Hinduism and the Sikh Panth

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Hinduism and Sikhism have had a long and complex relationship. Views range from Sikhism being a distinct faith to being a sect of Hinduism. A vast majority of Sikhs oppose the notion that Sikhism is a sect of Hinduism, while others stress their similarities, but recognise that the religions are distinct.

Contents 1 Neither religion is monolithic 2 Background to the disagreements 3 History of similarities and of separation of Hinduism and Sikhism 3.1 Foundation of Sikh Panth: 3.2 Chronology of Separation: 3.3 Guru Tegh Bahadur 3.4 Ranjit Singh 3.5 19th century 3.6 British colonialism 4 Hindu-Sikh similarities 5 Vegetarianism 6 Mutual views 6.1 Common Sikh views of Hinduism 6.1.1 References to Vedas 7 Differences Between Hinduism and Sikhism 7.1 Cultural differences 7.2 Common Hindu views of Sikhism 7.3 Hindus and Sikhism in Punjab 8 Miscellaneous 9 Notes 10 References 11 See also 12 Further reading 13 External links

[edit] Neither religion is monolithic

This article makes generalizations about Hindu and Sikh beliefs and practices. Nevertheless, it is very important to understand that neither religion is monolithic. Beliefs and practices vary within Hinduism, as they do between Sikh denominations. There are also individual variations among believers in both religions.

[edit] Background to the disagreements

The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, was born in a Hindu family. However, he disagreed with many Hindu religious practices (see section below). However, his famous proclamation "there is no Hindu, no Muslim", implied^{[citation needed]} a unity between Hindus and Muslims under the teachings and revelations of the Guru. The Guru believed in Hindu concepts like Karma, Dharma, Reincarnation, and meditating on God's name to break the cycle of birth.^{[citation needed]}

Before he died, he did not believe that either of his sons had the qualities to be the next Guru and to carry on his teachings. He instructed Guru Angad Dev to carry on the teachings of his religion as Guru Angad had shown selflessness, compassion and endless service to the people who required it. Sri Chand, one of his sons, founded the Udasi order. Various orders have arisen since the beginning of Sikhism, such as the Radhasoamis and the Nirankaris. It is debatable whether these religions constitute offshoots of Sikhism or Hinduism. The Khalsa, ordained by Guru Gobind Singh, is regarded by many Sikhs as being the completion of the development of the Sikh religion.

[edit] History of similarities and of separation of Hinduism and Sikhism

[edit] Foundation of Sikh Panth:

• 1478: Guru Nanak Dev stated that he wanted nothing to do with a religion that only allowed the highest classes in society to be regarded as religious (even though they committed sins against their religion).
• 1509: Guru Nanak Dev woke from meditation to say "There is no Hindu, no Muslim". Upon hearing this, a Muslim Qazi asked him whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim. The Guru replied "Neither". He stated that he was a lover of God and a servant of mankind. This has been interpreted by some Sikhs to mean that that Sikhs are not Hindu. However Koenraad Elst has interpreted this as a distinctly Hindu viewpoint, like the Neti neti of the Upanishads.^[1]
• 1699: Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, established the Khalsa order and the five Ks to ensure that Khalsa kept a distinct identity and were able to defend themselves in war. He also established other Sikh orders.^{[citation needed]} Older Sikh orders continued to exist. Some say Guru Govind Singh was also inspired by Hindu gods like Chandi, Sri and Bhagwati, but these influences were used as metaphors relating to the time period.^[2] Guru Govindh Singh wrote: “Let the path of the pure [khâlsâ panth] prevail all over the world, let the Hindu dharma dawn and all delusion disappear. (…) May I spread dharma and prestige of the Veda in the world and erase from it the sin of cow-slaughter.”^[3] Guru Gobind sent five disciples to Benares to learn Sanskrit, so that they could better understand the Sikh holy texts, which contain many allusions to Hindu mythology.^[4] Two of Guru Gobind's sons were protected from persecution by Brahmins.^[5] Guru Gobind's Hindu friend Banda Bairagi converted to Sikhism and fought the Moghuls with other Sikhs.^[6]

[edit] Chronology of Separation:

• 1879: Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha was founded to counter the activities of Sanatan Singh Sabha, which advocated the view that Sikhism is a part of Hinduism.
• 1882: Max Arthur Macauliffe was appointed Deputy Commissioner in Punjab. He played a leading role in promoting actions that would lead to separation of Sikhs from the Hindu society and removal of the perceived Hindu influence from Sikh practices and texts.^{[citation needed]}
• 1889: Kahan Singh Nabha writes "Ham Hindu Nahin Hai".
• 1909: McAuliffe's "Sikh religion: Its Gurus, Sacred writings, and authors" was published. He states in the introduction how he had inserted an oath of loyalty to the British administration in the Khalsa initiation ritual. He is widely accredited for the translation of the Guru Granth Sahib from Gurmukhi to English.
• 1920: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) formed.
• 1920s: Nankana Sahib, Punja Sahib, Golden Temple, TarnTaran Sahib taken over from mahants, with support by the British administration. The mahants had maintained the shrines since the time of the Gurus themselves.
• 1915, 1931: New Reht Maryada compiled to replace existing Rahits after consultations with distinguished Sikh scholars.
• 1950: Sikh Reht Maryada was approved.

[edit] Guru Tegh Bahadur

In 1675 Aurangzeb killed Guru Tegh Bahadur. He had gone to Aurangzeb on behalf of Kashmiri Pandits, who requested him to plead against their forceful conversion. Aurangzeb asked Guru Tegh Bahadur to convert and had him executed after he refused to convert to Islam. ^[7] According to Kushwant Singh, when "Guru Tegh Bahadur was summoned to Delhi, he went as a representative of the Hindus. He was executed in the year 1675. His son who succeeded him as guru later described his father’s martyrdom as in the cause of the humanity, ‘to preserve their caste marks and their sacred thread did he perform the supreme sacrifice’. The guru himself looked upon his community as an integral part of the Hindu social system."^{[8][opinion needs balancing]}

Guru Tegh Bahadur is also popular among Hindus and the Guru Tegh Bahadur Martyrdom Day is also observed by many Hindus.^[9]

[edit] Ranjit Singh

The great Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh also worshipped in Hindu temples, donated the Kohi-noor diamond to the Jagannath temple in Puri, demanded the restitution of the Somnath temple and forbid the killing of cows.^[10] He donated gold to the makeshift Vishvanath temple in Benares^[11], and he uttered a threat to the Amirs that he would attack them if they didn't stop persecuting Hindus.^[12] His funeral witnessed the Sati of his wives - not a Hindu practice as per scripture but practiced by Hindus to escape Mughal slavery and hence, molestation.^[13]

[edit] 19th century

The Sikh scholar Harjot Oberoi (1994) has argued that in the nineteenth century, the Singh Sabha Sikh movement, began to view the non-monolithic world view of Sikhism with suspicion and hostility, and tried to redefine a more limited Sikh identity. [1]^{[opinion needs balancing]}

[edit] British colonialism

Hindus have stressed that the ideology of Sikh separatism to Hinduism was also kindled by British administrators and scholars like Macauliffe during the British Empire.^{[citation needed]} Sikh separatism was advantageous for the British colonial administration. According to Ram Swarup, “Max Arthur Macauliffe, a highly placed British administrator (…) told the Sikhs that Hinduism was like a ‘boa constrictor of the Indian forest’ which ‘winds its opponent and finally causes it to disappear in its capacious interior’. The Sikhs ‘may go that way’, he warned. He was pained to see that the Sikhs regarded themselves as Hindus which was ‘in direct opposition to the teachings of the Gurus’."^[14]

[edit] Hindu-Sikh similarities

Here are some of the reasons given by those who feel the Gurus wanted to unite people, rather than create a new religion:

• At the time of the Gurus, most North Indian families would remain Hindu while the eldest son was a "Sikh." This suggests unity and not separation.^[15]
• The ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, defended a group of Hindus against forced conversions into Islam perpetrated by Aurangzeb and was subsequently beheaded for refusing to renounce Sikhism and embrace Islam. [2].
• Many Hindus & Sikhs visit each other's temples^{[citation needed]} and often share pilgrimage sites. For instance, the Hemkhund Sahib in the Indian State of Uttarakhand is regarded as a pilgrimage site by the adherents of both religions [3] and a Temple and Gurudwaara exist on the banks of the same lake there.
• In general, Hindus & Sikhs have married together, however some Hindus and Sikhs find it wrong to marry one another and this has been enforced by the Reht Maryada.^{[citation needed]}
• Hindu philosophical terms like Hari (over 8000 times), Rama (over 2000 times), Parabrahman, Omkara and Amrit are often used in the Guru Granth.^{[16][opinion needs balancing]} However, all of the so-called "Dharmic Religions" employ common vocabulary, largely based on Sanskrit. For example, Dharma, Ahimsa and Karma are important terms for Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

[edit] Vegetarianism

• Sikhs do not have specific dietry rules regarding meat (meat eating or vegetarianism)^[17] provided it is not slaughtered in the Muslim fashion (Halal). This is confirmed by a Hukamnama by Guru Gobind Singh ji to his Sikhs in Kabul (ref. ADVANCED STUDIES IN SIKHISM by Jasbir Singh and Harbans Singh.):

Vaishnav Hinduism emphasizes strict Vegetarianism. The Gurus stated "fools argue over flesh and diet". A few Sikhs are strictly vegetarian, however, that is debated by Sikhs.

Page 1289 Guru Granth Sahib

First Mehl: The fools argue about flesh and meat, but they know nothing about meditation and spiritual wisdom. What is called meat, and what is called green vegetables? What leads to sin? It was the habit of the gods to kill the rhinoceros, and make a feast of the burnt offering. Those who renounce meat, and hold their noses when sitting near it, devour men at night. They practice hypocrisy, and make a show before other people, but they do not understand anything about meditation or spiritual wisdom. O Nanak, what can be said to the blind people? They cannot answer, or even understand what is said. They alone are blind, who act blindly. They have no eyes in their hearts. They are produced from the blood of their mothers and fathers, but they do not eat fish or meat.

The Guru Granth Sahib

[edit] Mutual views

In the Hindu and Sikh traditions, there is no great distinction between religion and culture, and ethical decisions are grounded in both religious beliefs and cultural values. Both Hindu and Sikh ethics are primarily duty based. Traditional teachings deal with the duties of individuals and families to maintain a lifestyle conducive to physical, mental and spiritual health. These traditions share a culture and world view that includes ideas of karma and rebirth, collective versus individual identity, and a strong emphasis on spiritual purity[4].

The notion of karma and a belief in rebirth are very important for many Hindus and Sikhs as they make ethical decisions surrounding birth and death. Unlike the linear view of life taken in Abrahamic religions, for Hindus and Sikhs life, birth and death are repeated, for each person, in a continuous cycle. What a person does in each life influences the circumstances and predispositions experienced in future lives. In essence, every action or thought, whether noble or sinful, has consequences that are carried forward into the next life. When a similar situation is encountered, memories of past lives arise in the consciousness as an impulse to perform actions or think thoughts similar to the earlier ones. This impulse does not necessarily compel the person to repeat the act or thought. As proclaimed in the Guru Granth Sahib:

Mortals obtain a human body as a result of good deeds but he reaches the gate of salvation with God's kind grace. (Guru Nanak, Japji).

[edit] Common Sikh views of Hinduism

[edit] References to Vedas

The following verses from the Guru Granth Sahib indicates a positive outlook on some aspects of Hindu scripture:

Page 463 - Wonderful is the sound current of the Naad, wonderful is the knowledge of the Vedas. Page 791 - Reading the Vedas, sinful intellect is destroyed. Page 941 - The Gurmukh is pleasing to the True Guru; this is contemplation on the Vedas. Page 942 - The Gurmukh understands the Simritees, the Shaastras and the Vedas. Page 1188- The Vedas say that we should chant the Name of the One Lord.

The Guru Granth Sahib

The following verses from the Guru Granth Sahib indicate a negative outlook on some aspects of Hindu scripture:

Bhairao, Fifth Mehl - I do not perform Hindu worship services, nor do I offer the Muslim prayers... Guru Arjun Dev Page 1078 - Even the Vedas do not know the Guru`s Glory. They narrate only a tiny bit of what is heard

The Guru Granth Sahib

[edit] Differences Between Hinduism and Sikhism

However, like many bhakti saints within Hinduism, Guru Nanak, together with other elements of Sikh canon, rejected certain tenets of Hinduism, such as:

• The Janeo (Hindu sacred thread), or 'confirmation' ritual of Hinduism.^{[citation needed]}
• The worship of deities or ancestor worship.^{[citation needed]}
• The caste system or the practice of considering certain people "untouchable".^{[citation needed]}
• Sikhs do not believe in going on pilgrimages or bathing at Holy rivers etc.
• The Gurus also stated that knowledge of God was beyond the religious texts.

Page 747, Line 18 - One may read all the books of the Vedas, the Bible, the Simritees and the Shaastras, but they will not bring liberation.

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There have always been people who have argued that Hinduism and Sikhism, were never supposed to separate into two separate religions.^{[citation needed]} These arguments have been made almost exclusively by Hindu leaders,^{[citation needed]} however, there is a minority of Sikhs who believe this to be true.^{[citation needed]} The argument is that the Gurus were trying to unite everyone under God instead of separating people into a Hindu and Sikh category. It could also be argued that the Gurus were trying to unify the Muslims along with Hindus.

However, the majority of Sikhs believe that the two religions have been separate from the beginning of Sikhism.^{[citation needed]} They state that the Gurus were receiving the beliefs and practices from God as the Gurus constantly stated that they were not part of the Hindu or Muslim religions. One belief in Sikhism that is commonly cited in support of this is the belief in equality between men and women^{[citation needed]}, regardless of background or race.

Secularist Sikh writers like Khushwant Singh have written that despite innovations, "this new community, the Khalsa Panth, remained an integral part of the Hindu social and religious system. It is significant that when Tegh Bahadur was summoned to Delhi, he went as a representative of the Hindus. He was executed in the year 1675. His son who succeeded him as guru later described his father’s martyrdom as in the cause of the Hindu faith, ‘to preserve their caste marks and their sacred thread did he perform the supreme sacrifice’. The guru himself looked upon his community as an integral part of the Hindu social system.”^[18] He also wrote that "the dividing line between Hindus and Sikhs remained extremely thin".^[19]

[edit] Cultural differences

Many social anthropologists have historically categorized Sikhs as a separate ethno-religious group, with its own distinct identity shaped by Mughal conflict, communalism, and a worldview including the events of 1984.^[20] In the Sikh diaspora, Sikhs see themselves completely distinct from Hindus, and have an ethnic identity of 'Punjabi Sikh,' which is often their most salient identity, even for those who are first-generation immigrants. Such constructions have lead to some tensions between Sikh and Hindu youth in Canada. ^[21]

[edit] Common Hindu views of Sikhism

Indologists like E. Trumpp wrote that Guru Nanak was a "thorough Hindu", and that Sikhism was "a Pantheism derived directly from Hindu sources."^[22] Hindus have (with the exception of the Arya Samaj) usually stressed the unity and similarities of Sikhism and Hinduism.^[23] Aurobindo was skeptical about alleged Hindu-Sikh differences: “Those ways of Indian cult which most resemble a popular form of Theism, are still something more; for they do not exclude, but admit the many aspects of God. (…) The later religious forms which most felt the impress of the Islamic idea, like Nanak’s worship of the timeless One, Akâla, and the reforming creeds of today, born under the influence of the West, yet draw away from the limitations of western or Semitic monotheism. Irresistibly they turn from these infantile conceptions towards the fathomless truth of Vedanta.”^[24] The Hari Mandir is also sacred to Hindus.^[25]

During the intervention by the ruling Congress party against Sikh militants and the Anti-Sikh riots in 1984, Hindus have protected many Sikhs. The secularist Sikh Khushwant Singh expressed his gratitude to the Hindus when saying: “It was the Congress leaders who instigated mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the BJP for showing courage and protecting helpless Sikhs during those difficult days. No less a person than Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself intervened at a couple of places to help poor taxi drivers.”^[26] The Hindu party BJP also declared Punjabi an official language, had Sikh ministers and strongly condemned the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots.^[27][nothing to do with the title]

[edit] Hindus and Sikhism in Punjab

Punjabi Hindus hold Sikhism in high regard, many Punjabi Hindus not only in India but worldwide today visit their local Gurudwaras regularly and adhere to the preaching’s of the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhism is traditionally seen as a religion of warriors who were protectors of Hindus against marauding Islamic invaders who seeked to convert Hindus to Islam by lethal force. There has been a long standing practice in Punjab which still continuous where Hindu families give their first born son to the Guru to be baptized as a Sikh and join the Guru’s army of protectors.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Hindu families during the British Empire often brought up their sons as a kesadhari Sikh.^[28] Hindu and Sikh communities have also frequently intermarried.^[29] Many Sikh names are Hindu in character, e.g. Arjun and Har-kishan. Sikhs have also been devoted to Rama.^{[30][opinion needs balancing]}

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Shackle, Christopher; Mandair, Arvind-Pal Singh (2005). Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. United Kingdom: Routledge, xiii-xiv. ISBN 0-415-26604-1.
• Rosetta William, Sikh Gurus, Har-Anand Publications PVT Ltd (India), 2002, First edition, ISBN 8124107165
• Professor Kartar Singh, Biography of Guru Nanak, Hemkunt Press (India), 1995, Sixth edition, ISBN 81-7010-162-X

[edit] See also

• Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947
• Islam and the Sikh Panth

[edit] Further reading

• K.P. Agrawala: Adi Shrî Gurû Granth Sâhib kî Mahimâ (Hindi: “The greatness of the original sacred Guru scripture”)
• Elst, Koenraad: Who is a Hindu?, 2001. ISBN 81-85990-74-3 [5]
• Rajendra Singh Nirala: Ham Hindu Hain, 1989. Ham Hindu Kyon, 1990. Delhi: Voice of India.
• E. Trumpp. Adi Granth or the Holy Scripture of the Sikhs, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi 1970.
• McLeod, W.H.:(ed.) Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism. Manchester University Press, Manchester 1984. , -: Who Is a Sikh? The Problem of Sikh Identity. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1989.
• Harjot Oberoi, The Construction of Religious Boundaries : Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition, University Of Chicago Press 1994.
• Rajendra Singh: Sikkha Itihâsa mein Râma Janmabhûmi.
• Swarup, Ram: Hindu-Sikh Relationship. Voice of India, Delhi 1985. -: Whither Sikhism? Voice of India, Delhi 1991.
• Talib, Gurbachan (1950). Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab 1947. India: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. Online 1 Online 2 Online 3 (A free copy of this book can be read from any 3 of the included "Online Sources" of this free “Online Book”)

[edit] External links

• Kahn Singh Nabha
• MA McAuliffe
• Are Sikhs Hindus?
• Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha
• Sikhs are not Hindus
• Are the Sikhs Hindus?
• Tat Khalsa Singh Sabhias
• Khushwant Singh: "Guru Granth Sahib reflects Vedantic philosophy"
• [6]

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