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Re: ARTICLE : Sikh view of Hinduism
Vaaheguroo ji Ka Khalsa, Vaehguroo ji ki Fateh.
My apologies for replying so late. I have been trying to find some
time to respond and I finally have it now.
Sankar Jayanarayanan (kartik@Eng.Auburn.EDU) wrote on Fri, 20 Sep 1996 02:08:39 GMT:
>Thanks for the very informative post. Perhaps the differences are too subtle
>to be clearly noticed. e.g, the Buddhists too use the word maya, but the
>meaning they assign to it is different from the advaitic one. To both, the word
>denotes delusion, but the Buddhists believe that maya causes the delusion
>that there is something called the "self," while the advaitins believe that it
>robs one of self-knowledge! Though the difference seems clear-cut, one might
>read dozens of books on Buddhism without recognizing this simple fact.
You are very right, Kartik. This is a real problem and
not one easily solved. Part of the problem is that most humans
unconsciously end up fitting new information to old patterns,
in case there are similarities, and the labels of concepts are
very big misleading factors. Repetition of this occurrence
only adds to the problems. In addition, the tendency of Brahminical
mainstream of what we call Hinduism to co-opt philosophies into
its own fold may completely surround our perceptions and leave
little possibility of discerning the actual point. An example is
the doctrine of Ahinsa in Buddhism.
[about scholars being in Guru Gobind Singh sahib;s court etc]
>That's amazing!
Yes, I too find it incredibly great and very inspiring. Personally
I think of guru Gobind Singh ji as the greatest leader who arose
in the South Asia region. He did everything imaginable that a
complete man can be thought of doing -- scholarly works,
philosophical writings and exegesis, Revelation, political
and military campaigns, sacrifice, resilient comebacks, unwavering
principled behavior and so on.
>But the philosophy must have remained in the minds of the philosophers?
>Wasn't there any more philosophical writing among the Sikhs?
There were. The Dasam Granth contains whatever could be collected
afterwards, and philosophical writing among the Sikhs continues
to this day, mostly in Punjabi. But it does not have the status
as that of the sanctioned works of Bhai Gurdas ji and bhai Nand
Lal Singh ji Goya.
>> There are no faiths
>> superior to others, since all faith is in one and the same God, known by
>> various names to various peoples.
>That's being very tolerant!
It is the one of the core doctrines of Sikhism.
>Actually, I was very surprised to read the part about Krishna coaxing
>Arjuna into battle, for didn't the Sikh Gurus too fight and win many wars
>against the Mughals?
Well, if you liek we can discuss the full context of both the cases
and perhaps then see if there are any similarities and differences.
>> Right from Guru Nanak onwards, the verdict has
>> been consistent: what is born and material is mortal and destructible,
>> whilst the Truth is Unborn and Timeless.
>But Vedanta says more or less the same thing! But again, there may
>be differences that aren't very obvious.
Actually, Vedanta has much more in addition to a tenet apparently
similar to the above. More importantly, however, tehre are critical
differences as to the elaboration of the idea. For example,
in Sikhism, there is no concept of animal sacrifice, whilst the
Rg Veda opens with the horse-sacrifice-ritual verse. The Gestalt of
Sikhism is little like Vedanta and it is not very useful to
conclude from occasional similarities of concept or semantics.
>Any direct translations into english of Kabir ji's works available?
I am sure there are -- Kabir has been extensively studied by
English-language workers. Guru Granth Sahib has been fully
translated into English, and I am sure the works of Bhagat Kabir ji
which are not included in Guru Granth Sahib have been available in
English. Contact the local/nearest Gurduara sahib for access to
translation of Guru Granth Sahib. It is available from Nahal Co. of
San Jose whose catalog you can see online at
http://roscoe.bu.edu/~rajwi/sikhism/nahal/nahal.html
They provide cheap books on Sikhism and Punjabi. Disclaimer: I host
their catalog as a public service and am not their rep. My relation
to them have been of a customer and AFAIK they lose money in this
service. Ph (408) 972-2476 Fax (408) 224-8496 Good luck.
>> very well, particularly Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. His masterpiece,
>> "Prasharaprashna" in fact deals with the very topic at hand.
>Is that an English book, and if not, is there a translation to English?
Yes, it is in English. Most of his works are in English. It is
available from nahal for about $11.00 BTW "Prasharprashna" means
"The Questions of Mr. Prashar" and Mr. Prashar was a friend fo the
author. While you get hold of this book, get Sirdar Kapur Singh's
other masterpeices "Guru Nanak and His Times" and "Guru Arjan and
His Sukhmani" too -- you will like them.
Regards
rajwinder singh
