doctrinal aspects of sikhism and other essays-j s alhuwalia-english

7/29/2019 Doctrinal Aspects of Sikhism and Other Essays-J S Alhuwalia-English

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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKHISMAND OTHER ESSAYS

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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKHISM

AND OTHER ESSAYS

DR. JASBIR SINGHAHLUWALIA

PUBLICAnON BUREAUPUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA



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Punjabi University, Patiala

DOCTRINALASPECTS OF SIKHISM AND OTHER ESSAYSbyDR. lASBIR SINGH AHLUWALIA

ISBN 8173807469

2001Copies: IlOOPrice : 180-00

Lazer Type-setting. Yesman Graphics, land Street, PatialaPublished by Dr. Balbir Singh Bhatia, Registrar, Punjabi University, Patiaia andprinted at Ram Printograph Pvt. Ltd., Delhi.



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FOREWORDThis is a compilation o f my lectures in Sikhism an d other

related subjects delivered overthe last two years or so.In th e essays on Sikhism, I have focussed on certain newd oc tr In al a sp ec ts o f Sikh r elig io n i n continuation o f the

philosophical postulates analysed in m y earlier W o rk s: TheSovereignty of the Sikh Doctrine and The Doctrine andDynamics ofSikhism.

Sikhism, being an institutional religion, hasboth universal andhistorical dimensions, a nd n ot beinga 'closed' system o fthoughtand praxis has to develop on both o fthese levels. I have stressedin the following articles that Sikhism is neither an ethnicity-specificnor a region-specific religion; from t hi s an gl e t he existentialconcernsofthe Sikhs need to be distinguished from the universalconcerns ofSikhism as a world religion.

The global civilizationo fthe thirdmillenniumwould, it seems,be based on the concept o fspirit analogous to the way in whichthe modem Western civilization o f the p as t f ew centuries o fthesecondmilleniumevolved on the Enlightenment notion o freasonas its foundational principle presumedto be operative in nature,thought, history and society. Sikhism, being essentially a religionwith spirit as its foundational category, can playa significant rolein evolving the 21 s t cen tu ry s ociety and the third millenniumcivilization.

In the other essays also, there is the c ontinuing thread o fpluralism whichis one o fthemainaspectso fpostmodernistthoughtin its different varieties.



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DOCTRlNAL ASPECTS OF SIKHlSM AND OTIlER ESSAYSThe essays in this Work are not written from the angle of

postmodernism, though the postmodernist discourses constitutethe backgroundofthese studies. Ihave, rather, soughtto go beyondpostmodernism in which context I have stressed the concept ofspirit in its new connotation different from its old, dogmaticmeaning.

Jasbir SinghAhluwalia13 July, 2001



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CONTENTSFOREWORD (v)

1. SIKHISM AND THE 21sT CENTURY SOCIETYAND CIVILIZATION 1

2. INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND INTER-COMMUNITYUNDERSTANDING IN THE CONTEXT OF ETHNIC ANDElHNo-RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS . 10

3. SIKHISM: A RELIGION FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM 244. A CONCEPTUAL STUDY OF THE SIKH SCRIPTURE 305. THE SIKH RENAISSANCE: THE FUTURE APPROACH

AND ITS REACH TO THE WESTERN WORLD 376. CREATION OF THE KHALSA: ESSENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE 437. UNDERSTANDINGTHEDASAMGRANTH 558. THE GREENING OF GOD 599. A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ETHNICITY 6310. FOLK LOR E AND CULTURE STUDIES IN THE

21ST CENTURY 6811. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE 21 ST CENTURY

IN WRITING THE HISTORY OF PUNJAB 7312. GENDER EQUALITY 7713. THE SELF AND THE OT HE R 8114. SHOULD THE RIGHT TO DEFINE A SIKH BE

SURRENDERED TO THE STATE? 8515. UPDATING INDIAN CONSTITUTION IN

FEDERAL PERSPECTIVE16. BEYOND POSTMODERNISM



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SIKHISM AND THE 21ST CENTURYSOCIETY AND CIVILIZATION

I am indeed grateful to the Centre for South Asia Studies,UniversityofCalifomia,Berkeley, and, inparticular, toDr. StevenM. Poulos for givingme the greathonourofdelivering inaugurallectures in the newly established annual lecture series dedicatedto Sardarni Amrit KaurAhluwaliawhose illustrious life was aworthy lifedevoted to the ideals andvaluesofSikhism. I am sure,this annual feature-The AmritKaurAhluwaliaLecture inSikhismwould go a longway towards re-discovering-and re-interpretingthe essentials ofSikh religion in the 21 st century context. I feelveryprivilegedon this occasion.

Sikhism-oneofthe fivemajorworldreligions-has the uniquedistinction ofbeing the onlymajorreligion that arose inthe secondmillennium.Thoughareligionofthe secondrnillennium, it isareligionforthe thirdmillennium.

Arnold Toynbee has observed that Sikh religion had thepotentialofushering inanewhighercivilizationqualitativelydifferentfrom the earlierIndic andHinducivilizations. ThepotentialofSikhreligion, its elanvital, canplaya dominant role in shaping the 21 stcentury society and the thirdmillenniumcivilizationthatwouldbein its fundamental postulates different from themodernWesterncivilization

ModernWestern civilizationwhich, ina sense, gave rise to aparticularkind of 'modern' (distinguishable from postmodemJworldviewandvision, evolvedonthe basisofcertainfundamentalsthatmade itdifferent frommedieval and ancient civilizations on



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the one hand andwould, hopeably, distinguish it from the postmodernist 21 stcentury and the thirdmillennium global civilizationon the other hand.

Themost significant and revolutionary breakthrough inold(premodern)modesofthinkingcameaboutwithCartesiandualismofmind and matter,whichwithonestrokerenderedmaterial realityboth insulatedagainstand liberated from non-material reality, thuspavingtheway for explorationofmaterial phenomenaintermsoftheir own internal, autonomous patterns, principles and laws,without any reference to the so-called transcendental ones.Philosophy ofempiricismstressed that reality was knowable toman only through the senses and apart from the sensorymade,man has no other intuitive,mystical or reve1ational access to reality.The unkowable-that not knowable through the sensorymodebecame indistinguishable from nothingness, leaving it to the mysticsto lend any substance, attribute ormeaning to this 'nothingness'(shunya). Onanother level, this new (secular)mode ofthinkingbrought in the philosophy ofhumanism, which asserted that it isman who is the measure of all things and not any 'outside'transcendental reality orprinciple. Thenormative inman's life ishistoricallygiven andnot transcendentally determined-thiswasclaimed by different varieties of historicism: evolutionary,dialectical, etc. Existentialismpostulated that particular 'existence'ofthe individual isprior to andmore significant than the 'essence'standing for the ideals that are treated only as secondaryabstractions from the given particularities; the transcendentalabsolutes are thus totally knocked out from man's reckoning ofwhat is significant in life. Freudianpsychologywould like us tobelieve that it is notGodWho createdman, butmanwho createdGod as a projectionfrom within the sub-conscious repressions.The dualism (bothontological and epistemological) impliedin the above concepts was based on the postulate that (knowable)

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reality is ofmaterial nature, with a rational structure, having anatomistic composition; independentlyexisting (material) objectsandphenomenacouldbe known objectively, that is, independentlyof the subject, through reason with its analytic-reductionistmethodology. This gave rise to themetanarrative (inpostmodemistterminology) of reason as the main foundational principle ofmodem Western civilization. In earlier civilizations,jaith had heldpromise ofredemption ofthe soul in other-worldly life; modemWestern civilizationpostulated that deified reason would ensureameliorationofthe conditionsofmanand society in this veryworld.But this did not happen. Reason (in the Enlightenment sense ofthe term) presumedto be operative in nature, thought, history andsociety could not deliver the goods. As discussed in the essayBeyondPostmodernism, the inadequacy ofreason was exposedby reason itself.

This necessitates what is termed as "the paradigm shift" orthe breakthroughofa newproblematic in our thinking. Thiswouldnot mean a negation ofreason but going beyondit, to the realm ofspirit.

As religionisthe realm ofthe revelations ofSpiritfrom timeto time, mankind is looking upon religion in a newway: as a questfor the Spiritofreligion, flowing indifferentfaiths, as distinct fromdogmahardened in different religiousities.

In the process ofushering in a newholistic world view for thepostmodernglobal societyofthe 21 st century, Sikhismcan playavital role bothon metaphysical and sociological levels. Sikhism isessentially a religionofspirit with a holistic vision on epistemiclevel.

The basic category of Sikhism is spirit and not Vedanticbeing (Brahman); the Absolute in Sikh religion is not only Sat(being), Chit (consciousness) andAnand (bliss)-as in Vedantabut also Karta Purakh (Creator). The Absolute, aboriginally

~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~

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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SII


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SIKHISM AND THE 21sT CENTURY SOCIETY AND CIVILIZATION

Guru Nanak, the first often Prophets of Sikhism, used a verysignificant expressionAadJugad in his compositionJapji.

To distinguisheternityoftime from its createdness,Aadrefersto logical beginning and Jugad refers to temporal, historicalbeginning. Spirit descends in time, in history, in historical time,which in technica1language, means the Self-determinationoftheSpirit (in and through the created world) in time, in history, inhistorical time.

The Self-manifesting Spirit is revealed in different religionsfrom time to time; Hence, no religion canclaim to be the full and[contd. from lastpagejAs the spatial conception of time is nothing but a denial of itshistoricity, so in Vedantic thought the causal relation ofBrahman withphenomenal reality could be conceived only in such tenns ofappearance,reflection, manifestation, configuration, modification, etc., as involvethe spatiality oftime in the context ofwhich there is either no change butonly an illusory appearance (vivartavada) or at the most a change infonn (parinamvada) in which the potential becomes the actual, the causedelivers the pre-conceived effect; Brahman maintains the substantialself-identity of its Being-in-itself in the midst of its phenomenolmodification, transformation or transfiguration. In the case ofparinamvada, which is common to Ramanuja's Vishistadvaita, Madhva'sDvaita, Nimbarka's Dvaitadvaita and Vallabha's Shuddhadvaita, thechange being only in the fonn, there is no real evolution, growth anddevelopment, no emergence of new quality or novelty.

If in Shankara's vivartavada phenomenal becoming is only a matterof illusion caused by maya, in parinamvada it represents an inferior,secondary, transient reality ofderivative nature. Such, then, is the natureof the world of time and space in the Vaishnva (theistic) schools ofVedanta, while for Advaita Vedanta the wordly reality is only aphenomenon of illusory appearance caused by maya which superimposes sensory fonns onto Brahman.Basing itselfon the spatiality of time, the classical Hindu traditionof religious thought had equated reality with eternity in its concept ofSat. the rea! is eternal in time and the eternal alone is real. The world oftime and space, being subject to the processes ofbeccming-originationand development, preservation and disintegration-is, accordingly,deemed as IJntrue and unreal in itself; at the most it possesses secondary,derivative reality.



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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKHISM AND OTHER ESSAYSfinal revelation. GuruNanak stresses, inJapji, the inexhaustabilityofthe attributesofthe Divine and the relativityofthe humanmodesofperception, and figuratively expresses this idea inthisway: Thebrave seesGod in the form ofMight; the intellectual comprehendsHim in the form ofLight (ofknowledge); the aesthete perceivesthe DivineinHis aspectofBeauty; themoralist envisionsHim asGoodness, etc.

Different revelations ofthe Spirit are, saysGuruNanak, likethevarietyofdifferent seasonswhichreferback to the same Sun :

!JOH Pc't gf3(')T(')C{ cra-3 -a- -a3 ?RNumerous are the seasons emanatingfrom the one sunNumerous are the guises in which the Creator appears

For Sikhreligion, all revelations ofGod are equallyco-valid,having been given to man relative to the variables oftime andplace. This rules out any room for dogmatic assertionoffullnessand finality ofany single religion's revelation as well as religioustotalitarianismwhich is not accepted inSikhism.Though Sikhismembraces the other-worldly concerns ofman as well as the thisworldly concerns of society and state, it is not a totalizingideology.

All revelations being relativelyco-valid, no 'ism'-religious orsecular-canclaim to be the soleway to God, theexclusive path tosalvation.

GuruAmarDass says;tTC1? Hcter ottr g fcralJr rrrFof t G ~ ~ f 3 3 ~ ~The World is ablaze, 0 Lord! shower your benediction.Through whichever door it can be deliveredSave it that way

This accounts for the basis and significance of religiouspluralism inSikhism. Fromhere it follows that unity ofdifferent

~



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religions-or the global ethnic-need not to be artificiallyconceptualized on the basis ofthe lowest denominator commonto all religions; it can ratherbe realized spontaneouslyon the basisthat different r e l i g ~ o n s are different stages ofthe revelation oftheone and same divine Spiritmanifest in different forms in differentfaiths. The descentofthe divine Spirit in time is, in a sense, theascentofman in his spiritual development.

The conceptionofreligious pluralism, envisaged inSikhism,provides a positive basis not only for co-validity and co-existenceofdifferent faiths in dynamic interactionwith eachother, but alsofor co-equalityand co-existence ofdifferent religious and ethnoreligious communities and their co-participation in the nationalbody-politic oftheir respective countries. Here co-participationofthe religious, ethno-religious orsimply ethnic groups or-oftheminorities basedon religion, region, ethnicity, culture etc.-meansco-participation in their corporate capacities, through their ownpolitical organizations, representing the social collectivities withtheir respective self-identities,which is no case shouldbe diluted,homogenizedorsublated into an over-arching'secular' nationalismof the Western type adopted and adapted in the third worldcountries.

Corning back to the questionof the Sikh revelation oftheDivine, the Spirit-in-history realizes itself in 'peoplehood' thesociological categoryofwhich, in the Sikhparlance, is known asthe Khalsa.

"'fClTP.i l:fiF:f cit Wl.{Olfc l:fT8W(This verily is the phenomenal form of the Timeless Whomanifests Himselfin the corporate body ofthe Khalsa.)

-Prehlad Singh, author ofaSikh RehatnamaCfTCmT R-a" 2l..f j crrR"crnif HfJ c;fj fcwrFr

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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKHISM AND OTIIER ESSAYS(The Khalsa is my determinate form I am immanent in theKhalsa). -Guru Gobind Singh

Spiritual aspect oftheDivine sovereignty is revealed in theHoly Word* (Guru Granth) and the temporal aspect of thesovereign Spirit becomes diffused in the body-politic ofGuruPanth. (TIleHegelianSpirit reaches its fullestmanifestation in theinstitutionofthenation-statewhichhe identifiedwiththe Prussianstate; onthe otherhand, inSikhism, it is the 'peoplehood' and notthe nation-state, which is the vehicle for sovereignSelf-realizationofSpirit). Here is a newmode ofthe Divine revelation onsocietallevel. The conceptionoftheAbsolute (God,Brahman, Idea, etc .....)becomingmanifest in space (nature), or in the Word, or in thesoul, has beenrecurring in bothWestern and Indianphilosophy.But the ideaofthe Spirit Self-determinating in history and thengetting diffused in theKhalsa, inpeoplehood, appears for the firsttime, throughSikhmetaphysics, in the history ofspeculative thoughtof the world. The Khalsa here does not mean a particularcommunity in a particular form, in a particular region; it, rather,means commonwealthofenlightened human beingsat a higherlevelofspiritual growth-aDivineBrotherhoodofthosewho inthelanguage ofGuruNanak are sachiar (embodiment oftruth and*The Sikh conception ofthe Word is qualitatively different from theHinduand the Christian view. In Sikh thought, the Spirit, besides becominginunanent in the societal categoryKhalsa, also becomes determinate inthe Word (bani) which, as such, is elevated and revered as the eternal'living' Guru in the form ofSri GuruGranth. Christian thought holds that"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and theWordwas God." The Word became 'flesh't that is, incarnate in thepersonof Jesus Christ who, as such, is the focal point ofthe faith and worshipand not the Bible, the scripture. The Hindu conception ofShabdabrahman postulates that the primodial sound-Om as the auditorysymbol ofBrahman-diffused in the cosmos was heard by the rishis whoverbalized it in the form ofthe Veda.



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SIKHISM AND THE 21 ST CENTURY SOCIETY AND CIVILIZATIONtruthful living) and in the language ofGumGobind S i n ~ arejujhar(the sociallycommitted andactive for r i ~ t e o u s cause). Herewasanewrevolutionary concept inthe historyoftheworld: the Divineinhumanityandhumanity intheDivine.

The Absolute qua Spirit pulsates the cosmos; the Divinepulsation holistically binds man and nature in unity and interconnectedness. Man and nature are no more seenas external toeachother, being involved in inter-dependentnetworkrelationship,reciprocally conditioning the life of each other. Guru Nanakstresses this kind of relationship at the end ofhis compositionJapji:

(Air the Guru; Water the Father; Great Earth the Mother)The conceptionofinter-relatednessofmanand natureplacestremendous responsibilityonSikhism for addressing theproblemsofsafetyand protectionofearth and its ecosystem, oflife on thisplanet.

The human spiritpartakesofthe divinity oftheAbsoluteSpiritThatis howthe human spirit is sovereignin its inalienabledignity,worth and freedom. This Sikh thought, in a sense, heralded theideals enshrined in the preamble to the UnitedNations Charterwhich, interalia, reaffinns "faith in the fundamentalhuman r i ~ t s , inthe dignity andworth ofthe human person, in the equal rights ofmen andwomen and ofnations, large and smalL"



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INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AN D INTER-COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING 11exponents and practitioners o f other faiths. The essence o f hi sdiscourse with the Sidhas (Nath Yogis) at Achal Vatala in thePunjab (or at the Sumer-Kailash-mountain, according to PuratanJanam Sakhi) is expressed in his well-known compositions,Sidhgosht. While the Yogis attempted to convert the Guru intotheir folds through theological debate aswell as by display oftheirsupernatural, occultpowers, the founder o fSikhismexhortedthemto be true yogis by realizing and practising the true spirit o ftheirfaith. Guru Nanak made similar exhortations to the followers o fother faiths inhis endeavour to makethemre-discover the internalsignificance o ftheir beliefs an d rituals, without discarding theirchosen path. This is how GuruNanak envisioneda pluralist typeofinter-faithdialogue as one o fthe means to dissolve the rigiditiesofreligiousexclusiveness and theconcomitantreligiousantagonismand to bring about inter-religious understanding and intercommunityaccommodation, unity and harmony.

The pluralist conception o f inter-religious dialogue thatcharacterizes the present-day interfaith praxis stands in sharpcontrastto the unitarianconceptionwhich ledto a numberofrelatedand unrelated phenomena: aggressive evangelism, assimilation,homogenization, fundamentalism, etc. Th e old concept involvedthe reductionist approach that sought common denominators (asdistinct from recurring archetypal ideas) in different religions; thepresumed common denominators or traits were, then, sought toby synthesized into a 'common' religion, or atleast 'common' ethic.Inter-religious harmony and unitywas attempted to be erected onsuch presumed 'common denominators', 'common' religiouselements or 'common' ethical principles. In being compared forcommoncharacteristics, religions, in effect, weremade to competewith each other. This reductionist approach suffers from certainepistemological flaws. The logical basis ofreductive methodologyis the notion o f logical symmetry o f systems, their time-



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DOCTRINAL AsPECTs OF SlKHISM AN D OTIlER ESSAYStranscendence, whichmakes all the systems contemporaneous ina single, all-embracing frame ofreference wherein the systemsturn out to be reversible and reducible to one another, revealingessentialunity(commondenominators) in apparentdiversity. ForHinduism, Vedantic thought in its generality constitutes such a frameofreference for all thought-systems ofIndia.

Suchcommondenominators actually turn out to benothingmore than abstractions, with apparent universality but with nodeterminate content. On the basis ofsuchpresumedcommonnessbetween different religions, themajority religions, in the nameofcomparative studyofreligions, tend to assimilate and appropriateinto themselves the minority religions. This is howSikhreligionhas been treated as a species ofthe Vedantic genus by stretchingthe connotation of the Mul Mantra terms-Ik Onkar, Satnam,AkalMurat, etc.-back to one or the other system ofUpanishadthought. These terms, showingapparent similaritieswith those ofthe earlierVedantic schools,were not seen intheir integrality intheperspectiveoftheparadigmshiftbroughtaboutby GuruNanakinthe evolutionary course ofspiritual consciousnessofmankind.

Tendentious stress on certain concepts and elementssupposedlycommon to SikhismandVedantic systemofthoughtends up in treating Sikh religion as a species ofVedantic genus,an updated version ofHinduism; the (revealed) originality, thedoctrinal sovereignty*, ofSikhism is, thus, denied in the searchfor the so-called commondenominators. The issue ofrelatedness Ontological and epistemological categories ofSikhism are qualitatively

different from the Vedantic and other thought-systems of India. TheSikh conception ofthe Absolute; defmition of reality; concept of time,and ontological status ofphenomenal world are radically different fromtheir counterparts in earlier systems. As against the fundamental conceptof being (sat) ofVedantic metaphysics, the basic category ofSikhism isspirit contradistinguishable from the Vedantic concept ofsupreme reality

[Con/do on next pageJ



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INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND INTER-COMMUNlTY UNDERSTANDING 13of Sikhism to Indian heritage is turned into its (hypothetical)rootedness in earlierreligious-philosophictraditions. Radical socialideology ofSikhism is, this way, made to standon conservativephilosophical foundation. The point is thata religious traditionmustbe approached in terms of its own self-defInition, in terms ofitsself-defined identity. This requires an unmediated, experientialinsight (through socio-religiousosmosis)which is notpossible inthe caseofthe 'outsiders', whatever be their cereberal brilliance.

Theoldreductionistconceptionofinter-religious relationshipwas anti-historicist. Eachreligion has universal and a historicaldimension. The specifics ofthe time place inwhich a religionarises and develops leave their imprint on the beliefs, rituals andcustomsofthat religion. The historicaldimensionalso contributestowards the evolutionofthe religious tradition-aprocesswithoutwhich the tradition endsup as a static systeminhibiting freedom ofthe human spiritby tethering it to anobsolete dogma. Historical[Contd. from last page]as Brahman (Being). The Absolute in Sikhisin is the Self-consciousSpirit. Vedantic (isotropic) time is eternity, a beginningless and endless(uncreated) continuum in which a thing contirtues in its self-same stateof being eternally. From here follows that the Real is eternal and theeternal Real. The world of phenomena, being transient, does not, assuch, qualify to be real. On the hand, Sikh metaphysics involves theconceptofanisotropic time in the form ofhistorical time, beinga dimensionin which the Spirit becomes determinate reality. Guru Arjun says thatGod created not only matter but also time.( ~ cfP,{r fe01]./& ar:ft)

Hence the Nanakian expression Aad Jugad, wherein Aad refers tological beginning and Jugadmeans historical beginning (the beginningofeons). From here the defmition ofreality also becomes different fromthe Vedantic conception. Apart from the Absolute Reality, thephenomenal world, having been created in (historical) time, is also real.The noumenal is real and eternal; the phenomenal is real, though transient.These original concepts and their irreducible connotations, interalia,constitute the doctrinal sovereignty of Sikhism.



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variables-language, script, racialmilieu, culturalethos, social strata,economicmodes, territorial factors, etc.,-condition the processofevolutionofreligioustraditions; some ofthese variablesbecomeintegral components of the self-identities of these traditions.However, therehas beena tendencyon the partofsome scholarsto see theincorporationofhistoricalvariables intoreligious traditionsas their exogamous growth and not endogenous development;the externally acquired characteristics relative to the historicalvariables, are, then, differentiated from the internally developedaspects. No doubt, distinction can and should bemade betweenthese two kinds of characteristics : the externally acquiredcontingentcharacteristics andthe characteristics that are, orhavebecome, internal, integral parts ofthe tradition. Where historicalvariables enter intothemediational process inand through whichthe universalbecomes ahistorical determination, the characteristicsofthe religious traditionsoacquiredbecomeits constituent aspectsand integral componentsofits self-identity.

Thispoint is immenselyrelevantinthe contextofcertaintrendsofSikhstudies by Western scholarswho in their interpretationoftheevolutionofSikhismfromGuruNanak to GuruGobind Singhtreatit as a 'transformation' due to certain external contingentfactorsand so distinguishthe originalNanakian identityofSikh traditionfrom the subsequent 'transformed' Khalsa identity. In otherwordsthey treat thisprocess as exogamous andnotofendogenousnature.Thepointis not tominimize the roleofexternal, historical variables;thepoint, rather, is that some ofthesehistorical variables, enteringinto themediational process inand throughwhich the universal inSikhreligionhas evolved into aparticularhistorical determination,have become integral partsofthe Sikh tradition and constituentaspects ofthe Sikh identity the emergence ofwhich has been ofthe natureofcontinuity-in-charge. In any understandingofSikhism,in terms of its own self-defined identity, this nature of its

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INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE ANn INTER-COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING 15evolutionaryprocess has to be kept in view.

Recognition of self-defined identities of differentreligious traditions is a significant characteristic of thepresentday trends in inter-faith dialogue based on pluralisthistoricist (holistic) view of reality.

Thepluralist-historicist conceptionofinter-religiousdialoguepostulates thatdifferentreligions represent different stages oftheevolutionofspiritual consciousnessofmankind-aviewpointwhichmaynot beeasilyacceptable to certainreligions that hitherto havebeenclaimingthat theyexpress the full and final revelationoftheAbsolute. Implicit inthis claim is not only religious exclusivismbetraying an aura ofsuperiority, but also a pre-supposition thatspiritual consciousness ofmankind is static and does not ascendto higher stagesofspeculative thought.

In its pluralistvision, Sikhismdoesnotclaim to bethe full and:final revelation ofthe Divine, ofultimate reality, ofabsolute truth.As I mentioned in my earlier lecture, Guru Nanak in hiscompositionJapjirefers to the infinityoftheattributes and aspectsofGodnotexhausted-and inexhaustible-inmy singlerevelation.

Apluralistacceptanceofthe validityandlegitmacyofdifferentfaiths in their distinctive identities impliespositive acceptance ofthe group-identities ofdifferent individuals andcommunities asco-equal entities. Says GuruArjun :R" Hill'8 Ht:!/fi:;fc>j

fail or RHfuAll are co-equal partners in Thy Commonwealth.With none treated as alien.This provides a sound perspective for inter-community

understanding as well as for participation, in polity, ofdifferentcommunities in theirautonomous corporate capacitieswithoutbeing reduced into a homogenizedmass.

Contemporary social reality is characterized by the



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emergence, in militant forms, of ethnic and, ethno-religiouscontradictions that have taken precedence over classcontradictions. Ethnic tensions, ethno-religious conflicts havebecome sharpened; ethnic 'cleansing' is being pursued withfimdamentalist aggressiveness.

The ethnic and ethno-religious contradictions, directly andindirectly, impinge upon the problem of inter-communityunderstanding and accommodation. As such, itwould be fruitfulto study theproblem from the angleofethnicity, fromthestandpointofethnic and ethno-re1igious nationalism, as distinct from 'secular'nationalism.

Contraryto theearlierpostulate andbelief(classicalMarxist)that ethnic contradictionswould be subsumedunder or sublatedinto class contradictions, the converse has happened in the pastfewdecades: class contradictions arenowgettingmediatedthroughethnic contradictions,making theproblemofethnicitymuchmorecomplex.

The traditional approach, in its different variants, to theproblem ofethnicity is flawed-and hence a failure-owing to itsdualistic, dichotomouspremises inherent inthe three long-cherishedmyths that stand exploded. For the last 150 years or so, we hadnurtured.the beliefthat itwas class contradictions that constitutedthe dialectics of social reality, and that economic determinantswould resolve class contradictions. It had further been, all along,contendedthatwith the resolutionofclass contradictionsthe ethnic,linguistic, cultural, religiousand regionalproblemsoftheminoritieswould also inevitablyget dissolved. This beliefwas based on thepostulate that the problems of theminorities were essentially ofeconomic nature and were accentuated by class contradictionsinherent in the society, and further that the 'contents' of themovements and struggles of the minorities were basically'economic', while their outward expression took on the ethnic,




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INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND INTER-COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING 17cultural, religious, 'fonns'. Economic relations, corresponding tothe mode ofproduction, were considered as the base with thefactors of ideology, political system, legal fonns, and cultural,religious, ethnic, linguistic consciousness deemed aspartofthesuperstructure detennined by the economic base. This one-waycausality implied the base-superstructure dualism which becamethe bed-rock ofclassicalMarxism, notwithstanding the conceptofparallelogramofforces postulatedbyF. Engles. In otherwordsthe root cause ofall superstructural phenomena-inwhich wascounted the given ethnic consciousness-was attributed to theeconomic factor alone. But the ethnic experience of even thedevelopedWestern countries shows that this is notwholly true.The economic factor is important but the identity consciousnessofthe minorities and their urges and aspirations for corporate selfexpression transcend the economic factor.

Another myth also stands exploded. At one time it wasbelieved that the forces of modernization, industrialization,urbanization, professionalmobility, etc., would in the longrunresultina kind ofsocial homogeneityliquefying the linguistic, religious,ethnic and cultural distinctivenessofdifferent communities. Butthe processes ofmodernization have, rather, accentuated selfawareness oftheminorities about their distinctive beings. Moderninfonnation technology-internet, television, etc.-while imposingglobal stereotypes on the one hand, is also, one the other hand,providing unlimited avenues for projection of the local, theparticular, the indigenous, thereby facilitating self-expressionandself-assertion ofthe ethnic factors across the boundsofthe nationstates, whichas such, are nomore in a positionto contain withintheir boundaries, their internalethnicmobilization.

The third mythofthe Western-type nation-state, hailed onceasthegreatabsorbentofallextra-national identities-ethnic, cultural,religious, linguistic-also standscollapsed. Secular nationalism, as



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the ideology of the nation-state evolved in the West andtransplanted in someofthe thirdworldcountries, contended thatthe all-encompassing, over-archingnational identity would liquefyand dissolve all other identities or at least the latter would bemarginalized as subordinate and satellite identities. The nationstatewith its ideologyoftotalitariannationalism-as itarose intheWest and later onwas adopted in the developing countries oftheEast-is regarded as the highest possible and ultimate politicalstructure ofeternal nature. It is forgotten thatthe nation-state asmuch as, say, theGreekcity-state-is only ahistoricallydeterminedpolitical structure thatarose inthe phaseofcapitalistdevelopmentofsociety in the West. Certain historical specifics invested thenation-state, in its earlier evolutionarycourse, with a unitariantotalitarianorientation. This totalitarianismclaims total, absoluteallegiance ofthe individual to the nation-state to the exclusionofhis all otherallegiances: to ethnicity, religionetc. Secondly, herethe individual, rather than the group, is takenas theunitofpoliticalcommunitythat is soughtto be built on ahomogenizedsocialbase.Thus the stress is onthe individual's assimilation into the nationalbody-politic, rather than on the corporate integrationofthegroupsquadistinctive entities. In this totalitariannationalismthere is littleroom for the institutions and structures oftheminorities. Thistotalitarian nationalism is complemented by unitarianpolity. Thisis howthemonolithicpolitycomes to be identified with the nationand the nation is taken as a homogenized society. Diversity is,then, tried to be reduced into unity which is taken as conformity.Assimilation is aimed at in the name of integration. Any grouplinguistic, religious, cultural, etlmic-that resists such homogenizationis dubbed as fimdamentalist; corporate interest-articulationby aminority is pronounced as communalism. Resistance toidentificationofmonolithicpolitywith the nation is condemned assecessionism. It is this kind ofunitarian-totalitarian state thatDr.

DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SII


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INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND INTER-COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING 19S. Radhakrishanan-one of the greatest thinkers ofthe presentcentury-condemns as the God-State in his well-knownwork:Eastern Religions and Western Thought. The worship of theGod-State is, then, calledpatriotism in secular idiom.The modern secularism, or secular nationalism, qua the

ideology ofthe nation-state, is dualistic in nature and approach.Outofthe 'modem'humanist ideologies, since the sixteenthcentury,grewa general viewthatman's life, his realm ofreality, derived itssense and significance, value and validity, sanctityand legitimacynot from any outside or transcendental source but fromwithinthemanifold ofphenomena, from within the concrete existence ofman.

It was in this philosophical and ideological backdropcharacterized by ontological (mind/matter) and epistemological(subject/object) dualism and dichotomy that the process ofsecularizationin theWestdifferentiatedthe seculardomainofman'sthis-worldlyactivities-social, cultural,economic, political and evenethical-from the religious domainwhich at bestwas treated as arealm inwhichman could, ifhe so desired, have an 'affair' withGodto be experienced, like sex, in theprivacyofone's individuallife! As is obvious from the above theWestern differentiation ofthe secular from the religious, or in other words, Westernsecularism, is basedon the dualism, divorce or dichotomyofthetwo domains.The Western model of secularism has seen sought to be

adopted in some of the Third World countries, with someadaptations such asequidistanceofthe secular state from religions;acceptance by the secular state of co-existence of differentreligions, andconstitutional rights not onlyfor practising religion inone's own private life but also for its propagation, which, ipsofacto, means propagation in public life as well. The point is thatWesternmodel of secularism has certain unresolved inherent



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contradictions. Owing to these inherentcontradictions, the nationstate with its typical ideologyof(dualistic) secularism is, ab initio,incapacitated to comprehend objectively and resolve amicablythe ethnicproblems, nor is it capable ofreconciling the nationalidentitywith the ethnic, linguistic and religious identities, particularlyoftheminorities. Modemnation-statehas appropriated unto itselfa godly status, godly authorityas well as godlyegoismdressed upas secularnationalism. TIlls national egoismofdeifiednation-stateclaims absolute, totalitarianauthorityovermen and matters inthename ofsovereignty ofthe state. Sovereignty is an attribute ofman and not ofan organization whether religious (church) orpolitical (state). In the 21st century society and civilization thereshould be no room for theexiting type ofdeified states. Nationalsovereignties should be recognized as interdependent on the oneside, and as co-shareable, constitutionally and politically, by theconstituent communities-as distinct from the nations-in the newpluralisticdispensationof the newcentury.

The concept of nation-state is becoming, day by day,outdated, thanks to the globalization and corporativisation ofnational economies; with gradual relaxation oftrade barriers theday is not far offwhen territorial boundaries would also becomemeaningless. The newpolitical organizations ofthe future, replacingthe existing exclusivistnation-states, would be ofthe nature of'system-within-system'-political, economic, social and culture-ina global network ofrelations. .

The collapse ofthe myths, discussed above, necessitates anew approach: a holistic approach in contrast to the existingdualistic one.

From the holistic angle, true secularism (as against thefalseself-consciousness, in Hegelian-Marxian sense, ofthe presentnation-state in the sense ofsecularism)would be based not on thedichotomy of the secular and the spiritual domain but on their

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INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND INTER-COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING 21complementarity,withrelative autonomy (as stressed in the Sikhdoctrine). Secondly, national identity should be looked upon asan abstract universaldeterminating itself as concrete universalthrough diverse ethnic, linguistic, religiousandothercommunitarianidentities. Thenational identity initselfis an indeterminateonenesswhich becomes a determinate whole with the incorporation ofcommunitarian identitieswhich substantiate the abstractness ofthenational identity. Thirdly, from theholistic viewpoint, differentidentities areofthe natureofwhole-within-whole; i fone identity isapart inrelation to a largerwhole; it is also simultaneouslya 'whole'in relation to other identities deemed as its integral 'parts'. Thisholistic conceptof'whole-within-whole' transcends the traditionalwhole-part dualism which, for instance, is reflected in thedifferentiation of national and regional languages, or in themajoritarianculture and theminoritarian sub-cultures.

Fourthly, different identities being of the nature of 'wholewithin-whole', the resultant relationship turns out to be notonlyofcomplementarity but also of multivalency. In this context Ipropound a new concept of identitive multivalency in the sensethateach identity is both conceptionally andempiricallybivalent!multivalent ForinstancePunjabi identity (ethnicity) is multivalentinthat itbinds togetherat least three different religious collectivitiesHindu,Muslim and Sikh. ThePunjabi ethnicity has, as such, threedeterminate ethno-religious forms; PunjabiHindu identity, PunjabiMuslimidentity, and Punjabi Sikh identity. ThedistinctiveHindu,Muslim and Sikh identities ethnically re-inforce and complementeachother,while religiously these are differential, eachhaving itsown distinctiveness. While Punjabi ethnicity provides diffusedgroup consciousness to theHindus,MuslimandSikhs going acrossreligious and national boundaries, ethno-religious identityprovidescohesive group consciousness to the members ofeach religiouscommunity. The concept ofidentitive multivalency that I am



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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKHISM AND OrnER EsSAYSintroducing implies simultaneous multiple identitieswhich shouldbe encouraged as such, for in the event of the contradictionsbetweendiverse identities becoming militant and antagonistic dueto the variablesoftime and space, the latent forces ofsimultaneousmultiple identifications canneutralize to a very large extent themilitancy andmutual antagonismofethnic, ethno-social, ethnoreligious and ethno-political denominations.

The conceptofidentitivemultivalency for becominga livingreality necessitates the praxis ofpluralism-religious, social andpolitical. Religious pluralism does not simplistically mean coexistenceofdifferent religious traditions and communities; what itreally means is the co-validity ofall religious revelations. Asdiscussed earlier, no revelation canbe elevated as full and finalexpressionofthe ultimate reality and truth. Thiswouldprovide anabiding basis for mutual accommodationofdifferent religioustraditions and communities. With theomachy gone, there wouldbe no room for religious or ethno-religious antagonism andintolerance. In this context inter-religious dialogue, with its newpluralist-historicist approach, canplayaneffective role.

Social pluralismmeans atapestry-like conceptofsocietywithno direct, or indirect, latent or manifest prospensity towardshomogenization; homogenization insecular garb ismore dangerousthan its naked theo-ethnic variety.Political pluralism means not onlya federal systemofpolitybut also the praxis that upholds the rightsofeach group-ethnic,etlmo-religious, ethno-social, etc.-to participate in its corporatecapacity in the national body-politic of a country; corporateparticipation means institutional participation of differentcommunities, (particularly those who, like the Sikhs, are bothreligious and political communities) in the state structures.In the 21 st century society ethnic, ethno-religious, ethnosocial and ethno-political consciousness would play significant role-



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INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND INTER-COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING 23both positive and negative. Positively, ethnic consciousness, ingeneral,wouldbe asignificantconstituentfactor inevolvingmultifocal, pluralistdispensationofthe future.Negatively, i fsuppressedby unitarian-totalitariantrends and forces, ethnic, and inparticularethno-religiousconsciousness,wouldassumesharpermilitant, andevenmore acute violent forms, threatening peace, harmony andamity.

[The above two lectures were delivered on 18,20April, 2000 atthe University of California Cc.mtre for South Asia Studies),Berkeley, USA].



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SIKHISM: A RELIGION FOR THE THIRDMILLENNIUM

Sikhism-oneofthe five majorworld religions-has the uniquedistinctionofbeing theonlymajor religionthat arose in the secondmillennium. Though a religion ofthe secondmillennium, it is areligionfor the thirdmillenniumhaving (an unrealized) potentialfor ushering in anew global, postmodemistcivilizationqualitativelydifferent from the 'modem'Westerncivilization. .

Islamand Christianityalso, in theirprimetimes, had broughtabout their respective civilizations, but these were uni-centric,religiously, socially and politically. For the uni-centricity ofChristian civilization, the focal point was the Christianfaiththat claimed to be the full and final revelation ofrealityandtruth,with the concomitant claim ofbeing the exclusive path to God.Salvationmeant salvation through the Christiandoor. SimilarwasthecontentionofIslarnic civilization.ModemWesterncivilization,claiming to be secular, had substituted reason forfaith. Eurocentric in orientation,modemWesterncivilizationalsopostulatedthatreason,with its reductive-analytic method, can fully and finallyunravel the ultimate (material) reality in termsofuniversally validlaws and theorieswhichcould be unified into a single over-archingtheorywithothertheories and laws logicallygetting deduced fromthe central one. Suchwas the faith-both religious and scientific-inthe urn-centric monolithicconceptionofreality.

The uni-centricity of the Christian, Islamic and modemWestern civilizations implied homogenization on social level andunitarianism-totalitarianism on political level. The new global)



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SIKHISM: A RELIGION FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUMcivilization ofthe thirdmillenniumwould,hopeably, be pluri-eentric.Sikhism, with its inherent religious, social, cultural, economic andpolitical pluralism, canprovide ideological postulates for the newpluralistworld civilization.

We have celebrated in the year 1999 the 300th anniversaryofthat divinemoment in the flux oftime-the creationoftheKhalsapanth in the year 1699 byGuruGobind Singh-that ushered in qnewpraxis, the full potential ofwhich awaits to be realized in thepostmodern global society and civilizationofthe 21st century.

For playing its historic role in the shaping ofthe 21 st centurysociety and the third millenniumcivilization, Sikhism, fIrst ofall,wouldhaveto re-discoverits essential values-liberalism, humanismand universalism-and to re-interpret them in the present-daycontext.

Liberalismisan integral, essentialpartofthe SikhvaluepattemSays GuruArjun, the fIfth ProphetofSikh religion:qrc!t Itft l.[(fJ(J 3" cnfo cttcft' fffe tfW13 II

The fetters around the feet are sunderedThe Guru has emancipatedme.

-Guru Granth Sahib. P. 1002Sikhism liberated man-his inner spirit that had become

encrusted-from dogma, ritual, obscurantist belief What is moreimportant is that though Sikhism embracesman's this-worldlyconcerns asmuch as his other-worldly salvic concerns, it is not atotalitarian ideology; it is not a totalizing creed subjectingman tothe bondage of ritualism from pre-natal to post-death stage. TheSikh doctrine has not prescribed canonized Sikh jurisprudence;formalized Sikh economics, or dogmatised Sikh dress, or theclergy-determined prescriptive behaviour, eternally valid for alltimes, inall places. Doctrinally, the clergy as a class is not acceptedin Sikhism which does not admit ofanymediation between theSikh and his Guru and God. There is a direct bond, a direct



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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKHISM AND OTHER ESSAYScommunion, between the faith-followers and his God. This is theconnotation of the expression Waheguruji ka Khalsa. Therebeing no annointed clergy in Sikh religion, there is no Church-likeauthorityor institutionwith inherent right to interpretthe Scripture,to excommunicate a Sikh from the community and to prescribe acode ofconduct for a Sikh who is directly responsible for hisdeeds to his Guru and God. There is no theocrat, no clericocracy. The Akal Takht jathedar is not a theocrat or a vice-deitypresiding over the temporal affairs ofthis sacred institution ofSikhism; he is asewadar, or at best a spokesman of the voiceand will ofthe community articulated through intra-communitydeliberations in different forums, particularly the democraticallyelectedSikh institutions.

Sikhism is a humanistic religionwhich accords primacy tothe innatehuman spiritpartaking ofthe divine Spirit; this isman'sprimary identitywhich in sociological form was expressed by GuruGobind Singh as such:

JfT?iR eft HB l.d'eJ tJl?)iJRecognize all humanity as one in Spirit

-"Akal Ustat" in Dasam GranthThe secondary identities relating to country, region, creed,

language, ethnicity, etc., are also importantas the human essencethe primary identity-becomes determinate through such identityrelationships which, as such, need to be well-recognized andrespected in social andpolitical reckoning. The Sikh conceptionofhumanism is distinguishable from the old, classicalconcept thathad made man the measure of all things-and not any outsidetranscendental reality or principle-onthe basis ofthe dichotomyofthe human (the terrestrial) and the transcendental. The newconception is based on the holistic visionthatrecognizes an integralbond between the human and the Divine.Man's worldly activitieshave their own autonomy and significance but existence derives



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its meaning, its purpose, its sacredness, from its relationship withthe Divine.Another pillarofSikhvalue pattern is its universalism. Sikhreligion is universal in two sensesofthe term. First, Sikhism is notan ethnicity-specific, region-specific religion. The differentethnicitiesofthe first five Sikhsinitiated into theOrderoftheKhalsa,through the sacramentofholyamritbyGuruGobind Singh,meanthat this religion is not bound down to a particular ethnicity :Punjabiat. Guru Gobind Singh in his bani (Akal Ustit) refers todifferentpeoples, in termsoftheir ethnic identities, co-wor


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has to address itselfto the following internal problems. First, theprocess ofde-brahminization ofSikh society-started by the firstSikhreformation-needs to be completed for liberation from castediscriminations; growing ritualism; individualisticallyoriented'mystical' meditational [ornls, etc. Secondly, the gradual growthofthe 'Sikhclergy'-whichhas no doctrinal sanction or basis-andits increasing influence in religious, political and academicmattersmust be uprooted, De-clericalization is anessential imperative ofthe secondSikhreformation. The necessity for de-regionalizationand de-ethnicizationofcontemporary Sikhism has already beenhigWighted above; without this two-fold process, Sikhismwouldbe a universal religiononlyas a religious rhetoric andnot a reality.

The relationship between religion and politics in contemporarySikhpraxis also needs to be re-defined. Themiri-piri concept,which is traditionally understood as the unity ofreligion and politics,doesnotmeancoalescence ormergerofthe two, or subordinationofeither ofthe two domains to the other; this concept also doesnot mean manipulationofthe secular institutions by the ecclesiasticalones or vice-versa. In essence, this concept means that thetemporal concernsofsociety and state are doctrinally within theembraceofSikhism asmuch as the spiritual concerns ofman. Butthe two domains are like the two banksofa river; in otherwords,the relationship betweenthe two is ofthe natureof 'differentiatedunity', andnotmonisticunity. The relationship between the secularand religious institutions should be coordinated afresh after theprinciple ofdifferentiated unity. In this context the nature oftheauthority of Sri Akal Takht also needs to be properlycomprehended. Sri Akal Takht is a symbol-and not the seat-ofthe worldly authority, the temporal sovereignty, vesting in the KhalsaPanth,GuruPanth. GuruGobind Singh, while vesting thy spiritualaspect of the Divine sovereignty in the Adi Granth, therebyinstitutionalizing it as GuruGranth, had bestowed the temporal




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SIKHISM: A RELIGION FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUMaspectoftheDivine sovereignty upontheKhalsaPanth,making itGuruPanth. Sri Akal Takht is a symbol ofthe temporal authoritywhich vests in the Guru Panth and is exercisable, on practicallevel, through democratically elected institutions. ThePanchPradhanimode also does not mean that the so-called Head orHighpriests, the Takhtjathedars, can appropriate unto themselvesthe power, the authority, the temporal sovereignty, vesting in theGuru Panth [When there is no distinction between the highandthe low in the Sikh doctrine, then, howcan there be a categoryof'head priests', 'highpriests' over and above the other (low!) priests?In fact there is no priestlyclass in Sikhism].

At best the PanchPradhanimode canhave significance inthe senseofthe sangat, attuned to the Divine inthe holy presenceof Guru Granth, spontaneously choosing five gursikhs fordeliberating upon or resolving some issue, butwithout acting astheocrats.

The point is that the contemporary Sikh praxis has to beupdated through the second Sikh reformation, if the Sikhcommunity has to playa participatory role in evolving the 21 stcenturyglobal societyand thethirdmillenniumcivilization.

Sikhism has still to realize its historicalmissionofushering inanew, highercivilization-amissionbequeathed to the communityoffaith-followers by the Guruand God.

[Presentation made at the International Seminar on Sikhism: AReligion for the Third Millennium, at Punjabi University,Patiala, on March 27-29, 2000.]



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A CONCEPTUAL STUDY OFTHE SIKH SCRIPTURE

Self-determination ofDivine Spirit in the WordThe term scripture ordinarilyrefers to a holywritten text (or

a corpus oftexts) supremely revered in religious tradition by acommunityoffaith-followers for whomit is adivinebook,ofdivineorigin (as in Judaism,Hinduism,Christianity, IslamandSikhism);or itmay haveacquireddivinized statusand authority inthe courseofhistorical developmentofa religious tradition (Buddhism). Theterm scripture is usually not confinedto only the writtentexts, forinmanyreligious traditions holy texts were orallypassedon fromgeneration to generation before getting committed to thewrittenform; the oral transmissionoftheVedas has takenplace for morethan three millennia. The first bookofthe HebrewBible did notget its written form until about the fifth centuryB.c. Further, theumbrella term scripture inmany religious traditions goesbeyondoral orwrittentext to includemythical, legendary, metahistoricalandhistorical accountsofthe developmentofa religious tradition,ritual and legal codes, the "remembered" or "heard" sayings ofprophets, parables, exaltedprayers and apocalyptic visions.

Formost religious communities that possess, particularly,written holy texts, their scriptural attributes andmeanings are ofapriori nature, innateand immanent inthe text; the inexhaustibilityofthe scriptural attributes andmeanings account for legitimationofdiverse comprehensions and interpretations. A scripture beingintertwinedwith the lifeofa community, on religious, cultural andsocial levels, comes to be invested with meaning, sense and



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significance, by the historical experiences ofthe community also,particularlywhere a text, originally in oral-aural form, has acquiredscriptural status (singly or as an addition to the already existingcorpus ofholy texts) gradually over a longperiod of time.

A scripture as a dynamic force is not simply an object ofveneration, andworship; it is, in oneway or the other, internallyand integrally related to the scriptural community. In Sikhism,therevealed Word (bani) is instantiated in the community-this beingthe connotation and significationof the expressionGuruPanth.TheHebrewBible, apart from other components, is also a recordofGod's covenantswith the Jews; rather, God's covenants withAbraham, Moses are made determinate in the Hebrew Bible,which iswhatmakes it a divine scripture,muchmore thana recordofexistential, historical experiencesofthe Jewish community.The point is that the reflexive relationship between a

communityand its scripture is significant both for the developmentofthe religious traditionand the self-understandingofthe scriptureby the community. This is how the scripture becomes a livingexperience, an experiential reality, for the community.The question of self-understanding ofthe scripture bythe

scriptural community is correlative to the questionofself-identity.Worldreligions,particularlythe institutional ones like Sikhism,havebothuniversal andhistorical dimension. In its historical dimension,a religion is, at least in its original phase, culture-specific. As suchculture-specific categories, constituting the emic (inside)interpretation, are significant in the self-understanding of thescriptural meaning by the community concerned, as also for itsself-defined identity. Cross-cultural categories, that is, eNc(outside) exegetical categories are also important in relating theself-defined identity of a religious tradition to other religiousidentities and traditions.The studyofreligions in terms ofscripture as a constitutive

A CONCEPTUAL STUDY OF THE SIKH SCRIPTURE



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categorybrings outdifferent paradigms ofreligious traditions.Belief, docrine and theology are considered as the dominantChristiancategoriesexpressing, and distinguishing, theChristianidentity. These categories in contrast to, say, the culture- specific,or more precisely ethno-cultural categories ofHinduism, are,'universal', that is, trans-ethnic, trans-cultural, relating to themissionary nature and orientation ofChristianity encompassingdifferentpeoples, indifferent lands, having different ethnicities,cutlures and languages.The distinguishing categories common to different traditionalforms ofHinduism-which refer back to the underlying scripturalconcept of the over-arching authority of the Vedas-are ritualpractice, observanceofdharma (canonical law), regulations aboutpurity and impurity, blood lineages, commensal customs, etc.Sikhismevolved its ownmodel, its ownnewparadigm, ofreligioustradition, based on its characteristiccategories emanating from itsunique conceptionoftheWord.

The concept oftheWord is the most fundamental categoryinclassificatory study and analysis ofscriptures ofdifferent religions:the Word not only in its delimited form in written or oral holytexts, but also in its nonvocalized form. In Sikhism the Wordincludes not onlygurshabda, gurbani, but also anhadshabda.Pre-Nanakian Indian religious thought envisions theWord as theessence of reality, while inWestern thought there has been thepre-dominantPythagoreanpostulate thatall things are essentiallynumbers orratios thereof. Indian thought, therefore, has aninherentproclivity towardsmysticism in contrast toWesternphilosophy'srationalistic orientation. Diverging from bothoftheabove generalthought-patterns, the Sikhscripture-SriGuruGranthSahib-openswith a new expression lkOnkar-aNumber-Word ensemble, themetaphysical implicationsofwhich differentiate Sikh speculativethought both from traditional Indian and Western ontology.




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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SlKHlSM AND OTHER ESSAYSconstitutive scriptural categoryofHinduism, self-determinationis the corresponding category in Sikhism. The indetenninateAbsolute (lk Onkar) in its detenninate fonn (SatNam) descendsin history, in historical time, qua dynamic Spirit (Karta Purakh).The Spirit becomes Self-detenninate in history in two fonns: thetemporal aspect becomes detenninate in the corporate being ofthe Khalsa, while the spiritual aspect becomes detenninate in theWord, (shabda, bani). The gurbani (the divinely given shabdascribed in the Sikh scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahib) is thedetenninate dimensionofthe Word expressing the transcendentalreality in detenninate fonn. TheAbsolute in its detenninate fonnNam-does not remain inexpressible inwords:

l}{tfiff ortf l}{tfiff FfTBT(Jfi::rfo FftTcIJ EC:fTf2;

- l 1 J ~ $ ~In words His Name is prehended(In words His predicates are sungIn words is expressed the union with God)

-Sri Guru Granth SahibBut the scriptural words (bani), though divinely given, do

not circumscribe the inexhaustibleWordor theDivinewith infiniteattributes andqualities. ll1at is why, stressesGuruNanak, thoughwe knowHim through the medium ofwords, He still transcendsthem and is not exhausted in scriptural texts, past orpresent. TheSikh revelation, as such, does not claim to be the full and finalexpression ofGod.

The conception of theWord being the detenninate fonn oftheDivine in its spiritualaspect, revealedthrough theGuru-medium,in sharp contrast to the Christian notion, makes the bani, thescripture, as the focal point ofthe Sikh faith: not theperson ofthe



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A CONCEPTUAL STUDY OF THE SIKH SCRIPTUREGuru, but his revelatory word:

weft qJff qJff J weft- t { t ~ $ ~

(The Word is the manifest Spirit a/the Guru,the Guru is immanent in the Word

-Sr i Guru Granth Sahib)In Sikh religion, the Word does not become incarnate in

flesh, .in bodily form. It is, rather, the Spirit that becomesdeterminate in theWord (gurbani); itis theGuruwho inhis spiritualbeing is immanent-present-in the bani, which t he re fo re i senvisioned as the eternally livingGuru.

The revelatory nature o fthe Word (Sri Guru Granth Sahib)is another significant aspect o fthe Sikh scripture. As I wrote inmy book The Sovereignty of the Sikh Doctrine, h um an m in dhas access to reality through four (traditional)modeso fknowledge:sensoryexperience, discursive cognition, intuition, and revelation.In the first t wo m od es there remains the subject-object duality,that is, the distinction between the knowerand the known. Hence,religious experience, which transcends this distinction, does nottakeplace in these twomodes asmaintained by religionists. Whilemysticisminvolves intuition, spiritualism(particularly in the Godoriented higher religions as against the nature-religions) bases itsself-certifying validityon revelation. Revelations areo fvarioustypes. In on e type the revealed Wor d h as no transcendentalsource, but is immanent in the cosmos an d is revealed to, that is,heard bythe sages. This is how theVedaswere revealed (Shrutis).The other type is that in which there is a transcendental sourcefromwhich emanates the revelation. Here the revelationma y bedirect or indirect. The Quran is not a direct revelation by God,but an indirect one, that is, itwas revealed to the Prophet ofIslam,HazratMuhammad, through an angel Gabriel atMountHira. On +the other hand the Sikh scripture claims to be a direct revelation ~

~ . C " __) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . J " " . '



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36 DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKH1SM AND OTIlER ESSAYSto the Gurus by GodHimself TheGurus in theirverses again andagain stress that they acted only as amedium for transmissionofthe DivineMessage.

The Janamsakhi story ofGuruNanak havingbeen "taken ina vision to God's presence," when he disappeared for three dayswhile bathing in the riverBaeen, is amythopoeic way ofsayingthat the Sikh Prophet received direct revelation from the LordHirnselfin the form oftheWord (shabda). Says GuruNanak :

Mt ill1f? Cfffif ctt flT


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THE SIKH RENAISSANCETHE FUTURE APPROACH AND ITS REACH

TO THE WESTERN WORLD(RESUME)

Over 500 years ago in sub-continental India arose Sikhismone ofthe fivemajorworld religions-as a unique renaissance andresurgence ofthe human spirit. The spiritofman, realizing afreshits kinship, its integral bond, with the SpiritDivine, liberated itselfout ofthe obsolescent, dogma-encrusted existence and carne intoits own efllorescently, as a dynamic force, a creative impulse. Theelan vital ofSikhism had great potential for ushering in a newcivilization qualitativelydifferent from the earlier Indic andHinducivilizations, thereby raising humanity to a new level ofculturaland civilizational progress. In its universal dimension Sikhismintroduced a new conceptofman, ofsociety and state, and in itshistorical dimensionthis religion awakenedmedieval Indiansocietyout of its collective amnesia, its inertia, and shook it out of itsbondage to the dead past.

But the visionofSikhism for a new civilization, for a newpost-feudal, trans-capitalist, socio-politico-economicdispensationcould not be realized owing to the feudalization of the Sikhmovement soon after the Banda Bahadur period, with thecorrelative processes of the brahrninizationofSikh society andvedanticization ofthe Sikhdoctrine.

The futuristic vision ofSikhism has become all the morerelevant and significant for humanity in the 21 st century and the thirdmillennium. Sikhreligionwith its holisticworldviewcanand



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should playa leading role in evolving the ideology ofthe globalcivilization and in shaping its institutional super-structurewiththeKhalsa as the embodiment of the Spirit-in-history-a conceptintroduced by Sikh philosophy for the first time in t h world'sspeculative and sociological thought.

Sikhismwhich once arose as amighty renaissancemovement,a revolutionary force, a dynamic praxis, for paving the path ofself-sublimating, self-realizing salvation ofthe soul in the worldhereafter, as well as a new dispensation on earth (halemi raj inthe languageofthe fifth ProphetofSikhism, GuruAIjun), is todayin need ofan internal reformation and renaissance. The first Sikhreformation arose in the last quarter of the 19th century in thecontextofadeep crisis after the lossofpolitical power in the year1849 coupled with the correlativeprocesses offeudalization ofthe Sikhmovement, brahminization ofthe Sikh societyand thevedanticizationofthe Sikhdoctrine. Atthat timethe very physicalsurvival ofthe Sikhs was overshadowed by a questionmark. Nowonder, then, that the existential concerns ofthe Sikhs-social,cultural, economic, political-tookprecedence overthe universalconcerns ofSikhism. This lopsidedness that has continued forover 100 years has to be rectified so that the universal concernsofSikhism, referred to earlier, comeback to the centrestage. Thefirst Sikhreformationalso led to a symbiotic relationship betweenreligion and politics, betweenreligious and political institutions,resulting in exploitationofthe one by the other and vice-versa,depending upon the exigenciesofthe given situation.This symbioticrelationship, forged on amistaken, distortedconcept ofmiri-piriunity, needs to be immediately brought to an end, so that thereligious and the political praxis operate, autonomously, in theirrespective domains. The concept ofmiri-piri unity in essencemeans that Sikhismembraces the other-worldlyspiritual concernsofthe soul as much as the this-worldlytemporal concernsofman,

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THE SIKH RENAISSANCEsociety and state, butwithoutcoalescence ofthe religious and thepoliticalpower, authorityand institutions. The roiri-piri unity doesnotmean a monistic unity but a differentiated unity. The trendtowards emergenceofclergy incontemporarySikhism, includingthe Takht clergy-appropriating unto itselfauthority, power andjurisdictionwhichdonotdoctrinallyandhistoricallyvest in it-needsto be forcefully countered. The clergy* as a mediatory class orinstitution is not envisaged in Sikhism, there being a directrelationship between a Sikh and his Guru and God (WaheguruJiKaKhalsa).The growing role ofthe clergy, particularlyof theTakht clergy, is leading not only to ritualizationofcontemporarySikh society but also to suppressing and repressing the essentialliberalism ofSikhism. Sikhism blended a spiritual vision oflifewith the spiritofenquiry (Bill fu'oR) and a liberated stateofmind ( ~ 1.@fcJ iDfu cn-tt EfR l:fW8 II). This catholicity ofoutlook-an essential elementofSikh liberalism-is threatened bythe growing clout ofthe clergywhich, as a class, breeds on selfappropriated authoritarianismwith inherent tendency towardsintolerance, sectarianism and dogmatism. Recognition of andrespect for difference; acceptance of the Other; co-validity ofmultiple viewpoints-these are essential aspects ofthe Sikhvaluepattern.

Another aspect of the internal Sikh reformation and* There being no anointed clergy in Sikh religion, there is no Church-likeauthority or institution with inherent right to interpret the scripture, toexcommunicate a Sikh from the community and to prescribe a code ofconduct for a Sikh who is directly responsible for his deeds to his Guruand God. There is no theocrat, no clerico-cracy. The Akal Takhtjathedaris not a theocrat or a vice-deity presiding over the temporal affairs ofthis sacred institution ofSikhism; he is a sewadar, or at best a spokesmanof the voice and will of the community articulated through intracommunity deliberations in different forums, particularly thedemocratically elected Sikh institutions.



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THE SIKH RENAlSSANCEimplanting Sikhism in American milieu and ethnicity iscommendable.TheAmerican Singhs-theAmerican followersof Yogiji-constitute a historical experiment towardsuniversalization ofSikhism in contemporary context. ThePunjabi/lndian Sikhs in North America also, transcendingtheir nostalgia about the Punjabi Sikh identity, shouldculturally contribute towards themaking oftheAmericanSikh identity. Religiously unifocal, but culturally multifocal: that is how contemporary Sikhismwould have to evolve torealize its world historical mission.

In realizingtheworld historicalmissionofSikhismthe presentstateofSikhstudies would alsohave to be kept in view. Overthepast few decades, Sikh studies abroad bywestern scholars havebeen done from the Christian perspective which has alsoconditioned the approach and methodology ofthe Indian Sikhscholars overawed by the western scholars. Infact, the intellectualagendaofthemeta-narrative ofSikhismhas beenset bythewesternscholarswiththe indigenous Sikh scholars remainingboggeddownin reacting to the ikhdiscourse ofthe western scholars. The Sikhscholars would have to go beyond their present reactive role to areallypro-active role in setting the ideational agendaofdiscourseabout Sikhism.This is essential for two main reasons. TheChristianandtheSikhperspectiveconstitue, epistemologically, twodifferentframes ofreference, the categoriesofwhich are not symmetrical*.Secondly, a religious tradition needs to be approached in terms of* For instance, (as mentioned earlier) the Sikh conception of the Word isqualitatively different from the Christian view. In Sikh thought, the Spirit,besides becoming immanent in the societal category Khalsa, also,becomes determinate in the Word (bani) which, as such, is elevated andrevered as the etemal'living' Guru in the form ofSri Guru Granth Sahib.Christian thought holds that "In the beginning was the Word, and theWord was with God and the Word was God." The Word became 'flesh',

[Contd. 011 next page}~



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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKHISM AND OTHER ESSAYSits ownself-definition, in tenns ofits self-defined identity. This,epistemologically, requires an unmediated experiential insightthrough socio-religious osmosis-which is not possible in the caseof the 'outsiders', whatever be their cerebral brilliance ormethodologicalnovelties.

There are some ofthe urgent issues that contemporary Sikhismwould have to address, before it re-starts on the pathofrealizingitsworldhistoricalmission. It is imperative for the Sikh renaissancetoday to re-discover its essential values, to re-focus its vision, toupdate its praxis. This is how Sikhismwould be able to impart itsfuturistic vision to the ideologyofthe newworld civilization in theoffing. This is how itwould be in a position to play its role in theevolution ofthe institutional webofthe 21 st century society andthe thirdmillennium civilization. This is howtheKhalsa once againwould become themotor force ofhistory : the Spirit-in-history.

[Lecture delivered at the International Conclave, under theauspices of The Sikh Dharma Domain of the WesternHemisphere, Espanola, New Mexico, U.S.A. on 25th August,2000].

[Contd. from last pageJthat is, incarnate in the person ofJesus Christwho, as such, is the focalpoint of the faith and worship and not the Bible, the scripture. That iswhy the western studies of the Sikh scripture are so off the tangent, forthe concept of the Divine Spirit becoming determinate in the Word(bani) is incomprehensible in the Christian perspective in which theprocess is reversed: the Word becoming embodied in the person ofJesus Christ.



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CREATION OF THE KHALSA: ESSENCE AND SIGNIFICANCEspiritofman realised its kinship withtheDivineSpirit. The stirredup human spirit found its expression inthe form of the Khalsabeing the vehicle ofthe Divine Spirit in history-created byGuruGobind Singh in the year 1699 for realising the divinemission ofsarbat da bhala. (Thewelfare ofall humanity). While creatingthe Orderofthe Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth ProphetofSikhism, expressed the quintessence ofthe faith in the followingProphetic words:

HTOFr eft HT3 FW ~ f C J tJ I(')E}(R?cognize all humanity as one in Spirit)

This is a message that has becomeall the more significant forthe evolutionofthe 21st century society and civilization.

IICREATION OF THE KHALSA

A unique cosmic play, the 300thanniversary ofwhich falls in1999, unfolded itself at Sri Anandpur Sahib, the city of bliss.Located in hilly surroundings, Anandpurwas founded by the ninthProphet ofSikhism, GuruTegBahadur, in 1664. In this historictown is situatedone ofthe five SikhTakhts (the symbolic seatsof temporal authority ofSikhism).

For unfolding the Bachittar Natak (cosmic event) at themound (wherenow standsTakht Shri Keshgarh) at Sri AnandpurSahib, Guru Gobind Singh chose the first day oflunarmonth ofBaisakh (The Baisakhi day) that fell onMarch 30 in 1699AD-this year being celebrated onApril 14. The beginningofthemonthofBaisakh symbolizes renewal and regeneration, ripening andfruition. Earlier, it was on this day that Gautam realizedenlightenment and became the Buddha, heralding a new era inIndiancivilization qualitatively different from theprevalentHinducivilization, Guru Gobind Singh purposely chose this day forushering in a new dawn, a new chapter inworld history, a newphase ofworld civilization, envisioned by the first Prophet of



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DOCTRINAL ASPECTS OF SIKHISM AND OTHER ESSAYSSikhism, GuruNanak. The Guruhad asked the faith-followersfrom all over India to assemble at Sri Anandpur Sahib on thechosen day. The huge congregation became mysteriouslyinnervated when the Guruwitha divine glow in eyes and a nakedsword in his hand, gave a thundering call for a devout Sikh tocome forward to offer his head, then and there, for the sakeofdharma. Guru Gobind Singh was putting to test his followers'readiness for sacrifice of life-a sacrifice of the mundane lifesublated into theLifeDivine. GuruNanakhimselfhad laid downthe test :

r W ~ i p - r ~ q r ~f i : r o q f c r 3 C 5 t C J T C 3 7 H c f t ~(Jfyou seek to play the game oflove, then, enter upon the pathwith your head upon your palm)

At the third callofthe Guru, according to the tradition, DayaRam (a khatri by caste) from Lahore (now in Pakistani Punjab)arose to offer his head to the Guruwho tookhim into an adjoiningenclosure. At the subsequent calls of the Guru, came forwardDharamDass (ajat) from HastinapurnearDelhi innorthernIndia;MohkamChand (awasherman) fromDwarka inGujrat inwesternIndia; Himrnat Dass (a cook fromjheevar caste) belonging tolaganNath Puri inOrissa in eastern India, and Sahib Chand (alowcaste barber) fromBidar inAndhraPradesh in southern India;they were also taken into the enclosure. The five self-sacrificingSikhs had undergone a sacramental 'passage', a death-likeexperience for their celestial vision of, and inter-facewith, theSpirit-Destroyer and Creator at the same time.

oi{ ffifEf crri)oi{ ffifEf crrif(Salutation 10 the Destroyer ofall, Salutation to the Creatorofall.)

(Guru Gobind Singh, Jaap Sahib)



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CREATION OF THE KHALsA: ESSENCE AND SIGNIFICANCE

(The lowest of the low castes,The lowliest of the lowly,I seek their kindship-Why emulate the (so called) higher onesThy elevating Grace isWhere the down-trodden are looked after}.

The lower castes and classes were, as such, providedan opportunityofverticalmobilityupto the highest level. The newnormative principle of social organisation, introduced by thebaptismal amrit, made people realise their essential humanisticidentitywith a senseofhorizontal solidarityas co-equal membersinthe Orderofthe Khalsawhichdoes not admitoffixed, stratifiedroleperformance, nor the caste-based differentiationofconnubialand ritual fimctions.

The missionofthe Khalsa, for which it was created underthe Divine Will (})flOl1:ifT 9Et cit) qua a community of thesachiar, thejujhar, the rehat-dhar, was not simply individualsalvation in the world hereafter, or evenindividual redemption inthe world here and now. The universal societal concerns ofSikhism-as distinct from the existential concerns ofthe Sikhs atany given point of time and place-constitute themission of theKhalsapresagedbyGuruAtjun, the fifthProphet, in the followingwords:

R"3 Ril118 Re,IEf(')g faR' feHfcJ EfTCJ(JT(All are co-equal partners in Thy commonwealth, with nonetreated as alien)

Here was a message for ushering in a new value-pattern, anew dispensation, basedon the fimdamental principles ofequality,justice and compassion, liberty and fraternity; this was a Divine



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Manifesto for a new civilization on the pillars of humanism,liberalism, universalism and pluralism. Dualism ofmind and matter,and epistemic dichotomy of subject and object-that havecharacterized the Western civilizationofthe past few centuriesare bothtransformed into the unifying life ofthe "Spirit-in-history"a concept that providesa newnormative basis for theemergenceof the postmodern civilization, the first intimation ofwhich,appearing in the Sikh thought over 500 years ago, becamephenomenallymanifest in and through the creation ofthe Khalsaabout 300 years ago at Sri Anandpur Sahib.

II IPHILOSOPHICAL POSTULATES

In the world's speculative thought, Sikhphilosophy, in themedieval age, introduced anewrevolutionary ideaoffar-reachingimplication and futuristic significance. God in Sikhism is not merelyindeterminateBeing, but also CreatorWho createdmaterialworldas well as time. Metaphysically this implied non-acceptance ofthe Vedantic eternityoftime, whichmeant the continuationofathing in its original self-samestateofbeing (Sat) eternally,withoutchange,developmentorevolution. Further, God is also envisionedin Sikh metaphysics as the creative, dynamic Spirit (KartaPurakh), becoming determinate (SatNam) in time, in history.

Much later, Hegel described the modemState (identifiedwiththePrussianmilitarystate) as the highest expressional form oftheSpirit. The democratic import of the Sikh concept stands incontrast to the tendency towards autocracy and totalitarianisminherent in the Hegeliannotion.

The traditional modes ofrevelationofGod known to religionandmetaphysics are immanence or reflection in space (nature);indwelling in soul and manifestation in the Word. With Sikhphilosophyappears, for the first time in religious and speculativethought of the world, a new revelatory mode: the concept of




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descent ofGod in time, that is, the Spirit-in-history. The cosmicevent (Bachittar Natak) at Sri Anandpur Sahib in 1699 ADmarks the sacrament ofthe Divinedescent qua thedynamicSpiritimmanentand operative in history-theKhalsa, in its generic sense,beingthe vehicleofthe Spirit.

Sikhismvisualizedarevolutionaryre-structurationofsociety,as a step towards a newcivilizationdistinct from the earlier Indicand the Hinducivilizationin India, inparticular. TheBrahminicalsystemhad absolutized the conceptoffixity in socialorganisation,whereinthe placeofeachcaste,with predeterminedrole-structure,as well as ofthe individual inthe caste, was considered to be fixedapriori in hierarchical order given by the lawofKarma. Thissystembytransfonning (in the language ofMarx) "aself-developingsocial state into anever changingnatural destiny", ensuredstabilityand passive equilibrium, but at the costofinternaldynamism andevolutionaryelan. Seen in this context the roleofaHinduAvtar isa periodical restoration of the balance, whenever the passiveequilibriumofsociety gets disturbed. (This involves the cyclicaldevolutionaryviewoftime-aspecies ofspatial time-inwhichhistoryis seennot as an ongoingdirectional process, butas a seriesoftheflowand the ebb occurring incyclical periodicity). The SikhGuruis not anAvtar, not only on the ground thatGod is not conceivedofas incarnating Himselfin human form, but also for the reasonthat he is the initiator ofa new way oflife in the dimension ofdirectional time. (Path=Panth), involving innovative structuralchanges in society.

Brahminical society permitted only 'positionalmobility' ofthelower castes inthe hierarchical structure through a cultural processnamed 'sanskritization' by M.N. Srinivas; a lower group havingcircwnstantially gainedpowerorwealthwould try to emulate thecustoms, manners, rituals and even caste-denominations ofthehighercaste for beingacceptedat a higher rung in the hierarchical

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UNDERSTANDING THE DASAM GRANTH(The Dialectic Sublime of Guru Gobind Singh)

Next to Sri GuruGranth Sahib-theAdi Granth compiled bythe fifth ProphetofSikhreligion-theDasamGranth, 'theBookofthe TenthGuru', has beenreveredmost by the Sikhs. The DasamGranth has remained, for over hundred years, a dominant(unresolved) issue in Sikh studies, thanks to its baffling varietyofcontents; mind-bogglingdiversityofgenres, languages, dialectsand diction (Sanskrit, Braj, Punjabi, PersianandArabic);musicalmeters and verse-forms; range of images, symbols andmythsstretching back to India's hoary past. Thematically, theDasamGranth contains compositions some of which are spiritual,mythological, metahistorical, historical, autobiographical, andaccording to some scholars, even apocryphal. It is rich in spiritualvision, metaphysical concepts, ethical precepts, martial spirit, andheroic deeds involving gods, goddesses and demons. All thismakes it a uniquemetaphorofIndia's

doctrinal aspects of sikhism and other essays-j s alhuwalia-english

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