THE TEACHINGS OF GURU NANAK
.Nanak, without the indwelling Name of God one endures suffering through the four ages.'
What terrible separation it is to be separated from God and what blissful union to be united with Him!*
terse expression is common in the writings of Guru Nanak and we find: examples in these two extracts. Both concern the ultimate purpose of all life and all religion, and set it forth as union with God through the indwelling Name, an inward union which imparts eternal bliss. He who recognizes this, who accepts the proffered means and so attains such union, transcends the cycle of birth and death and passes instead into a condition of heatitude, infinite, eternal, and ultimately inexpressible.
Such a summary statement, however, can have meaning only in the light of a developed understanding of Guru Nanak's beliefs. Who, or what is this God with whom union is sought? Of what nature is He? Is lie conceived in terms of personality? In what way is His being expressed to man? And what is man? Of what nature is his condition that he should seekto transcend it? What are the proffered means and how does he appropriate them? Having appropriated them how can he describe his regenerate condition, in so far as words are able to describe it? These and many other related questions must be answered if we are to reach an adequate understanding of Guru Nanak's beliefs, of what may properly be called his theology.
Theology is the correct word to use in this connexion, for the whole of Guru Nanak 's thought revolves around his understanding of the nature of God. It was entirely appropriate that Guru Arjan should place a declaration of the nature of God at the very beginning of the Adi Granth and should be called the Mul Mantra, the Basic Credal Statement.3 Of all Sikh scripture none is more important than Guru Nanak's Japji, and in the work of surpassing beauty (which significantly follows immediately after the Mul Mantra in the Adi Granth) the theme is God, the One whom men must praise and who yet far exceeds the most exalted conception which the mind of man can form. It is theology which we find in the sabads and| sloks of Guru Nanak and it is theology of a refined quality.
« Maru i, A G, p. 989. < AG, pp. i-8.
Tukhan Chhant 2 Cf ), AG, p. 1 1 10. AG, p. i.
THE TEACHINGS OF GURO N&NAK149
This theology is not, of course, set out in any systematic form. Guru Nanak’s writings bear witness to his experience of God and the characteristic expression of that experience is the hymn of praise which it engenders. Neither Guru Nanak nor Guru Arjan, who compiled the Adi Granth, set out his beliefs in an integrated pattern and we should not expect them to have done so. Theirs was essentially a religion of experience, rather than the 'notional'. The latter can, however, do much to impart an understanding of the former. 'Theology', as Professor Basil Willey reminds us, “is the notional formulation of what the experience seems to mean.” For the purpose of our own understanding an integrated pattern can do much to clarify the nature of Guru Nanak's belief and accordingly the intention of this section is to seek such a pattern.
The fact that Guru Nanak's thought is not set out systematically does not mean that it is inconsistent. On the contrary, one of the great merits of his thought is its very consistency. The accusation of inconsistency has been levelled against him,2 but we believe that the system outlined in the present chapter will constitute a rebuttal of the charge. One can gauge the importance of this aspect of Guru Nanak's works by comparing them with those of other bhagats. Kabir's thought, for all its striking qualities, is by no means as consistent doctrinally as that of Guru Nanak. In Nanak's case the consistency is there even if it is not at once apparent. There is certainly that doctrinal tension which is inevitable in a system upholding both the gracious activity of an absolute God and the necessary participation of man endowed with free will, but the person who seeks to extract the components of Guru Nanak's thought and to fashion with them a systematic theology does not have to decide between statements which are mutually incompatible. Nor indeed does he have to grapple with the degree of obscurity which is found in so much of Kabir's thought.
The comparison with Kablr is an instructive one at this point. Guru Nanak and Kablr both offer syntheses, and in each case the nature of the synthesis reflects the personality of its author. This is a point of critical importance as far as the subsequent effect of their thought is concerned. Kabir was above all a mystic and the pattern of his thought is determined by this quality. The result is both pro- fundity and obscurity. Kabir's works have commanded an immense popularity ever since they were first circulated, but the popularity has been accorded to thoughts in isolation, not to an integrated pattern of belief. It has been the pithy saying, the striking aphorism, which has brought Kabir his popularity. Those who claim direct allegiance to him, the Kabir-panthls, possess a system of belief, but it is one
iil Willey, Nineteenth Century Studies, Penguin edition, p. 104.
fe. Carpenter, Theism in Medieval India, pp. 477-8. J. N. Farquhar, An Outline of ficus Literature of India, p. 337. Nicol Macnicol, Indian Theism from the Vedic to atnmadan Period, pp. 146, 753. E. Trumpp, The Adi Granth, p. cv.
152THE TEACHINGS OF GURU NANAK
of the Kanphat or Nlth sect of yogis. The sect was divided into varioussub-sects, all claiming allegiance to the semi-legendary Gorakhnth and all following essentially the same hatha-yoga technique.1 Thirdly, there were the members of the Sufi orders, numerically far fewer than the adherents of orthodox Islam, but exercising a perceptible influence on the religious thought and practice of Hindus as well as Muslims.
Within each of these religious groupings there was a recognizable continuity, but none of them was completely insulated. All were to some extent influenced by one or more of the others and underwent corresponding modifications. In one significant case this reciprocal exchange issued not simply in the modification of an existing tradition, but in the emergence of a recognizable synthesis, a new pattern which in various respects strongly resembled other existing patterns but which in its wholeness corresponded to none of them. This was the Sant tradition of Northern India. The new movement was by no means the dominant religious tradition during this period, but it was certainly the most fertile and, as we have already observed, it is of fundamental importance as far as Guru Nanak's religious antecedents are concerned.
The Sant tradition was essentially a synthesis of the three principal dissenting movements, a compound of elements drawn mainly from Vaisnava bhakti and the hatha-yoga of the Nath yogis, with a marginal contribution from Sufism. For the Sants, as for the Vaisnava bhagats, the necessary religious response was love, and for this reason the movement has frequently been regarded as an aspect of Vaisnava bhakti.2 In several respects, however, the Sants disagreed with traditional bhakti and some of these differences were fundamental. Their love was offered not to an avatar, but direct to the supreme God Himself, and their expression of this love was through strictly inward meditation and devotion. It was, moreover, a method which involved suffering, or at least some appreciable difficulties. It was not the easy path of traditional bhakti.
In spite of these differences bhakti elements provided the principal \ contribution to the Sant synthesis, particularly during the earlier stages of its development. Traces of Nath influence are by no means absent during these earlier stages, but nor are they prominent and in some cases they may represent subsequent additions. It is not until the time of Kabir that Nath concepts assume a significant role. In the thought of Kabir such concepts'
' Gorakhnath must be accepted as an historical figure, but practically all that is related concerning him must be regarded as legend. His period is uncertain, but appears to have been between the ninth and twelfth century a.d. See G. W. Briggs, Gorakhnath and the Kdnphata Yogis, pp. 228 fF., 250; M. Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, p. 303; Rangey Raghava, Gorakhnath aur ttnka yug, pp. 29, 43. For a brief account of the Nath sect see the Glossary, p. 24.3. The members of the sect are variously referred to as K5 yogis, Kanpliaj ('split-ear') yogis, and Gorakhnathis.
1 The frequent use of Barn, as a name of God, and of other Vaisnava names and epithet! by the Sants lias obviously encouraged this misunderstanding.
153
THE TEACHINGS OF GUK.O NlNAK
are both prominent and integral, and it is accordingly at this point that we encounter the deyeloped synthesis. Nath influence emerges in muchor the basic terminology used by Kabir (and later by Guru Nanak), in a rejection of all exterior forms, ceremonies, caste distinctions, sacred languages, and scriptures, in a strong emphasis upon unity as opposed to 'duality', and in the concept of a mystical union which destroys this 'duality'. It is not without significance that the commonest of all terms used by both Kabir and Guru Nanak to express this experience of union is sahaj, a word which at once carries us back into Nath theory and beyond the Nath tradition into the earlier world of tantric Buddhism. The bhakti influence retains its primacy, | but the Nath content of Kabir's thought is alsoof fundamental importance.
The Sants were monotheists, but the God whom they addressed and with whom they sought union was in no sense to be understood inanthropo-morphic terms. His manifestation was through His immanence in His creation, and, in particular, through His indwelling within the human soul. It was there that He, by grace, revealed Himself, and man's proper response was a love expressed through meditation on the divine Name. External authorities and ceremonies were useless for this purpose and religious texts, idol worship, formal religious exercises, pilgrimage, and ritual bathing were all accordingly rejected. The inward way to God was open to all who were prepared to accept the difficulties and the discipline which it would involve, and so caste was rejected also. Great importance was attached to the guru, who might be a human teacher or who might be understood not as a person but as the inner voice of God. No value was accorded to celibacy or asceticism. Hindu and Muslim sectarian notions spurned, not because the two systems were regarded as basically true, but because both were regarded as radically wrong and ultimately futile.1
These beliefs the Sants expressed not in the traditional Sanskrit, but in a language which was closely related to that of the common people to whom they addressed their teachings. Within the tradition and amongst other sadhus there evolved a language which, with minor modifications, was used by Sants all over northern India. This language has been called Sadhukari. Its basis was Khan Boll, the dialect spoken around Delhi, i is were added elements drawn from Old Rajasthani, A[pabhramsa, Panjabi, and Persian.2 Most of the Sants were from low caste in such cases were generally poorly educated or completely illiterate. For this reason their compositions were usually oral utterances which came to be written down only after a period of circulation.
The first of the great Saats was Namdev (a.d. 1270-1350)' who lived in
A particularly clear summary of the characteristics of the Sant movement is given by Charlotte Vaudeville in her An Cabaret de I'Amour: Paroles de Kabir, pp. 7-9.devill, , Kabir Granthdvali (Doha), Introduction, pp. iv-v. Traces of Marathi is! evident in the works of Namdev and Trilochan.r, Vaisnavism, Saivism, and Minor Religious Systems, p. 92, disputed
154'THE TEACHINGS OF GURO
Maharashtra and whose name is closely linked with the Varkarl sect of Pandharpur. The Varkari sect was well within the bhakti tradition and its worship centred on the famous idol of Vitthal1 which was located in Pandlharpur. Elements of traditional Vaisnava bhakti are evident in Narndev's work, but his primary emphases are clearly in accord with Sant concepts. His influence extended into northern India as a. result of his Hindi works and possibly as a result also of an extended visit to the Panjab. Doubts have been expressed concerning the assumption that the author of the Hindi works is the same Namdev as the famous Marathl bhagat of Pandharpur, but recent comparisons of the Hindi andMarathi compositions have established it as at least a strong probability.2
The tradition of a Panjab visit must still be regarded as open to some doubt. According to this tradition Namdev spent twenty years in Ghuman, a village in the Batala tahsil of Gurdaspur District. In Ghuman itself thetradition is both strong and old, and there is certainly nothing irnprobable in a Sant wandering so far from home, but the complete absence of an reference in the older Marathi accounts of Namdev's life raises an objectionwhich cannot be overlooked. The tradition may still be regarded as possiblebut certainly not as established.
The second of the important Sants was Raidas, an outcaste leather-worker (chamar) of Banaras.3 Chronologically Raidas follows Kabir, but his work corresponds more closely to that of Namdev. It belongs to the earlier stage of the Sant movement, to the stage in which the links with Vaisnava bhakti are much more prominent and the evidence of influence from other sources much slighter. The Vaisnava concept of the divine avatar is rejected, and likewise all external ceremonies or aids to worship,4 but thenature of the devotion offered by these earlier Sants resembles the adorationof the bhagats rather than the deeply mystical experience of Kabir.5 There is also a stronger emphasis upon the immanence of God in external pheno- mena than in Kabir's works.6 In the latter the emphasis moves more to theinner revelation within the human soul.
these traditional dates, claiming that Namdev's works indicate a period one hundred years
later. Recent work by Marathi scholars favours the traditional dates. The question is fully discussed by BhagirathMisra and Rajnarayan Maurya, San* Namdev kiPadavaIi,pp.g-3t.
' A manifestation of Krisna.l
*Bhagirath Misra and Rajnarayan Maurya, op. cit. There are sixty-one of Namdev'i
Hindi verses in the Adi Granth. Slok 241 of the Kabir sloks (AG, p. 1377) may be 1
Namdev.i
3In the Adi Granth he is called Ravidas, and in it there are thirty-nine of his sabadtA
The number is generally given as forty, but Sorathi 4, AG, p. 658, and Man 2, AG\
p. iio>, are the same composition. Slok 242 of the Kabir sloks (AG, p. 1377) may also b«J
by Ravidas.4 Cf. Ravidas, DhanSsari 3, AG, p. 694,
*Namdev: Gend 3, AG, p. 873; Bhairau 7, AG, p. 1164; Sarang 3, AG, pp. izsz-j
Ra-vidas: Soratfii^, AG, pp. 658-9; Gujari i, AG, p. 525.
4Naradev: Tilatig z,AG, p. 727; Gon<j.2, AG, p. 873; Malar i, AG, p. izo.z. Ravidiil
Sin Ragu i, AG, p. 93; Malar 2, AG, p. 1293.
THE TEACHINGS OF G URC NANAK155
Little is known about Raidas's life and all that we can accept is contained in the occasional references which he makes in his works. In several verses, he refers to his low caste status as a chamSr,1and in one to his work as acobbler.1Elsewhere he describes how the members of his caste carry away the cattle carcases from Banaras.3 The tradition that he was a disciple of Ramanand must be rejected. The traditional-link between Ramanand and is barely birely plausible on chronological grounds, and it is evident that Raidas was younger than Kabir. This is the conclusion which is indicated by the references which he makes to Kabir4 and it places him. beyond the time of Ramanand. Moreover, there is no hint of such a relationship in any of his works.
Raidas makes the characteristic Sant emphases, with an evident stress on the irrelevancy of caste in all that concerns a man's salvation. An even stronger emphasis, and one which is peculiarly his own, is a recurring note of humility and confession. Raidas is a particularly attractive figure and one who has yet to receive the attention he deserves.
With Kabir the Sant tradition moves into a more complicated phase. As in the case of Raidas little is known concerning his life, although a con-quantity of legend has gathered around him.5 The traditional date of his death, a.d. 1518, appears to be at least a definite likelihood, but his traditional date of birth, a.d. 1398, must be regarded as highly im-probable. No definite year can be given to replace it, but a date in the vicinity of 1440 would appear to be reasonable.6 Kabir's life was spent in Banaras and his death probably took place in the village of Magahar, •seven miles south-east of Basti. His caste was that of julaha and it ceems clear from his works that he followed, in a somewhat erratic manner, his caste's hereditary occupation of weaving. Recent research has established a Nath background as a strong probability. It now seems clear that