Vivekananda and Ramakrishna on Sikhism

Swami Vivekananda (January 12, 1863–July 4, 1902) was born in an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha ( Brahmin and Kshatriya) family of Calcutta in 1863. Born Narendra Nath Dutt, Vivekananda was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna. Both Men were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance, as well as the Hindu renaissance during the 19th and 20th centuries.

From relative obsurity Vivekananda suddenly leapt to fame after his attendance at the 'Parliament of Religions' held in Chicago, Illinois (USA) in 1893, at which he represented Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture as well as his deep spiritual insight, made a great impression in Europe and America.

In America he became India's spiritual ambassador and pleaded eloquently for better understanding between India and the New World in order to create a healthy synthesis of East and West, of religion and science.

In the course of a short life of thirty-nine years Vivekananda authored four treatises on Hindu philosophy: Jnana-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Karma-Yoga, and Raja-Yoga.

Vivekananda & Ramakrishna views on Sikhism

Vivekananda's Master, Ramakrishna was born in Bengal during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Born in a poor Brahmin Vaishnava family in rural Bengal, he became a priest of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple. Ramakrishna is said to have also experimented with other religions, notably Islam and Christianity, and said that they all lead to the same God.

He is said to have had great respect for the Sikh Gurus. However his respect was said to be because of his belief that the “Gurus of Sikhism were the reincarnations of King Janaka of ancient India.”

Swami Vivekananda had his own reasons for his admiration of Guru Gobind Singh ji. In the confusing sentence below:

He believed that the Guru brought on the “Sikh sect revival by his initiation when he re-Hinduised Mohammendan converts and took them back into the Sikh community.”

From the above we can see that by having former Hindus who had been converted to Islam (including circumsizion) take part in the Sikh initiation of Pahul that Vivekananda clearly thought that Sikhi was a sect of the Hindu religion.

From these two statements it can be seen that both Vivekananda and Ramakrishna have a very shallow knowledge of the Sikh religion, Sikh history and with their deaths occurring in 1886 and 1902, both men were clearly unaware of the Sikh political events of the early 20th Century. Most likely if they had visited a Sikh Gurdwara they would have seen practices that were banished from Gurdwaras when Sikhs took back control of their houses of worship. Clearly Swami Vivekananda believed that Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains were all Hindus.

To prove his point Vivekananda listed the common points shared by Hinduism and its sects: Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism.

1. All these religions see Om or omkar as a sacred word and is commonly used in the beginning of their mantras or sacred invocations. In Sikhism Om is called as Ik Onkaar.
2. All these religions believe in the existence of the soul and its rebirth in different bodies.
3. The ends or aim of all these religions is the liberation of the soul from the bondage of matter or Moksha. The Hindu Moksha and the Jain Nibbana and the Buddhist Nirvana is one and the same thing.
4. All these religions believe in the law of karma , or the law of cause and effect.
5. Vegetarianism is considered a virtue in all these religions.

In the book Identity and Religion: Foundations of Anti-Islamism, by Amalendu Misra:

Misra has written that Vivekananda approved Sikhism as a separate religon. He admired Sikhs for rising against Islamic powers & religon in india. He described Guru Gobind Singh as a creative genius (whose life was) centered around the latter religious-political exploits against the Mughal Empire. Equally strong was his praise for Marathas, who rebelled (against) Mughal power Keeping them from gaining a foothold in the Deccan (the Southern part of India). The heroism shown by Shivaji & Guru Gobind Singh was a tribute to Hindu power.

So even in this book which is on Anti-Islamism the author (a Muslim?) writes that Vivekananda approved Sikhism as a separate religion, yet in his last sentence he says that Guru Gobind Singh's heroism was a-- tribute to Hindu power.