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Summary of Question:	Meaning Of Akal
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Sunday, 3/08/2009 12:40 AM MDT

Sat shri Akal ji

I am a bit confused to find out the exact meaning of AKAAL,MAHAKAAL,GURBARAKAL

In Bachittar Natak Guru ji himself said "MAHAKAAL KALIKA ARADHI" Was guru ji Worshipped Chandi If yes then As contrary to it GURUMAT condems the worshipping of GODS and Goddesses.

The reason why i am asking coz somebody asked this question to me and i could not answer back...

A bit confused on this one !!
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reply
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This is an excellant question. Now here is your reply:

The concept of KAL in Guru Gobind Singh ji Maharaj's writing is one of the most central philosophies. Kal is often translated as death, but it is more complex than that. Kal is life's inevitable process of of dying. The process of taking one breath after the other until you take your last one. It is one of the greatest, immovable forces of the universe - you can do many things with your life but the one thing you can't control, avoid, or even postpone is death. That is Kal. Guru Sahib describes this very poetically and a way you can really understand it in the Akaal Ustaat in the Chhand that starts at 59.

Akaal is that which exists beyond this phenominal existance of birth and death

Akaal Moorat is the image of that which exists beyond

Mahakal is the great power of the reality of Kal, the inescapability of life and death. Mahakal is the powerful driving force of the human existance.

Guru Sahib says that the way to deal with Kal is not to run away from it - there is no where to hide that Kal can't find you. The great kings who are so powerful - still die. The yogi's who stop their breath - still die. No matter what you do - you still die. So the way to deal with Kal is to "take the shelter of Kal." He says to "meditate on Kal." To embrace Kal.

OK, so with THAT understanding.... he used the story of the battle of Durga and Sumb/ Nisumb, and all those great hindu stories to show THAT concept of embracing and meditating on death. That's the whole thing of the Chandi di Vaar Sahib, Chandi Charitra, etc.

When Guru Sahib says in the Apnee Kathaa that he sat at Hemkunt and meditated on Mahakal Kaalka... I don't think he sat in a cave with the moorti of mutli-armed Kali before him and burned incense. No - it's WAY beyond that! Siri Singh Sahib told me that Guru then existed at the very edge of the blue ether, one hair's breath away from merger with God, which is that place nearly (but not quite) beyond the realm of Kal. He meditated on Mahakal in the way he describes in the Akaal Ustaat.

So to answer the question directly (which is hard to do). No, Guru Gobind Singh ji did not worship Hindu gods and goddesses. He worshiped the eternal God-truths and One-God realities which lay behind the Hindu god-concepts and which the Hindu god-personalities represent as a characterised aspect.
SKKk & SKK