</i> or void) are Brahma and P&#257rbrahma (Sanskrit, P&#257rbrahman) or the pronouns He and Thou. During a discourse with Siddhas, Hindu recluses, Gur&#363 N&#257nak in reply to a question as to where the Transcendent God was before the stage of creation replies, "To think of the Transcendent Lord in that state is to enter the realm of wonder. Even at that stage of <i>sunn</i>, he permeated all that Void" (GG, 940). This is the state of God's <i>sunn sam&#257dh&#299</i>, self-absorbed trance.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When it pleases God, He becomes <i>sargu&#7751a</i> (Sanskrit, <i>sagu&#7751a</i>, with attributes) and manifests Himself in creation. He becomes immanent in His created universe, which is His own emanation, an aspect of Himself. As says Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, N&#257nak III, "This (so-called) poison, the world, that you see is God's picture; it is God's outline that we see" (GG, 922) . Most names of God are His attributive, action-related signifiers, <i>kirtam n&#257m</i> (GG, 1083) or <i>karam n&#257m</i> (<i>Dasam Granth</i>, J&#257pu). God in the Sikh Scripture has been referred to by several names, picked from Indian and semitic traditions. He is called in terms of human relations as father, mother, brother, relation, friend, lover, beloved, husband. Other names, expressive of His supremacy, are <i>&#7789h&#257kur, prabh&#363, sv&#257m&#299, s&#257h, p&#257ts&#257h, s&#257hib, s&#257&#299&#7749</i> (Lord, Master) . Some traditional names are <i>r&#257m, n&#257r&#257ya&#7751, govind, gop&#257l, allah, khud&#257</i>. Even the negative terms such as <i>nira&#7749k&#257r, nirañjan et al</i>, are as much related to attributes as are the positive terms like <i>d&#257t&#257, d&#257t&#257r, kart&#257, kart&#257r, day&#257l, krip&#257l, q&#257dir, kar&#299m</i>, etc. Some terms peculiar to Sikhism are <i>n&#257m</i> (lit. name), <i>sabad</i> (lit. word) and <i>V&#257higur&#363</i> (lit. Wondrous Master) . While <i>n&#257m</i> and <i>sabad</i> are mystical terms standing for the Divine manifestation and are used as substitute terms for the Supreme Being, <i>V&#257higur&#363</i>, is an ejaculatory phrase expressing awe, wonder and ecstatic joy of the worshipper as he comprehends the immenseness and grandeur of the Lord and His Creation.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Immanence or All-pervasiveness of God, however, does not limit or in any way affect His transcendence. He is Transcendent and Immanent at the same time. The Creation is His <i>l&#299l&#257</i> or cosmic play. He enjoys it, pervades it, yet Himself remains unattached. Gur&#363 Arjan describes Him in several hymns as "Unattached and Unentangled in the midst of all" (GG, 102, 294, 296) ; and "Amidst all, yet outside of all, free from love and hate" (GG, 784-85) . Creation is His manifestation, but, being conditioned by space and time, it provides only a partial and imperfect glimpse of the Timeless and Boundless Supreme Being.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That God is both Transcendent and Immanent does not mean that these are two phases of God one following the other. God is One, and He is both <i>nirgu&#7751a</i> and <i>sargu&#7751a. "Nirgu&#7751a sargu&#7751u hari hari mer&#257</i>, (God, my God is both with and without attributes), " sang Gur&#363 Arjan (GG, 98). Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s also had said, <i>Nirgu&#7751a sargu&#7751a &#257pe soi</i> (He Himself is with as well as without attributes) " (GG, 128) . Transcendence and Immanence are two aspects of the same Supreme Reality.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Creator also sustains His Creation compassionately and benevolently. "My Lord is ever Fresh and ever Bountiful" (GG, 660) ; "He is the eradicator of the pain and sorrow of the humble" (GG, 263-64) . The universe is created, sustained and moved according to His <i>hukam</i> or Divine Will, and Divine purpose. "The inscrutable <i>hukam</i> is the source of all forms, all creatures.... All are within the ambit of <i>hukam</i>; there is nothing outside of it." (GG p.1). Another principle that regulates the created beings is <i>karma</i> (actions, deeds) . Simply stated, it is the law of cause and effect. The popular dictum "As one sows so shall one reap" is stressed again and again in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib (GG, 134, 176, 309, 316, 366, 706, 730) .</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The created world though real is not eternal. Whenever God desires, it merges back into His Timeless and Formless Self. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh calls this process of creation and dissolution <i>udkarkh</i> (Sanskrit, <i>utkar&#7779a&#7751a</i>) and <i>&#257karkh</i> (Sanskrit, &#257kar&#7779a&#7751a), respectively: "Whenever you, O Creator, cause <i>udkarkh</i> (increase, expansion), the creation assumes the boundless body; whenever you effect <i>&#257karkh</i> (attraction, contraction), all corporeal existence merges in you" (<i>Benat&#299 Chaupa&#299</i>). This process of creation and dissolution has been repeated God alone knows for how many times. A passage in the <i>Sukhman&#299</i> by Gur&#363 Arjan visualizes the infinite field of creation thus:</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Millions are the mines of life; millions the spheres;</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Millions are the regions above; millions the regions below;</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Millions are the species taking birth.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;By diverse means does He spread Himself.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Again and again did He expand Himself thus,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But He ever remains the One Eka&#7749k&#257r.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Countless creatures of various kinds</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Come out of Him and are absorbed back.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None can know the limit of His Being;</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He, the Lord, O N&#257nak! is all in all Himself.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (GG, 275-76)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Man, although an infinitesimal part of God's creation, yet stands apart from it insofar as it is the only species blessed with reflection, moral sense and potentiality for understanding matters metaphysical. In Sikhism, human birth is both a special privilege for the soul and a rare chance for the realization of union with God. Man is lord of earth, as Gur&#363 Arjan says, "Of all the eight million and four hundred thousand species, God conferred superiority on man" (GG, 1075), and "All other species are your (man's) water-bearers; you have hegemony over this earth" (GG, 374). But Gur&#363 also reminds that "now that you (the soul) have got a human body, this is your turn to unite with God" (GG, 12, 378). Gur&#363 N&#257nak had warned, "Listen, listen to my advice, O my mind! only good deed shall endure, and there may not be another chance" (GG, 154). So, realization of God and a reunion of <i>&#257tm&#257</i> (soul) with <i>param&#257tm&#257</i> (Supreme Soul, God) are the ultimate goals of human life. The achievement ultimately rests on <i>nadar</i> (God's grace), but man has to strive in order to deserve His grace. As a first step, he should have faith in and craving for the Lord. He should believe that God is near him, rather within his self, and not far away. He is to seek Him in his self. Gur&#363 N&#257nak says: "Your beloved is close to you, O foolish bride! What are you searching outside?" (GG, 722), and Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s reassures: "Recognize yourself, O mind! You are the light manifest. Rejoice in Gur&#363's instruction that God is always with (in) you. If you recognize your Self, you shall know the Lord and shall get the knowledge of life and death" (GG, 441) . The knowledge of the infinitesimal nature of his self when compared to the immenseness of God and His creation would instil humility in man and would rid him of his ego (a sense of I, my and mine) which is "the greatest malady man suffers from" (GG, 466, 589, 1258) and the arch-enemy of <i>n&#257m</i> or path to God-Realization (GG, 560) . Having surrendered his ego and having an intense desire to reach his goal (the realization of Reality), the seeker under Gur&#363's instruction (<i>gurmati</i>) becomes a <i>gurmukh</i> or person looking gur&#363ward. He meditates upon <i>n&#257m</i> or <i>&#347abda</i>, the Divine Word, while yet leading life as a householder, earning through honest labour, sharing his victuals with the needy, and performing self-abnegating deeds of service. Sikhism condemns ritualism. Worship of God in the Sikh way of life consists in reciting <i>gurb&#257&#7751&#299</i> or holy texts and meditation on <i>n&#257m</i>, solitary or in <i>sa&#7749gat</i> or congregation, <i>k&#299rtan</i> or singing of scriptural hymns in praise of God, and <i>ard&#257s</i> or prayer in supplication.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>&#346abad&#257rth Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> Jodh Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Gurmati Nir&#7751aya</i>. Amritsar, 1932<BR> <li class="C1"> Pr&#299tam Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>Sikh Phalsaphe d&#299 R&#363p Rekh&#257</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Sher Singh, <i>The Philosophy of Sikhism</i>. Lahore, 1944<BR> <li class="C1"> Kapur Si&#7749gh, <i>Par&#257&#347arapra&#347na</i>. Amritsar, 1989<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurbachan Si&#7749gh T&#257lib<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>