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Sikhism
Sikhism () is a religion based on the teachings of ten Gurus who lived primarily in 16th and 17th century India. It is one of the world's major religions with over 23 million followers. Sikhism comes from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from its Sanskrit root 'śiṣya' () which means "disciple" or "learner", or from the Pāli word 'sikkhā' ().
The two core beliefs of Sikhism are:
- The belief in one God. The opening sentence of the Sikh scriptures is only two words long, and reflects the base belief of all who adhere to the teachings of the religion: - Ek Onkar
- The teachings of the Ten Sikh Gurus (as well as other accepted Muslim and Hindu figures) as enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib.
The Guru Granth Sahib is a sacred text considered by Sikhs to be their eleventh and final Guru. Sikhism was influenced by both reform movements in Hinduism (e.g. Sant Mat, Bhakti, monism, guru ideal, and bhajans) as well as Islam, particularly Sufism. It departs from some of the social traditions and structure of Hinduism and Islam (such as the caste system and purdah, respectively). Sikh philosophy is characterised by logic, comprehensiveness, and a "without frills" approach to both spiritual and material concerns. Its theology is marked by simplicity.
History of Sikhism
philosophy|right]]Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1538), considered to be the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village of Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, near Lahore in present-day Pakistan. His father, Mehta Kalu was a Patwari- an accountant of land revenue in the government. Guru's mother was Mata Tripta and he had one older sister, Bibi Nanki. From the very childhood, Bibi Nanki saw in him the Light of God but she did not reveal this secret to anyone. She is known as the first disciple of Guru Nanak. Even as a boy, Nanak was fascinated by religion, and his desire to explore the mysteries of life eventually led him to leave home. He wandered all over India in the manner of Hindu saints. It was during this period that Nanak was said to have met Kabir (1441–1518), a saint revered by both Hindus and Muslims. He made four distinct major journeys, which are called Udasis spanning many thousands of miles.
In 1538, Guru Nanak chose Lehna, his disciple as a successor to the Guruship rather than his son. Bhai Lehna was named Guru Angad and became the second guru of the Sikhs. He continued the work started by the Founder. Guru Amar Das became the third Sikh guru in 1552 at the age of 73. Goindwal became an important centre for Sikhism during the Guruship of Guru Amar Das. He continued to preach the principle of equality for women, the prohibition of Sati and the practise of Langar. In 1567, Emperor Akbar sat with the ordinary and poor people of Punjab to have Langar. Guru Amar Das also trained 140 apostles of which 52 were women to manage the rapid expansion of the religion. Before he died in 1574 aged 95, he appointed his son-in-law, Jetha as the fourth Sikh Guru.
Jetha became Guru Ram Das and vigorously undertook his duties as the new guru. He is responsible for the establishment of the city of Ramdaspur later to be named Amritsar. In 1581, Guru Arjan- youngest son of fourth guru - became the Fifth Guru of the Sikhs. In addition to being responsible for the construction of the Golden Temple, he prepared the Sikh Sacred text and his personal addition of some 2,000 plus hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib. In 1604 he installed the Adi Granth for the first time as the Holy Book of the Sikhs. In 1606, for refusing to make changes to the Guru Granth Sahib, he was tortured and killed by the Mughal rulers of the time.
Guru Har Gobind, became the sixth guru of the Sikhs. He carried two swords – one for Spiritual reasons and one for temporal (worldly) reasons. From this point onward, the Sikhs became a military force and always had a trained fighting force to defend their independence. In 1644, Guru Har Rai became Guru followed by Guru Har Krishan, the boy Guru in 1661. Guru Teg Bahadur became Guru in 1665 and led the Sikhs until 1675, when he sacrificed his life to save the Kashmiri Hindus who had come to him for help.
In 1675, Aurangzeb publicly executed the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. Sikh mythos says that Guru Tegh Bahadur sacrificed himself to protect Hindus, after Kashmiri pandits came to him for help when the Emperor condemned them to death for failing to convert to Islam. This marked a turning point for Sikhism. His successor, Guru Gobind Singh further militarised his followers (see Khalsa). After Aurangzeb killed four of Gobind Singh's sons, Gobind Singh sent Aurangzeb the Zafarnama (Notification of Victory).
Shortly before passing away Guru Gobind ordered that Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Scripture, would be the ultimate spiritual authority for the Sikhs and temporal authority would vest in the Khalsa Panth – The Sikh Nation. The first Sikh Holy Scripture was compiled and edited by the Fifth Guru, Guru Arjan in AD 1604, although some of the earlier gurus are also known to have documented their revelations. This is one of the few scriptures in the world that has been compiled by the founders of a faith during their own life time. The Guru Granth Sahib is particularly unique among sacred texts in that it is written in Gurmukhi script but contains many languages including Punjabi, Hindi-Urdu, Sanskrit, Bhojpuri and Persian. Sikhs consider the Guru Granth Sahib the last, perpetual living guru.
The Gurus of Sikhism
The Ten Gurus of Sikhism
Sikhism was established by ten Gurus — teachers or masters — over the period 1469 to 1708. Each master added to and reinforced the message taught by the previous, resulting to the creation of the religion of Sikhism. Guru Nanak was the first Guru and Guru Gobind Singh the final Guru in human form. When Guru Gobind Singh left this world, he made the Sri Guru Granth Sahib the ultimate and final Sikh Guru. The Gurus are believed to have the same spirit, or "jot", but different bodies.
The Sri Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib.]]
The Guru Granth Sahib is the eleventh and final Guru of the Sikhs, is held in the highest regard by the Sikhs and is treated as the Eternal Guru, as instructed by Guru Gobind Singh.
It is perhaps the only scripture of its kind which not only contains the teachings of its own religious founders but also writings of people from other faiths. Besides the Banis of the Gurus, it also contains the writings of saints like Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas, Sheikh Farid, Trilochan, Dhanna, Beni, Sheikh Bhikan, Jaidev, Surdas, Parmanad, Pipa and Ramanand.
The Granth forms the central part of the Sikh place of worship called a gurdwara. The Holy Scripture placed on the dominant platform in the main hall of the gurdwara during the day. It is placed with great respect and dignity upon a throne with beautiful and colourful fabric.
The Guru Granth Sahib is separated into musical measures, called Raags. There are 31 raags within the Guru Granth Sahib.
Interpretations of the Guru Granth Sahib, although translated into English and many other languages, vary from person to person. Its interpretation is based on the mindset and perception of each individual, and its guiding advice can be used for any type of situation, both religious and non-religious.
Sikh religious philosophy
The Sikh religious philosophy can be divided into the following five sections:
Primary beliefs and principles
Sikhism advocates the belief in (Ek Onkar) who is omnipresent and has infinite qualities. This aspect has been repeated on numerous occasions in the Guru Granth Sahib.
Sikhs do not have a gender for God nor do they believe God takes a human form. All human beings are considered equal regardless of their religion, sex or race. All are sons and daughters of Waheguru, the Almighty.
Followers of Sikhism are encouraged to wake in the early morning hours, before the sun has risen, and meditate on God's name. They must work hard and honestly and never live off of others, but give to others from the fruits of one's own labour. A Sikh's home should always be open to all.
Sikhs believe in the concept of reincarnation, yet other beliefs of the afterlife are also accepted. All creatures are believed to have souls that pass to other bodies upon death until liberation is achieved. Sikhs should defend, safeguard, and fight for the rights of all creatures, and in particular fellow human beings. They are encouraged to have a "Chardi Kala" or positive, optimistic and buoyant view of life.
The Sikh religion is not considered the only way to salvation - people of other religions may also achieve salvation. This concept is shared with other Dharmic religions.
Upon baptism, Sikhs must wear the 5Ks, and recite the 5 prayers. Sikhs do not believe that any particular day is holier than any other and tend to adopt the religious day of the country within which they reside.
It is every Sikh's duty to defeat these five vices: ego, anger, greed, attachment, and lust. Sikhs are encouraged to 'attack' these vices with contentment, charity, kindness, positive attitude and humility.
Underlying values
The Sikhs must believe in the following values:
#Equality: All humans are equal before God.
#God's spirit: All creatures have God's spirits and must be properly respected.
#Personal right: Every person has a right to life but this right is restricted.
#Actions count: Salvation is obtained by one's actions, including good deeds, remembrance of God, etc.
#Living a family life: Encouraged to live as a family unit to provide and nurture children.
#Sharing: It is encouraged to share and give to charity 10 percent of one's net earnings.
#Accept God's will: Develop your personality so that you recognize happy events and miserable events as one.
#The four fruits of life: Truth, contentment, contemplation and Naam, (in the name of God).
Prohibited behavior
#Non-logical behavior: Superstitions and rituals are not meaningful to Sikhs (pilgrimages, fasting, bathing in rivers, circumcision, worship of graves, idols or pictures, compulsory wearing of the veil for women, etc.).
#Material obsession: ("Maya") Accumulation of materials has no meaning in Sikhism. Wealth such as gold, portfolio, stocks, commodities, and properties will all be left here on Earth when you depart. Do not get attached to them.
#Sacrifice of creatures: (Sati). Widows throwing themselves in the funeral pyre of their husbands, lamb and calf slaughter to celebrate holy occasions, etc. are forbidden.
#Non-family oriented living: A Sikh is encouraged not to live as a recluse, beggar, yogi, monk, nun, or celibate.
#Worthless talk: Bragging, gossip, lying, etc. are not permitted.
#Intoxication: Alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and consumption of other intoxicants is not permitted.
#Priestly class: Sikhs do not have to depend on a priest for performing any religious functions. They are not supposed to follow a class/caste system where the priestly class reigns highest. Everyone is equal.
Technique and methods
#Nām Japō: - meditation and prayer on the Name of God in Sikhism, which is "Waheguru", it is also called the 'Gur-Manter'. Naam Japna is the repetition of this name.
#Kirat Karō: - Honest earnings, labor, etc. while remembering the Lord.
#Vaṇḍ Chakkō: - Share with others in need, free food (langar), donate 10% of income Dasvand, etc.
Other observations
#Not son of God: The Gurus were not in the Christian sense “Sons of God”. Sikhism says all humans are the children of God and by deduction, God is mother/father.
#All are welcome: Members of all religions may visit Sikh temples (Gurdwaras), but must observe certain rules: cover the head, remove shoes, no smoking or drinking intoxicants inside, and visitors must not be under the influence of any drugs, especially alcohol.
#Multi-level approach: Sikhism recognises the concept of a multi-level approach to achieving one's target as a disciple of the faith. For example, "Sahajdhari" (slow adopters) are Sikhs who have not donned the full 5Ks but are still Sikhs nevertheless.
Note: The Punjabi language does not have a gender for God. Unfortunately, when translating, the proper meaning cannot be correctly conveyed without using Him/His/He/Brotherhood, S/He etc., but this distorts the meaning by giving the impression that God is masculine, which is not the message in the original script. The reader must correct for this every time these words are used.
Observations
The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, was born in 1469 to a Khatri family in central Punjab (in what is present day Pakistan). After four epic journeys (north to Tibet, south to Sri Lanka, east to Bengal and west to Mecca and Baghdad) Guru Nanak preached to Hindus, Muslims and others, and in the process attracted a following of Sikhs or disciples. Religion, he taught, was a way to unite people, but in practice he found that it set men against one another. He particularly regretted the antagonism between Hindus and Muslims as well as certain ritualistic practices that distracted people from focusing on God. He wanted to go beyond what was being practised by either religion and hence a well-known saying of Guru Nanak is, "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim." Guru Gobind Singh reinforced these words by saying, "Regard the whole human race as equal".
Guru Nanak was opposed to the caste system. His followers referred to him as the guru (teacher). Before his death he designated a new Guru to be his successor and to lead the Sikh community. This procedure was continued, and the tenth and last Guru, Guru Gobind (AD 1666–1708) initiated the Sikh ceremony in AD 1699 ; and thus gave a distinctive identity to the Sikhs. The five baptised Sikhs were named Panj Pyare (Five Beloved Ones), who in turn baptised the Guru at his request.
Guru Nanak's doctrinal position is clear, despite the appearance that it is a blend of insights originating from two very different faiths. Sikhism's coherence is attributable to its single central concept – the sovereignty of the One God, the Creator. Guru Nanak called God the "True Name" because he wanted to avoid any limiting terms for God. He taught that the True Name, although manifest in many ways, many places and known by many names, is eternally One, the Sovereign and omnipotent God (the Truth of Love).
Guru Nanak's ascribed to the concept of maya, regarding material objects and realities as expressions of the creator's eternal truth, which tended to erect "a wall of falsehood" around those who live totally in the mundane world of material desires. This materialism prevents them from seeing the ultimate reality, as God created matter as a veil, so that only spiritual minds, free of desire, can penetrate it by the grace of the Guru (Gurprasad).
The world is immediately real in the sense that it is made manifest to the senses as maya, but is ultimately unreal in the sense that God alone is ultimate reality. Retaining the Hindu doctrine of the transmigration of souls, together with its corollary, the law of karma, Guru Nanak advised his followers to end the cycle of reincarnation by living a disciplined life – that is, by moderating egoism and sensuous delights, to live in a balanced worldly manner, and by accepting ultimate reality. Thus, by the grace of Guru (Gurprasad) the cycle of re-incarnation can be broken, and the Sikh can remain in the abode of the Love of God.
A Sikh should balance work, worship and charity - and meditate by repeating God's name, Nam japna (to enhance spiritual development). Salvation, Guru Nanak said, does not mean entering paradise after a last judgment, but a union and absorption into God, the true name. Sikhs believe in neither heaven nor hell. They strive for the grace of the Guru during the human journey of the soul.
Political pressure from surrounding Muslim nations forced the Sikhs to defend themselves and by the mid-nineteenth century, the Punjab area straddling modern-day India and Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kashmir was ruled by them. The Sikh's Khalsa Army defeated the invading British army and signed treaties with China.
All welcomed
Members of all religions may visit Sikh temples (gurdwaras = the Guru's door) but are asked to observe the following rules out of respect for sikh sensibilities:
- To cover one's head (there will be bandana-like Rumāls available there)
- To take off one's shoes
- To not smoke or indulge in the consumption of alcoholic or tobacco-related materials (even in the vicinity of the gurdwara)
- Not to bring or possess any alcoholic or tobacco-related items, or be under their effects when entering the gurdwara.
Followers of Sikhism
Rumāl
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. The word Sikh is derived from its Sanskrit root 'śiṣya' () which means "disciple" or "learner", or from the Pāli word 'sikkhā' (). In the Punjabi language the word Sikh also means humble follower. So a Sikh is a disciple of the Ten Gurus and a follower of the teachings in Sikhism's holy scriptures who they regard as a living guru, the Guru Granth Sahib.
Most Sikhs are of Punjabi background and live in the state of Punjab, India, but the Sikh community stretches over 100 nations and on all continents of the world.
Today, Sikhs can be found all over India and elsewhere in the world. Sikh men as well as some Sikh women can be identified by their practice of always wearing a turban to cover their long hair. The turban is quite distinct and is not the same as those worn by others in the region. However, not all Sikhs in the modern era continue to wear turbans or grow long hair. Sikhism recognises the concept of a multi-level approach to achieving your target as a disciple of the faith. For example, Sahajdhari (slow adopters) are Sikhs who have not donned the full Five Ks but are still Sikhs nonetheless.
The surname or more usually the middle name Singh1 (meaning lion) is very common for males, and Kaur (meaning princess) for women. Of course, not all people named Singh or Kaur are necessarily Sikhs. The name Singh is closely linked to the martial antiquities of North India dating back to at least the Eighth Century CE. Sikh forenames tend to be unisex.
The Five Ks
Practicing Sikhs are bound to wear five Kakaars, or articles of faith, known as The Five Ks, at all times. It is done either out of respect for the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, or out of sense of duty or from understanding of their function and purpose and relevance in daily life. It is important to note that The Five Ks are not merely present for symbolic purposes. The tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, ordered these Five Ks to be worn so that a Sikh could actively use them to make a difference to their own spirituality and to others' spirituality.
The 5 items are: Kesh (uncut hair), Kanga (small comb), Kara (circular bracelet), Kirpan (small sword) and Kacha (long underwear).
Sikhs around the world
A Sikh known as Yogi Bhajan brought the Sikh way of life to many young people in the Western hemisphere. In addition to Indian-born Sikhs, there are now thousands of individuals of Western origin who were not born as Sikhs, but have embraced the Sikh way of life and live and teach all over the world.
In the late 1970s and 1980s a limited political separatist movement arose in India with the mission to create a separate Sikh state, called Khalistan, in the Punjab area of India and Pakistan.
Currently, there are about 23 million Sikhs in the world, making it the fifth largest religion in the world. Approximately 19 million Sikhs live in India with the majority living in the state of Punjab ('greater Punjab' extends across the India-Pakistan border but few Sikhs remained in Pakistan after partition in 1947). Large populations of Sikhs can be found in the United Kingdom, Canada, and United States. They also comprise a significant minority in Malaysia and Singapore.
Practices in Sikh communities around the world are standard with regard to behaviour in a gurdwara, or the manner of conducting certain ceremonies, but personal lifestyle often varies.
Sikhs and Punjabis
Since Sikhism originated in the Punjab region, most Sikhs trace their roots to that region (though in recent times, with the spread both of Sikhism and Sikhs, one might encounter Sikhs belonging to other geographical locations across the world). With the revisions of the state boundaries in 1966, 65% of the population in the Indian Punjab made up of Sikhs, whereas Sikhs comprise only 2% of the population in India as a whole. Consequently, and also because the Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurmukhi, a script of the Punjabi language, most Sikhs are able to speak, read or write the language, or are at least familiar with it.
The Khalsa
A baptised Sikh becomes a member of the Khalsa or the "Pure Ones". When a Sikh joins the Khalsa, he/she is supposed to have devoted their life to the Guru, and is expected not to desist from sacrificing anything and everything in a struggle for a just and righteous cause.
The word "Khalsa" has two literal meanings. It comes from Persian. One literal meaning is "Pure" and the other meaning is "belonging to the king". When the word "Khalsa" is used for a Sikh, it implies belonging to the King, where the King is God himself. To become a Khalsa, a Sikh must surrender themselves completely to the supreme King or God and obey God's will without question or delay.
See also
An index of the most important pages on Sikhism, can be found at the Sikh pages.
- Amritsar
- Bhagat - Bhagat Farid - Bhagat Kabir ....
- Golden Temple - Gurdwaras in Pakistan
- Interfaith
- List of Sikhs
- Punjabi language - History of the Punjab
- Sardar
- Takhat
External links
External Sikhism Info pages
- [http://www.ikonkar.com Ikonkar Sikhism, One God for All]
- [http://www.sikhgenocide.org Sikh Genocide Project]
- [http://www.sikhcoalition.org The Sikh Coalition]
- [http://www.dashmeshdarbar.org/intro.html INTRODUCTION ABOUT SIKHS]
- [http://www.sabadvartara.org Definitions of Sadh Sant Sateguru Naam Japna, Amritsar, Sarover, Ishnan,and other key topics]
- [http://www.gurugranthsahib.com Shri Guru Granth Sahib] - Complete Audio, Kirtan Videos
- [http://www.khalsacommunityschool.com Learn Sikhism in mainstream School at Ontario, Canada] - Learn Sikhism as part of K12 curriculum
- [http://www.waheguroo.com www.waheguroo.com] - massive Sikh portal to access information or anything Sikhi related
- [http://www.sikhitothemax.com/ SikhitotheMax.com] - The True Guru online!
- [http://www.sikh-history.com/ Sikh-History.com] - An invaluable source of sikh history and discussion forum
- [http://www.bcsikhyouth.com Sikhism] - the Sikh youth of BC
- [http://www.sikhiwiki.org SikhiWiki.org] - Encyclopedia of the Sikhs
- [http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/ SikhPhilosophy.Net] - Redefining Sikh, Sikhi & Sikhism. Learn about Sikh Religion & History.
- [http://www.sikhism.com Sikhism.com] - A great overview of the Sikh faith
- [http://www.sikhmissionarysociety.org Sikh Missionary Society U.K.] - Dedicated to promoting the Sikh Religion, Culture and History. Contains Vast eBook Library.
- [http://www.religionfacts.com/sikhism/index.htm Sikhism] - ReligionFacts.com profile
- [http://www.babanandsinghsahib.org/ Eternal Glory of Baba Nand Singh Ji Maharaj]
- [http://altreligion.about.com/od/sikhsymbols/index.htm Sikh Religious Symbols] - An illustrated Glossary
- [http://www.srigurugranthsahib.org/ Sikhism Thy Name Is Love And Sacrifice]
- [http://www.info-sikh.com/ Info-sikh a wealth of information on Sikhism]
- [http://www.sikhnet.com/ SikhNet]
- [http://www.sikhvideos.org/ Sikh Videos Gurbani Kirtan]
- [http://www.proudtobesikh.com/khalsa/DefaultHome.aspx ProudtobeSikh.com]
- [http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Main&S=y SGGS Translation by SriGranth.org]
- [http://www.sikhifm.com/ Sikhifm.com]
- [http://www.sikhpoint.com/default.php SikhPoint.com]
- [http://allaboutsikhs.com/home.php AllAboutSikhs.com]
- [http://www.sgpc.net/ Sgpc.net]
- [http://www.sikh.net Sikh.net]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4483150.stm BBC News: Sikhs enter Pakistan for pilgrimage]
- [http://www.spinningwheelfestival.com Spinning Wheel Film Festival: A Celebration of Sikh Films]
Kirtan links
Text links
- [http://www.gurugranthsahib.com Shri Guru Granth Sahib Complete Audio, Kirtan Videos]
- [http://www.keertan.net www.keertan.net] - The best Keertan site on the web, Classic and Modern styles
- [http://www.svaudio.org Audio server containing information by topic of key gurbani concepts through kirtan]
- [http://www.sikhnet.com/Gurbani Gurbani from Sikhnet.com]
- [http://www.sikhifm.com/playlistonline.htm Sikhifm.com]
- [http://www.akj.org/skins/default/multimedia.php Akj.org]
- [http://www.gurbani.org/kirtan.htm Gurbani.org]
- [http://www.sikhvideos.org/by-titles.htm SikhVideos.org]
- [http://www.ikirtan.com/ Kirtan]
- [http://www.gurdwaraindia.com/shabad.htm gurdwaraIndia.com]
- [http://www.sikh.net/Hukam/ Live Kirtan from Harmandir Sahib by Sikh.net]
- [http://www.proudtobesikh.com/khalsa/SharedFiles/linktracker.aspx?name=PTBSClassicalShabadKirtanII Kirtan @ ProudtobeSikh.com]
- [http://networks.ecse.rpi.edu/~hema/kirtan.html Bhai Harjinder Singh]
- [http://www.sikhwomen.com/sikhism/culture_arts/kathainenglish.htm SikhWomen.com]
- [http://www.india4world.com/Indian-religion/religion-sikhism/kirtan.shtml Information from India4World.com]
- [http://www.gssagurdwara.org/kirtan.html Bhai Amrik Singh Zakhmi]
- [http://www.simplegurbani.com Translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in simple english]
Audio links
1. Japji Sahib
- [http://www.gurugranthsahib.com Complete Nitnem in Audio]
- JapjiSahib.mp3 - Download 1.826M or Play 15.34 min
- [http://www.punjabonline.com/sikhism/japtr_fr.html Written text of Japji Sahib]
- [http://www.sikhnet.com/Sikhnet/Music.nsf/0/3d08ba69786458498725695b007bc843?OpenDocument Audio of Japji Sahib]
2. Jaap Sahib
- JaapSahib.mp3 - Download 1.028M or Play 17.32 min
- [http://www.gobindsadan.org/jaapsahib/english/index.shtml English Translation of Jaap Sahib]
3. Anand Sahib
- [http://allaboutsikhs.com/prayers/anand/and-01.htm Link to Anand Sahib]
- AnandSahib.mp3 - Download 1.951M or Play 13.18 min
4. Rehras Sahib
- RehrasSahib.mp3 - Download 1.977M & Play 16.51 min
5. Kirtan Sohila
- KirtanSohila.mp3 - Download 1.283M & Play 3.38min
- [http://sikhs.org/transl6.htm English Translation of Kirtan Sohila]
6. Tav-Prasad Savaiye
- [http://sikhs.org/transl3.htm Tav-Prasad Savaiye - English Translation]
7. Chaupai
- Kabiobach Bainti Chaupai.mp3 - Download 1.55 Mbyte or Play 4 min 24 seconds
- [http://www.sikhnet.com/sikhnet/music.nsf/0/5e48e364c9cb9a2187256aa80066625b?Open Audio by Sikhnet.com]
Sikh Communities Around the World
- [http://sikhsewa.blogspot.com/ Espanola Sikhs (New Mexico)]
- [http://www.snsm.org.my/ Malaysia Sikhs]
- [http://www.bcsikhyouth.com/nagar-keertans-in-british-columbia.html Surrey Sikhs]
- [http://www.bcsikhyouth.com/2005/11/sikhs-in-vancouver-discussion.html Vancouver Sikhs]
- [http://www.bcsikhyouth.com/nagar-keertans-in-british-columbia.html Abbotsford Sikhs]
- [http://www.ontariosikhyouth.ca Toronto Sikhs]
- [http://www.ontariosikhyouth.ca Ontario Sikhs]
- [http://www.ottawasikhyouth.com Ottawa Sikhs]
- [http://www.sikh.com.au/inaus Australia Sikhs]
- [http://www.covkhalsa.co.uk Coventry Sikhs (UK)]
Category:Eastern culture
Category:Religious faiths, traditions, and movements
ja:シク教
India
The Republic of India is a country in South Asia which comprises of the majority of the Indian subcontinent. India has a coastline which stretches over seven thousand kilometres, and shares its borders with Pakistan to the west, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh and Myanmar on the east. On the Indian Ocean, it is adjacent to the island nations of the Maldives on the southwest, Sri Lanka on the south, and Indonesia on the southeast. India also claims a border with Afghanistan to the northwest.
India is the fourth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. It is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of over one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. It is home to some of the most ancient civilizations, and a centre of important historic trade routes. Four major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism have originated from India. Formerly a major part of the British Empire as the British Raj before gaining independence in 1947, during the past twenty years the country has grown significantly, especially in its economic and military spheres, regionally as well as globally.
The name India , is derived from the Old Persian version of Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the river Indus; see Origin of India's name. The Constitution of India and general usage also recognises Bharat ( ), which is derived from the Sanskrit name of an ancient Hindu king, whose story is to be found in the Mahabharata, as an official name of equal status. A third name, Hindustan ( ) , or Land of the Hindus in Persian, has been used since the twelfth century, though its contemporary use is unevenly applied due to domestic disputes over its representiveness as a national signifier.
History
Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago and developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which peaked between 2600 BC and 1900 BC. It was followed by the Vedic Civilisation. From around 550 BC onwards, many independent kingdoms came into being. In the north, the Maurya dynasty, which included Ashoka, contributed greatly to India's cultural landscape. From 180 BC, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed, with the successive establishment in the northern Indian Subcontinent of the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian kingdoms, and finally the Kushan Empire. From the 3rd century AD onwards the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's "Golden Age".
Gupta dynasty built by emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC]]
In the south, several dynasties including the Chalukyas, Cheras, Cholas, Kadambas, Pallavas and Pandyas prevailed during different periods. Science, art, literature, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, religion and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings. Following the Islamic invasions in the beginning of the second millennium, much of north and central India came to be ruled by the Delhi Sultanate, and later, much of the entire subcontinent by the Mughal dynasty. Nevertheless, several indigenous kingdoms remained or rose to power, especially in the relatively sheltered south. Vijayanagara Empire was notable among such kingdoms.
During the middle of the second millennium, several European countries, including the Portuguese, Dutch, French and British, who were initially interested in trade with India, took advantage of fractured kingdoms fighting each other to establish colonies in the country. After a failed insurrection in 1857 against the British East India Company, popularly known in India as the First War of Indian Independence and most commonly known in the West as the Indian Mutiny, most of India came under the direct administrative control of the crown of the British Empire.
British Empire, Orissa built in the 13th century, is one of the most famous monuments of stone sculpture in the world.]]
sculpture in the 10th century AD.]]
In the early part of the 20th century, a prolonged and largely non-violent struggle for independence, the Indian independence movement, followed, to be eventually led by Mahatma Gandhi, regarded officially as the Father Of The Nation. The culmination of this path-breaking struggle was reached on 1947-08-15 when India gained full independence from British rule, later becoming a republic on 1950-01-26.
As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, India has had its share of sectarian violence and insurgencies in different parts of the country. Nonetheless, it has held itself together as a secular, liberal democracy barring a brief period from 1975 to 1977 during which the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a "state of emergency" with the suspension of civil rights. India has unresolved border disputes with China, which escalated into a brief war in 1962, and Pakistan which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, and 1971, and a border altercation in the northern state of Kashmir in 1999. India was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations. In 1974, India conducted an underground nuclear test, making it an unofficial member of the "nuclear club", which was followed up with a series of five more tests in 1998. Significant economic reforms beginning in 1991 have transformed India into one of the fastest growing economies in the world and added to its global clout.
Government
The Constitution of India states India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India is a federal republic, with a bicameral parliament operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system. It has a three branch system of governance consisting of the legislature, executive and judiciary.
The President, who is the head of state, has a largely ceremonial role. His roles include interpreting the constitution, signing laws into action, and issuing pardons. He is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President and Vice-President are elected indirectly by an electoral college for five-year terms. The Prime Minister is the head of government and most executive powers are vested in this office. He (or she) is elected by legislators of the political party, or coalition, commanding a parliamentary majority, and serves a five-year term incumbent upon enjoying this majority. The constitution does not provide for a post of Deputy Prime Minister, but this option has been exercised from time to time.
The legislature of India is the bicameral Parliament which consists of the upper house known as the Rajya Sabha, or Council of States, the lower house known as the Lok Sabha, or House of the People, and the President. The 245-member Rajya Sabha is chosen indirectly through an electoral college and has a staggered six year term. The 545-member Lok Sabha is directly elected for a five year term, and is the determinative constituent of political power and government formation. All Indian citizens above the age of eighteen are eligible to vote.
The executive arm consists of the President, Vice-President and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet) headed by the Prime Minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of either house of parliament. In India's parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature.
India's independent judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court has both original jurisdiction over disputes between states and the Centre, and appellate jurisdiction over the High Courts of India. There are eighteen appellate High Courts, having jurisdiction over a large state or a group of states. Each of these states has a tiered system of lower courts. A conflict between the legislature and the judiciary is referred to the President.
Politics
Chief Justice of India
For most of its independent history, India's national government has been controlled by the Indian National Congress Party. Following its position as the largest political organisation in pre-independence India, Congress, usually led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, dominated national politics for over forty years. In 1977, a united opposition, under the banner of the Janata Party, won the election and formed a non-Congress government for a short period after the unpopular 'emergency rule' imposed by Indira Gandhi in the previous Congress regime. In 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a political party with a right wing nationalist ideology, became the largest single party, and established for the first time a serious opposition to the largely centre-left Congress. But power was held by two successive coalition governments, who stayed on with the support of the Congress. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) along with smaller parties and became the first non-Congress government to sustain the full five year term after it returned to power in 1999. The decade prior to 1999 was marked by short-lasting governments, with seven separate governments formed within that period. One however, a Congress government formed in 1991, lasted the full five years and initiated significant economic reforms.
In the 2004 Indian elections the Congress party returned to power after winning the largest number of seats, by a narrow margin. Congress formed a government in alliance with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and with several mostly-regional parties called the United Progressive Alliance. The NDA, led by the BJP, currently forms the main opposition. All governments formed since 1996 have required party coalitions, with no single majority party, due to the steady rise of regional parties at the national level.
States and union territories
India is divided into twenty-eight states (which are further subdivided into districts), six Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. States have their own elected government, whereas Union Territories are governed by an administrator appointed by the union government, though some have elected governments.
India has had two scientific bases in Antarctica – the Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri, but has made no territorial claims so far.
Geography
Maitri in the north to Arunachal Pradesh in the far east making up most of India's eastern borders]]
India's entire north and northeast states are made up of the Himalayan Range. The rest of northern, central and eastern India consists of the fertile Indo-Gangetic plain. Towards western India, bordering southeast Pakistan, lies the Thar Desert. The southern Indian peninsula is almost entirely composed of the Deccan plateau. The plateau is flanked by two hilly coastal ranges, the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats.
India is home to several major rivers such as the Ganga (Ganges), the Brahmaputra, the Yamuna, the Godavari, and the Krishna. The rivers are responsible for the fertile plains in northern India which are conducive to farming.
The Indian climate varies from a tropical climate in the south to a more temperate climate in the north. Parts of India which lie in the Himalaya have a tundra climate. India gets most of its rains through the monsoons.
Economy
monsoon
India has an economy ranked as the tenth largest in the world in terms of currency conversion and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity. It recorded one of the fastest annual growth rates of 6.9% for the year ending March 2005. India's per-capita income by purchasing power parity is US$ 3,262, ranked 125th by the World Bank. India's foreign exchange reserves amount to over US$ 143 billion. Mumbai serves as the nation's financial capital and is also home to both the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India and the pre-eminent Bombay Stock Exchange. While a quarter of Indians still live below the poverty line, a large middle class has now emerged along with the rapid growth of the IT industry.
The Indian economy has shed much of its historical dependence on agriculture, which now contributes to less than 25 % of GDP. Other important industries are mining, petroleum, diamond polishing, films, textiles, information technology services, and handicrafts. Most of India's industrial regions are centred around major cities. In recent years, India has emerged as one of the largest players in software and business process outsourcing services, with revenues of US$ 17.2 billion in 2004 to 2005. Many small-scale industries provide steady employment to workers in small towns and villages.
business process outsourcing
While India receives only around three million foreign visitors a year, tourism is still an important but under-developed source of national income. Tourism contributes 5.3 % of India's GDP. The actual employment generation, both direct and indirect, is estimated to be 42 million, or about 10 % of India's work force. In monetary terms, it contributes about US$4 billion in foreign exchange. India's major trading partners are the United States, Japan, China and the United Arab Emirates.
India's main exports items include agricultural products, textile goods, gems and jewellry, software services and technology, engineering goods, chemicals and leather products while its main import commodities are crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, chemicals. For the year 2004, India's total exports stood at US$ 69.18 billion while the imports were worth at US $89.33 billion.
Demographics
India is the second most populous country in the world, with only China having a larger population. By 2030, India is expected to surpass China with the world's largest population, estimated at 1.6 billion. Language, religion, and caste are major determinants of social and political organisation within the highly diverse Indian population today. Its biggest metropolitan agglomerations are Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Chennai (formerly Madras).
Chennai]]
India's literacy rate is 64.8 % with 53.7 % of females and 75.3 % of males being literate. The sex ratio is 933 females for every 1000 males. Work Participation Rate (WPR) (the percentage of workers to total population) stands at 39.1 % with male WPR at 51.7 % and female WPR at 25.6 % inote|eu{inote|demostats{inote|religion{ref|languages{inote|tongues{see2|Christianity in India|Jews in India{seealso3|List of Indian languages by total speakers|List of cities in India|Religion in India{main|Culture of India{seealso4|List of World Heritage sites in India|Indian architecture|Indian family name|Cuisine of India{main|Sports in India{main|Holidays in India{Official Holidays of India{Topics related to India{portal{sisterlinks|India{wikitravel{wikicities|india|India{explain-inote{Web reference | title=India facts and figures | work=Embassy of India| URL= http://www.indianembassy.org/dydemo/indiaprofile/profile.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Forex reserves up by $1bn | work=Economic Times| URL= http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1093864.cms | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= India Economy | work=Travel Document Systems |URL= http://www.traveldocs.com/in/economy.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Services | work=India in Business| URL= http://www.indiainbusiness.nic.in/india-profile/ser-infotech.htm | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Destination India: An Unpolished Diamond | work=Times of India | URL= http://timesfoundation.indiatimes.com/articleshow/819309.cms | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= US, UAE, UK, China, Japan among India's top trade partners | work=Indian Express| URL= http://www.indianexpress.com/news/business/20050102-0.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= CIA Factbook : India | work=CIA Factbook | URL= http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Provisional Population Totals 2001 Census| work=Census of India| URL=http://www.censusindia.net/results/resultsmain.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Debating India & India's literacy rate | work=Debating India | URL= http://india.eu.org/1963.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= India – Country profiles | work=indexmundi.com | URL= http://www.indexmundi.com/India/ India | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Census of India 2001, Data on Religion | work=Census of India | URL= http://www.censusindia.net/results/religion_main.html | date=August 14 | year=2005{Web reference | title= Languages of India | work=India image | URL= http://indiaimage.nic.in/languages.htm| date=August 14 | year=2005{Book reference | Author=K.M. Matthew | Title=Manorama Yearbook 2003 | Publisher= Malaya Manorama | Year=2003 | ID=ISBN 8190046187{mnb|afgh|1{mnb|LoC|2{South Asia{Asia{Commonwealth of Nations{SAARC{Life in India{Link FA|sv{Link FA|sv
Major world religionsMajor world religions have been distinguished from minor religions using a variety of methods, though any such division naturally reflects a particular bias, since many adherents of a religion are likely to consider their own faith "major". Two methods are mentioned in this article, number of adherents and the definitions used by classical scholars of religions.
For a list of all religions, please see the article list of religions.
For a discussion of the relationships between religions, see Religious pluralism
Defined by population
One way to define a major religion is by the number of current adherents. Population numbers by religion are computed by combination of census reports and population surveys (in countries where religion data is not collected in census, for example USA or France), but results can vary widely depending on the way questions are phrased, the definitions of religion used, and the bias of the agencies or organizations conducting the survey. Informal or unorganized religions are especially difficult to count.
All religions or belief systems by number of adherents
This listing does not draw distinctions between organized religion, which has a single belief code and religious hierarchies, and informal religions, such as Chinese traditional religions, which are a mix of different folk religious ideas.
# Christianity 2.1 billion
#
- Roman Catholicism: 1.1 billion
#
- Protestantism: 350 million
#
- Eastern Orthodoxy: 240 million
#
- Anglican: 84 million
#
- Oriental Orthodoxy, Assyrians, and other Christians: 350 million
# Islam 1.3 billion
#
- Sunnism: 940 million
#
- Shi'ism 170 million
# Secular/Irreligious/Agnostic/Atheist 1.1 billion
# Hinduism 900 million
# Chinese traditional religion 394 million
#
- Not a single organized religion, includes elements of Taoism, Chinese folk religion, and traditional nonscriptural religious observance.
# Buddhism 376 million (see also buddhism by country)
#
- Mahayana: 185 million
#
- Theravada: 124 million
# Primal indigenous 300 million
#
- Not a single organized religion, includes a wide range of primarily Asian traditional or tribal religions, including Shamanism and Paganism.
# African traditional and diasporic 100 million
#
- Not a single organized religion, this includes traditional African beliefs such as Yoruba as well as diasporic beliefs such as Santeria (which itself draws from Catholicism) and Vodoun.
# Sikhism 23 million
# Juche 19 million
#
- Not considered a religion by adherents, who view it as secular and anti-revisionist. Juche is the political ideology of the Workers Party of Korea, the ruling party of the DPRK; some have argued it constitutes a religion due to its Great Leader Worship characteristics. The number is approximately the entire population of the country.
# Spiritism 15 million
#
- Not a single organized religion, includes a variety of beliefs including some forms of Umbanda.
# Judaism 14 million
# Bahá'í Faith 7 million
# Jainism 4.2 million
# Shinto 4 million
# Cao Dai 4 million
# Zoroastrianism 2.6 million
# Tenrikyo 2 million
# Neopaganism 1 million
# Unitarian Universalism 800,000
# Rastafari movement 600,000
#
- Not a single organized religion.
- Source of statistics: [http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html adherents.com], updated 2005. These statistics are based on analysis of a range of sources on religious populations, for more on the methodology, please see [http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Specific Adherent.com's explanation].
Organized religions by population ranking
The Christian Science Monitor used a separate standard, examining only organized religions. The newspaper listed the following in 1998 as the "Top 10 Organized Religions in the World" based on descending level of population:
#Christianity
#Islam
#Hinduism
#Buddhism
#Sikhism
#Judaism
#Bahá'í Faith
#Confucianism
#Jainism
#Shintoism
Historic "classic" view
Major religions have also been identified based on their perceived importance, whether theological or temporal. This sorting has been generally been the preserve of Western, Christian scholars, so lists of classic major religions betray this bias. Early Christian scholars, the earliest known classifiers of major religions, recognized only three religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Paganism (which they considered to encompass every other religion). Views evolved during the enlightenment, however, and, by the 19th century, Western scholars considered the five major religions to be Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. As the exposure of Westerners to other religions increased, five other religions were added to the original five: Confucianism, Taoism, Jainism, Shinto and Zoroastrianism. Later, the Bahá'í Faith was added to this list, resulting in eleven classic religions:
- Bahá'í Faith
- Buddhism
- Christianity
- Confucianism
- Hinduism
- Islam
- Jainism
- Judaism
- Shinto
- Taoism
- Zoroastrianism
Modern Western definitions of major religion come from the classical definition, often expanding on "Christianity," and omitting Jainism and Zoroastrianism. An example is this list found in the New York Public Library Student Reference:
- Bahá'í Faith
- Buddhism
- Confucianism
- Hinduism
- Islam
- Judaism
- Orthodox Eastern Church
- Protestantism
- Catholicism
- Shinto
- Taoism
References
- [http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html A discussion on definitions of major religions]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/ BBC Listing of Major Religions]
See also: Religions of the world, Religious_pluralism.
Category:Religious faiths, traditions, and movements
ko:세계의 주요 종교
simple:Major world religions
Pāli
: For the town and district in Rajasthan, see Pali, Rajasthan
: For the Ganapati temple of pali and place in Maharastra, see Ballaleshwar Pali
Pāli (Devanagari पालि) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. It is most famous as the language in which the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism (also known as the Pāli Canon or in Pāli the Tipitaka) were written down in Sri Lanka in the 1st century BCE. Pāli has been written in a variety of scripts, from Brahmi, Devanagari and other Indic scripts through to a romanised (western) form devised by T. W. Rhys Davids of the Pali Text Society.
Language origins and development
The word Pāli itself signifies "line" or "(canonical) text", and this name for the language seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions, wherein the "Pāli" (in the sense of the line of original text quoted) was distinguished from the commentary or the vernacular following after it on the Manuscript page. As such, the name of the language has caused some debate among scholars of all ages; the spelling of the name also varies, being found with both long "ā" and short "a", and also with either a retroflex or non-retroflex "l" sound. To this day, there is no single, standard spelling of the term; all four spellings can be found in textbooks.
Pāli is a literary language of the Prakrit language family; it is not now (and never was) an informal, spoken language, in the sense of a mother tongue. Like the majority of prose and poetic traditions of classical India, Prakrits are artifical languages, further removed from daily speech than Shakespeare's English was removed from the vernacular of his contemporary England. Despite excellent scholarship on this problem, there is persistent confusion as to the inter-relation of Pali to the vernacular of ancient Magadhi.
Pāli was considered by early Buddhists to be linguistically similar to old Magadhi or even a direct continuation of that language. Many Theravada sources refer to the Pāli language as 'Magadhan' or the 'language of Magadhi'. However, Magadhi is an Eastern Indian language whereas Pāli most closely resembles Western Indian inscriptions. Oskar von Hinuber has speculated that Pāli may have originated as a form of lingua franca or trade language used at the time of the Ashokan Empire. By the time of the spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka (by missionaries sent by King Ashoka, according to Buddhist sources), Pāli was a significant enough literary language that it had already been used to record the complete Tipitaka. After the Pali Canon was transmitted to Sri Lanka, it continued to be preserved entirely in Pāli, while the commentarial tradition that accompanied it (according to the information provided by Buddhaghosa) was translated into Sinhalese and preserved in local languages for several generations.
In mainland India, but ultimately it was supplanted by Sanskrit as a literary and religious language following the formulation of Classical Sanskrit by the scholar Panini. In Sri Lanka, Pāli is thought to have entered into a period of decline around the 5th Century (as Sanskrit rose in prominance), but ultimately survived. The work of Buddhaghosa was largely responsible for its reemergence as an important scholarly language in Buddhist thought. The Visuddhimagga and the other commentaries that Buddhaghosa compiled codified and condensed the Sinhalese commentarial tradition that had been preserved and expanded in Sri Lanka since the 3rd Century.
Today Pāli is studied mainly to gain access to Buddhist scriptures, and is frequently chanted in a ritual context. The secular literature of Pāli historical chronicals, medical texts, and inscriptions, is also of great historical importance. The great centers of Pali learning remain in the Theravada nations of South-East Asia: Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Pāli scholarship in Northern India generally ended with the rise of the Sena dynasty, with an uncertain process of decline in peninsular India, perhaps lasting the longest in Orissa, i.e., eventually ending (along with Buddhist practice itself) with the fall of the last resistance to the expanding Muslim empires on the subcontinent. Since the 19th century, various societies for the revival of Pāli studies in India have promoted awareness of the language and its literature, perhaps most notably the Maha Bodhi Society founded by Anagarika Dhammapala.
In Europe, the Pali Text Society has been a major force in promoting the study of Pāli by Western scholars since its founding in 1881. Based in the United Kingdom, the society publishes romanised Pāli editions, along with many English translations of these sources. The Pali Text Society was in part founded to compensate for the very low level of funds allocated to Indology in late 19th century England; incongruously, the English were not nearly so robust in Sanskrit and Prakrit language studies as Germany, Russia and even Denmark --a situation that many would say continues to this day. Without the inspiration of colonial holdings such as the former British occupation of Sri Lanka and Burma, institutions such as the Danish Royal Library have built up major collections of Pāli manuscripts, and major traditions of Pāli studies.
Lexicon
Pāli shares common etymologies for virtually every word in the language with the other Prakritic "Middle Indo-European Languages", e.g., the Jain Prakrits. The relationship to earlier Sanskrit (e.g., Vedic language) is less direct and more complicated; the Pāli language's resemblance to Sanskrit is often exaggerated by comparing it to more recent Sanskrit poetry --i.e., the latter being influenced by Pāli and centuries of other Middle-Indo-European language development. Historically, influence between Pāli and Sanskrit has been felt in both directions. This is demonstrably true (e.g.) in the instance of Ashvaghosa, a Pāli-educated Buddhist monk, who became the first author of the Sanskrit kavya genre of poetry, highly influential on Sanskrit poetics thereafter. Likewise, in Sanskrit philosophy, post-Buddhist schools such as Shankara's Vedanta have been directly influenced both by Buddhist Philosophy and argumentation, with concomitant effects in the use of the language itself.
Post-Canonical Pāli demonstrates some direct adoptions of technical vocabulary from Sanskrit, and a few loan-words from local languages where Pāli was used (e.g. Sri Lankans adding Sinhalese words to Pāli). These usages differentiate the Pāli found in the Suttapitaka from later compositions such as the commentaries and folklore Jataka, and comparative study (and dating) of texts on the basis of such loan-words is now a specialized trade unto itself.
The fact that Pāli was not exclusively used to convey the teachings of the Buddha is demonstrable from the existence of a number of secular texts, such as books of medical science/instruction. However, western scholarly interest in the language has been (for obvious reasons) focused upon religious and philosophical literature.
Within the context of religious writings, similar-sounding words to those found in Sanskrit can have significantly different meanings than those of Pāli. The active re-definition and re-invention of the religious meanings assigned to certain key terms (such as dharma/dhamma) was an active aspect of philosophic debate for many centuries, and the Buddhist, Jains, and various schools of Hinduism all had competitive notions of the value and significance of these terms.
The philosophy of early Mahayana Buddhism found in Sanskrit and the Buddhism recorded in Pāli are, in many respects, mutually opposed; however, historical sources indicate that these were not the only schools, nor the only languages, that participated in the debates within the Buddhist fold. There is no extant Buddhist literature of the Prakrit language Paisaci, but this and other languages were associated with particular philosophical approaches to Buddhist doctrine (and particular sectarian affiliations) in recorded history.
Needless to say, there is a still further gulf between the philosophy of early Buddhism and contemporaneous Brahmanical thought of the Middle Indic period, including beliefs about the respective sacred languages themselves. While Sanskrit words were thought to inhere as a part of the thing they described, Pāli words were thought to have only conventional significance. Sanskrit, Pāli, and the Jain Prakrits, were all represented as the language spoken by the gods in the popular literature of the respective religions, and various claims as to the supernatural origins or supernatural efficacy were assigned to these languages by their proponents. Unto this day, it is believed in many Theravada cultures that taking a vow in Pāli has a special significance, and, as one example of the supernatural power assigned to chanting in the language, the recitation of the vows of Angulimala are believed to alleviate the pain of Childbirth in Sri Lanka. In Thailand, the chanting of a portion of the Abhidhammapitaka is believed to be beneficial to the recently departed, and this ceremony routinely occupies as much as seven working days. Interestingly, there is nothing in the latter text that relates to this subject, and the origins of the custom are unclear.
Example of Pāli with English translation
:Manopubbangamā dhammā, manosetthā manomayā;
:Manasā ce padutthena, bhāsati vā karoti vā,
:Tato nam dukkhamanveti, cakkam'va vahato padam.
:Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
:If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him
:like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
::: Translated by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Pali Alphabets (Unicode)
Historically, the first written record of the Pāli canon is believed to have been composed in Sri Lanka, based on a prior oral tradition. The transmission of written Pāli has retained a universal system of alphabetic values, but has expressed those values in a stunning variety of actual scripts. This is confusing to many westerners, who tend to assume that one script is ineluctably tied to one set of phonemes.
Early Pāli inscriptions made during the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka were composed in the Ashokan Brahmi script; in Sri Lanka, Pāli texts were recorded in Sinhala script. Other local scripts (most prominently Burmese and Thai) have been used to record Pāli, and a standardized system of romanization was introduced in the 19th Century to permit Westerners to study Pali with greater ease. In modern times, Pāli texts have also been reproduced in the Devanagari and Mongolian scripts to permit wider study.
You can take in a range of seven alphabetic systems traditionally used to render Pali [http://pratyeka.org/narada/pali_alphabets.pdf here], or comprare the following grid of Romanized phonetic to the corresponding alphabetic grids of the [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/burmese.htm Burmese], [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/sinhala.htm Sinhalese], [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/khmer.htm Cambodian], and other writing systems used to express the Pāli language.
- a ā i ī u ū e o
- k kh g gh ṅ
- c ch j jh ñ
- ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ
- t th d dh n
- y r l v s h ḷ
- p ph b bh m
- ṃ
Pali text in ASCII
The Velthuis scheme was originally developed in 1991 by Frans Velthuis for use with his "devnag" Devanagari font, designed for the TEX typesetting system. This system of representing Pali diacritical marks has been used in some websites and discussion lists:
- Long vowels are doubled: aa, ii, uu .
- Other diacritics precede the letters marked by them, so:
- semi-vowels: .r .l
- retroflex consonants: .t .th .d .dh .n
- retroflex sibilant: .s
- palatal sibilant: "s
- palatal nasal: ~n
- guttural nasal: "n
- niggahita (pure nasal): .m
- visarga: .h
Setting up a font for Pali transliteration in Windows
This is one way to set it up. The TrueType font [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullitt/learningpali.html#how Normyn.ttf] is available for download on the web. Extract the files from the ZIP file to a chosen folder, then go to Start→Settings→Control Panel and open the Fonts folder. Click on File→"Install New Font...". The Add Fonts dialog box pops up. In the Folders list box find and select the chosen folder, then select "Normyn (TrueType)" in the "List of fonts" list box, then click OK.
After the font has been set up, go to a wordprocessor such as Microsoft Word to set up the shortcut keys for the characters with diacritical marks in the Normyn font. In the case of Word, select the Normyn font in the font combo box, then go to menu item Insert→Symbol. The Symbol dialog box pops up. Under the Symbols tab, select Normyn in the Font combo box: under it should be a grid of characters.
For each desired character in the grid, select it by clicking on it, then click on the "Shortcut Key..." command button: the Customize Keyboard dialog box pops up. Pressing the desired shortcut key combination makes it show up in the "Press new shortcut key:" text box. Click the "Assign" command button, then click on "Close" and repeat this for each desired character. When done, close the Symbol dialog box.
The following is an example of a set of shortcut key assignments:
References
See entries for "Pali" (written by scholar K.R. Norman of the Pali Text Society) and "India--Buddhism" in The Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion, (Sawyer ed.) ISBN 0080431674
The standard text for studying Pali in the English-speaking world remains A.K. Warder's Introduction to Pali, published by the Pali Text Society. (3rd ed. published 1991, ISBN 0860131971). Some students find Warder to be too complex for individuals with limited linguistic background. Lily de Silva's Pali Primer is often recommended as a more gentle introduction to the language (1st ed. published by Vipassana Research Institute Publications, 1994, ISBN 817414014X)
See also
- International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration
External links
- [http://www.palitext.com/ Pali Text Society]
- [http://www.pratyeka.org/narada/ A basic Pali language textbook (free) in Unicode PDF format]
- [http://www.pratyeka.org/pali/ Resources for reading & writing Pali in indigenous scripts: Burmese, Sri Lankan, & Cambodian]
- [http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/index.php?showforum=50 Pali Discussion Forum]
- [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/ Pali-English dictionary]
- [http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/ Complete Pali Canon in romanized Pali and Sinhala, mostly also in English translation]
- [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/index.html Pali Canon selection]
- [http://accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullitt/learningpali.html A guide to learning the Pali language]
- [http://www.vri.dhamma.org/publications/pali/primer/ "Pali Primer" by Lily De Silva (requires installation of special fonts)]
- [http://www.saigon.com/~anson/uni/u-palicb/e00.htm "Pali Primer" by Lily De Silva (UTF-8 encoded)]
- [http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/ele_pali.pdf Free/Public-Domain Elementary Pali Course--PDF format]
- [http://www.orunla.org/tm/pali/htpali/pcourse.html Free/Public-Domain Pali Course--html format]
- [http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/paligram.pdf Free/Public-Domain Pali Grammar (in PDF file)]
- [http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/palidict.pdf Free/Public-Domain Pali Buddhist Dictionary (in PDF file)]
- [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pali Yahoo discussion group on Pali]
- [http://ca.geocities.com/palistudy/ Geocities discussion group on Pali (homepage)]
- [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page:Pali Comprehensive list of pali texts on Wikisource]
- [http://www.metta.lk/pali-utils/Pali-Proper-Names/index.html Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names], html version of the book by G.P. Malalasekera, 1937-8
- [http://www.ohbliss.org/v1/study_pali/type_pali.html How to Type Pali]
Category:Pali
Category:Buddhism
Category:Theravada Buddhism
Category:Indo-Aryan languages
Category:Languages of Sri Lanka
ja:パーリ語
th:ภาษาบาลี
GoDGates of Discord (GoD, GOD, Gates, or simply the Gates expansion) is the seventh expansion released for EverQuest — a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The expansion focused on high-level content, providing a number of zones meant to be used by large groups of players, and many extremely powerful monsters to fight.
EverQuest: Gates of Discord
MMORPG
General information
The expansion takes place on the continent of Taelosia and introduced the Muramites, as well as the berserker character class. It features 18 zones, including many instances. It has 9 single-group instanced trials, 8 uninstanced exp zones, and 9 raid zones/instances.
Controversy
Many players and reviewers were dissatisfied by the Gates of Discord expansion; some claimed it was thus far the worst EverQuest expansion, or at least the worst since The Shadows of Luclin. Gamers perceived Gates of Discord as an unfinished product and criticized Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). The main issues were with the rushed release that had some unbeatable content, and problems with the graphics engine which was updated at the same period.
Several "uberguilds" (highly powerful and influential groups of players), including Fires of Heaven, Afterlife, and Keepers of the Faith, departed from EverQuest around this time. Many of these players acted as beta testers for World of Warcraft, which was in development for release later in the year. Although by Spring of 2005 several returned, disatisfied with WoW's gameplay.
In response to the overwhelming exile of players and the players' criticism towards the expansion, SOE organized a summit in the summer of 2004 to hear the main concerns of the playerbase towards Gates of Discord and EverQuest in general. The summit's guests included a handful of players from guild leaders and fan websites, among them Woody Hearn of [http://www.gucomics.com/ GU Comics].
Zones
- Abysmal Sea - location of The Queen of Thorns which serves as a city
- Barindu - The Hanging Gardens
- Ferubi - Forgotten Temple of Taelosia
- Kod'Taz - Broken Trial Grounds
- Natimbi - The Broken Shores
- Nedaria's Landing
- Qinimi - Court of Nihilia
- Qvic - Prayer Grounds of Calling
- Riwwi - Coliseum of Games
- Txevu - Lair of the Elites
- Yxtta - Pulpit of Exiles
Instanced zones
- Ikkinz - Antechamber of Destruction
- Inktu'ta, the Unmasked Chapel
- Sewers of Nihilia - Emanating Crematory
- Sewers of Nihilia - Lair of Trapped Ones
- Sewers of Nihilia - Pool of Sludge
- Sewers of Nihilia - Purifying Plant
- Tacvi, Seat of the Slaver
- Tipt - The Treacherous Crags
- Uqua - the Ocean God Chantry
- Vxed - The Crumbling Caverns
Category: 2004 computer and video games
Category:EverQuest games and expansions
Category: Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Category: PC games
The Sikh GurusSikhism was established by ten Gurus, teachers or masters, over the period 1469 to 1708. These teachers, believed to be sent from God for the troubled people of the land, were enlightened souls whose main purpose in life was the spiritual and moral well-being of the masses, or the equivalent of Prophets & Messiahs of the other major respective monotheist religions. Each master added to and reinforced the message taught by the previous, resulting to the creation of the religion of Sikhism. Guru Nanak was the first Guru and Guru Gobind Singh the final Guru in human form. When Guru Gobind Singh left this world, he made the Guru Granth Sahib the ultimate and final Sikh Guru.
The Ten Gurus of Sikhism
In addition to the Ten Gurus of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib was made the eleventh perpetual guru of Sikhs. Together they make up the Eleven Gurus of Sikhism.
See also
- Khalsa Panth
Category:Sikhism
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji () — Granth is Punjabi for book; Sahib is Hindi meaning master, from Arabic, meaning companion, friend, owner, or master — is more than a holy book of the Sikhs. The Sikhs treat this Granth (holy book) as a living Guru. The holy text spans 1430 pages and contains the actual words spoken by the founders of the Sikh religion and various other Saints from other religions including Hinduism and Islam.
The Adi Granth is often — incorrectly — used to refer to the Guru Granth Sahib. The Adi Granth only forms the portion of the Guru Granth Sahib which Guru Arjan compiled in 1604.
The Granth was made a guru by the last of the living Sikh Masters, Guru Gobind Singh in 1708. Guru Gobind Singh said before his demise that the Sikhs were to treat the Granth as their next Guru:
:Punjabi: ਸੱਬ ਸਿੱਖਣ ਕੋ ਹੁਕਮ ਹੈ ਗੁਰੂ ਮਾਨਯੋ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ
:Transliteration: Sab sikhan kō hukam hai gurū mānyō granth
:English: All Sikhs are commanded to take the Granth as Guru
When one visits a Sikh Temple or Gurdwara the Granth forms the main part of the Darbar Sahib or Main Hall. The Holy Book is placed on a dominant platform and covered in very beautiful and attractive coloured fine cloth. The platform is always covered by a canopy, which is also decorated in expensive and very attractive coloured materials. Although the original text is written in Gurmukhi, it contains many languages including Punjabi, Sanskrit and Persian.
The holy text comprises over 5000 Shabhads or hymns which are poetically constructed; are designed for various different musical Ragas; can be set to predetermined musical Talas (rhythmic beats) and have a definite message for the whole of humanity.
Below an extract from page 15 of Guru Granth Sahib:
:ਨਾਨਕ ਕਾਗਦ ਲਖ ਮਣਾ ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਕੀਚੈ ਭਾਉ ॥
:ਮਸੂ ਤੋਟਿ ਨ ਆਵਈ ਲੇਖਣਿ ਪਉਣੁ ਚਲਾਉ ॥
:ਭੀ ਤੇਰੀ ਕੀਮਤਿ ਨਾ ਪਵੈ ਹਉ ਕੇਵਡੁ ਆਖਾ ਨਾਉ ॥੪॥੨॥
:nānak kāgad lakh manā pari pari kīcai bhā'u
:masū tōti na āva'ī lēkhani pa'unu calā'u
:bhī tērī kīmati nā pavai ha'u kēvadu ākhā nā'u ||4||2||
:O Nanak, if I had hundreds of thousands of stacks of paper, and if I were to read and recite and embrace love for the Lord,
:and if ink were never to fail me, and if my pen were able to move like the wind
:-even so, I could not estimate Your Value. How can I describe the Greatness of Your Name? ||4||2||
Tala. ]]
This is what Max Arthur Macauliffe wrote about the authenticity of the Guru's teaching:
:The Sikh religion differs as regards the authenticity of its dogmas from most other theological systems. Many of the great teachers the world has known, have not left a line of their own composition and we only know what they taught through tradition or second-hand information. If Pythagoras wrote of his tenets, his writings have not descended to us. We know the teachings of Socrates only through the writings of Plato and Xenophanes. Buddha has left no written memorial of his teaching. Kungfu-tze, known to Europeans as Confuscius, left no documents in which he detailed the principles of his moral and social system. The founder of Christianity did not reduce his doctrines to writing and for them we are obliged to trust to the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Arabian Prophet did not himself reduce to writing the chapters of the Quran. They were written or compiled by his adherents and followers. But the compositions of the Sikh Gurus are persevered and we know at first hand what they taught.
External links
- [http://www.srigurugranthsahib.org/quotes/ Quotations about Sri Guru Granth Sahib ]
- [http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Page&Param=1Sr Guru Granth Sahib with or without translation option in English or Panjabi]
- [http://www.gurugranthsahib.com Shri Guru Granth Sahib Complete Audio]
- [http://www.srigurugranthsahib.org Sri Guru Granth Sahib ]
- [http://www.sikhnet.com/s/GuruGranthSahib Read and Download the Siri Guru Granth Sahib ]
- [http://www.sikhvideos.org/sri-guru-granth-sahib.htm Video about Sri Guru Granth Sahib ]
- [http://www.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=46349&cat=India "400th anniversary of installation of Adi Granth"] - article on webindia123.com dated August 25, 2004
- [http://www.sacred-texts.com/skh/granth/index.htm Shri Guru Granth Sahib] - online text of the Guru Granth Sahib at sacred-texts.com
- [http://www.sikhlionz.com./guruz.htm Explanation of the Sikh Gurus ]
- [http://www.sikhlionz.com/bhagatz.htm Information on the contribution of Bhagats of many faiths to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji ]
- [http://www.info-sikh.com - A wealth of information about Guru Granth Sahib Ji and Sikhism ]
- [http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/quotations/ Quotations from Guru Granth Sahib ]
- [http://www.bcsikhyouth.com Sikhism] - the Sikh Youth of BC
- [http://www.thesikhway.com Sikh Education Council] - Organisation with restoration projects of old birs with the British Library
Category:Religious texts
Category:Sikhism
Category:Sikh scripture
Category:Sikh gurus
Sant Mat
The Sant Mat (there is no adequate translation of the expression Sant Mat, literally the 'point of view' of the Sants) was a losely associated group of teachers that assumed prominence in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent from about the 13th century. Their teachings are distinguished theologically by inward loving devotion to a divine principle, and socially by an egalitarianism opposed to the qualitative distinctions of the Hindu caste hierarchy and to the religious differences between Hindu and Muslim .
The "Sant" term is derived from theSanskrit sat (सद) (truth, reality) has overlapping usages, its root meaning being "one who knows the truth" or "one who has experienced Ultimate Reality". It differs from the false cognate "Saint" as it is often translated. The term Sant has taken on the more general ethical meaning of of "good person", but is assigned specifically to the poet-saints of medieval India.
The Sant Mat movement, that was not homogenous, consisted mostly of these Sant's presentation of socio-religious attitudes based on bhakti (devotion) as described a thousand years early in the Bhagavad Gita .
The boundaries of the movement were likely not sectarian and were devoid of Brahmin concepts of caste and liturgy. The poet-saints expressed their teaching in vernacular verse, addressing themselves to the common folk in oral style in Hindi and other dialects such as Marathi. They referred to the "Divine Name" as having saving power, and dismissed the religious rituals as having no value. They presented that true religion was a matter of surrendering to God "who dwells in the heart" .
Some of these Sants, came from low castes, some of them were women and even untouchables (Atishudras). Some of the more notable Sants include Namdev (d.1350), Kabir (d.1518), Nanak (d.1539), Mirabai (d.1545), Surdas (d.1573) and Tulsidas (d.1623) .
The 'tradition of the Sants' (sant parampara) remained non-sectarian, though a number of Sant poets have been considered as the founders of sects, some which may bear their name, but have developed after them by later followers such as Kabir Panth, Dadu Panth, Dariya Panth, Advait Mat, and Radhasoami. Nanak, one of most notable saint-poets, is the first of the ten Gurus of the Sikhs, and considered the founder of the Sikh religion .
Formally, only a small minority of religious Hindus have followed Sant Mat, but the tradition has considerable influenced Hindus across sects and castes. Bhajans (devotional songs) attributed to past Saints such as Mirabai are widely listened to in India and in Hindu communities around the world. The Sant tradition is the only one in medieval and modern India which has successfully crossed some barriers between Hindu and Muslim blocks .
Medieval Sufi poets such as Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, as well as Sindhi poets, are considered to have many similarities with the poet-saints of Sant Mat.
Sant's Poetry
;Poem by Kabir
:Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
:My shoulder is against yours.
:you will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine
:rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
:not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding
:around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but
:vegetables.
:When you really look for me, you will see me
:instantly —
:you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
:Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
:He is the breath inside the breath.
;Poem by Nanak
:If you bestow your glance of grace, through grace we find the Guide [Satguru]
:This soul first passes many births, at last the Guide is heard
:No giver is greater that the Guide, all people make this well
:The Guide once more imparts the Truth, to those who kill the Self
:The Guide who makes us grasp reality.
:Asa ki Var M1 4. AG456
;Poem by Mirabai
:I am true to my Lord,
:O my companions, there is nothing to be ashamed of now
:Since I have been seen dancing openly.
:In the day I have no hunger
:At night I am restless and cannot sleep.
:Leaving these troubles behind, I go to the other side;
:A hidden knowledge has taken hold of me.
:My relations surround me like bees.
:But Mira is the servant of her beloved Giridhar,
:And she cares nothing that people mock her.
See also
- Contemporary Sant Mat movement
- Sikhism
- Surat Shabd
- Hinduism
- Sufism
Sources
# Woodhead, Linda & Fletcher, Paul. Religion in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations' (2001) pp.71-2, Routledge (UK). ISBN 0415217849
# Schomer, Karine, The Sant Tradition in Perspective, in in Sant Mat:Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India in Schomer K. and McLeod W.H. ISBN 0-961-22080-5
# Lipner, Julius J. Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (1994). Routledge (United Kingdom), pp. 120-1 . ISBN 0415051819
# Vaudeville, Charlotte. Sant Mat: Santism as the Universal Path to Sanctity in Sant Mat:Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India in Schomer K. and McLeod W.H. ISBN 0-961-22080-5
# Alsani, Ali. Sindhi Literary Culture, in Pollock, Sheldon I (Ed.) Literary Culture in History (2003), p.637-8, University of California Press, ISBN 0520228219
#Mitchell, Stephen A. The Enlightened Heart (1993) p.72. HarperCollins. ISBN 006092053X
# Taru, Susie. Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present, V : 600 B.C. to the Early Twentieth Century (1992). The Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 1558610278
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Bhakti
Bhakti is a Tamil or Sanskrit term from Hinduism that means intense devotion expressed by action (service). A person who practices bhakti is called bhakta. The concept of devotion is more or less the same in all religions. But in Hinduism there are certain extra subtleties which make it comparatively more complicated. These are : the One Reality versus many ‘Gods’ of worship; deity worship through ‘icons’ and ‘images’; the freedom to choose one’s own ‘favourite deity’, at the same time not being exclusive; and the interactive ramifications of God’s grace, fate and free will. Although some element of Bhakti was present even in the Vedic times, it is over the last six or seven centuries that Bhakti has taken the modern shape. The Bhakti movement started in Tamil Nadu and spread slowly northwards, becoming eventually a pervasive feature of Hinduism. The Alvars and Nayanars initiated the concept of Bhakti as a means of attaining salvation. Bhakti is considered the easiest and the fastest spiritual path in Kali Yuga.
Concept of God
Early stages of man’s introspection revealed the superiority of Nature over him. But in course of time he realised that however deep he penetrated into the complexity of nature there was something deeper than what he knew to be true. Before long he postulated a Supreme Cosmic Power as the motive force behind every expression of Nature. But the concept of God in Hinduism is more complex than this naive conception of a Cosmic Power. The Upanishads take pains to explain how every physical expression amenable to sense perception is nothing but an expression of the divine. The Upanishads declare that there is a substratum of existence behind all the manifest presentations to the mind. This is just like gold being the substratum of existence in all gold ornaments, or the movie screen being the base of all the presentations on the screen.
Brahman, the Ultimate
This substratum – named Brahman, by the Upanishads – permeates everything in the world. It is the common content of all that has a name and/or form. For that very reason, it has no name or form for itself. It is spoken of as ‘THAT’ in the neuter gender by the Upanishads. This is the unique Godhead of Hinduism. There is no other. There is no second. It is the source of all energy, of all power, either in nature or in living beings. In this abstract concept, however, there cannot be any subject-object relationship. Brahman cannot be the object of cognition, since Brahman has no second. In fact nothing can be predicated about Brahman without delimiting the infiniteness of Brahman.
The Bhagavata Purana describes three different'levels' of Brahman realisation. The first is an impersonal state of blissfull consciousness, similar to nirvana where one is aware of the great universal Brahaman effulgence permeating everything; the second is classified as Paramatma realisation, wherein one is actually able to see the Form of Godhead alongside one's own soul (atma); the third and ultimate realisation is described as Bhagavan, in this state one has a direct loving relationship with The Supreme Per | | |
