Guru Nanak underlined the essential equality of man and the irrelevance of the different castes, sects and religions that humanity was divided into. A man’s standing was to be determined by the deeds that he performed. If there is only one creator, then how can the men he has created be different? For him, men fell only into two categories: Gurmukh (God-oriented) and Manmukh (self-oriented). Guru Nanak also protested against the prevalent beliefs which gave an inferior position in society to women and eloquently defended a woman’s contribution and status. The concept of langar that Guru Nanak started at Kartarpur in which all eat the same food together was a practical manifestation of his belief in the equality of men.
The Hymns
Guru Nanak transmitted his message to the world and to the generations that were to follow in the form of deeply philosophical and spiritual hymns. His delicate and powerful poetry was an appropriate and beautiful vehicle for singing the praises of the supreme reality that he had perceived, the boundless beauty of creation itself, his contempt for the empty ritualism that passed off as religion, and his pain at the suffering of his fellow beings at the hands of oppressors. Rich in metaphor and simile, evocative in their descriptions and eloquent in their expression, Nanak’s verses are clearly the work of an exalted being.
What was also significant was that he also rejected the use of Sanskrit which had become the language of the elite, the Brahmins, and chose the common man’s language, Punjabi, that obviated the need of the medium of a priest. At the same time, he did not hesitate to enrich the language with Persian and Arabic when he thought it appropriate. He used terms employed by Upanishads, Sufi saints, Siddhas and yogis. Yet the end result remains one that can be easily comprehended by the ordinary man—the farmer, the carpenter, the ascetic and the householder.
Guru Nanak’s hymns along with the additions by the following Gurus formed the core of the Granth Sahib that was fashioned out by the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev in 1604. The Guru Granth Sahib comprises almost a 1000 verse-units under nineteen ragas. Of these, the long compositions are the Japji, Siddha Gosht, Dakhni Onkar, Asa di Var, Majh di Var, Malhar di Var, Patti and Barah Mah Tukhari. Other shorter but distinct banis include the Sodar (Rehras), Sohila, Babar Vani and Alahunian.
Japji
This composition, the masterpiece of Guru Nanak, contains the essence of Sikh philosophy and religion. It has been compared to the Gita and the New Testament in as much as it contains within itself the quintessential beliefs of an entire philosophy. In a remarkably succinct form—only thirty-eight hymns or pauris and two shlokas—the composition analyses the deepest of spiritual problems: the eternal problem of human salvation. In poetry of supreme achievement, in varying metres, rich with deep intellectual and descriptive content, Guru Nanak discusses the fundamental issues of existence and the relationship of the creation with its creator. He examines the religious and philosophical issues facing mankind and shows a path: the contemplation of the name of the supreme being. The wisdom of the seeker is not confined to meditative contemplation but leads to enlightened action. Unlike most of the other compositions in the holy Granth, the Japji is not set to music. Every Sikh is expected to recite the Japji in the early, ambrosial morning hours, when the mind is fresh and best attuned to a contemplation of the maker.
The Japji begins with the Mul Mantra (the Fundamental Creed), the incredibly expressive description of God or the eternal truth in a short series of sentence-phrases:
There is but one God, true is His Name,
The Creator, fearless, without rancour,
Timeless, unborn, self-existent
By God’s grace he is known
Meditate on Him
He was true
In the beginning, in the primal time,
O Nanak, true He is and will be hereafter.
Reflection, even a million fold
Will not reveal Him
Silence, deep in His love
Will not bring peace
The hungry do not lose their hunger for Him
With all the world’s valuables
Not one of man’s thousand wisdoms
Will serve him in the Lord’s court.
How then can one be true?
How to tear the screen of untruth?
O Nanak, by obeying His pre-ordained will.
By His command are all forms manifest
Inexpressible is His command
By His command are all beings created
By the same are some made great
By His command are they made high or low
By His command are they blessed or cursed
By His command some are graced
While others revolve in the cycle of birth and death
All fall under His command
None is beyond it
O Nanak, if man were to understand His command
Then he would not hold on to ego
Who can sing of His might? Who has the power?
Who can sing of His grace or His bounties?
Some sing of His noble attributes and greatnesses
Who can sing of His knowledge, difficult to comprehend?
Some sing how He makes the body and then reduces it to dust
Some sing that He takes away life and then gives it
Some say that He appears far away
Some say that He is always face to face
There is no dearth of those who discourse on Him
He ceaselessly gives, the recipients may tire
For eons, He has sustained the creation
By His command, He ordains all
O Nanak, He Himself remains in eternal bliss.
He is true, true is His name
Infinite the expressions of devotion
All creation begs boons and He bestows
What should we offer Him
For a glimpse of His court?
What words do we utter
To earn his love?
Meditate, in the ambrosial hours of dawn
On his true Name.
By good actions is the human form attained
By God’s grace, the door to salvation
Know this Nanak: the Almighty is all
Neither can he be installed nor created
The Immaculate one is self-existent
Those who serve Him are honoured
O Nanak, sing the praise of His endless virtue
Sing and hear His praise, with His love in your heart
Shedding pain, go home with bliss
The Guru’s word is the Divine word,
And the true scripture,
And knowledge that He is all pervasive,
The Lord is all deities—Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati.
Even if I know Him
I cannot describe the ineffable
My Master has enlightened me:
There is one Creator of all beings
This I should not forget.
If I please Him, it is my holy bath
Without His approval, what good is bathing?
Without good action, no one has obtained a thing
But absorbing one thought of the Guru
Enriches the mind with gems, jewels, rubies
My Master has enlightened me:
There is one creator of all beings
This
I should not forget.
Were a man to live for the four ages
And ten times more,
Were he to walk the nine continents
And gather followers,
Were he to have fame and praise
Of the whole world,
Without the grace of God
No one would care for him;
A worm amongst worms,
Accused even by sinners;
Nanak, the Divine being
Makes the non-virtuous virtuous,
None though can bestow virtue on Him
Listening to His Name, man equals
Siddhas, pirs, spiritual heroes, yogis,
Revealed are the mysteries of the earth,
The supporting bull and the heavens,
Of the continents, the worlds, the nether-worlds
Listening to His Name
Man is beyond death’s reach
O Nanak, His devotees are ever in bliss
Listening to His Name
Destroys sorrows and sins
Listening to His Name
The seeker becomes Shiva, Brahma, Indra
Listening to His Name
Even the evil sing the Lord’s praise
Listening to His Name
Man acquires true knowledge of esoteric powers
And comprehends all the scriptures
O Nanak, His devotees are ever in bliss
Listening to His Name
Destroys sorrows and sins
Listening to His Name
Brings Truth, contentment, Divine knowledge,
Listening to His Name
Equals bathing at the sixty-eight holy places
Listening and studying His Name
Bestows honour on the seeker
Listening to His Name
Fixes easily the mind in meditation
O Nanak, His devotees are ever in bliss
Listening to His Name
Destroys sorrows and sins
Asa Di Var
This long composition that forms part of the Adi Granth is sung in the early hours of the morning. It is one of the three compositions of Guru Nanak in a popular folk form of Punjab, the var or heroic ballad, the others being Majh di Var and Malar di Var. It consists of chakkas, pauris and shlokas. The chakkas which form the beginnings are the work of the fourth Guru, Ram Das. There are twenty-four pauris and sixty shlokas, fifteen of which were written by Guru Angad. The shlokas set the context for the pauris, which form the core of the composition. The pauris praise God, the Guru and the true gurmukh.
In the Asa di Var, Guru Nanak emphasizes that the ultimate reality is one. This immortal creator, self-existent, creates all and watches over his creation ceaselessly. God is all-pervasive and only He is truly fearless. Man should follow the spiritual path and do God’s will. Nanak criticizes social and administrative injustice as well as empty religious ritualism and blind superstition. He condemns formalism of all sorts and exposes the hypocrisy of religion as it was generally practised. He commends the religion of realization, the life of service, lived truthfully and the meditation of the name of God. There is a code of conduct that man needs to follow, that of truth and truthful living. Man must overcome his ego, cultivate humility and practise what he preaches. To attain this path, he needs the guidance of a guru. But great care has to exercised in choosing one’s guru for false prophets abound. Only with the help of the true guru, who comes one’s way with the grace of God, can salvation be attained and the soul unite with its maker.
The var is a beautiful piece of poetry, inspiring and rich. Abundant in spiritual content, yet full of sharp metaphors taken from daily life and told in the everyday language of Punjabi, it is a powerful composition meant for everyone, a thought that is reinforced by the fact that it is in a popular folk form. On reading it, one is lifted into a different spiritual realm that leaves behind superstition and blind belief and moves towards the fundamental verities of existence.
Shlok:
A hundred times a day
I sacrifice myself unto my Guru
Who without delay
Made Gods of men.
Shlok:
O Nanak, those who forfeit the Lord
Thinking themselves clever,
They shall be discarded like false sesame
In the reaped field
Says Nanak: those left in the field
Have no caretaker
The wretches bear fruit and flower
Yet carry within themselves only ash.
Pauri:
The Lord created Himself
Himself gave His name
Then He created His creation
And seated, beheld it in delight.
Thou yourself are the Giver and Doer
Pleased, you give and show mercy.
You are all-knowing
You give and take life with a word.
And seated, you behold your creation in delight.
The Asa di Var contains Guru Nanak’s teachings on the place of women in the world:
Within a woman conceived,
Of a woman born,
With a woman betrothed and married.
With a woman are sustained friendships
Through a woman, life goes on,
When a wife dies, one seeks another,
With woman man is bound,
Why call her bad then,
Who gives birth to Kings
From a woman is woman born,
Without her there is none.
Nanak, only the true Lord
Is beyond a woman
The mouth that praises
Is fortunate and beautiful
Nanak: such faces shall be radiant in the Lord’s court.
Siddha Gosht
During his travels, Nanak held discussions on several occasions with the holy men—Siddhas, yogis, sufi dervishes—who dominated the religious landscape those days. Notable among the yogis with whom Nanak interacted were the followers of Gorakhnath, the kanphala sect.
The two main discourses between Nanak and the Siddhas were held on Sumer Parbat, or Mount Kailash, and at Achal near Batala during the Shivratri fair. The message of the discourses is not a condemnation of yoga but a striving towards the true meaning of yogic principles and philosophy, shorn of ritualism and superstition and practised without renunciation. As against the practice of hathayoga, the Guru preached sahajyoga as the path to true spiritual attainment. Sahaj, or the balanced philosophy of life, enriched by prayer, meditation and devotion leads to the awareness of the divine in all creation. In Siddha Gosht, Guru Nanak elucidates the principles of Gurmat (The Guru’s Philosophy): the concepts of the Word, Truth, the Guru, God’s grace and so on. Nanak also enunciates his idea of jivan-mukta or the one who finds salvation in life itself and does not have to wait for death. This bani also expatiates on the idea of simran and the concepts of Gurmukh (the spiritual man) and Manmukh (the egocentric person), the first attuned towards God and the other towards his own self.
The discourses with the Siddhas are in the form of a dialogue, a question and answer examination of intellectual truths. The Siddha Gosht contains this dialogue in seventy-three verses, each of six lines and set in the musical measure of Ramkali. This bani of Nanak is usually regarded as one of the most thoughtful, symbolic and mature of his compositions, all the more so as it utilizes technical yogic vocabulary. It is also notable for the fact that the entire dialogue is conducted not antagonistically but in a spirit of humility, intellectual inquiry and mutual respect, free of rancour and steeped in tolerance. Here are some excerpts:
Said Charpat: O Nanak, the detached one, answer me truly.
Nanak: The one who asks that, himself knows.
What can I answer him?
Truly speaking, how can I answer you, you who
think that he has already reached the yonder shore.
Like the lotus is unaffected in water,
A duck swimming against the current is dry,
Similarly, with the mind on the Divine utterances