By: Gopal Singh Puri Falcon Books, New Delhi
Reviewed by: Ms. Amrit Kaur, Virginia Dr. I.J. Singh, New York
If one counts from the time of Guru Nanak, Sikhism is 500 years old but from that momentous day in 1699 when Guru Gobind Singh gave his Sikhs the present form, Sikhism goes back only 300 years. In the history of religions therefore, we are the new kids on the block, Sikhism is just beginning to define its place alongside the other religions through interfaith dialogues and Puri’s attempt is a welcome addition to that perspective. In the multicultural world where the whole world is a village, defining common ground with others is essential and it is time that Sikhs made such efforts more energetically as Puri has attempted.
An important prerequisite however, is a clear vision of what we are. Much as it is important to find areas of agreement with others such as monotheism in the Semitic religions or the concept of Karma in the Hindu Vedantic tradition, it is also essential to discern where karma in Sikhism is devoid of the Hindu baggage of casteism and sexism and that Sikhism does not have a concept comparable to “original sin” of the Judaic systems. An acknowledgement of the differences between religions in social ethics can be recognized even in ecumenical efforts and does not rob either of its glory. This is what Puri fails to do in a consistent manner, Let me illustrate by a few examples.
Puri states that “—all the Sikh Gurus had Hindu parentage and had lived and practiced in that tradition.” One could argue that only the first four Gurus had Hindu parentage. However, Guru Nanak never practiced any of the Hindu traditions from the very beginning, nor did any other Guru once he joined the Sikh faith of Nanak. Guru Nanak and all other Gurus rejected Hindu rituals most forthrightly. Then and now, these blunt teachings lie at the root of much of the Hindu uneasiness with Sikh teachings. When in their message and their lives, the Gurus clearly and unequivocally rejected Casteism, ritualism, idol worship, sati etc., how could any Guru have “practiced in that tradition?”
Puri emphasizes the Sikh principle of Nam Japna (God centered mind) but gives short shrift to the other two legs of the tripod of Sikh ethics Kirat karni (honest living) and Wand Chakkna (social responsibility and sharing). Later, rather naively he contends that Sikhs are attracted to Marx and Lenin, Wand Chakkna is more humanitarian in essence than communist in nature. | cannot imagine any people more opposed than the Sikhs to central control of individual effort and destiny.
Pun ties to find parallels between the limited reform movements within Hinduism of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Swami Dayanand and the universal, unique vision of Guru Gobind Singh transcending the bounds of Hinduism, Such comparisons would be odious to most Sikhs, also the reader is likely to conclude that the three were contemporaneous when in fact Dayanand and Roy came much later.
Puri looks for cosmological significance in the fanciful juxtaposition of some historical facts, such as (in his words), “it is no coincidence that Guru Gobind Singh unsheathed his sword in Patna (formerly Patlipura) because Ashoka burned his sword there.”
Guru Gobind Singh was born in Patna but the Khalsa was created at Anandpur, and their first battle fought at Paonta. At times, Puri appears overly anxious to justify Sikh tenets according to Vedantic philosophy. Our understanding is that Sikhism holds no faith in occult sciences such as numerology, astrology etc. Unfortunately, Puri tries to determine the importance of some Sikh concepts according to numerology. He looks for similarities between the episode of Krishna and Arun with Guru Gobind Singh’s directing the Khalsa to take up arms. Arjun’s dilemma was different. The Guro rejuvenated a whole nation with Amit. Sikhism in its purest form Stems from spiritual awakening of the soul. It is a revealed religion which came into existence because of divine inspiration. We don’t want to dwell on the folly of retrospective reasoning; ascribing motives and reasoning to the actions of the Gurus is only suggestive of our own biases and in no way indicative of what lay in the Gurus’ minds, [tis neither fair nor necessary 10 justify the ideas and philosophy of Sikhism according to Ramayana, Mahabharata or Vedas. Any similarities merely reflect similar environment and universality of some messages.
The universality of the message can and should be emphasized and in doing 86 Puri renders a ‘service to interfaith communication.
Although Sikhism is historically set in the Indian (predominantly Hindu) cultural milieu, it also has abiding Semitic roots. Yet Sikhism remains more than just the sum of its Vedantic and Semitic antecedents. Christianity sprang out of Judaic roots but has evolved a unique world view of its own. Similarly, we need not go overboard in trying to adjust Sikhism into the Hindu world view. Sikhism, a new religion on the globe, is as distinctive in spirit as it is in form. It is not merely a harmonious synthesis of Hinduism and Islam. To belabor that undermines it and robs it of its originality.
Puri is an ecologist scientist based in the United Kingdom. It is evident that he has a clear devotion to Sikhism and a substantial understanding of the great religion of mankind, particularly Hinduism, In light of the recent Sikh diaspora; his work constitutes tentative but important first steps towards defining a seat for Sikhism at the table of the world’s great religions. Despite our reservations therefore, it is refreshing to see a Sikh present his perspective in the mosaic of interfaith relations.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 9, 1993
