The Scriptures of Mankind: An Introduction by Charles Samuel Braden
Chapter 8: The Sacred Literature of the Sikhs
Sikhism is an offshoot of Hinduism. Regarded by many scholars as only a reformed Hindu sect, it is considered by its own followers as a separate faith. The British Indian census has
recognized it as such and each decade numbered the Sikhs apart from the Hindus. The most recent census revealed a total of 5,691,447 followers of the faith. A comparative study of population growth and the growth of the Sikh movement over the last four decades indicates a steady growth, substantially exceeding the percentage increase of the total population.
The scriptures of the Sikhs are almost wholly unknown to the western world. Though there are now a goodly number of anthologies containing selections from most of the sacred books of the world, so far only one that has come to the attention of the writer contains anything from the Granth, the Sikh Bible, and that only a very limited selection. Why should this be so? One answer is that, while considered by themselves a separate religion, they are not so regarded by many scholars, and as a mere part of Hinduism, their writings are overshadowed by the much more important writings of that mother faith. Perhaps the real reason is that the literature itself is of a character which is lacking, at least, in popular interest. Another factor in the situation may be that it has not been translated frequently, and that the literary quality of the translations does not commend it to the anthologists.
As a matter of fact the entire work has never been translated into the English language. After having spent seven years in working on his translation of the four principals Rags1 or sections of it, Ernest Trumpp, the translator, wrote:
The Sikh Granth is a very big volume, but. . . incoherent and shallow in the extreme, and couched at the same time in dark and perplexing language, in order to cover these
defects. It is for us Occidentals a most painful and almost stupefying task, to read only a single Rag, and I doubt if any ordinary reader will have the patience to proceed to the second Rag, after he shall have perused the first. It would therefore be a mere waste of
paper to add also the minor Rags which only repeat, in endless variations, what has already been said in the great Rags over and over again, without adding the least to our knowledge.2
On the other hand, Max Arthur Macauliffe, who was for many years a judge in India, resigned at the request of representative Sikh societies, and undertook the translation of the book. This he felt impelled to do because he felt that Trumpp’s translation was "highly inaccurate and
unidiomatic, and furthermore gave mortal offense to the Sikhs by the odium theologicum
introduced into it. Whenever he saw an opportunity of defaming the Gurus, the sacred book and the religion of the Sikhs, he eagerly availed himself of it."3 He hoped by his own work to make some reparation to the Sikhs for the insults which Trumpp offered to their Gurus4 and their religion. He wrote an extensive life of each of the Gurus, and translated most, though not all, of the Rags. The unfortunate feature of his book is that the translated portions are given without exact designation of just whence they are taken, so that they cannot be easily compared with any other translation. Trumpp does this. Nevertheless, the Macauliffe translation is much the more readable. Since he secured the approval of the best Sikh scholars before publication, it may be safely assumed that the translation is more nearly accurate than that of Trumpp.
Perhaps the editors of the anthologies read only Trumpp’s preface and became discouraged about finding suitable material for their collections. But really, it is not so hopeless. If, indeed, the collection is long and repetitious it is not without its high spots as well as low. Indeed, there are some passages of genuine poetic worth, expressive of very deep religious aspirations and devotion, some of which will be included in this chapter. But first a few facts about the movement and the type of religious faith which gave rise to the book.
It is true that the Sikh movement was a reform movement in Hinduism. There have been many such in the past, and there will continue to be new ones. The distinctive feature of this particular movement is that it represents the result of the impact of the Moslem faith on Hinduism. When religions meet and live side by side there is always a give and take, each influencing the other in some respects, despite efforts usually made to avoid just that. This is what is called a process of syncretism. Usually it is unconscious but sometimes quite deliberate. Often, however,
syncretism takes the form of a new synthesis of some elements from each, to form a new faith which is in some respects similar to but different from either of the contributing faiths. The Sikh movement is such a synthesis of Hindu and Moslem elements.
But Hinduism is a very complex faith, and Islam too has its differing varieties of outlook, organization, and practice. If one were to try to say which of the variant Hindu strands were combined with varying Moslem strands, he would be most nearly correct, in the author’s opinion, in saying that Sikhism represents a flowing together of the bhakti Hindu faith of Ramanuja and Ramanda, and Islamic mysticism represented by Sufism.
Bhakti Hinduism is devotional Hinduism which finds salvation, not through works, as in the
Vedas, not through knowledge, as in philosophic Hinduism, but in faith, love, loyalty or devotion to a personal divinity. A classic illustration of this was noted in the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna is the object of devotion. Ramanuja was the great medieval exponent of this type of faith, as over against the famous philosopher and teacher, Shankara, whose commentary on the Vedanta-Sutras set forth the bases of the Vedanta. Ramananda, who lived in the fourteenth century, was a disciple of Ramanuja. He travelled widely in India preaching the faith of his Master, and became the founder of a sect emphasizing the way of devotion to Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, as the way of salvation. His movement opened the way to all men of whatever caste as indicated in the famous saying: "Let no one ask a man’s caste or with whom he eats. If a man shows love to Hari (God), he is Hari’s own."
The poet Kabir was a disciple of Ramananda, and founder of a still existing sect, the
Kabirpanth. He in turn greatly influenced Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith. Thus there is a clear line of connection between Sikhism and devotional Hinduism. But Kabir was probably of
Moslem origin. As a matter of fact each faith claims him as its own. The Moslem influence is clear in the poetry of the Granth and in the organizational form the movement took. If not, like Islam, completely monotheistic in its conception of God -- it looks definitely in that direction.
Sat Nam, or True Name, the most frequently used divine name, seems clearly to be the Supreme Being. Late Sikh thought frankly admitted the worship of other beings, for example, the tenth Guru certainly was a devotee also of Durga.
But since Sikhism is a syncretism, it is not unnatural that the concept of God should be near monotheistic, but with overtones of Hindu pantheism. Professor Archer says of Nanak that he was not a pantheist or a polytheist, nor yet quite a monotheist,5 which makes one wonder where to classify him. Perhaps the difficulty may be resolved by noting that he is sometimes one, sometimes another. This is not at all strange. One finds in many persons an alternation of
attitudes toward God. Christian Science is a good example. On one page one may think himself in an atmosphere of pantheism -- on another God is described or approached in warmly
personal fashion. Certainly God is called by many names in the Granth, now Hari, now Ram, now Brahma, or again Allah. One gets the impression, however, that these are but variant names of the. one Supreme.
In the first of the thirty-eight Psalms of Nanak that stand at the beginning of the Granth, as a kind of introduction to the whole, Nanak sings thus of God:
Thinking comprehendeth him not, although there be thoughts by the thousands,
Silence discovers him not, though it be continuous silence, Man is persistently hungry, though he eats of tasty abundance;
Not one of a hundred thousand artful devices avails him!
How may the truth be attained, the bonds of falsehood be broken?
By obeying the will of God as surely recorded, saith Nanak.6
As a matter of fact the important thing to Nanak and to his followers is not the correct
comprehension of the nature of the ultimate but their attitude of obedience and devotion to God.
In another Psalm, he sings:
Forms have come out of his order, but his order goes undetected.
Life has come by his will, through which comes life’s exaltation, High and low are his will, and joy and sorrow his pleasure;
In his will alone is he blessed who runs the round of his nature
All are subject to him, not one beyond his jurisdiction If any perceives his will, he humbles himself, saith Nanak.7 For salvation lies in devotion to the True Name:
The Lord is true, plainly known, his loving kindness infinite;
To those who crave and seek he gives, gives with full abandon.
What indeed must he be offered to throw his court wide open?
What words must lips be uttering to make his love responsive?
At deathless dawn give Sat Nam thought and glory, Put on the garb of deeds—and salvation’s way is open!
Be sure that he himself is fully true, saith Nanak.8
The non-idolatrous worship of God is likewise a truly Mohammedan principle -- Hindu worship was generally not only polytheistic but idolatrous. Idolatry is ridiculed in the Granth, for
example by Kabir:
Kabir says: a stone is made the Lord, the whole world worships it
Who remains in reliance upon this is drowned in the black stream.9
And later Sikhism developed much of the militant spirit of Islam, seeking at one time the political domination of India. It became an effective theocracy just as Islam had been.
The entire Granth is a very substantial body of poetry, consisting mainly of the writings of Guru Nanak and his first four successors, to which were added poems of a dozen or more, one-time famous saints, or bhagats, including Ramananda, Kabir and the well-known Maratha poet, Namdev.
The general plan of the book is as follows:
There is first the Japji, or as Archer calls it, the Book of Psalms of Guru Nanak, thirty-eight in number, a total of about four hundred lines, forming a kind of introduction to the whole
collection. Following this come three collections of extracts from later portions of the book, designed for devotional use by Sikhs, particularly for evening prayer and before retiring for the night. The greater part of the remainder of the book is made up of collections of hymns to be sung to thirty-one different Rags or musical measures, each of which bears a specific name.
They vary greatly in length but are themselves collections of verse from various poets.
The general plan seems to be to include, first, a collection of verses by Guru Nanak, followed successively by verses composed by the other Gurus. The poetic meter varies, something like a dozen different meters being employed. Where within the same Rag, the Gurus use differing meters, all those of identical meter are grouped together, the work of each Guru appearing in the order in which the Gurus came chronologically. Thus for example Rag Sin Rag has a collection of sabds, a term which may include three differing meters,10 another of astpadas or Chants, and of Vars, which, because of limitation of space, and, perhaps also of popular interest, we cannot describe in detail. Under each of these there may be verses from some or all of the Gurus. These are then followed by verses from various bhagats or saints. Following the Rags is a section known as the Bhog, or conclusion, consisting mostly of miscellaneous sloks including some from the last two of the Gurus. There seems to be little or no logical connection between the verses from any of the varied sources, either within the collection of their own verse or with that collected from other Gurus or saints. Indeed, the whole thing seems to be a miscellaneous
collection of poetry arranged in an artificial, rather than logical fashion. The translation of only the four Rags, by Trumpp, requires almost seven hundred pages. Together with Nanak’s Japji and the ritual sections the whole translated work of Trumpp requires seven hundred and eight large pages. And this omits twenty-seven other Rags of whose total bulk the writer has seen no estimate.
The original poems were written in a dozen or more different languages, or dialects, so that almost no one can read the entire book. Eventually the tenth Guru, or successor of Nanak, the religious and political head of the Sikhs, decreed that there should be no human successor as Guru, but that the Granth Sahib should thenceforth be Guru. And so it has been. Now at the beautiful, principal Sikh temple at Amritsar, a copy of the Granth is the central object of reverence, if not worship. Daily it is brought out from its overnight depository with
considerable ceremony, properly adorned and vested, and placed on a dais where the faithful may see and pay homage to it. At evening time it is, with equal ceremony, locked away for the night in a specially prepared vault for safekeeping.11 It is not a little strange that a faith which rules out idolatry should have come, in the end, very near, if not quite, to making their sacred book an object of worship.
The Granth, it will have been noted, is not like most other sacred books in that it is exclusively
in poetry. The Tao Te Ching, it is true, is wholly poetic, but it does not constitute the whole of Taoist sacred writ. Again, there is here no connected history or story of the beginning of the world, or the people, or any story of the founder, or of the beginnings of the faith. There is current to be sure, a life of Nanak, and some account of each of the Gurus, which abound in wonder stories, as do so many such accounts of other founders of religions. Trumpp happily includes translations of both in the introduction to the book. They are both interesting and instructive if not accurately historical. But these are not a part of the sacred scriptures.
The book is interesting as a scripture of a particular religion, in that it includes so much material from poets who were never associated with the movement, though some of them deeply
influenced Nanak.
Namdev, earliest of the great Maratha poets, is noted for his devotional verse. He was a
contemporary of Kabir, living toward the latter part of the fifteenth century AD. Several of his poems are translated in Psalms of the Maratha Saints by Nicol MacNicol.
As chiming anklets sweet ring So rings Thy name abroad;
To human spirits hungering Thou givest peace with God.
Thou on Thy shoulders carrying All the world’s load of care, To thee ‘tis such a little thing My trouble, too, to bear!12 Namdev
In it one catches something of the spirit of the poet, and his warmly personal dependence upon God. The two poems of Namdev contained in the Granth are not the equal of some found elsewhere, or else the translation is not so well done. These lines are typical of his thought.
Day and night I utter the name of Ram.
With dye-stuff I color, a seam I sew.
Without the name of Ram I do not live twenty minutes.13
Kabir, as already indicated, was a major influence upon Nanak, the founder. He was a weaver by trade, but a most prolific poet. One who wishes to appreciate Kabir would do well to read from Tagore’s beautiful translation of one hundred of his poems in One Hundred Poems of Kabir.14 Reading the Tagore version, over against the translation of Kabir’s poetry included in the Granth (by Trumpp), one is constrained to wonder whether there is not more of Tagore than Kabir in the former’s renderings. Tagore was, of course, one of the greatest writers of poetry in
English -- winner of the Nobel Prize in 1913, though himself one of the most illustrious of India’s sons. Here is just a sample of one of his songs according to Tagore:
LXIII
Why so impatient, my heart?
He who watches over birds and beasts and insects,
He who cared for you while you were yet in your mother’s womb,
Shall He not care for you now that you are come forth?
O my heart, how could you turn from The smile of your Lord and wander so far from Him?
You have left your Beloved and are thinking of others: and this is Why all your work is in vain.15
But even in the plodding translation of Trumpp one finds beautiful bits of verse expressive of profound religious devotion.
"O Madhava, (my) thirst for water does not cease!
(In drinking) the water the fire increases still more.
(1). Thou art the ocean, I am the fish of the water.
I dwell in the water, without the water I am done for.
(2). Thou art the cage, I am thy parrot.
Yama, the cat, what can he do unto me?
(3). Thou art the tree, I am the bird.
The unlucky one does not get thy sight.
(4). Thou art the Guru, I am thy new disciple (= apprentice).
Kabir says: join me at the time of the end!"16 XIX
(1). For gold he is not obtained.
Ram is obtained for the price of the heart.
Now that Ram is considered by me as my own, My heart is comforted with natural ease.
(2). Brahma, though always speaking (of him), did not get his end.
(But) Ram comes to the house of his devotee, who is sitting (there in rest).
(3). Kabir says: I have given up my fickle mind.
Devotion to Ram alone is my lot.17 XL
Now that King Ram has become my helper:
Birth and death are cut off, I have obtained final emancipation.
(I). I have been joined to the society of the pious.
I have been rescued from the five attackers.
The nectar-name I mutter (now) with (my) tongue.
I have been made his own slave with a price (being paid for me).
(2). The true Guru has afforded (me) assistance.
I have been drawn out from the way of the world.
Love to the lotus-feet has sprung up (in me).
Govind dwells continually in my mind.
(3). The burning coals of the Maya are extinguished.
In (my) heart is contentment, the name (is my) support.
In water and on land the Lord is omnipresent.
Wherever I see, there he is near and dear.
(4). His own worship is established by himself.
What is written before, that is obtained, O my brother!
On whom he bestows mercy, his accoutrement is complete.
The Lord of Kabir is cherishing the poor.18
(1). Dwelling in heaven should not be desired nor should dwelling in hell be dreaded.
What is to be, that will be, no desire should be made in the heart.
The excellences of the sweetheart should be sung, From whom the highest treasure is obtained.
(2). What is muttering, what austerity and control of the passions, what vows, what ablutions,
As long as the right, loving worship of the Lord is not known?