Sikh Philosphy

Sikh philosophy is a young, indigenous, monotheistic one. Guru Nanak (1469-1539) who was trying to unite Hinduism and Islam, founded the Sikh religious order. The word `Sikh' derives from the Sanskrit word shishya or disciple. Sikh philosophy is a set of ideas developed by ten gurus or teachers and passed on to their shishyas or disciples. It conceives of God as nirakara or formless and also as one. It admits of no idols or superstitions, whether Hindu or Islamic. It recognizes all human beings to be equal. However it retains certain Hindu ideas, such as those of the immortality of  the soul, of transmigration and karma. The sacred book of the Sikhs is the Adi Granth or Granth Sahib (completed in 1604), of which the Japji section was written by Guru Nanak himself.

The ten Sikh gurus are Nanak, Angad, Amar Das, Ram Das, Arjan, Har Gobind, Har Rai, Har Kishan, Teg Bahadur and Gobind Singh. The tenth and last guru, Gobind Singh, ended the guru system and organized the Sikhs into a military theocracy named Khalsa (Pure). He started the system of pahul or baptism into Sikhism with water stirred by a dagger, after which one would be entitled to use the honorific `Singh'(lion) after his name and carry the five `kakkas' or `K's: kesh (hair tied in a topknot), kanga (comb), kara (steel bangle), `kacha'(undergarment) and `kirpan' (dagger). After Guru Gobind Singh's death, the Sikhs got divided into 12 groups. Collective decisions are taken by the leaders of the groups and taken as coming from God. Gurvani or `the Guru's word' is the literary expression of Sikh philosophy.