Gems of Gurbani

Guru Granth Sahib  - 20

The glory of Japuji Sahib ;

In Guru Nanak’s time the practice of religion was to visit temples and undertake pilgrimages to pay obeisance and register your visits at these holy places, follow acts of mercy, charity to under privileged, undertake penance and austerities, take holy dips on auspicious days for merit in heaven and also inauspicious days to guard from evil. Then there were Naths and Jogis, sarwaryias (grave worshippers) who had sway over people’s psyche. For Guru Nanak both these paths were not acceptable as they didn’t lead to a union with God instead commerce was traded in the name of God. God has His own discipline, His own Will (Hukam). The Hindu belief in trinity of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer in Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva is not real and has no basis because they are creation of human imagination. God is Himself Brahma, Vishnu, Sihva, Parvati and Lakshmi and he performs all the functions of creation, preservation and destruction. He is all alone and all in all and there is no separate entity. Similarly he denies the role of Naths and Jogis who try to create miracles, take vow of silence, go in to trance and play scores of tricks to  show that they have established contact with the Almighty and can take devotee to His presence. Then there are Yogis who claim to overpower their senses and extend their life spans are all in vain and empty show because the strings of affairs of this world, His own creation are only in His hands. Guru Nanak names the Almighty with Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Parvati, Lakshmi, Siddh, Buddh, nath and other myriads of Names to illustrate the functions performed by Him that are otherwise assigned to these sub Gods. He is the only Supreme Being, All pervading, Immanent, Bountiful.

To continue……