How are Hinduism and Sikhism related, considering they both originated in Punjab, India?
Last Updated: 16.06.2025 05:15
My consciousness does not go out wandering. My mind has become crippled. ||1|| Pause ||
I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.
The Sant Sampraday of Sikh panth integrates the warrior spirit of the Nihangs and Khalsa, the service of Seva panth and the renunciation of Udasi/Nirmala saints.
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹ ਕਹੀਐ ਕਾਹਿ ॥
Says Kabeer, unto whom should I tell this?
Is the Philippines PH a poor 3rd world or 4th world country forever and forever?
Let's look at the views of Sant Kabir
Where spring, the lord of seasons reigneth, there the unstruck music sounds of itself,
I am like a fish out of water,
When do you start "growing old"?
I went to God's place, and worshipped Him there.
Let’s see what Gurbani has about Ramanandacharya’s views.
There, where millions of Krishnas stand with hands folded,
Bhakti movement began in South (Tamil Nadu to be precise) and slowly spread to Northern parts of India. This movement was extremely popular because of its simple fundamentals which could be understood by even commonfolk. Vaishnavism, Shaivism etc… were already connecting with commonfolk from a long time and this Bhakti movement reinforced it by making the devotee feel a personal connection with the deity.
But we have actually seen how much Kabir is also rooted in the Vedantic concept of “supreme realization” but in a non-mainstream path.
Without looking into one's heart, how can one reach paradise?
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I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.
He does not dwell at the Lord's Feet. ||3||
ਕਾਸੀ ਮਗਹਰ ਸਮ ਬੀਚਾਰੀ ॥
How do schizophrenia symptoms change throughout the day?
Ramanandacharya was a 14th-century Hindu Vaishnava devotional poet saint who amalgamated Advaita with Vaishnava Bhakti. He was the pioneer in validating NIRGUN and SAGUN Bhakti as parallel paths.
ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਉ ਨ ਨਿਵਾਜ ਗੁਜਾਰਉ ॥
Ramarchan Paddati gives more info about his teachings.
You are totally pervading and permeating in all.
The Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is heaven. ||4||10||
ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥
How far does good behavior take you in a prison?
We can see that great saints like Kabir and Ravidas etc… descended from the Ramananda sampradaya which is still the largest ascetic order in India.
ਮਰਤੀ ਬਾਰ ਮਗਹਰਿ ਉਠਿ ਆਇਆ ॥੨॥
— Kabir, Ramaini 1, Translated by David Lorenzen
What was your best revenge story?
I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.
ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥
Ravidas (a chamar shoemaker)
To him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminating.
Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;
Sikhism is fundamentally rooted in BHAKTI tradition and thus ultimately in Sanatana Dharma. There is no doubt about it despite what modern McSikh acrobatics try to claim otherwise
Why does it matter so much to atheists that God doesn't exist?
If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?
The young and the old drink milk pudding, but these fools eat the cow's body.
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
Now that my time to die has come, I have come to dwell at Magahar! ||3||
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ਪੂਰਬ ਜਨਮ ਹਉ ਤਪ ਕਾ ਹੀਨਾ ॥੧॥
Actually, this part of the Ang 326 is widely used by McSikhs to show that Sikhism considers Hindu pilgrimages as useless and thus drives home the point again that the “religion” has got NOTHING to do with Hinduism.
Sikhism is a NIRGUN path descending from the Sant Sampraday of Ramanandacharya and traces its ideas to VEDANTA!
Because in my previous life, I did not practice penance and intense meditation. ||1||
Meeting with the Guru, my Spiritual Teacher, I realize God, my Lord and Master. ||5||3||
ਗਉੜੀ ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀ ਪੰਚਪਦੇ ॥
ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਰਸ ਤਪੁ ਕੀਆ ਕਾਸੀ ॥
ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥
Wherever I go, I find water and stones.
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Where millions of Vishnus bow their heads, where millions of Brahmas are reading the Vedas,
Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23)
Here ਨਿਰਗੁਣ is Nirgun and not just lord. This is just another example to show that Kabir himself continued in the NIRGUN BHAKTI path.
Kaashi and Magahar - I consider them the same.
Sadhna (a Muslim butcher) and
I serve the One Lord, and not any other. ||2||
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Again we see that the originator of this Sant Sampraday himself talks about Brahman even in Gurbani.
There is a reason why I mention ROOTED and thus NOT implying that it belongs to one of the numerous sects in Sanatana Dharma like Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Smartism etc…
For him Dharma was beyond everything physical including the desire for heaven because was fully into the NIRGUN . The last verse shows that according to him the company of the enlightened Sadhus is heaven which is again a typical teaching of Sanatana Dharma.
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
With inadequate devotion, how can anyone swim across? ||4||
ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥
ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥
Kabir, Ravidas and ultimately the NINE SIKH GURUS are a product of this very Sant Sampraday founded by Ramanandacharya!
ਗੁਰ ਪੀਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਖੁਦਿ ਖਸਮੁ ਪਛਾਨਾ ॥੫॥੩॥
Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss.
— Kabir, II.57, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered, where millions of Saraswatis, goddess of music play the vina,
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.
Let’s look at the most used verse by McSikhs to show that Sikhs are neither Hindus nor Muslims.
The Word of the Guru's Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. ||3||1||
How can they kill the mother, whose milk they drink like that of a wet nurse?
Raamaanand Jee, First House:
CONCLUSION:
I wasted my whole life in the city of Shiva;
Ramananda accepted disciples without discriminating against anyone by gender, class or caste and they included even people from humble origins like
then who is there to know what happens without?
From Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 1195
ਕਹੁ ਗੁਰ ਗਜ ਸਿਵ ਸਭੁ ਕੋ ਜਾਨੈ ॥
Guru Nanak (right) and Bhai Mardana (foreground) with Bhagat Kabir (left). This painting is found in the B-40 Janamsakhi, written and painted in 1733. The painting was made by Alam Chand Raj
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
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These morons know nothing, they wander about in ignorance,
ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
Says Kabeer, the Guru and Ganaysha and Shiva all know
Kabir is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.
ਅਬ ਕਹੁ ਰਾਮ ਕਵਨ ਗਤਿ ਮੋਰੀ ॥
The views of Kabir are very much in parallel to the Advaita philosophy and it is obvious that as the disciple of Ramanandacharya he will carry forward with his chosen NIRGUN BHAKTI.
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यस्य देवे परा भक्तिः यथा देवे तथा गुरौ । तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मन इति ।
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Panch-Padas:
So in the same spirit Kabir finds pilgrimages to holy cities futile as his mind is fixated on Rama!
ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥
From where did the word Maya come? Isn’t it a typical Vedantic concept discussed profoundly in Advaita? It definitely isn’t a concept pioneered by Kabir or even his teacher Ramanandacharya! It is ultimately from Sanatana Dharma!
One day, a desire welled up in my mind.
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
All the men and women of the world are His living forms.
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ ॥੫॥੧੫॥
— Kabir, III.2, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠੈ ਆਹਿ ॥੪॥੧੦॥
Sant Kabir was staunchly against cow slaughter.
Where millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation, where millions of Indras dwell in the sky,
How can people understand You, when they are entranced by Maya? ||1|| Pause ||
Says Kabeer, this is what I say:
ਏਕ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰ ਲੇ ਰਿਦੈ ਨਮਸਕਾਰਉ ॥੩॥
ਜਿਉ ਜਲ ਛੋਡਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਭਇਓ ਮੀਨਾ ॥
For a superficial McSikh who is interested only in separation and not enlightenment the views of Kabir can be easily shown as a denouncement of Hindu practices.
We have searched the turaki Dharam (Turk's religion, Islam), these teachers throw many thunderbolts,
ਏਕੋ ਸੇਵੀ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਦੂਜਾ ॥੨॥
As long as the mind is filled with the desire for heaven,
Here ਰਾਮੈ is Rama and not just lord. Kabir died chanting the name of Rama DESPITE him not finding any result of penances done in holy cities in his previous birth. Another example to show how much Kabir valued personal devotion to Rama in his own NIRGUN style.
The divergence of Kabir’s views from Vedanta is seen in the fact that he fully opposed religious symbolism of ALL KINDS and not just IDOLS.
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧
I have taken the One Formless Lord into my heart; I humbly worship Him there. ||3||
Kabeer: O worthless mortal, do not lose the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Sriraag / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 92
ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥
ਤਜੀ ਲੇ ਬਨਾਰਸ ਮਤਿ ਭਈ ਥੋਰੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 326
ਕੈਸੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਬ ਮੋਹਿਆ ਹੈ ਮਾਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥
That Kabeer died chanting the Lord's Name. ||5||15||
There is my Lord self-revealed, and the scent of sandal and flowers dwells in those deeps.
ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
ਓਛੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਕੈਸੇ ਉਤਰਸਿ ਪਾਰੀ ॥੪॥
I do not make pilgrimages to Mecca, nor do I worship at Hindu sacred shrines.
ਅਲਹ ਰਾਮ ਕੇ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਪਰਾਨ ॥੪॥
Now here in this verse
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹੁ ਕੀਆ ਵਖਾਨਾ ॥
Now tell me, Lord, what will my condition be?
ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥
For many years, I practiced penance and intense meditation at Kaashi;
We can understand that Kabir despite being in favor of formless worship was very much embedded in the Dharmik fold but always preached in the spirit of the transcendental nature of Brahman to the point that HE LOST THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN HINDU AND MUSLIM.
Recklessly they display boundless pride while explaining their own aims, they kill cows.
Kabir (a weaver)
The influence of Kabir is significant on Sikhism. The following Bani from Ang 1136 is attributed to GURU ARJAN DEV but if you observe at the end you can see that he was talking in the spirit of Sant Kabir.
There the streams of light flow in all directions, few are the men who can cross to that shore!
He who has highest Bhakti of Deva (God), just like his Deva, so for his Guru (teacher),
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
ਮਰਨੁ ਭਇਆ ਮਗਹਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਸੀ ॥੩॥
Sain (a barber)
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
ਜਬ ਲਗੁ ਮਨਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠ ਕੀ ਆਸ ॥
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage,
That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. ||1||
As mentioned above Guru Arjan Dev was talking from the perspective Sant Kabir whose views we have discussed much earlier here. We know that Sant Kabir continuing in the Ramanandi Sampradaya went further away from the mainstream ritualistic Hinduism and was journeying more towards a SEAMLESS Dharma.
I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. ||2||
Hari is in the East, Allah is in the West.
Ramanandacharya’s teachings were centered on pure and personal connection with the God Rama and didn’t believe in any kind of formal ritualism. He used the common vernacular language instead of Sanskrit so that everyone could understand.
At the time of my death, I moved to Magahar. ||2||
ਸਗਲ ਜਨਮੁ ਸਿਵ ਪੁਰੀ ਗਵਾਇਆ ॥
He accepted even women (Sursuri and Padywati) as disciples. Bhagat Pipa and Dhanna were Rajput and Jat who were also his disciples.
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
I do not perform Hindu worship services, nor do I offer the Muslim prayers.
ਤਬ ਲਗੁ ਹੋਇ ਨਹੀ ਚਰਨ ਨਿਵਾਸੁ ॥੩॥
ਬ੍ਰਹਮ is Brahm i.e the Brahman of vedanta but it gets interpreted as an all-pervading lord god.
NOW…
ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥
ਕਬੀਰ ਨਿਰਗੁਣ ਨਾਮ ਨ ਰੋਸੁ ॥
I left Benares - I had little common sense. ||1|| Pause ||
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ਹਜ ਕਾਬੈ ਜਾਉ ਨ ਤੀਰਥ ਪੂਜਾ ॥
My body and breath of life belong to Allah - to Raam - the God of both. ||4||