Re: Nanak is the Guru, Nanak is the Lord Himself.
gur kw sbdu n mytY koie ] (864-19, goNf, mÚ 5)
No one can erase the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
gurunwnku nwnku hir soie ]4]7]9] (864-19, goNf, mÚ 5)
Nanak is the Guru; Nanak is the Lord Himself. ||4||7||9||
These are the Vaaks from Guru Arjan dev ji maharaj. I am not able to proceed further as the meaning assigned to the 'tuk' does not fit in well with the conceptual framework Of sikhi that I had the chance to build on this forum. Frankly speaking., I have not yet had one full reading of the Granth sahib ji whom I hold in high esteem.
It was in a post of SPN that I was reading that unlike other religions sikhism does not preach that their Gurus are God. But here the things do not appear to me in sync. with the above.
Is Guru Nanak dev ji stated to be Creator?
or
The translation is not correct
or
My appreciation Of the translation is faulty.
I would also be grateful if someone can tell as to in which year the line was authored or it was during the compilation of the Granth sahib. Did the earlier 3 gurus not observe this.?
kindly correct me.
Dear GurSikh,
The Question you have posed is one which has harried other Faiths. The most popular being Christianity and the Divinity of Jesus. Was he God or His Prophet?
For Skihs the same question arises as to the Divinity of Sat Guru Nanak. Guru Ji himself never acknowledged his own Divinity. In fact, he humbled himself before God and the Saints by saying that he was the servant of God's servants. The Gurus that came after however, acknowledged, the Divinity of Sat Guru Nanak. There are passages where he has been referred to as the Creator. In others he has been described as "The Formless One".
This concept is true but you must understand the context in which it is used. It is far from my complete understanding but from my readings of the Sri Guru Grant Sahib (SGGS) and other writings, I have, with God's grace attained some limited understanding of this concept. I will try to impart this to you and all those out there who may chance upon this reply.
In essence this is what the Holy Bani states;
In the Beginning, God was unmanifest and remained in a contemplative state for 26 ages. When The Creator finally gave expression to Himself, he did so initially through two avenues, the Holy Word (Bani, Shabad) and the Sat Guru. So we have God (The Guru), The Holy Word (Bani, Shabad) and the Sat Guru. Both these two manifestations of God are blended in His Essence. Both are from Him and are a part of Him. Both are inseparable from Him.
Remember, The Guru (God) is the Bani and the Bani is The Guru (God).
This all sounds very familiar if you know something about Christian doctrine. It is the Doctrine of the Trinity. This concept is given clear Expression in the SGGS (strange place for a Christian to find clarification on this issue I'm sure).
The SGGS goes on to explain that though The Sat Guru has emerged from God's Essence, the Guru (God) and the Sat Guru are two seperate entities. At this point I would like to make an important clarification. At this point we are discussing the existance of the Sat Guru as a spiritual being. A Divine Being of Light. Not a Being in bodily form. The Sat Guru at this point is a Spirit created by God. This is an important concept to understand as it underlies the universality of the Skih Religion and its Holy Scriptures. It also opens the doorway to understanding this crucial concept of the Guru, The Bani and the Sat Guru and how this very concept applies to other Faiths.
In various passages of the SGGS, the Sat Guru is viewed as having the power to Create and Destroy. Of taking Life and Restoring it. Of having absolute knowledge of all the Worlds. Of having the Power to absolve Sins and who Himself is free from Sin. Who has such power save God Himself? Yet these Powers have been bestowed upon the Sat Guru.
Remember, The Guru (God) is the Bani and the Bani is the Guru (God). When Sat Guru Nanak was called to God's presence, God gave him a Cup filled with the Nectar of His Name (His Word, His Bani) and he was told to drink it. He obeyed His Maters's command and was then imbued with God's Word (Bani).
So the eqaution changes. If The Guru (God) is the Bani and the Bani (The Word) is The Guru (God), then it follows that if the Bani (The Word) and the Sat Guru become one, so do God and the Sat Guru become One. They are the same and exist in one another.
God then commanded Sat Guru Nanak to go into to the world and preach His Name.
In the body of the Sat Guru, God has infused his Light and His Spirit. On Earth, in the Heavens and in all of Creation, there is no being like him. He, the Sat Guru is therefore the closest that any being has come, to seeing God. For all intents and purposes anyone who has seen or heard Sat Guru Nanak has seen and heard God Himself. He is therefore rightly described as The Formless One, The Creator.
To digress a little, it is interesting to note that in the Christian Scriptures, a similar verse appears which I paraphrase now; In the Begining was the Word, The Word was God. The Word became Flesh and walked amongst Men.
The verse is starkingly similar to the one in the SGGS about the Guru and the Bani (The Word). However, the Christian fathers of past, the theologians and the general population of Christians mistakenly interpret this verse to mean that God took the form of a human being and was born into this world.
Sikhism clearly rejects this theory as God does not take birth. Nor does he die to be born again.
The SGGS also tells us the the Sat Guru has been coming into the world in every age since the beginning to guide us back to God. Our religion claims no exclusivity to God or to any religious teaching, etc. We do not claim that ours is the only faith that can lead you to God. However I can make one claim. The Skih scriptures containe the Essence of God and that of all religions since the beginning of time. Those who read and understand it wil come to understand their own faiths even better. The Gurbani is the mirror reflecting all faiths under God's House.
I apologies for the long reply. I pray that God and my Sat Guru wil forgive me for any error or digressions in my interpretation of the Gurbani. Remember dear Gur Sikh, understand the Essence and you will conquer all.
Rgds