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| This article was published in the book: Guru Tegh Bahadur Background and the Supreme Sacrifice (A Collection of Research Articles) Edited by: Gurcharan Singh Talib Published by: Punjabi University This book was one of the many published by Punjabi University to mark the tercentenary celebrations of the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1975. ******************************************************************************** PARMARTHA: THE SUPREME OBJECTIVE AS DEFINED IN THE SIKH THOUGHT ____________________________________________________________________ Dr. Jaswant Singh Neki "Knowing not what we ought to know Considering not what we ought to consider, In utter madness our days pass by. Our passions are strong, and discrimination weak, And Parmartha, alas, we pursue not." (p.658 [1]) And what is this "parmartha" one is enjoined upon to pursue? Salvation - from what? Deliverance - out of what condition? In the Sikh scriptures, the final purpose of life is described as the return to the Original State ("nijghar") from which we have erred away. And this original state, according to Sikh thought is one of enlightenment: "O my mind! thou art of the nature of Light. Recognize thou, thy Original self." (p.441) Lured away by carnal cravings, conditioned by exigencies of existence, constrained by social compulsions, cramped by fears, doubts and delusions, contorted by error and superstition, convulsed by emotions and excitement, man veers away from his original luminous state into one of nescience. Then from this secondary state of nescience, he seeks deliverance which is liberty from all compulsions, freedom from fear, sorrow and grief, salvation from sin error and emancipation from doubt, delusion and superstition. Such a state of deliverance has been called "mukti" in Hindusism and "nirvana" in Buddhism. Both these designations have also found acceptance with the Sikh Gurus and reference to mukti and nirvana abound in the Guru Granth Sahib. However, as Kapur Singh[2] observes, the Gurus imparted to these terms somewhat different interpretation. In the Hindu and Buddhist thought, the fact of individuation is considered to be evil in itself; and Nirvana or Mukti is a state of its annihilation. Nirvana involves the blowing out of "Vinnana" which builds on "Vedana" and "Sanna" and is the cause of "citta-sankhara".[3] "Complete extinction of individuality without loss of consciousness" characterises this state. Since personality is the blossoming of individuality, Nirvana becomes the cessation of personality. The same holds true wiht regard to "Mukti" as well. Mukti is liberation from "samsara", which is another name for the cycle of birth and growth of personality. Mukti (or "moksha") has been acclaimed as the 'summum bonum' almost universally by the various Hindu schools of philosophy. Yet, acording to the special emphasis of these distinctive systems, it has acquired a variety of shades of meaning. According to "Nyaya" connotation, mukti is the emancipation of the "atma" from the carnal bondage of the sense organs; while according to "Vaisesika", it is the detachment from the "gunas". "Sankhya-yoga" considers mukti to be cessation of the state of ignorance whereas the "Purusa" erroneously considers itself indistinct from "prakriti". "Yoga" goes on further to prescribe certain practices directed towards self-control, physical and mental, the culmination of which is complete emancipation of "purusa" from the bonds of conditioned prakritic existence. For the "Purva Mimasaks", mukti connotates cessation of suffering. However "Vedantins" hold that it is not merely cessation of pain and suffering but also positively a blissful state. For "Shankara", mukti is not an acquisit ion of a new state, it is a rediscovering of that nascent original state of the human soul which has somehow become shrouded in ignorance. It is thus reacquiring what is already within us. However, this reacquisition involves the dismemberment of individuality which is nothing but an illusion created by "maya". Mukti also finds copious mention as the 'summum bonum' in the Sikh scriptures, especially the Adi Granth. Yet, a new distinct stress is discernable in its Sikh connotations: "An individual is not an evil mirage to be destroyed and disregarded, but the very foundation on which the whole of human religious activity is to be built......It (mukti) is liberation from its limitations and sickness, and it is not its dissipation and destruction." [4] "The ego, no doubt, is a profound melody, But a cure also can be found for it." (p.466) The Sikh concept of mukti is thus not the dissolution and dismemberment of personality, but the recognition and transcendence of its cramping limitations through spiritual growth. It is a "higher state of consciousness" - beyond the three mundane states. "The deluded man is attached to the three gunas, The God-man attains to the fourth state." (p.30) It is a state in which pride, attachment and illusion are allayed and "Nam" is the mainstay: "Cast off, all pride, and love of maya And attune thyself to the all-pervading Lord. This, indeed is sayeth Nanak, the way of deliverance." (p.219) Traditionally, in both the Sankhya and Vedanta schools, two kinds of mukti are described - "videha mukti" or non-corporeal, to be attained after death; and "jivan mukti", attainable during life-time. It is the latter which receives greater emphasis in the Sikh thought. In the traditional concepts of jivan mukti, a negation of the mundane pursuits of Life, is implied as a precondition. This is not so in the Sikh concept: "So perfect is the Guru's path (to deliverance), That even whilst thou makest merry, wearest (apparels) and eatest (delicacies), Dost thou get emancipated." (p.522) It appears, the 'negative' concept of mukti was not altogether satisfying to the Gurus'. There are allusions in the Adi Granth to mukti being considered something short of the summun bonum. For example: "I seek no dominions, nor deliverance[5] either I crave solely for the love of His lotus feet." (p.534) While the Gurus did not decry or discard the concept of mukti as a supreme objective, they simultaneously adopted "sahaja", a concept of more positive connotations, coming from the parallel "Agama" tradition. Like mukti, this was also adapted before it was adopted. In the Sikh parlance, sahaja refers to a state of 'mental and spiritual equipoise' without the least intrusion of ego; unshaken, natural and efortless serenity attained through spiritual perfection.[6] The word sahaja is derived from Sanskrit twin roots: "saha", together, and "ja" born. Thus, it means born together (with oneself), hence, innate. It signifies innate nature, of one's natural, spontaneous self, shorn of all external conditioning influences that cramp the soul. Sahaja, is, thus, renascent freedom or liberation of the soul. Before the term became current in Sikh scriptures it had already passed through a series of historical vicissitudes. The basic concept came from the left-hand "Tantrik" cults in whose parlance sahaja signified a protest against a formalism of orthodox religion. They decried the bondage of artificial conventions and affirmed the non-transgression of the natural. Sahaja, was, thus, the basic tenet of Indian antinomianism?[7] The schools of "Sahajavana Buddhists", "Natha Yogis", and "Sahjiya Shaivites" all in their own time and in their specific way emphasized the cultivation of sahaja - but were all in a sense Tantrik in outlook for the raison'd etre of these schools was to be found in particular sexo-yogic practices as a part of religious sadhana.[8] The "Sahaja Panthis", a Vaishnavat sect, associated with the names of Swarup and Damador etc., carried out their meditation with a young beautiful damsel seated in front of them. Thus, it is that they meditated upon Lord Krishna, who is considered the greatest of all aesthetes. However, the followers of these sects, infact seemed to have pushed their antinomian protest to its utmost limit and held that the most meritorious acts are such natural ones as eating and drinking which sustains life, sexual intercourse, which propagates it, and the natural functions which give it ease. In actual practice, it really amounted to total surrender to carnal appetites. As a result of this, these cults went into disrepute and the original concept of sahaja became besmirched with questionable ethical connotations. Its reintroduction into the Indian mystic lore by the Sikh Gurus signified a new turn in the history of this term, for they invested it with a new breadth of meaning and mystical import coupled with sublime ethical aesthetic connotations that conduced to the elevation of the soul. For the Sikh Gurus, as mentioned above, man's original nature was of the nature of light (Asa 3, Chhant 5) or intutive knowledge. A reattainment of this natural self, with its attendent peace and equipoise, is sahaja. In this state, life is unaffected by any artificiality or put up appearances for they are but the defences of the empirical ego ("haumai") and that, in sahaja, is quelled. Then with a basic dispositional spontanity, love, goodness and compassion blossom forth from the being. This widened concept of sahaja signifies a transcendent state - one beyond the ordinary modes of being ("gunas"), beyond the habitual levels of consciousness ("jagrit, supan and sukhopati") and beyond the illusion of duality or maya. To appreciate fully the breadth of meaning of the Sikh concept of sahaja, it may be looked at from various aspects. In its 'cognitive' aspect, it can be seen as a state of illumination, one of heightened consciousness, mystical awareness ("sahaja rahas"), or intutive knowledge. In this state the duality of subject and object (which results from a process of individuation and ego-formation) vanishes. Since all feelings of duality basically develop around the subject-object dichotomy, with the dissolution of the latter, dualities of any kind disappear, distances vanish (Gauri Guar 5, asht 4.4.) and reality comes to be perceived with the impact of immediacy. In its 'conative' aspect, sahaja is a state of freedom-wherein all fetters are removed (Gauri 5; 136, 15.1); and of spontaneity - wherein everything happens with natural ease ("sahaja subhae"). Spontaneity is the ground of every kind of behaviour - vegetative, emotive as well as moral. On the emotive or aesthetic plane, it signifies the discovery of the gre at harmony within as well as without. In sahaja, as it were, an inner door ("dasam dwar") of aesthetic perception opens up, and one directly perceives the rhythmicity of one's being weave an 'unstruck melody' ("anhat nad") which is accompanied by a pervading feeling of unconditioned bliss ("sahajanad"). A deeper significance of existence seems to emerge in "sahaja". When one becomes oriented to it, emotional turbulence ceases. Pleasures and pains pass like ripples over the surface while the mighty deep underneath remains unruffled. Then, it appears, one dons pleasures and pains just as one dons and doffs changes of garments (Majh var 1, SI 1:7). This is how sahaja epitomises mental equipoise in which all turbulence of emotions is stilled and all existential doubts dispelled. A serene, placid, blissful calm pervades: "While the egocentric abide in doubt, and carry anxieties in their heart which permit them no sleep, the wise wake and sleep in sahaja" (Sorath var 4 SI 3:2) Peace being the hallmark of this state, all running about and all feverish pursuits are stilled. "Effort hath ceased, peace hath been found, and wandering itself worn out - for now I have found a new dignity in life." (Maru 5:6, 1). Sahaja has been called a state of freedom. It epitomises freedom from desire ("trishna"), from conflict ("dui") and from illusion ("maya"). One is liberated from the cramping influence of social compulsions. Yet, one does not become a fugitive from social responsibility. On the contrary, as one is also cured simultaneously of the equally cramping compulsion of egoism, one no longer lives for oneself. One lives more for others. In sahaja one is also liberated from servility of carnal needs. In this state: "there is neither drowsiness nor hunger; and one ever abides in the divine bliss of Hari Naam. Nanak pleasure and sorrow happen not where the all-pervading self shineth fourth." (Slok varan te wadhik 3:15) Sahaja also spells an awareness of the great vital harmony ("sahajadhuni") within, as one gets attuned to the inner rhythms of Being. One also simultaneously discovers the pervasion of the selfsame harmony and mystical rhythmcity across the whole gamut of the mighty cosmos. The intensity of this experience is a great aesthetic wonderment. It has been described as an experience of limitless bliss: "a myriad thrills of the unstruck Melody, of whose Relish there is no measure, no end." (Sarang asht 5:1,2,3,7,11) It is a creative joy of highest order - sheer joy in contradiction to enjoyment of the sense objects. It is, therefore, not ephemeral like the latter, but is an abiding state of undiminishing bliss. Although illumination, spontaneity, freedom, equipoise, and harmony may be described as the chief characteristics of sahaja, there are several other subtle characteristics of this state alluded to at several places in the Adi Granth, as for instance in the following passage: (One who abideth in Sahaja) "Looketh alike on friend and foe What he uttreth is utter wisdom What he heareth is essence True; And in his seeing is meditation. He sleepeth in calm, he riseth in peace From 'Being' to 'Becoming' with natural ease. Sad or glad he abideth in sahaja; Effortless his silence; spontaneous his utterance. In poise he eateth, in poise he loveth, In sahaja he findeth distance bridged. In equipoise doth he rejoice at home, With dispassion can he renounce that joy. He stayeth in sahaja attached or detached Unfettered by illusory duality. He, whose heart doth gladden in sahaja Doth sure experience perfect bliss" (Gauri, Guar 5, asht:9) It is thus, supreme spiritual state - marriage of the soul to the Absolute Brahma. How can, then this state be attained? Guru Ram Das in his Epithalamium ("Lavan") in Raga Suhi describes this as a four-stage ascent, at every stage the pilgrim rededicating himself to the All-pervading Deity as he experiences fresh vistas of spiritual vision. During the 'first stage', the Law of Life ("Pravirti karam") receives affirmation. It is the stage of participation. One is inagurated into the worldly duties. Activity ("uddam") is its hallmark. Home is the prime citadel of action. It is from here that everyone is to be served and blessed. While thus performing his worldly duties, the pilgrim shuns the ways of sin, and contemplates the Guru as the perfect examplar who, through his grace, brings about a complete transformation of his outlook. The egocentric man gradually turns theocentric by contemplating on the holy Naam. During the 'second stage', this theocentric man lives in that Holy Fear ("nirmal bhau") that dispels all fears. He practices the prescence of God - and beholds the soul of the universe filling every place. His life undergoes a reafference, his meditation deepens, and stains of ecstasy ("anhat sabda") ring in his ears. In the 'third stage' sprouts a zeal for disattachment ("chao-bairagiya"). It is not a fugitive impulse that can make him run away from objects of enjoyment, but the disattachment of the aesthete ("rasik bairag") enabling him to enjoy without being bound to the object. However, he craves no enjoyment. The feeling is not one of dissatisfaction with the worldly pleasures, it is positively of the nature of pangs of separation ("birha") from the Beloved. So strongly is the Beloved missed, and so intensely is union with him desired that the whole being resounds with Naam. Yet, this love is as dispassionate as it is intense. In the 'fourth stage', the dispassionate love culminates into a state of perfect harmony - a complete and conscious and spontaneous union with the Lord. The body and soul are filled with celestial sweetness. The pilgrim's heart rejoices like a bride's. But he is no longer a pilgrim for the journey is over. And even 'he' is there no more! This, then, is the Fourth State, also called "sahaja" (State of Equipoise), "amrapad" (State of Immortality), "nirvanapad" (desireless state), "nirbhaipad" (state without fear), "mukti" (state of liberation) and "nijsukh" (innate pleasure). And one who has attained it has been variously styled as a "Gurmukh" (God-oriented man), "Brahma gyani" (knower of Brahma) or simply "jnani jeevan mukta" (liberated during life) or simply "mukta". Guru Tegh Bahadur in his compositions has , time and again alluded to the various characteristics of such an emancipated person: "One to whom pleasure and pain are alike, and so too pride and shame, One who transcends happiness and sorrow - and alone Knoweth the Reality, One who gives up both praise and slander and craves for the desireless state, That indeed is the rare God-man, who chooses to play the tough game." (Gauri 9:2.1, p.219) "He who fears none nor frighteneth, Sayeth Nanak, he alone is the wise one who knows!" (Slok 9:1.6, p.1427) "He who hath abandoned maya and withdrawn into dispassion, O my mind! he alone enshrineth the Lord in his heart." (Slok 9:18, p.1427) "He who is affected neither by joy nor sorrow, And looketh alike on friend and foe, Sayeth Nanak, he indeed is the liberated one." (Slok 9:15, p.1427) It is not difficult to see that 'mukti' and 'nirvana' have negative undertones and 'sahaja' has more positive connotations, these reflect differences of conceptualization and vebalization. The states connoted by these terms are in all likelihood identical. By using these concepts interchangeably, the Gurus' seemed to have underlined not only the unity of "Parmartha", but also the limitation of human intellectin comprehending it and of language in describing it. REFERENCES [1] All references in the text pertain to Adi Granth [2] "Prasharprasna", Hind Publishers, pp.374-5 [3] Johnson, R. "The Psychology of Nirvana", George, Allen & Unwin [4] Kapur Singh, loc cit. [5] "Mukti" [6] "Sacred Writings of the Sikhs", London, George, Allen & Unwin [7] Walker, B. "The Hindu World", George, Allen & Unwin [8] Bhattacharya, H. "The Cultural Heritage of India". Ramakrishna Mission Institute. ******************************************************************************** |
 | Sikhism - " Parmartha: Th... (Preet Mohan S Ahluwalia - 24.Jul.98) |
