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Discuss the role of bhakti Saints in medieval Deccan with reference to Sri Guru
Granth sahib Darpan.

“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 before, in the days of increasing communication between all parts of the world and
branches of the human race -Arnold Toynbee.
Arnold Toynbee’s observation is not far from truth when he observes, ‘The Adi Granth is remarkable for several
reasons. Of all known religious Scriptures, the book is most highly venerated. It means more to the
Sikhs than even the Quran means to Muslims, the Bible to the Christians, The Torah to the Jews. The Adi Granth 1is
the Sikh’s perpetual guru(spiritual guide).

As stated by K. Ishwaran, ‘the Bhakti movement has a hoary tradition in South India, and in the Tamil linguistic
region it emerged as far back as the sixth century, and continued for the next Three and half centuries’ 2.
Bhakti movement in Medieval India is responsible for the many rites and rituals associated with the worship of God
by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs of Indian subcontinent. For example, Kirtan at a Hindu Temple, Qawalli at a Dargah
(by Muslims), and singing of Gurbani at a Gurdwara are all derived from the Bhakti movement of medieval India
(800-1700).
“The word bhakti is derived from Bhakta meaning to serve, honor, revere, love and adore. In the religious idiom,
it is attachment or fervent devotion to God and is defined as “that particular affection which is generated by the
knowledge of the attributes of the Adorable One.” The concept is traceable to the Vedas where its intimations are
audible in the hymns addressed to deities such as Varuna, Savitra and Usha. However, the word bhakti does not

1
Singh Trilochan el. At. (Trans.) Selections from the Sacred Writings of the Sikhs, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.,
1965), Foreword, p. 9)

2
K. Ishwaran,‘Bhakti Tradition and Modernization: The Case of Lingayatism’, In Jayant Lele, Tradition and Modernity in Bhakti Movements,
New York, Brill Archive, 1981, P. 74
occur there. The word occurs for the first time in the Upanishads where it appears with the co-doctrines of grace and
self surrender.” 3
It originated as a reaction against caste division, untouchability and ritualism in India. Devotion was the pivotal
point in the Bhakti cult in uniting human soul with god. The basic concepts of the Bhakti cult though present in the
Vedas, the Gita and Vishnupuran were not practiced by the masses until the appearances of Vaishnava Alwar and
Shaiva Nayanar saints of South India in the seventh and twelfth centuries.
The Bhakti saints and followers did not adhere to any religion, their customs or shastric orders. They believed in
the worship of one God through devotion for salvation. A true guru is needed to realize God, to attain salvation. Rama
and Krishna both were regarded as an incarnation on earth.The Bhakti saints considered that all men were equal and
denounced image worship, caste and class distinction. Blind faiths, some religious practices and useless ceremonies
were severely attacked by them.
The Bhakti saints thus attempted to reform the Brahmanical caste and class divided society by adopting the
Islamic concept of one God. Some scholars have advocated that the Bhakti cult owed its principal beliefs to Islam.
Rekha Pande while explaining the regional expressions of Bhakti movement in Deccan and Maharashtra
emphasized the influence of Islam in the emergence of Bhakti movement.4 The argument raised by Pande, critiqued
the process evolution of Bhakti movement in Northern India, where Banaras, Mathura and later Punjab became
essential coterie areas of Bhakti movement and culminated in the rise of altogether a different religion called
‘Sikhism’ which is best example of assimilative traits of Hinduism and Islam. However it is rejected by some
scholars who traced its origin in the Vedas.
Followers of Bhakti movement in twelfth and thirteenth Century included the saints such as Bhagat Namdev, and
Saint Kabir das who insisted on the devotional singing of praises of lord through their own compositions. Since
Bhakti movement was started before Guru Nanak, many historians have implied that Sikhism as started by Guru
Nanak was nothing more then a Bhakti movement of Punjab. This is totally wrong and is against the basic Sikh virtues
of equality of humans and worship of one God. There is no doubt that Sikh Gurus adopted the singing of devotional
songs in praise of lord from Bhakti but there is a huge difference between Bhakti, Sufism and Sikhism.

Although Sufi and Bhakti saints are revered and recognized by Guru Granth Sahib but they do not form the
main basis of Sikhism. Sikhism lay emphasis on equality of Male and Female, good work ethic and as well as leading
a good virtuous married life, which is Maya according to many Bhakti and sufi saints. Thus although Sikhs revere
saints such as Bhagat Namdev, Bhagat Kabir and Sheikh Farid, but the ultimate Guru (or teacher) of a Sikh is
Guru Granth Sahib which include about 10% of the verses of these Saints.5
As a famous Sikh author says “Sikhism undoubtedly accepted some of the aspects of radicalized bhakti, and
admitted some of its practices into its own ordained set. It did lay down spiritual love as the way to the deity, but
the deity to be worshipped was neither Shiva nor Vishnu nor even any of their incarnations, nor any of the gods
or goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. It was the One and the Only God, the Lord of Universes who was at once
transcendent (nirguna) and immanent (saguna).6 Renunciation of the world as a spiritual pursuit thus stood totally

3
Singh,Harbans.The heritage of the Sikhs, London and New York:Asia Publishing House 1964

4
Pande, Rekha, ‘The Bhakti Movement-A Historiographical Critique’, Journal of Historical Research, Vol. X, 2000, Pp. 49-60
5
Singh Daljeet:The radical Bhagats.

6
Singh Daljeet and Singh Kharak .Sikhism, its philosophy and History.
rejected. Celebacy was no longer countenanced, either. Full participation in life in a spirit of ‘detachment’ was
prescribed instead. “Of all the religious rules and observances grihasthya (the homestead) is supreme. It is from
here that all else is blessed”. Guru is paramount in bhakti as well as in Sikhism .”7

Impact of the Bhakti Movement on the Medieval Indian Society:

To understand the impact of the Bhakti movement, we have to consider the background under which the movement
gained momentum. Under the impact of the Muslim rule, the Hindus had suffered a lot materially, morally and
spiritually. The Muslim rulers in general wanted to enforce the Islamic laws on the Hindus. The Muslim rule had put
dread in the hearts of the Hindu masses.They wanted some solace to heal their despairing hearts. The Bhakti movement
brought them hope and support and inner strength to save themselves. During the course of time, several evil practices
had crept into the Hindu society. There was a lot of caste and class distinction. Several divisions had occurred. There
was a good deal of bitter men between the two communities i.e. the Hindus and Muslims. Some healing touch was
needed.
Fortunately with the foreign invaders, some Sufi Muslim saints had also come to India and settled here. They were
very liberal minded. They emphasized the virtues of love and devotion, brotherhood and equality etc. This helped to
bring the two communities nearer. It also helped to harmonize the conflicting interests. The saints of the Bhakti
movement rejected the difference of caste and jati.
An important factor which led to the popularity of Bhakti movement was that most of the promoters of this
movement attempted to reconcile the differences between the Hindus and the Muslims by stressing that Rama
and Rahim were one and the same. They condemned the hatred of the fanatic Pandits and Mullas alike. The Hindus
realised that it was difficult to drive away the Muslim rulers and Muslims from India. On the other hand the Muslims
also appreciated that the Hindus were in absolute majority and it was impossible to force all of them to embrace Islam.
So under the impact of the new movement both sides started making efforts for coming closer to each other.For
the Hindus the effort was initiated by the Hindu saints of the Bhakti movement and for the Muslims by the Sufi
Saints.The Hindu and as well as the Muslim saints emphasized religious simplicity. They stressed human qualities and
moral attitudes. They stressed that a true religious man is one who is pure in thought and action.The Bhakti saints
believed in equality of man and man.
According to them there was no distinction and consideration of high and low on the basis of birth. Their doors were
open to all classes. The Bhakti saints tried to generate an environment of good will between the Hindus and the
Muslims.The Bhakti saints were social reformers also. They condemned several social evils.The Sufi Saints like
Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, Bakhtiyar Kaki, Nizamudin Aulia and Nasiruddin Chirag-i-Delhi etc. attempted to
restrain the fanaticism of the Muslims and tried to bring them nearer to the Hindus. Several Hindus became followers
of the Sufi saints but without relinquishing their own religion.8

Social impact:
The most important social impact of the Bhakti movement was that the followers of the Bhakti movement rejected the
caste distinction. They began to mix together on the basis of equality. They took their meals together from the common
kitchen. The movement tried to loosen the bond of caste.A spirit of harmony among different sections of society and

7
(Guru Granth Sahib, 587) translated by Singh Gopal ,1960.
8
www.academia.edu.in
religion received impetus.The evil practice of ‘Sati’ received some set back.The status of women received more
importance.

Religious impact:
The movement aroused awakening among the Hindus and Muslims regarding the futility of ritualism and superstitions.
The feeling of appreciation of the difference between the thought and practices of the two religions emerged. The
movement encouraged religious toleration. Guru Granth Saheb the holiest book of the Sikhs which was complied
later on included the messages of saints belonging to different sects. This was on account of the spirit of toleration
preached by the Bhakti saints. Promotion of regional languages of the common people: In place of Sanskrit, Arabic and
Persian, the Bhakti saints preached through the medium of local languages which could be understood very easily. For
instance the language of Kabir was a mixture of several languages of every day use. Surdas used ‘Brij’ dialect.
Goswami Tulsi Das composed his works in ‘Awadhi’.

Political influence:
Some of the rulers adopted liberal religious policies under the impact of the Bhakti movement.

Moral influence:
The movement attempted to infuse a spirit of piety in the daily life of the people. It emphasized earning of wealth
through hard work and honest means. It encouraged the value of social service to the poor and the needy. It developed
a humanitarian attitude. It pointed out the virtues of contentment and self control. It drew attention to the evils of
anger, greed and vanity.

Historical Context of Bhakti Traditions and Guru Granth sahib

Although some scholars take pleasure in stating that the Bhakti movement stands to represent the pan-Indian culture,
the fact remains that the regional cultures of India came into existence through articulating their specific religious
experiences in their own languages and cultural paradigms, that is, out of the pale of the domination of the Sanskrit
culture. This was the first phase of Bhakti culture.
The second stage in the history of Bhakti movements starts when the devotional culture began to get
institutionalized. Institutionalization of Bhakti is complex and multidirectional. K.Kailasapathy, a Srilankan Tamil
scholar in his work titled “The Feet and the Crown” (Adiyum Mudiyum) has studied the process of
institutionalization of Bhakti movement in the Tamil context.9
Epistemologically, the spontaneous and emotional setting of the devotional feelings was put back and the atmosphere
of Bhakti was taken hold by the philosophizing tendencies. In the case of Vaishnavism, the Visitadvaita philosophy
of Ramanuja and in the case of Saivism, the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy represented the mentioned process. The
temple culture with its very complex rituals and temple economy marked the second symptom of the
institutionalization. Political patronization soon added itself to this process.
The third important mark of the feudalization of Bhakti culture was the spread and consolidation of caste system
within the Bhakti culture. If the early Bhakti spontaneously repudiated the caste order and stood for formation of
coherent religious communities, now it had reestablished the caste into its fold. And finally, the institutionalization of

9
K. Kailasapathy. The Feet and the Crown. (In Tamil) Tamil Puththakalayam. Chennai.
Bhakti movement was marked by the processes of Sanskritization and Vedantization. 10This completes the
annihilation of all democratic potentials of the Bhakti movement and makes it a thorough feudal ideology.
The third phase in the course of development of Bhakti ideology is denoted by the intrusion of the Siddhas, the Sufis
and the Sants. It was a period of reaction to the feudalized Bhakti ideology. The Siddhas were mostly of Saivite fold
because the dominant ideology of Indian medieval age was Vaishnavite. The Siddhas vehemently opposed the
Brahmanic moments of Bhakti culture. They criticized the externalism, rituals, the temple culture and casteism that
came to be associated with the Bhakti system.
The Sufis too originated within the fold of Islam when the Islamic ruling classes took hold of the religion and
made it their political tool. The Sufis criticized the economic luxury and political arrogance of the Islamic rulers. They
too stood for an internalized religiosity.
In the last or fourth phase of the evolution of Bhakti traditions one finds the Sikh religiosity represented by
Guru Granth Sahib consummating and assimilating the entire course of the Bhakti traditions. Guru Granth
Sahib represents a very unique phenomenon in Indian history, and contains in itself the complexities of the
Bhakti movement and its historical experiences.

The Guru-Granth was compiled by the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjun, in 1604 A.D. He already had before him the hymns of
his four predecessors collected and put to writing by the second and the third Sikh Gurus. The latter had even added
some of the popular sayings of the Hindu Bhakts and Muslim Sufis as well, assembled in two volumes, the
manuscripts lay with Baba Mohan, son of Guru Arjun, the third Sikh Guru. From him, Guru Arjun procured these after
some hard persuasion, as the holy Granth itself testifies.

Some writings of the Gurus were collected from other sources as well, and the whole was put to writing, after a good
deal of judicious pruning to separate the apocryphal writings, by Bhai Gurdas, a disciple of the Gurus, under the direct
supervision of Guru Arjun himself. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and the last Sikh Guru, added some of the
sayings of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, to the volume (and possibly one couplet of his own).
This then is the only scripture of the world which was compiled by one of the founders of a religion himself and
whose authenticity has never been questioned.

The Granth 11contains, besides the writings of the Sikh Gurus, compositions of almost all the medieval Hindu
Bhaktas, like Kabir, Ramanand, Ravidas, Surdas, Sain and Bhikhan from the U.P, ; Jaidev from Bengal ; Namdev,
Trilochan and Parmanand from Maharashtra ; Pipa and Dhanna from Rajasthan and Beni,then popular all over North
India. The writings of five Muslims— Baba Farid, Bhikhan, Satta, Balwand and Mardana are also incorporated in
the Granth. Baba Farid, Ganj-i-Shakar, it may be noted, was a great Muslim divine of the thirteenth century A.D.
who did much to spread the gospel of Islam in India.

No other religion has perhaps shown this catholicity of outlook in bringing together views of such diverse hues and
even when they are diametrically opposed to the tenets of the faith of whose scripture they now form an integral
part. This whole book, now worshipped by the Sikhs the world over as the “living embodiment of the Gurus”, as
enjoined by Guru Gobind Singh, is the Scripture of the Sikhs, and the expungement of any portion thereof is
considered sacrilegious.
10
Janardan Chakravarti. Bengal Vaishnavism and Sri Chaitanya. The Asiatic Society, 1975. P.10
11
https://nmuthumohan.wordpress.com
It may be remarked here in passing that the Bhaktas, whose works were included in the Guru-Granth, belonged,
more often than not, to the lower classes of society. Kabir, for instance, was a weaver ; Namdev, a calico-printer ;
Dhanna, a cultivator ; Sadna, a butcher ; Ravidas, a shoemaker ; Sain, a barber ; though Pipa was a king and
Trilochan, a Brahmin. But the emphasis in the Granth is on the lowest becoming the highest and caste being of
no consequence in the realisation of the Supreme Truth.
Kabir was influenced by Nathpanthi traditions with regard to his emphasis on the practice of living off alms. Guru
Nanak asserts that the true way of spiritual life requires that one should live on what one has laboured to receive
through honest means and that one should share with others the fruit of one’s exertion. Thus there is no place for
mendicity in the Sikh view of life. This is the most significant stance that sets Guru Nanak and his successors
apart from the Sants of North India.
Finally, the theme of the love of the Divine and the anguish of separation (biraha) pervades the compositions of
Kabir in the Adi Granth.
Vaudeville writes: ‘In Kabir’s poetry and in the Sant tradition generally, the notion of ( biraha), a tormenting desire
of the soul for the absent Beloved, bears a resemblance to the Sufi notion of ishq. Kabir describes the painful longing
of the soul who has not yet obtained the beatific vision of the divine Beloved as follows:
Once the snake of biraha is in the body, no mantra can control it. He who is separated from Ram will not survive. But
if he does, he will go mad. 12

Chokhamela 13was a fourteenth-century Untouchable saint-poet of Western India. He belonged to a community of

devotees called the Varkaris . Chokhamela, wrote poetry at all is a matter of astonishment Amongst; his
Contemporaries are the important figures of Dnyaneshwar, the late Thirteenth-century revolutionary Brahmin
philosopher and saint-poet with whom the Varkari tradition really begins, and Namdev, the Lower-caste rebel saint
and poet, a tailor by profession, under whose Wide and generous understanding of spirituality blossomed many
Saint-poets largely drawn from the lower and marginalized ranks of Society.

Presumably Chokha’s spiritual leanings were given direction by Namdev: Chokha acknowledges him as his gum
in many of his poems. He seems to have been instrumental in recognizing Chokha’s devotion And getting him as far as
the great doors of the temple at Pandharpur.
One of the many sources on the life of Ravidas is the Raidas Parcai composed around 1588 CE by Anantadas’s14
work exists only in manuscript form but its contents are widely used as in the articles by Schaller and Lochtefeld.
Callewaert and Friedlander call him a sant who Traced his guru tradition back to Ramanand, a Bhakta from
south India, who also figures in the legends about Kabir and Ravidas.

Tukaram was born into a merchant family of modest wealth and social Importance. It is certain that Tukaram, having
been raised in a family of traders and grocers adapt at keeping written accounts, would have acquired basic literacy in
Marathi at an early age. But as a non-Brahmin with no direct access to Sanskrit scripture, he would also have been cut
off from the entire corpus of textually validated norms and traditions that Brahmins jealously guarded. It follows, then,
that Tukaram’s writings about religion in vernacular Marathi Transgressed the established socio-religious norms of

12
Kabir, Salok 76, AG, p. 1368)
13
Zelliot Eleanor,punekar rohini,untouchable saints :An Indian phenomenon
14
Zelliot Eleanor,punekar rohini,untouchable saints :An Indian phenomenon.
his day. Namdev’s side in the dream and asked him to write in verse, stood Vithoba himself, who Tukaram writes,
“gave the measure, did some teasing, and warned me witha gentle slap, that the number to be done [by Namdev] was
one billion, the remainder is given to Tuka.”15

Jnanadev himself the son of an outcaste Brahmin, is said to have once caused a buffalo to recite the Vedas, mocking
the notion that only Brahmins had access to scripture.
The sixteenth-century Poet-saint Eknath though himself a Brahmin, was harshly criticized in his native Paithan, a
bastion of Brahmanic orthodoxy, for teaching the Bhagavata Purana in vernacular Marathi. and he flagrantly
transgressed the norms of socio-ritual propriety by dining at the home of an Untouchable, and worse, by inviting
Untouchables to a feast for Brahmins.

Guru Granth Sahib- A Grand Return to the Roots of Bhakti

The Sikh Gurus did not engage themselves in constructing a system of philosophy. Nietzshe, who vehemently
criticizes the system-builders in the history of philosophy, indicates how the system-builders become dishonest to their
initial quest to find the presupposition-less truth. It has to be noted that at all moments of crisis of cultures, the greatest
men/women of thought returned to the roots of existence. It happened again during the end of European medieval
period. The natural philosophers appeared and addressed the un-assumed facts of life by pure naked observation.
The place of Guru Granth Sahib could be appropriately understood if we locate the Sikh scripture at the end of a
social crisis and Guru Granth Sahib massively addresses the roots of human existence within the religious
paradigm. The structure and composition of Guru Granth Sahib evidence this fact. It has been installed at the
Harmandir Sahib truly depicts the impulsive devotional spirit of the authors of the hymns. Guru Granth Sahib is
above all the recited text, the Gurbani, the Shabad, organized in the order of the 31 raagaas.
Guru Granth Sahib consciously avoids the narrative mode that was very popular in the north Indian
Vaishnavite tradition. It prefers the most spontaneous that is the emotional. The most spontaneous is reached
because it is the truest. It is not mere coincidence that the Gurus repeatedly and fundamentally address the theme
of Sat, Sachcha or Truth in Guru Granth Sahib. The emotional mode of appraising God in Guru Granth Sahib
stands against the other known modes of reaching God or the ultimate reality. Guru Arjun says,
Abandoning all the devices and endeavors, I have sought the Guru’s sanctuary. 16
The Guru enumerates the “devices and endeavors” of the world. They are dhyan, gyan, yoga, tapas, mouna, sanyas,
udas, bhakti, punditry, tirth-yatra, etc 17 that are denounced by the Guru to prefer the emotional-devotional path
of Guru Granth Sahib. Love of God in the mode of Guru Granth Sahib is many times higher than the personal
emancipation or mukti.
A.Srinivasa Raghavan, 18a Tamil scholar of Bhakti poetry indicates, “A bhakta’s passion leaves the earth to lose
itself in the sky, it is true, but it starts from here and expresses itself only through the language of the earth”. He
continues to quote from Aurobindo,” The touch of earth is always invigorating to the son of Earth, even when
he seeks a supra physical knowledge.
It may even be said that the supra-physical can only be really mastered in its fullness- to its heights we can always
reach- when we keep our feet firmly on the physical”. Guru Granth Sahib is aimed at the supra-sensual reality,
15
Richard .M.Eaton,A Social History Of The Deccan, 1300-1761: Eight Indian Lives (The New Cambridge History Of India).
16
(Guru Granth Sahib, 71)translated by Singh Gopal ,1960.
17
(Guru Granth Sahib, 51).
18
A. Srinivas Raghavan. Nammalvar. Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1974. P.11
however, it is deeply rooted in the earth. The natural world, the climatic changes, the physical feelings of pain and
pleasure, the hours of night, the months, the moods of birds, even the states of smaller creatures such as fish-every
natural thing and happening become the symbol to express the supreme passion of the devotee for God.
Thou art the Tree
All that is, is Thy flourishing branches.
Thou the ocean, foam and bubbles-
All that is visible, is Thyself. 19
The devotional poetry of Guru Granth Sahib makes the world, the entire creation to speak out the agony of
separation of devotee from God. The musical mode of depiction of human feelings of God is the aptest way of
expression Guru Granth Sahib proposes. The emotional mode mobilizes all the energy of the devotees whereas the
musical form mosaics them into a coherent one.
The ragas of Gurbani are the Shabad that blends the emotional and earthly, and infuses harmony into them.
The Shabad as ragas cultivates the spontaneity of temporal life and shows a way out of the chaos, introduces
possible ways of ordering it. God is the greatest inspiration of this coherence and order.

Now we come closer to determining the uniqueness of the Sikh Scripture. Guru Granth Sahib is not mere
returning to the emotional or even to the devotional.

In the earlier depiction of the historical phases of the Bhakti movement during the medieval period. Guru Granth
Sahib returns to the devotional at a higher level taking into account the experiences of the Bhakti traditions in
other parts of the country and the history of the evolution of the Bhakti. It is conscious of the institutionalization
of Bhakti. The very valuable criticism of the Siddhas, the Sufis and the Sant poets addressed to the Bhakti is
taken into assimilation by the Sikh Gurus. In other words, the ethical concern of the interfering mystics is
organically included into the Guru Granth Sahib. It becomes the realm of the dialectics of the devotional and
the ethical. If we go by the dialogue between the Guru and the Siddhas in Guru Granth Sahib, the Guru is highly
regardful of the Siddhas, however scared of the enlightened egotism of them. The Guru appreciates the inner purity
of the Siddhas, but the Guru understands that the latter are away from the ordinary masses and the problems of the
people. The Guru wants to travel the midway. The Guru wants to strike the dialectics of the devotional and the
ethical. Similarly, the Gurus sympathize with the Sufis, but want to go beyond their world negation and delicate
mysticism.
Finally the Gurus share the universal religiosity of the Sants, but not satisfied with their action-less
preaching and abstractionism. Many themes suggested by the Siddhas, the Sufis and the Sants are getting fresh
impetus in Guru Granth Sahib. Themes of inner purity, priority of spirituality to ritualism, transience of world, its
luxuries and power-oriented-ness, truth and true behavior, invoking death as a reference point to understand
truth, call to “die while you live” etc are elaborately displayed in Guru Granth Sahib.
Devotional spirit is synthesized with maanasa jnana or knowledge of mind. That is, the mukti Jnana for
emancipating the individual soul is pushed backwards and purity of mind while living is sought and the later is
organically added up to the devotional spirit. Themes that were worked out within the ethical paradigms are
transformed into the devotional paradigm.

19
(Guru Granth Sahib, 31) translated by Singh Gopal ,1960.
 Guru Granth Sahib as a devotional scripture becomes distinguished from the early forms of devotional
literature and assumes a modified form. Even it is dissimilar from the near contemporary Bengal
Vaishnavite literature. Guru Granth Sahib is not mere celebration of God and his beauty and lilas.
The mythological and ritualistic aspects of devotionalism are thoroughly scanned out of Guru Granth Sahib. The
moment of celebration is organically permeated by the theme of separation and feelings of suffering. Suffering is
brought out of the paradigm of bridal mysticism and made into a general phenomenon of temporal living.
However, the latter is not allowed to transgress its limits and turn into the ascetic mode.
Through the interaction of the ethical with the devotional, the devotional is intensified and the ethical is
persuaded to become massive and practical. The dialectics of the ethical and the devotional intensifies the
social sensitivity of the Sikhs. They are the existing religious, cultural and social modes that become the barriers
to the making of a civilized life in Indian history.
Guru Granth Sahib identifies them as the Quadis who speak falsehood and filth, the Brahmins who are
guilty of much cruelty and the yogis who are blind and misguide- all three bringing harm to the people 20.
Guru Granth Sahib equally condemns the political beauracratic elite that exploits the people. Thirdly Guru
Granth Sahib notifies the caste system that demoralized and de-energized our people. Thus the religious,
political and the social patterns that dehumanized our society find uncompromising criticism in Guru Granth
Sahib.
The greatest of all sufferings is separation from God
Another is the suffering of hunger and poverty;
Next is the suffering from the tyrant aggressor. 21
No other religious scripture in Indian history has touched this unique program. Guru Granth Sahib did.
Guru Granth Sahib and Thirukural although chronologically separated by around 1500 years, are united by a
common thread and share the general ideological trend that they give priority to ethical and practical living. The
ethics of Thirukural is priorto the advent of devotional movement led by Saivism and Vaishnavism, whereas the
ethics of Guru Granth Sahib hails after the devotional traditions that engulfed north India. One is pre-bhakti (pre-
devotional) and another is post-bhakti (post devotional).One is pre-medieval and another is post-
medieval.Thirukural22 sets itself committed to ethical without yet having the Experience of devotional in Tamil
context but Guru Granth Sahib proposes the ethical after intensively undergoing the experiences of devotionalism
In this part of the country.
Another interesting aspect that brings Guru Granth Sahib and Thirukural closer is the philosophical plane of
meeri-piri or unity of Spiritual and temporal that forms the basis of both the scriptures.
Along with rejecting the extremes they advocate a negotiating practical philosophy, enter into a philosophical Realm
that is flexible, fluid and even non-conceptual. The ethical is not an addition or implication to the standpoints of Guru
Granth Sahib and Thirukural, but it makes the basic philosophical position of the two Scriptures. It is from the
ethical standpoint Guru Granth Sahib and Thirukural evaluate the transcendental, the world and the place of humans in
life.
In the case of Thirukural it is above all the realm of ethics and in The case of Guru Granth Sahib it is the realm of
ethics, aesthetics and Social justice.

20
(Guru Granth Sahib, 662).
21
(Guru Granth Sahib, 1256).
22
Singh,Darshan:Guru Granth sahib among the scriptures of the world.pp 239
Guru Granth Sahib and Divyaprabhandam as devotional texts are significant to the Sikhs and the Tamils for they
denounce the concept of Maya proposed by the dry intellectual philosophy of Vedanta. Guru Granth Sahib and
Divyaprabhandam propose an alternative path of Reaching the divine that is emotional, passionate, earthly and
personal.
God is reachable to the devotees exclusively by their to~allove and
Submission to God. Guru Granth Sahib declares:
Air, water, earth and sky-all are the Lord’s abode. Himself in all
These He operates. What I may call unreal?23

The outcome of the Saivite24exercise is close to the standpoint of meeri-piri of Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh
scripture. Both the schools of thought denounce the Vedantic Concept of evaluating the temporal life as Maya and
meaningless. May Be, the ways of coming to this common stand are different.

Guru Granth Sahib uses the logic, God is true, His actions are true, One of His actions is the creation of the world,
consequently the world Is true:
Thou art all-holy25
All-holy is Thy Creation
He created night and day, seasons and occasions.
So also air, water, fire and the nether regions;
Amidst these has He fixed the earth,
The place for righteous action

The Saivite Thirumurais follow a different way to reach almost the same point of view. Saiva Siddhanta recognizes
three fundamental realities namely, God (Pati), Individual Selves (Pasu) and Bondage (Paasam). Siddhanta holds the
view that all the three are uncreated (Anaathi). In this way Saiva Siddhanta claims that it is a theistic and realistic
system. Rendering uncreated status quo bondage is a rare position in Indian philosophy and it may be unique feature of
Saiva Siddhanta.

To conclude, The study of Guru Granth Sahib in the context of the long course of Bhakti traditions in India invokes
a large set of problems that demands fundamental scrutiny. However it poses and tries to analyze some of them that
seem to us important and interesting. Guru Granth Sahib in the context of Bhakti thought is the latest comprehensive
text and this means that it brings to memory the earlier Bhakti texts and their historical setting. We locate Guru Granth
Sahib towards the end of Bhakti age, even as denoting the post-Bhakti age, and this means that the question of
returning to the emotional, musical and spontaneous form of Bhakti needs its explanation. We know that in between
the early Bhakti and its late form there were many considerable intrusions namely the Siddha Yogis, the Sufis and
Islam, and the Sants. The Bhakti thought of Guru Granth Sahib somehow inherits the divine experiences of the early
Bhakti, assimilates the historical intrusions and consummates itself into Sikh devotion. Going through such
interesting cultural phases, Guru Granth Sahib could exhibit the very complex dialectics of devotional, ethical and
social philosophical streams of thought.

23
Guru Granth Sahib, 143)
24
Singh,Darshan:Guru Granth sahib among the scriptures of the world.pp 239-42
25
(Guru Granth Sahib, 423)
Returning to the context of history of Bhakti traditions that marks entire medieval period. The problem between the
ethical and the devotional is the basic one stretching from the Shramana period to the late medieval period. The
devotional culture appeared in the historical scene curtailing the ethical concerns made prominent by the Jainas and
Buddhists. In the early medieval period, the devotional could achieve supremacy traveling along with the mass
feelings. However, the institutionalization and Brahmanization of Bhakti made explicit the immanent weaknesses of
the tradition. The Siddhas, the Sufis and the Sants raised their voice to repair the situation.The problem comes to
meet its real solution in Guru Granth Sahib, when it actively displays the dialectics of the devotional and the ethical.
The dialectics is allowed to unfold in Guru Granth Sahib, as developing into working out a social philosophy on
ethical foundation with a clear commitment to the point of view of the common toiling masses.

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