Message of Guru Granth Sahib
The Guru Granth Sahib provides unique and unequalled guidance and advice to the whole of the human race. It is the torch that will lead humanity out of Kaljug, (the dark era) to a life in peace, tranquillity and spiritual enlightenment for all the nations of the World.
| www.deccanherald.com |
| Guru Granth Sahib transcends creed and caste, cant and convention. It does not belong to the Sikhs alone. It consecrates the sayings of 11 Hindu bhakats and as many bard poets and seven Muslims, along with the teachings of six Sikh gurus. No other religion has included in its holy book the sayings of others, however revered. |
The SGGS is about living a life of Truth, respect for others; humility; tranquillity, peace, blessings, high moral standards, equality, co-existence, etc. These are qualities which will result in a situation which will take humanity to higher level of living; to a situation where everyone will be proud and humbled at the same time for being part of pure society.
One who follows the teaching of and accept the SGGS as their Guru or Spiritual Guide is called a Sikh. A follower of the teachings of the SGGS is also called a Gurmukh – which literally means “follower of Guru”.
| The Dalai Lama said, |
| We bow to this great Granth, which was compiled 400 years ago. Since then it had been spreading the message of peace and love all over the world. The 21st century is witnessing a revolution in technology and man is improving his skills, but in matters of living and relationships between nations there is a marked degradation. The aim of all religions is to create a good man. |
| "A Tamilian girl tells me: "Papa, the beauty of guru Granth Sahib is that of its power, its majesty and its wonders in changing people’s lives"." |
| "The message of Sikhi - incorporated in Guru Granth Sahib - is not limited to any nation, people or religion. It is a universal message of truth for mankind. www.sikh-religion.de" |
| "Sri Ravi Shankar of the "Art of Living" fame, said the [Sri Guru] Granth should be taught to children not only in the country [India] but also across the world." |
Below I list the qualities promoted by Sri Guru Granth Sahib:
Equality
The Guru Granth Sahib promotes the message of equality of all beings. Discrimination of all types is forbidden.
| SGGS Page 446 Full Shabad |
| They look upon all with equality, and recognize the Supreme Soul, the Lord, pervading among all.
Those who sing the Praises of the Lord, Har, Har, obtain the supreme status; they are the most exalted and acclaimed people. (2) |
| SGGS Page 272 Full Shabad |
| The God-conscious being is always unstained, like the sun, which gives its comfort and warmth to all.
The God-conscious being looks upon all alike, like the wind, which blows equally upon the king and the poor beggar. |
Sri Guru Granth Sahib promotes the concept of equality by highlighting the fact that we are made of the same fresh, blood and bone and we have the same light of God with us – Soul . Our building bricks are the same:
| SGGS Page 96 Full Shabad |
| There is only one breath; all are made of the same clay; the light within all is the same.
The One Light pervades all the many and various beings. This Light intermingles with them, but it is not diluted or obscured. By Guru’s Grace, I have come to see the One. I am a sacrifice to the True Guru. (3) |
Women as Equals
A drastic distinction between the roles of the male and female exists in all of history's modern human societies. Women have grown to accept, not without resentment though, the male-dominated atmosphere of the world. Because people use religious doctrine to define their life styles, religious scriptures in both the East and the West seem to condone, even encourage, the unequal treatment of women. In the 15th century, Guru Nanak established Sikhism, the first religion to advocate emphatically the equality of all people, especially women. In a continent characterized by severe degradation of women, this bold declaration, along with others, determined to erase the impurities of the Indian society. However, prejudices and injustices based on gender linger even today. (by Valerie Kaur) www.sikhwomen.com
| SGGS Page 473 Shabad 1748 1748 &Format=2 Read text in English at the bottom of the screen |
| "From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married.
Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman. That mouth which praises the Lord continually is blessed and beautiful. O Nanak, those faces shall be radiant in the Court of the True Lord. (2)" |
| SGGS Page 604 Shabad 2292 Read text in English at the bottom of the screen |
| " The Beloved Himself enjoys every heart; He is contained within every woman and man.
O Nanak, the Beloved is pervading everywhere, but He is hidden; through the Guru, He is revealed. (4,2)" |
| SGGS Page 223 Shabad 706 Read text in English at the bottom of the screen |
| "In the earth and in the sky, I do not see any second. Among all the women and the men, His Light is shining. (3)" |
One God for All
- The SGGS tells us that there is only on God and no other:
| SGGS Page 45 Full Shabad |
| There is only the One Supreme Lord God; there is no other at all.
Soul and body all belong to Him; whatever pleases His Will comes to pass. Through the Perfect Guru, one becomes perfect; O Nanak, meditate on the True One. (4,9,79) |
- Further, it informs us the this One God is merciful, infinite and is everywhere:
| SGGS Page 710 Full Shabad |
| God is merciful and infinite. The One and Only is all-pervading.
He Himself is all-in-all. Who else can we speak of? God Himself grants His gifts, and He Himself receives them. Coming and going are all by the Hukam of Your Will; Your place is steady and unchanging. Nanak begs for this gift; by Your Grace, Lord, please grant me Your Name. (20,1) |
Speak and Live Truthfully
| SGGS Page 283 Full Shabad |
| The One Lord is in his heart. True are his actions; true are his ways. True is his heart;
Truth is what he speaks with his mouth. True is his vision; true is his form. He distributes Truth and he spreads Truth. One who recognizes the Supreme Lord God as True - O Nanak, that humble being is absorbed into the True One. (8,15) |
| SGGS Page 769 Full Shabad |
| The true devotees look beautiful in the Darbaar of the Lord`s Court. They speak Truth, and only Truth.
Deep within the nucleus of their heart, is the True Word of the Lord`s Bani. Through the Truth, they understand themselves. They understand themselves, and so know the True Lord, through their true intuition. True is the Shabad, and True is its Glory; peace comes only from Truth. Imbued with Truth, the devotees love the One Lord; they do not love any other. O Nanak, he alone obtains the True Lord, who has such pre-ordained destiny written upon his forehead. (4,2,3) |
| SGGS Page 1011 Full Shabad |
| In Truth I sit and stand; I eat and speak the Truth.
With Truth in my consciousness, I gather the wealth of Truth, and drink in the sublime essence of Truth. In the home of Truth, the True Lord protects me; I speak the Words of the Guru`s Teachings with love. (5) |
| SGGS Page 1058 Full Shabad |
| True is the speech of the Gurmukh; true are the eyes of the Gurmukh. The Gurmukh practices and lives the Truth.
He speaks the Truth forever, day and night, and inspires others to speak the Truth. |
| SGGS Page 1419 Full Shabad |
| True are the faces and true are the beards, of those who speak the Truth and live the Truth.
The True Word of the Shabad abides in their minds; they are absorbed in the True Guru. True is their capital, and true is their wealth; they are blessed with the ultimate status. They hear the Truth, they believe in the Truth; they act and work in the Truth. They are given a place in the Court of the True Lord; they are absorbed in the True Lord. O Nanak, without the True Guru, the True Lord is not found. The self-willed manmukhs leave, wandering around lost. (53) |
Control the Five Vices
The SGGS tells us to control our animal instincts of Pride/Ego, Anger/Temper, Greed/Urges, Attachment/Dependency and Lust/Addiction (PAGAL)
| SGGS Page 1388 Shabad 5352 Read text in English at the bottom of the screen |
| "All virtues are obtained, all fruits and rewards, and the desires of the mind; my hopes have been totally fulfilled.
The Medicine, the Mantra, the Magic Charm, will cure all illnesses and totally take away all pain. Lust, anger, egotism, jealousy and desire are eliminated by chanting the Name of the Lord." |
| SGGS Page 81 Shabad 199 Read text in English at the bottom of the screen |
| "Taking them by the hand, the Lord has blessed them with His Praises. They no longer have to wander in reincarnation, and they never have to die.
Through the Kind and Compassionate True Guru, I have met the Lord; I have conquered sexual desire, anger and greed. Our Indescribable Lord and Master cannot be described. Nanak is devoted, forever a sacrifice to Him. (5,1,3)" |
| SGGS Page 1395 Shabad 5390 Read text in English at the bottom of the screen |
| "In truth, the True Lord is recognized and realized, when one is lovingly attuned to Him, with one-pointed consciousness.
Lust and anger are brought under control, when the breath does not fly around, wandering restlessly. Dwelling in the land of the Formless Lord, realizing the Hukam of His Command, His contemplative wisdom is attained." |
Live in God's Hukam
A Sikh or person of God should live and accept the command of God easily and without too much emotional distress. Live in contentment and in Chardikala (positive attitude)
| SGGS Page 209 Shabad 657 Read text in English at the bottom of the screen |
| "Renounce the intellectual cleverness of your mind, O humble servants of the Lord; understanding the Hukam of His Command, peace is found.
Whatever God does, accept that with pleasure; in comfort and in suffering, meditate on Him. (1)" |
| SGGS Page 253 Shabad 792 Read text in English at the bottom of the screen |
| "Shalok:
He wanders around in the four quarters and in the ten directions, according to the dictates of his karma. Pleasure and pain, liberation and reincarnation, O Nanak, come according to one's pre-ordained destiny. (1)" |
Quotes about SGGS by Prominent Scholars
Rev. H.L. Bradshaw of the U.S.A., Sikh Review, Calcutta.
| Sikhism is a Universal world Faith…a message for all men. This is amply illustrated in the writings of the Gurus.
Sikhs must cease to think of their faith as just another good religion and must begin to think of Sikhism being the religion for this New Age. |
Also:
| The Guru Granth Sahib of all the world religious scriptures, alone states that there are innumerable worlds and universes other than our own. The previous scriptures were all concerned only with this world and its spiritual counterpart. To imply that they spoke of other worlds as does the Guru Granth Sahib, is to stretch their obvious meanings out of context. The Sikh religion is truly the answer to the problems of the modern man. |
Miss Pearl S. Buck, a Nobel laureate
while giving her comments on the English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib (From the foreword to the English translation of Guru Granth Sahib by Gopal Singh Dardi) wrote:
| I have studied the scriptures of the great religions, but I do not find elsewhere the same power of appeal to the heart and mind as I find here in these volumes. They are compact in spite of their length and are a revelation of the concept of God to the recognition and indeed the insistence upon the practical needs of the human body. There is something strangely modern about these scriptures and this puzzled me until I learned that they are in fact comparatively modern, compiled as late as the 16th century when explorers were beginning to discover the globe upon which we all live is a single entity divided only by arbitrary lines of our making. Perhaps this sense of unity is the source of power I find in these volumes. They speak to a person of any religion or of none. They speak for the human heart and the searching mind. |
Archer in his book on Sikh faith
| The religion of the Guru Granth is a universal and practical religion…Due to ancient prejudices of the Sikhs it could not spread in the world. The world needs today its message of peace and love. |
Dorothy Field in her book, The Sikh Religion
| Pure Sikhism is far above dependence on Hindu rituals and is capable of a distinct position as a world religion so long as Sikhs maintain their distinctiveness. The religion is also one which should appeal to the occidental mind. It is essentially a practical religion. If judged from the pragmatic standpoint which is a favorite point of view in some quarters, it would rank almost first in the world (emphasis by the author). Of no other religion can it be said that it has made a nation in so short a time. |
And also:
| The religion of the Sikhs is one of the most interesting at present existing in India, possibly indeed in the whole world. A reading of the Granth strongly suggests that Sikhism should be regarded as a new and separate world religion rather than a reformed sect of Hinduism. |
Arnold Toynbee, a historian
(Forward to the Sacred Writings of the Sikhs by UNESCO)
| Mankind’s religious future may be obscure; yet one thing can be foreseen. The living higher religions are going to influence each other more than ever before, in the days of increasing communications between all parts of the world and branches of human race. In this coming religious debate, the Sikh religion and its scriptures, the Guru Granth, will have something special of value to say to the rest of the world. |
Dr. W.O. Cole of U.K.
who has written more than half a dozen books on Sikhism. In 1985, he visited India where in a keynote lecture by him on the Mission and Message of Guru Nanak Dev, he gave a message to the Sangat there and through them to all of humanity:
| Remember the tenets of Guru Nanak, his concepts of oneness of God and Universal Brotherhood of man. If any community holds the key to national integration of India, it is the Sikhs all the way. |
After the lecture, he was asked what drew him to the study of Sikhism. (Quoted from Spokesman, Toronto, Canada) He replied:
| Theologically, I cannot answer the question what drew me to the study of Sikhism. You may call it, the purpose of God. But to be more specific, the unique concept of universality and the system of Langar (free community meal) in Sikhism are the two features that attract me towards the study of Sikhism. Langar is the exclusive feature of Sikhism and found nowhere else in the world. Sikhism is the only religion which welcomes each and every one to its langar without any discrimination of caste, creed, color, or sex. |
Bertrand Russell
This is the man who destroyed Christianity (same applies to Islam and Judaism) and exposed its absurdities; but even this great man got stuck when it came to Sikhism! In fact he gave up and said "that if some lucky men survive the onslaught of the third world war of atomic and hydrogen bombs, then the Sikh religion will be the only means of guiding them. Russell was asked that he was talking about the third world war, but isn't this religion capable of guiding mankind before the third world war? In reply, Russell said, "Yes, it has the capability, but the Sikhs have not brought out in the broad daylight, the splendid doctrines of this religion which has come into existence for the benefit of the entire mankind. This is their greatest sin and the Sikhs cannot be freed of it."
Swami Nitya Nand
A Hindu mystics mentions his experiences with the Sikh faith. (he is believed to have expired at the age of 135 years) writes in his book “Gur Gian”:
| "I, in the company of my guru, Brahma Nand Ji, went to Mathura…While on pilgrimage tour, we reached Punjab and here we met Swami Satya Nand Udasi. He explained the philosophy and religious practices of Nanak in such a way that Swami Brahma Nand Ji enjoyed a mystic lore. During the visit to the Golden Temple, Amritsar, his soul was so much affected that he became a devotee of the Guru. After spending some time in Punjab he went to Hardwar. Though he was hail and hearty, one day I saw tears in his eyes. I asked the reason for that.
He replied, “I sifted sand the whole of my life. The truth was in the house of Nanak. I will have to take one more birth in that house, only then will I attain Kalyan.” After saying that the soul left his body." |
Swami Nitya Nand also wrote his own experience:
| "I also constantly meditate on Waheguru revealed by Nanak. I practiced Yoga Asanas under the guidance of Yogis and did that for many years; the bliss and peace which I enjoy now was never obtained earlier." |
President George W. Bush
| "Our Nation has always benefited from a strong tradition of faith, and religious diversity has been an important part of this heritage. The Guru Granth Sahib has provided strength, wisdom, and guidance to hundreds of thousands of Sikhs in America and millions more around the world.
I applaud the Sikh community for your compassion and dedication to your faith. By sharing its message of peace, equality, and the importance of family, you help change lives, one heart and one soul at a time. Bush added, Laura (Bush’s wife) joins me in sending our best wishes." |
