How are Hinduism and Sikhism related, considering they both originated in Punjab, India?
Last Updated: 21.06.2025 01:22
— Kabir, II.57, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
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!
ਗੁਰ ਪੀਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਖੁਦਿ ਖਸਮੁ ਪਛਾਨਾ ॥੫॥੩॥
What's an underrated/unknown novel or series that you think deserves more attention?
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.
I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.
I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. ||2||
Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss.
ਤਬ ਲਗੁ ਹੋਇ ਨਹੀ ਚਰਨ ਨਿਵਾਸੁ ॥੩॥
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
What's the gayest thing you have experienced on an only boys sleepover?
I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.
One day, a desire welled up in my mind.
Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;
Why do atheists want to see God so badly?
Hari is in the East, Allah is in the West.
As long as the mind is filled with the desire for heaven,
Now that my time to die has come, I have come to dwell at Magahar! ||3||
ਮਰਨੁ ਭਇਆ ਮਗਹਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਸੀ ॥੩॥
— Kabir, III.2, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥
ਜਿਉ ਜਲ ਛੋਡਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਭਇਓ ਮੀਨਾ ॥
There the streams of light flow in all directions, few are the men who can cross to that shore!
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?
ਬ੍ਰਹਮ is Brahm i.e the Brahman of vedanta but it gets interpreted as an all-pervading lord god.
CONCLUSION:
ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥
Here ਨਿਰਗੁਣ is Nirgun and not just lord. This is just another example to show that Kabir himself continued in the NIRGUN BHAKTI path.
ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
I do not make pilgrimages to Mecca, nor do I worship at Hindu sacred shrines.
For many years, I practiced penance and intense meditation at Kaashi;
ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥
ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥
All the men and women of the world are His living forms.
I serve the One Lord, and not any other. ||2||
ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਰਸ ਤਪੁ ਕੀਆ ਕਾਸੀ ॥
ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Sriraag / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 92
Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23)
ਓਛੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਕੈਸੇ ਉਤਰਸਿ ਪਾਰੀ ॥੪॥
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.
Because in my previous life, I did not practice penance and intense meditation. ||1||
ਮਰਤੀ ਬਾਰ ਮਗਹਰਿ ਉਠਿ ਆਇਆ ॥੨॥
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
I have taken the One Formless Lord into my heart; I humbly worship Him there. ||3||
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ ॥੫॥੧੫॥
I am like a fish out of water,
Sadhna (a Muslim butcher) and
Ramarchan Paddati gives more info about his teachings.
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
He accepted even women (Sursuri and Padywati) as disciples. Bhagat Pipa and Dhanna were Rajput and Jat who were also his disciples.
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ
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.
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.
Meeting with the Guru, my Spiritual Teacher, I realize God, my Lord and Master. ||5||3||
Recklessly they display boundless pride while explaining their own aims, they kill cows.
I wasted my whole life in the city of Shiva;
But we have actually seen how much Kabir is also rooted in the Vedantic concept of “supreme realization” but in a non-mainstream path.
We have searched the turaki Dharam (Turk's religion, Islam), these teachers throw many thunderbolts,
ਏਕ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰ ਲੇ ਰਿਦੈ ਨਮਸਕਾਰਉ ॥੩॥
ਅਬ ਕਹੁ ਰਾਮ ਕਵਨ ਗਤਿ ਮੋਰੀ ॥
———————————————————————————————————————
I left Benares - I had little common sense. ||1|| Pause ||
You are totally pervading and permeating in all.
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥
He does not dwell at the Lord's Feet. ||3||
यस्य देवे परा भक्तिः यथा देवे तथा गुरौ । तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मन इति ।
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Panch-Padas:
With inadequate devotion, how can anyone swim across? ||4||
ਕਹੁ ਗੁਰ ਗਜ ਸਿਵ ਸਭੁ ਕੋ ਜਾਨੈ ॥
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.
These morons know nothing, they wander about in ignorance,
ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥
How can they kill the mother, whose milk they drink like that of a wet nurse?
Now tell me, Lord, what will my condition be?
Raamaanand Jee, First House:
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.
That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. ||1||
Let’s see what Gurbani has about Ramanandacharya’s views.
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ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠੈ ਆਹਿ ॥੪॥੧੦॥
Kabir is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.
The Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is heaven. ||4||10||
ਕੈਸੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਬ ਮੋਹਿਆ ਹੈ ਮਾਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
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.
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
There is my Lord self-revealed, and the scent of sandal and flowers dwells in those deeps.
Wherever I go, I find water and stones.
The Word of the Guru's Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. ||3||1||
I went to God's place, and worshipped Him there.
Again we see that the originator of this Sant Sampraday himself talks about Brahman even in Gurbani.
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
Where spring, the lord of seasons reigneth, there the unstruck music sounds of itself,
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…
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹ ਕਹੀਐ ਕਾਹਿ ॥
ਜਬ ਲਗੁ ਮਨਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠ ਕੀ ਆਸ ॥
ਕਬੀਰ ਨਿਰਗੁਣ ਨਾਮ ਨ ਰੋਸੁ ॥
At the time of my death, I moved to Magahar. ||2||
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.
Says Kabeer, this is what I say:
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹੁ ਕੀਆ ਵਖਾਨਾ ॥
ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥
ਪੂਰਬ ਜਨਮ ਹਉ ਤਪ ਕਾ ਹੀਨਾ ॥੧॥
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਉ ਨ ਨਿਵਾਜ ਗੁਜਾਰਉ ॥
ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
then who is there to know what happens without?
Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered, where millions of Saraswatis, goddess of music play the vina,
Without looking into one's heart, how can one reach paradise?
Ravidas (a chamar shoemaker)
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 326
ਸਗਲ ਜਨਮੁ ਸਿਵ ਪੁਰੀ ਗਵਾਇਆ ॥
You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.
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
Where millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation, where millions of Indras dwell in the sky,
ਤਜੀ ਲੇ ਬਨਾਰਸ ਮਤਿ ਭਈ ਥੋਰੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Sain (a barber)
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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Says Kabeer, unto whom should I tell this?
How can people understand You, when they are entranced by Maya? ||1|| Pause ||
I do not perform Hindu worship services, nor do I offer the Muslim prayers.
Now here in this verse
Kabir, Ravidas and ultimately the NINE SIKH GURUS are a product of this very Sant Sampraday founded by Ramanandacharya!
NOW…
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.
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Let’s look at the most used verse by McSikhs to show that Sikhs are neither Hindus nor Muslims.
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
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.
That Kabeer died chanting the Lord's Name. ||5||15||
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.
Kabeer: O worthless mortal, do not lose the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
ਗਉੜੀ ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀ ਪੰਚਪਦੇ ॥
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.
There, where millions of Krishnas stand with hands folded,
ਏਕੋ ਸੇਵੀ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਦੂਜਾ ॥੨॥
Where millions of Vishnus bow their heads, where millions of Brahmas are reading the Vedas,
My consciousness does not go out wandering. My mind has become crippled. ||1|| Pause ||
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥
ਹਜ ਕਾਬੈ ਜਾਉ ਨ ਤੀਰਥ ਪੂਜਾ ॥
Ramananda accepted disciples without discriminating against anyone by gender, class or caste and they included even people from humble origins like
From Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 1195
My body and breath of life belong to Allah - to Raam - the God of both. ||4||
He who has highest Bhakti of Deva (God), just like his Deva, so for his Guru (teacher),
Sikhism is a NIRGUN path descending from the Sant Sampraday of Ramanandacharya and traces its ideas to VEDANTA!
Sant Kabir was staunchly against cow slaughter.
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.
ਕਾਸੀ ਮਗਹਰ ਸਮ ਬੀਚਾਰੀ ॥
The young and the old drink milk pudding, but these fools eat the cow's body.
So in the same spirit Kabir finds pilgrimages to holy cities futile as his mind is fixated on Rama!
Kabir (a weaver)
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
Says Kabeer, the Guru and Ganaysha and Shiva all know
ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥
To him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminating.
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage,
I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.
— Kabir, Ramaini 1, Translated by David Lorenzen
ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥
Kaashi and Magahar - I consider them the same.
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ਅਲਹ ਰਾਮ ਕੇ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਪਰਾਨ ॥੪॥
Let's look at the views of Sant Kabir