SIKHISM AND KRISHNA
Although God in the Guru Granth Sahib is referred to by the names Hari, Govind, Gopal, the bewildering fact is, the Sikhs themselves are of the opinion that it refers to ‘another’ Supreme God, that it does not in any way refer to Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as described by the Vedic literature. These seem unfazed by the fact that the names Hari, Govind, Gopal, that is repeatedly and devotedly taken in the Granth Sahib are in fact the popular names of Sri Krishna, and that the really is no scope for ambiguity here.
That a ‘different’ Supreme God lurks in the spiritual sky, one who has the very same set of names and attributes as that of the Personality of Godhead referred to by the Vedic literature—a veritable twin by all counts—signals an alarming lack of originality not to mention maturity in thinking. This leads one to suspect that it does not in any way represent the handed-down wisdom. Certainly, the Granth Sahib does not allude to such an ideology, and one may conclude that it is a later date development of questionable theological integrity. Very likely, it emanated from some obscure pulpit and unobtrusively gathered momentum and general acceptance without attracting censure for the right quarters.
On further probing, the underlying objections to that gave birth to this tainted theology surfaced. That Krishna was ‘born’ of Vasudev and Devaki, and that he eventually ‘died’ appears to be their cornerstone objection. Neither does God does take birth nor does he die is their stubborn stance.
I will now attempt to clear up this issue.
With regards to the ‘Krishna was born and that he died’ issue, first and foremost, let me make it clear that unlike in the Quran and the Bible, the Vedic literature, operates on a different meter. As far are the Vedic religions are concerned, God is God if the revealed scriptures says so, period. If it says so, then he is not required to descend in a ball of fire to prove it. In the non-Vedic religions that do not possess revealed scriptures, they have to rely on fireworks, and other miraculous occurrences to declare his bona fides. Vedic literature has never subscribed to concepts such as ‘virgin birth’ or ‘immaculate conception’ to artificially elevate his position.
What they do subscribe however is to the concept of ‘pastime’ or ‘leela’ of the Lord. Basically, in any leela, it is to be understood that God is playing a part. It may be that of a human being, or an animal even one that is as low as a wild boar, a fish or a fantastic creature such as a half-man half-lion. Would you demand that a male actor while on stage and playing the part of a female character, display his mustache or beard? I think not. This then is the reason why Krishna appeared to take birth and to die. The fact is, Krishna appears to take birth and die because he was playing the part of an ordinary prince. Those who have bothered to read the Mahabharata will attest to the fact that Krishna even became Arjuna’s charioteer and that at one time, he even ran away from the battlefield. Surely, these too then will appear as unacceptable behavior for God. While the Hindus in general are able to take this seeming aberrancy in their stride, knowing fully well that it part of the leela of the Lord, this very thing invariably gets stuck in the non-Vedic religionist’s craw, not because they lack the intelligence to appreciate the concept, but because it has proved to be a popular peg to hang one’s objections. This and ignorance. How many of my readers knew all that I have revealed?
To be sure, Vedic theology is far more elaborate, not to mention bewildering to the non-Vedic observer. Just the concept of demigods in their profusion is enough to set one’s head reeling. This issue alone is cause for suspicion and cited as evidence for paganism. This is another related objection raised by the non-Vedic religions. The reality is, demigods are genuine agents of the Supreme who can be worshipped from immediate material gain. Here again, a full understanding of Vedic literature alone will dispel one’s doubts.
The next point to consider is as such. The Krishna who came down to earth and enacted the leela mentioned above, is in fact an avatar of Vishnu. The Krishna who is spoken of in the Vedic literatures is the Krishna who resides in Goloka or Vaikuntha in the spiritual sky. It is this Krishna who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and he never steps put of his spiritual abode. Since much of you will no doubt be bewildered by this statement, let me briefly explain the spiritual hierarchy.
To begin with, there is the spiritual sky which is called Vaikunta. It is filled with spiritual universes. Of these, the topmost is called Goloka Vrindavan or Krishnaloka. This then is the abode of the Supreme Person who is called Krishna. He is the cause of all causes and it is he who is referred to in the Vedic scriptures. It is him that Lord Brahama addresses and praises in his famous Brahma Samhita. There are unlimited planets in each universe and it is this realm where life is said to be situated in ‘sat chit ananda’ or eternally situated in full bliss, and knowledge. This is indeed the spiritual world, and it is here that we are all urged to go.
Now, at one corner of this spiritual sky is a small dark cloud. And this cloud portion is called the material sky. The material sky too is full of universes. The universes in the material sky are situated in three levels as if on the stem of the lotus. They are upper or heavenly planetary system, middle and lower planetary system. The lotus itself is the seat of Lord Brahma. If you want to put a scientific spin on to it, you may assume that the lotus shape is similar to the spiral galaxy, and the lotus stem may be considered to be similar to the Milky Way. In the upper or heavenly planets the demigods of that particular universe and pious souls resides. In the middle along with others planets is the planet we call home. Below are the patala loka and other hellish planets.
So basically, we have vast spiritual sky, and a comparatively tiny material sky. Both regions are filled with innumerable universes. Of this elaborate setup, the topmost universe of the spiritual sky, or Goloka Vrindavan, as mentioned, is the abode of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, guess who is God? Krishna of course. When the Vedic literature says Krishna, they mean the Krishna at the very top.
This original Krishna expands in to countless avatars. His four immediate expansions are: Vasudev, Sankarshan, Pradumna, and Annirudh. These expansions inhabit the spiritual sky. From the Vasudev comes Karanodakshai or Maha Vishnu. This Vishnu enters the material sky and lies in the causal ocean, and it is from him that the countless universes of the material sky emanates. In each of these universes there is one Garbodakshai Vishnu. And, from this Vishnu emerges a lotus upon which resides Brahma. Needless to say, there are many such universes, and therefore, there are unlimited Brahmas, Vishnus, Maheshs, Durgas, and countless other demigods. You may note here that there is only one Krishna who is considered the Supreme God. This fact, that Krishna is the Supreme Lord, and different from the myriad of Demigods, is known to all the followers of the Vedic model. Even so, most consciously choose to worship the demigods instead, for quicker material gains.
Now, innumerable avatars sent down to every planet, to every form of living entities, including the animal, to woo us, take us to the spiritual sky. And amongst these avatars is one very special one. He is Krishna, seemingly born of Devaki. Incidentally, he replicates or enacts the pastime of the original Krishna the one in the topmost planet, or Goloka Vrindavan. Countless such Krishnas enact countless such pastimes or leela in the countless planets. Even so, these avatars of Krishna who enact the leela of Krishna as Krishna in Goloka, is non-different from the original.
The Krishna referred to in the Vedic literature, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. He is really not, in the strictest sense of the term, the same who took his birth on this planet as the son of Vasudev and Devaki. To rephrase, Krishna’s existence does not begin and end as that one birth as the son of Vasudev and Devaki. This is merely an enactment of the pastimes of the original Personality of Godhead who eternally resides in Goloka. Needless, to say, here also he has parents, who are called Vasudev and Devaki. In both these cases, the rolls of parents, lovers, etc., are played by very intimate devotees. In the original model, they are played by eternal associates, whereas in the material world, these roles are taken over by devotees who have gained liberation. Since there really is no difference between the two, if you reject one, you clearly reject the other.
Amongst the Hindus, or those who follow the Vedic system, only the Vaishnavas worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna, who resides in Goloka Vrindavan. Others, worships the Demigods such as Shiva, Durga, etc., primarily for material rather than spiritual gain. The other who worship the Supreme Lord for spiritual gain, are the non Vedic religions, such as the Christians, and the Muslims.
To conclude, amongst the Vedic religions, apart from the exalted Vaishnavas, the Sikhs alone worship the Supreme Lord Hari. At least, this is what their scriptures urge them to do. Their scriptures unambiguously refer to the Supreme as Govind, Hari, and Gopal. Indeed, their main temple at Amritsar is in fact called ‘Hari Mandir.’ This alone makes them an elevated Vedic religion. Additionally, by taking on the role of kshtriyas, and protecting the Vedic system, they strengthen their position and become a rare gem of a genre of Vaishnava-kshtriyas. Nothing can be more bona fide or sacred than this.
However, all is lost, if one removes Krishna from the equation, rejects him on any grounds! Krishna and Krishna alone embodies spiritualism. By rejecting Krishna, all is lost in this world and in the next. This is the firm import of the shastras. This therefore represents an extremely misguided step and can be equated to the foolishness of removing the ‘1’ from ‘100’ and merely retaining the useless zeroes. This lack of wisdom, coupled with embracing redundant Muslim ideologies such as ‘God has no form,’ or ‘we should never worship an image or a deity of him,’ the Sikhs have managed to effectively steer their glorious religion away from the Vedic model. Effectively therefore, they are now a non-Vedic religion on par with Christianity and the Muslim religion. This emphatically should not be seen as an improvement, it is by all counts a severe setback from the original position.
It is hoped that the Sikhs will undertake urgent reforms to bring their religion back into the Vedic fold. To immediately achieve this, all they really need to do is acknowledge that the names Hari, Govind, Gopal that repeated occurs in their sacred texts refer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna as revealed in the Vedic literatures. Put the ‘1’ back with the ‘00’ and immediately achieve a ‘100’ percent success. End.
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Although God in the Guru Granth Sahib is referred to by the names Hari, Govind, Gopal, the bewildering fact is, the Sikhs themselves are of the opinion that it refers to ‘another’ Supreme God, that it does not in any way refer to Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as described by the Vedic literature. These seem unfazed by the fact that the names Hari, Govind, Gopal, that is repeatedly and devotedly taken in the Granth Sahib are in fact the popular names of Sri Krishna, and that the really is no scope for ambiguity here.
That a ‘different’ Supreme God lurks in the spiritual sky, one who has the very same set of names and attributes as that of the Personality of Godhead referred to by the Vedic literature—a veritable twin by all counts—signals an alarming lack of originality not to mention maturity in thinking. This leads one to suspect that it does not in any way represent the handed-down wisdom. Certainly, the Granth Sahib does not allude to such an ideology, and one may conclude that it is a later date development of questionable theological integrity. Very likely, it emanated from some obscure pulpit and unobtrusively gathered momentum and general acceptance without attracting censure for the right quarters.
On further probing, the underlying objections to that gave birth to this tainted theology surfaced. That Krishna was ‘born’ of Vasudev and Devaki, and that he eventually ‘died’ appears to be their cornerstone objection. Neither does God does take birth nor does he die is their stubborn stance.
I will now attempt to clear up this issue.
With regards to the ‘Krishna was born and that he died’ issue, first and foremost, let me make it clear that unlike in the Quran and the Bible, the Vedic literature, operates on a different meter. As far are the Vedic religions are concerned, God is God if the revealed scriptures says so, period. If it says so, then he is not required to descend in a ball of fire to prove it. In the non-Vedic religions that do not possess revealed scriptures, they have to rely on fireworks, and other miraculous occurrences to declare his bona fides. Vedic literature has never subscribed to concepts such as ‘virgin birth’ or ‘immaculate conception’ to artificially elevate his position.
What they do subscribe however is to the concept of ‘pastime’ or ‘leela’ of the Lord. Basically, in any leela, it is to be understood that God is playing a part. It may be that of a human being, or an animal even one that is as low as a wild boar, a fish or a fantastic creature such as a half-man half-lion. Would you demand that a male actor while on stage and playing the part of a female character, display his mustache or beard? I think not. This then is the reason why Krishna appeared to take birth and to die. The fact is, Krishna appears to take birth and die because he was playing the part of an ordinary prince. Those who have bothered to read the Mahabharata will attest to the fact that Krishna even became Arjuna’s charioteer and that at one time, he even ran away from the battlefield. Surely, these too then will appear as unacceptable behavior for God. While the Hindus in general are able to take this seeming aberrancy in their stride, knowing fully well that it part of the leela of the Lord, this very thing invariably gets stuck in the non-Vedic religionist’s craw, not because they lack the intelligence to appreciate the concept, but because it has proved to be a popular peg to hang one’s objections. This and ignorance. How many of my readers knew all that I have revealed?
To be sure, Vedic theology is far more elaborate, not to mention bewildering to the non-Vedic observer. Just the concept of demigods in their profusion is enough to set one’s head reeling. This issue alone is cause for suspicion and cited as evidence for paganism. This is another related objection raised by the non-Vedic religions. The reality is, demigods are genuine agents of the Supreme who can be worshipped from immediate material gain. Here again, a full understanding of Vedic literature alone will dispel one’s doubts.
The next point to consider is as such. The Krishna who came down to earth and enacted the leela mentioned above, is in fact an avatar of Vishnu. The Krishna who is spoken of in the Vedic literatures is the Krishna who resides in Goloka or Vaikuntha in the spiritual sky. It is this Krishna who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and he never steps put of his spiritual abode. Since much of you will no doubt be bewildered by this statement, let me briefly explain the spiritual hierarchy.
To begin with, there is the spiritual sky which is called Vaikunta. It is filled with spiritual universes. Of these, the topmost is called Goloka Vrindavan or Krishnaloka. This then is the abode of the Supreme Person who is called Krishna. He is the cause of all causes and it is he who is referred to in the Vedic scriptures. It is him that Lord Brahama addresses and praises in his famous Brahma Samhita. There are unlimited planets in each universe and it is this realm where life is said to be situated in ‘sat chit ananda’ or eternally situated in full bliss, and knowledge. This is indeed the spiritual world, and it is here that we are all urged to go.
Now, at one corner of this spiritual sky is a small dark cloud. And this cloud portion is called the material sky. The material sky too is full of universes. The universes in the material sky are situated in three levels as if on the stem of the lotus. They are upper or heavenly planetary system, middle and lower planetary system. The lotus itself is the seat of Lord Brahma. If you want to put a scientific spin on to it, you may assume that the lotus shape is similar to the spiral galaxy, and the lotus stem may be considered to be similar to the Milky Way. In the upper or heavenly planets the demigods of that particular universe and pious souls resides. In the middle along with others planets is the planet we call home. Below are the patala loka and other hellish planets.
So basically, we have vast spiritual sky, and a comparatively tiny material sky. Both regions are filled with innumerable universes. Of this elaborate setup, the topmost universe of the spiritual sky, or Goloka Vrindavan, as mentioned, is the abode of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, guess who is God? Krishna of course. When the Vedic literature says Krishna, they mean the Krishna at the very top.
This original Krishna expands in to countless avatars. His four immediate expansions are: Vasudev, Sankarshan, Pradumna, and Annirudh. These expansions inhabit the spiritual sky. From the Vasudev comes Karanodakshai or Maha Vishnu. This Vishnu enters the material sky and lies in the causal ocean, and it is from him that the countless universes of the material sky emanates. In each of these universes there is one Garbodakshai Vishnu. And, from this Vishnu emerges a lotus upon which resides Brahma. Needless to say, there are many such universes, and therefore, there are unlimited Brahmas, Vishnus, Maheshs, Durgas, and countless other demigods. You may note here that there is only one Krishna who is considered the Supreme God. This fact, that Krishna is the Supreme Lord, and different from the myriad of Demigods, is known to all the followers of the Vedic model. Even so, most consciously choose to worship the demigods instead, for quicker material gains.
Now, innumerable avatars sent down to every planet, to every form of living entities, including the animal, to woo us, take us to the spiritual sky. And amongst these avatars is one very special one. He is Krishna, seemingly born of Devaki. Incidentally, he replicates or enacts the pastime of the original Krishna the one in the topmost planet, or Goloka Vrindavan. Countless such Krishnas enact countless such pastimes or leela in the countless planets. Even so, these avatars of Krishna who enact the leela of Krishna as Krishna in Goloka, is non-different from the original.
The Krishna referred to in the Vedic literature, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. He is really not, in the strictest sense of the term, the same who took his birth on this planet as the son of Vasudev and Devaki. To rephrase, Krishna’s existence does not begin and end as that one birth as the son of Vasudev and Devaki. This is merely an enactment of the pastimes of the original Personality of Godhead who eternally resides in Goloka. Needless, to say, here also he has parents, who are called Vasudev and Devaki. In both these cases, the rolls of parents, lovers, etc., are played by very intimate devotees. In the original model, they are played by eternal associates, whereas in the material world, these roles are taken over by devotees who have gained liberation. Since there really is no difference between the two, if you reject one, you clearly reject the other.
Amongst the Hindus, or those who follow the Vedic system, only the Vaishnavas worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna, who resides in Goloka Vrindavan. Others, worships the Demigods such as Shiva, Durga, etc., primarily for material rather than spiritual gain. The other who worship the Supreme Lord for spiritual gain, are the non Vedic religions, such as the Christians, and the Muslims.
To conclude, amongst the Vedic religions, apart from the exalted Vaishnavas, the Sikhs alone worship the Supreme Lord Hari. At least, this is what their scriptures urge them to do. Their scriptures unambiguously refer to the Supreme as Govind, Hari, and Gopal. Indeed, their main temple at Amritsar is in fact called ‘Hari Mandir.’ This alone makes them an elevated Vedic religion. Additionally, by taking on the role of kshtriyas, and protecting the Vedic system, they strengthen their position and become a rare gem of a genre of Vaishnava-kshtriyas. Nothing can be more bona fide or sacred than this.
However, all is lost, if one removes Krishna from the equation, rejects him on any grounds! Krishna and Krishna alone embodies spiritualism. By rejecting Krishna, all is lost in this world and in the next. This is the firm import of the shastras. This therefore represents an extremely misguided step and can be equated to the foolishness of removing the ‘1’ from ‘100’ and merely retaining the useless zeroes. This lack of wisdom, coupled with embracing redundant Muslim ideologies such as ‘God has no form,’ or ‘we should never worship an image or a deity of him,’ the Sikhs have managed to effectively steer their glorious religion away from the Vedic model. Effectively therefore, they are now a non-Vedic religion on par with Christianity and the Muslim religion. This emphatically should not be seen as an improvement, it is by all counts a severe setback from the original position.
It is hoped that the Sikhs will undertake urgent reforms to bring their religion back into the Vedic fold. To immediately achieve this, all they really need to do is acknowledge that the names Hari, Govind, Gopal that repeated occurs in their sacred texts refer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna as revealed in the Vedic literatures. Put the ‘1’ back with the ‘00’ and immediately achieve a ‘100’ percent success. End.
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