Punjab - Religion
Punjab probably presents one of the finest examples of syncretisim that emerged in the medieval period and shaped policies of liberarlism particularly followed by the local rulers including Sikhs. Punjabi emerged as a language that became the most important identity marker. Hindu and Islamic traditions mingled; the Sufi and the Bhakti traditions blended. There were enduring examples of how people mixed together.
Various religious faiths flourished in the Punjab. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Sikhism have left a long lasting impression. The Aryans introduced Vedic religions based on veda (knowledge) and sruti (hearing). They are also said to have introduced caste system.
Under this social system, the Brahmans were given the highest place in social hierarchy to be followed by Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Thus Brahmanical Hinduism came into being wherein the autochthones were denied all social privileges and pushed out of the centre-stage. Some of them were declared as Untouchables and were assigned 'polluting' jobs. However, an important aspect of Hinduism was its philosophy of the Vedas and the commentaries written about them that gave spiritual sustenance. The Upanishads and the epics which followed determined the ethical code of behaviour of the Hindu masses.
Bhakti movement in India started as a reaction to the rigid Brahmanical order. The liberal Hindu reformers endeavoured for a better adaptability of Hinduism by a larger section of the Hindu society. Efforts were made to throw temples open to all classes irrespective of the caste hierarchy. The earlier proponents were Shankaracharya, Ramanuj, Namdev, Jaidev and Rarnanand. They stressed oneness of God, who was the Ultimate Truth. The best way to serve God was by absolute submission to his will. The way to approach Him was through tapasya (mediation) and chanting of mantras (hymns), under the guidance of a guru (spiritual preceptor). The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries saw a swift spread of the Bhakti movement throughout India. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Bengal, Gyaneshwar, Namdev and Tukaram in Maharashtra, Mira Bai in Rajasthan, Kabir, Surdas and Tulsidas in Uttar Pradesh and Guru Nanak Dev in the Punjab were the leading poponents of their day.
The most important event which took place in the medievel Punjab was the emergence of Guru Nanak Dev, a contemporary of Babar. The faith Sikhism, he preached, was a synthesis of Hinduism and Islam, but more than that Guru Nanak Dev was a reformer par excellence. He protested many aspects of the predominant Hindu society and the arrogant and aggressive behaviour of the ruling Muslim society. Guru Nanak Dev would think of himself as neither Hindu nor Muslim, but as an enlightened member of humanity proclaiming without fear the oneness of all mankind.
This humanistic approach to the solution of all the prevalent social ills led Guru Nanak to forge and develop altogether a new system of human values that stressed the oneness of man; that men of all beliefs and religions are brothers born of the same source and created by the Supreme Creator. Guru Nanak visualized a Utopia. He merged the concept of a welfare state with religion, raised his voice against caste discrimination and disagreed with the Muslims, who thought that the non-believers were inferior infidels. The caste hierarchy in Hindu society and the superior (conformist) and inferior (nonconformist) dichotomy as imposed by the Muslim rulers were repugnant to him. Thus, Guru Nanak Dev is the most important landmark in the history of the recent religions in the history of world religions.
Guru Nanak Dev, the chief propounder of Bhakti movement in Punjab, was the founder of Sikhism. He preached the theory of samsarg—of birth, death and rebirth in a cyclic manner. God is the cause of all creations and sets this world and the life within in motion. Human beings being oblivious of death indulge in pleasure, but the virtuous ones abstain from indulging in worldly pleasures; they seek and find Truth. To him God was a spiritual concept if God is the ultimate Truth, to speak untruth is to be ungodly. Guru Nanak Dev established the institution of 'Guru'.
Without a guru, he stressed, no one can attain moksha (salvation). The Guru guides his followers to the path of Truth. He disciplines them as a rogue elephant is disciplined from running amok; he applies the jyan anjan (salve of knowledge) to a follower's eyes enabling him to see the Truth (God); He is the divine ferryman, who takes them across the bhav sagar (ocean of life). He insisted on the separation of God and Guru; Guru is to be consulted, respected and cherished, but not to be worshipped. He is a teacher, but no incarnation of God. Asceticism, penance or torturing one's body as a step towards enlightenment were anathema to him.
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