Contribution of Guru Amar Das towards the development of Sikhism

Dr. I.B. Banerjee writes, “Guru Angad had, no doubt, done something to give the Sikhs an individuality of their own, but it was under Amar Das that the difference between a Sikh and an orthodox Hindu became more pronounced.”

Guru Nanak, after his enlightenment, strove hard to convey his message to as large a number of people as possible. For this purpose he first took long and arduous journeys not only within India but also abroad, and had converted a good number of people as his followers. But Nanak had laid stress, more or less, on the fundamentals of his teachings, leaving the details to take care of themselves. In fact, he had made no direct innovations, particularly so far as social usages were concerned and there was nothing much that could distinguish the followers of Nanak from the general Hindu mass.

The founder of the Sikh religion, being conscious of the incomplete nature of his work, had taken the necessary precaution of nominating one of his most trusted followers, Lehna, a house-holder, to the guruship as Guru Angad.

The supreme need of the moment was to clothe Guru’s message with some distinctive emblems which  might give it an individuality of its own. As such, Guru Angad being well-aware of his responsibility having ascended the guruship adopted a number of measures for the organizational development of Sikhism.

Guru Angad introduced or popularized the Gurumukhi script among the Sikhs.  This script reminded the Sikhs of their duty towards their Guru, and “constantly kept alive in their minds the consciousness that they were something distinct from the common mass of Hinduism.” It also gave a severe blow to the monopolistic language of Sanskrit and the priestly classes. On the whole, it gave a definite language for the scriptures of Sikhism, when later on Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth. Secondly, Guru Angad collected the verses of  Guru Nanak and added to them the verses of his own. Thus it avoided the verses from being forgotten or inter-mixed and also provided a barrier against the wrong-preachers in the name of Nanak. The institution of Langar was elaborated by Guru Angad by the joint efforts and sacrifices of the Sikhs. The Langar system played an important part to differentiate the Sikhs from the orthodox Hindus. It gave a severe blow to the caste-system. It served as a great bond of union among the Sikhs. Moreover, Guru Angad kept his Sikhs aloof from the Udasism of Baba Sri Chand, which was becoming a great danger to Sikhism. Guru Angad declared that Sikhism had no place for ascetics, but was wholly a religion for the house-holders. Due to this separation, the Sikhs got something of a social character in addition to the religious ties that held them together.

Thus Guru Angad had succeeded in giving a sort of local habitation and a name to the mission of Nanak. Besides the Guru, whose position as the sole and supreme religious leader was in itself a great source of unity and solidarity, the Sikhs had now the Guru’s hymns inscribed in their own Gurumukhi and the Langar maintained by their joint efforts and sacrifices. They could now claim an individuality of their own, however imperfect as yet it might have been.

But the danger of the absorption of the followers of Nanak still lingered on because there was nothing as yet which could distinguish the Sikhs as a distinct social community from that of the Hindus. As the followers of Sikhism still performed their social ceremonies connected with marriage, death etc. in the traditional Hindu way with the aid of the priestly classes, they continued to visit the places of pilgrimage of the Hindus as well.

Guru Amar Das immediately after his pontification realized the danger in which Sikhism stood and adopted the following distinctive measures to keep up their separate identity :

In 1552 AD, the work for the construction of a Baoli in Goindwal started. The Sikhs joined enthusiastically in the work of construction and after seven years, the task was accomplished. The Baoli was provided with 84 steps and Guru Amar Das said, “Whosoever should attentively and reverently repeat the Japji at every step, should escape from wandering in the wombs of 84 lakhs of living creatures.” In this way, Goindwal was raised to the status of a place of pilgrimage.Now the Sikhs felt no necessity to visit the pilgrim places of the Hindus. This measure of Guru Amar Das differentiate the Sikhs from the common Hindus.

Guru Angad had started the process of the compilation of the hymns, but the task could not be accomplished before his death. Guru Amar Das carried on this work with great enthusiasm and compiled the verses of Guru Nanak and Guru Angad. Sant Ram, the son of Baba Mohan (Guru Amar Das’ son), compiled 907 verses of his grand-father. Guru Amar Das ordered the compiler of the verses of the Gurus to “make a careful collection of the Gurus’ hymns and give them to the Sikhs in God’s name.” This measure of Guru Amar Das completely differentiated the Sikhs from the Hindus as the Sikhs got their own holy hymns and now felt no need to recite the Hindu scriptures.

The elaboration of the Langar institution under Guru Amar Das was another factor differing the Sikhs from Hinduism. The Langar was open to all. According to Macauliffe, “All who came to visit him were fed to repletion. None departed disappointed. What he daily received was daily spent and nothing was saved for the morrow.” The Guru even obliged all visitors and Sikhs to partake of food from the Langar before seeing him. In the Hindu society, people of high castes hated those of the lower castes. They were socially boycotted being considered as untouchables. But this institution knew no caste distinction and clarified that the Sikhs were different from the Hindus.

The institution of Manji was also an important factor which worked in differing the Sikhs from the Hindus. Guru Amar Das divided his spiritual empire into 22 units known as the Manjis. The head of each Manji was called Manjidar. Each Manji was sub-divided into Piris under the Piridars. This division was seen only in Sikhism and the Sikhs came into direct contact of the Guru through these Manjidars. These Manjidars acted as a binding the Guru and the Sikhs. They gave the message of the Guru to the Sikhs and collected donations from them, which were deposited with the Guru for the development activities. The Sikhs found themselves in contact with their Guru through these Manjidars. The Manjidars suppressed the importance of the priestly classes among the Sikhs as they were appointed by the Guru himself.

Guru Amar Das also undertook certain reformative tasks in the social field. There were many evils in the Hindu society; but people did not regard them as evils. However, to act upon them was considered   as performing a religious ceremony. The condition of women in the society was very deplorable. One such evil was the practice of Sati, i.e. the burning of widows at the funeral pyre of their husbands. But Guru Amar Das condemned this practice and prohibited his Sikhs to adopt it. In one of his verses he observed-

                “Women are burnt in the fire with their husbands,

                    If they appreciate their husbands they undergo sufficient pain by their death,

                    O Nanak! if they appreciate not their husbands, why should they be burnt?”

Not only did he condemn the Sati system, but also favoured widow remarriage and took several steps to popularize it. He also ordered the Sikh women to avoid the Purdah system as he considered the Purdah as an obstacle in the physical, mental and spiritual development of the women.

Guru Amar Das also criticized the use of intoxicants and ordered his Sikhs to abstain altogether from them. He told his Sikhs not to drink that false wine “by which man forgeteth God and receiveth punishment at His court.”

Guru Amar Das also directed his Sikhs to celebrate the festivals in different modes. The Sikhs were to celebrate only these festivals-- Baisakhi, Diwali and Maghi. On these auspicious occasions, the Sikhs were to reach Goindwal and then celebrate these fesivals at the direction of their Guru.

The performance of the ceremonies of birth, marriage and death also differed a Sikh from a Hindu. The Lavan composed by Bhai Jetha, the son-in-law of Guru Amar Das, on his marriage began to be recited on the marriage occasions by the Sikhs. Similarly, Guru Amar Das composed the Anand Geet (Song of Joy) of 38 Pauris, on the birth of his grandson, Sidh jogi. Since then this song is recited by the Sikhs on occasions of rejoicings. It was enjoined upon the Sikhs that the Guru’s words be recited while celebrating the marriages of their relatives. In the Sadd hymns, Guru Amar Das narrates to his Sikhs neither to call the Pandit nor to read the ‘Garuda Purana’ while performing the death ceremonies of their relatives. In this way, the Sikhs started to differ from Hinduism.

Dr. I.B. Banerjee feels that two parallel developments can be traced in Sikhism. On the one hand, the work begun by Guru Angad was earnestly continued and new religious ties were added one after another. On the other, there was a gradual drifting away from the orthodox Hindu society and attempts were made through innovations to bring into existence a new brotherhood, social as well as religious, self-sufficient and independent. Dr. G.C. Narang also states that from the outset Sikhism stood distinguished from other reform movements by its reconciliation with secular life.

Under the auspices of Guru Amar Das, the name of the infant Church spread far and wide, rudiments of a separate organisation were given to the Sikhs, and new forms and practices were introduced to supersede the old and bind the newly converts more closely together. Hence Dr. I.B. Banerjee rightly observes, “Guru Angad had, no doubt, done something to give the Sikhs an individuality of their own; but it was under Amar Das that the difference between a Hindu and a Sikh became more pronounced.”

Contribution of Guru Angad Dev towards the development of Sikhism

 

Dr. Indu Bhushan Banerjee has pointed out to the truest sense of the word that Guru Angad’s nomination is very significant in the Sikh history. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, had strove hard after his enlightenment to convey his message to as large number of people as possible. Keeping this objective in mind, he first undertook long and arduous journeys not only within India but also abroad, and converted a large number of people as his followers. Nanak had, more or less, laid stress on the fundamentals of his teachings, leaving the details to take care of themselves. Still, being consciousness of the incomplete nature of his work, he had taken a very necessary precaution of nominating one of his trusted followers, Lehna, a householder, as his successor with the new name of Guru Angad.

This act of Guru Nanak was significant in more ways than one. Like other saints of the Bhakti cult, Guru Nanak had also laid stress upon the necessity of a Guru—a spiritual guide. In his verses he observed that a Guru is like a captain of a ship, who helps his followers to cross the ‘Bhav-Sagar’. Nanak not only observed likewise, but even translated his message, concerning the necessity of the Guru, into action by establishing the institution of Guruship and appointing Angad as the second Sikh Guru.

Guru Nanak had with his remarkable vigor and zeal given his message all over India and abroad. For this purpose, he had walked in all the four corners of India, Ceylon and the West Asian countries. But it seemed certain that after his death his teachings might be forgotten. A number of Hindus and Muslims had become his followers; but their disintegration was certain had Nanak not appointed any successor. Guru Angad carried on Nanak’s teachings amongst the Sikhs and thus saved this infant sect from its early death. Dr. G.C. Narang rightly points it, “Had Nanak died without a successor there would have been no Sikhism today or at the best simply another Kabirism.” The nomination placed the movement under the guidance of Angad and gave a distinct character to it.

The nomination of Guru Angad also avoided the hereditary conflicts, as were to be seen from the period of Guru Arjan Dev.

Moreover, Guru Nanak had in his teachings condemned the Sanyasis and yogis, who were opposed to the worldly or materialist life and gave stress only on the worship of God. According to them, the worldly cares a great hindrance in worshipping God whole-heartedly. Bu Guru Nanak had advised his followers to reconcile with the worldly life. He believed that the life of a house-holder is worth living. He even preferred Bhai Lehna, a house-holder, in nominating him to guruship in place of his own son, Sri Chand, who was a recluse.

Contribution of Guru Angad to the development of Sikhism

Following are the contributions made by Guru Angad towards the development of Sikhism:

1.      Introduction of the Gurumukhi script: The Sikh chronicles ascribe Guru Angad with the introduction of the Gurumukhi script. However, a group of writers refuse to accept it on two grounds-

(a)    Guru Angad was himself unlettered, as E. Trump writes, “Guru Angad was altogether unlettered and could himself neither read or write. The later tradition which makes him the inventor of the Gurumukhi letters, is therefore, without any foundation.”

(b)   In Rag Asa, there is a Patti of 35 verses, each beginning with a letter of the alphabet, which belong to the same 35 alphabets of Gurumukhi.

Trumpp’s view that Guru Angad was ‘unlettered’ and could neither read nor write does not seem plausible. In fact, as Macauliffe states, he adopted the Punjabi alphabet, brought about amendments in it and gave it the name of Gurumukhi. Grierson’s views also seem to be acceptable. According to him, the rue script of the Punjab was known as the Mahajani script (Landa). This script was defective and was usually misread. Being the son of a trader, he was also formal to it. Hence he borrowed from the Devnagri script and polished up the forms of the Mahajani script. This new script came to be known as the Gurumukhi script.

Dr. I.B. Banerjee observes that the verses of Nanak in Rag Asa might have been originally composed in the Mahajani script and later on transliterated into Gurumukhi with necessary amendments. He may not be the inventor, and had merely adopted and modified the one already existing and given it a new name.

The Gurumukhi script was remarkable in many ways-

-          It served the measures of Guru Angad. Mahajani script was knowledgable to the people. When Guru Angad made amendments in it, it became easier for the people to understand it.

-          He made it the script of the Sikhs. Now they used it even in their daily routine. It reminded at once that the user was a Sikh.

-          Its utilization also minimized the chances of the Sikhs being misled about what the Guru had said.

-          It gave a severe blow to the monopoly of Sanskrit as the only language of divinity. With the superiority of Sanskrit, the priestly class of the Hindu society had made itself important, because they were the only class well-versed in Sanskrit. With its help, they used to exploit the common masses. But the popularity of Gurumukhi among the Sikhs gave a severe blow to the Hindu priestly class.

-          It gave a definite script for the scriptures of Sikhism, when later on Guru Arjan Dev compiled the Adi Granth.

2.      Compilation of Nanak’s biography: According to the Sikh chronicles, Guru Angad got compiled a biography of Guru Nanak. Bhai Bala, a follower and a friend of Guru Nanak, was asked to narrate all the incidents of the life of Guru Nanak and a person, named Paira, was ordered  to write the same.

However. The above theory seems to be untenable on following grounds-

(a)    Bhai Bala was too close to Guru Nanak, but when he first visited Guru Angad, he had to introduce himself. How is it possible that the two close disciples of a Guru don’t know each other.

(b)   The language in this biography does not belong to the times of Guru Angad, but is of the early 17^th century.

(c)    There is no reference of Bhai Bala in any other biographies. No even Bhai Gurdas has mentioned his name in his Var I, while he has included the names of many others Bhai Mardana and Bhai Lehna in it.

It is suggested that Guru Angad had secured the horoscope of Guru Nanak from his uncle Lalu, and got it translated into Gurumukhi.

3.      Collection of the hymns of Guru Nanak- The hymns of Guru Nanak were scattered at various places. Guru Angad collected all of them which were known orally by then. The work continued in the days of Guru Amar Das as well. Thus Guru Angad got the started the work for the compilation of Adi Granth, which was ultimately compiled by Guru Arjan Dev.     

The collection of these hymns saved them from being forgotten or inter-mixed. It also provided a barrier against those selfish elements who had wrongly preached in the name of Nanak.

4.   Elaboration of the Langar institution- Guru Nanak had preached his message of Equality, when he started the institution of Sangat and Langar. Guru Angad not only continued the Langar, but contributed much for its stability and progress. More and more kitchens were started. It is stated that at Khadur Sahib, the system worked under Mata Khivi ji, the wife of Guru Angad. The Langar was prepared from one kitchen and all the followers of the Guru partook the food without any distinction of caste or creed. The faithful Sikhs made contributions for the maintenance of Langar institution. According to Dr. G.C. Narang, “The Langar of the Guru was probably the first to be supported by the combined contributions of a community, and it taught the Sikhs the first lesson of contributing money towards a common fund.” The Langar also served the poor and the orphans.

-          It played an important part to differentiate the Sikhs from the Hindus. It gave a severe blow to the caste-system.

-          It also served a great bond of unity among the Sikhs.

-          Moreover, as Dr. I.B. Banerjee comments, it proved a powerful aid in the propaganda work. It made Sikhism very much popular.

5.      Condemnation of Udasism- Guru Nanak had condemned asceticism. In his order, he had no room for it. He remained indifferent to all the worldly affairs. Even when he finally settled at Kartarpur, he resumed his family ties. Guru Nanak had told in his message that every man should lead his life in the family and only there should he try to find salvation, but “abide pure amidst the impurities of the world, so shall you succeed.”

After the death of Guru Nanak, his eldest son, Baba Sri Chand, set up a new order. He discarded the world and sought consolation in the undisturbed meditation of the True One in the solemn silence of the forest or the hill. A number of people, including the Sikhs, became his followers and came to known as the Udasis. Besides unmarried life and asceticism, the other tenets of the sect were the same those of Guru Nanak. The followers of this sect also had the same regard for the first Guru as the Sikhs had. The primary aim of Baba Sri Chand in setting up the Udasi sect , as Dr. Madanjit Kaur observes, was to propagate the mission of his father in his own way.

There was a danger that the Sikhs would mingle up with the Udasis. It became very important that the fundamental character of Sikhism was determined once for all, as the future of the movement depended upon it. Guru Angad very boldly told the Sikhs that the principles of Udasis were contrary to the message of Guru Nanak. Therefore, those Sikhs who had belief in asceticism, were not to be called the Sikhs. The result was that the Sikhs separated themselves from the passive and recluse Udasis. Consequently the Sikhs got something special as the sectarian ties held them together.

6.      Composition of the Hymns: Guru Angad himself composed 62 hymns, which are compiled in the Adi Granth.

7.      Foundation of Goindwal: Guru Angad founded a new town, Goindwal, near Khadur  Sahib. He entrusted one of his staunch follower, Amar Das, to accomplish this task. Later on, during the guruship of Amar Das ji, Goindwal became the main centre of the activities of Sikhim.

8.      Discipline in Sikhism: Guru Angad Dev laid stress on discipline among the Sikhs. He expelled the two singers—Satta and Balwand—from his court, as they had become haughty and even started claiming that they were the factors for the fame of the Guru. When the two singers observed their fault and repented. Later on, Guru Angad forgave them after he mediation of Bhai Laddha. However, this act of Guru Angad raised the importance of discipline among the Sikhs.

 Guru Angad carried on the tradition of nominating his successor. Before his death, he appointed his follower, Amar Das, as his successor.

It was thus because of this nomination that Sikhism carried on its consolidation and developed rapidly. Dr. Narang’s statement appears to be true to the point, “Had Nanak died without a successor, there would have been no Sikhism today or at the best another Kabirism.” Moreover, the organizational development of Sikhism would not have taken place in that case. Hence Dr. I.B. Banerjee aptly remarks, “The nomination of Angad to the Guruship is a fact of profoundest significance in Sikh history.”

The Sant Tradition

“It was this Sant tradition which provided the basis of Guru Nanak’s thoughts and inheritance, which like Kabir, he re-interpreted in the light of his own personality and experience.” (W.H. McLeod)

The essence of religion for the vast majority of Nanak’s contemporaries, both Hindus and Muslims, consisted in external authority and conventional ceremony. In case of the Hindus, this authority was generally accorded to the priestly classes and through them to the Vedas and the Puranas. The existence required consisted in the performance of a host of conventional rites and customs appropriate to a man’s status within the caste-structure of the society. In case of the Muslims, religion was likely to an objective authority namely Tura and exercise of this authority was the acknowledged function of the Qazis.

However, by the time of Nanak, this conventional pattern of religion both of the Hindus as well as Muslims had ceased to command universal acceptance. In fact, for quite some time past, these conventional patterns had received and were still receiving challenges and there were coming into existence a number of dissenting movements. Of these, the following were particularly to be noted :

(i) First was the tradition of Vaishnava Bhakti, which had spread to Northern India from the South, and whose representative in North India was Ramanand. For the Vaishnava Bhakti, the essential religious response was devotion and this devotion was directed to one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

(ii) The second movement was the ancient tradition of tantrik yoga, expressed in Northern India during the period of our study by a host of recluses, popularly known as Nath Yogis or Kanfata Sadhus. This was, in itself, sub-divided into various seb-sects, claiming allegiance to the semi-legendary Gorakh Nath. All of them essentially followed the Hatha-Yoga.

(iii) The third of these movements is symbolized by the numbers of the Sufi order, numerically lower than the followers of the other two movements. Yet these Sufis exercised greater influence on both the Hindus and the Muslims.

A close examination of these three movements would reveal that there was a cognizable continuity within each one of these, but none was completely insulated. All the three were to some extent influenced by one or more of others and hence underwent necessary modifications. However, in one case, this reciprocal exchange did not simply result in the modification of an existing tradition, but in the emergence of a remarkable synthesis, a new pattern which in various respects strongly resembled the other existing patterns but which in its wholeness correspond to none of them. This was the Sant tradition of Northern India.

The new movement was by no means the dominant religious tradition during this period, but it was certainly the most fertile and understanding of this Sant tradition.

The Sant tradition was essentially a synthesis of the three principal dissenting movements, a compound of elements drawn mainly from Vaishnava Bhakti and the Hatha Yoga, with a marginal contribution from Sufism. The essential religious response from the Sants and the Vaishnava Bhakts being love, the two have sometimes been confused by the writers who considered the Sant tradition just as an aspect of Vaishnava Bhakti.

But a close scrutiny would reveal that despite apparent similarities, the two -- namely the Sant tradition and the Vaishnava Bhakti-- differed widely from each other. These differences are of fundamental importance. To give one example, the love of the Vaishnava Bhaktas was directed to an Avatar or incarnation of God, whereas in the Sant tradition, it was directed to the Supreme Being Himself, there being no place for the intermediaries, such as incarnations. Further, whereas in case of Vaishnava Bhaktas, this love for incarnation was expressed through the media of images, that of the Sants was to involve oneself in meditation and devotion. In the Sant tradition, the stress was on a method which involved, if not intense sufferings, at least, some appreciable difficulties. It was definitely different from the Sahaj Bhakti (Easy Path) suggested by the Vaishnava Bhaktas.

Despite these differences, it were the Bhakti elements which provided the principal contribution to the Sant synthesis particularly in its early years. Traces of Nath influence are, no doubt, there in the earlier stages as well, but they became more pronounced during the later stages. In fact, it is at the time of Kabir that the Nath concepts assume a significant role. In the thought of Kabir, such concepts are more prominent and integral and it is at this point that the synthesis is fully developed. The Nath influence emerges in much of the basic terminology used by Kabir, and later on by Nanak, in a rejection of all exterior forms, ceremonies, caste-distinction, sacred language and scriptures in a strong emphasis upon unity as opposed to duality.

It is, therefore, not without significance that the common of all the terms used by both Nanak and Kabir to express their experience of Union as Sahaj -- a term which at once takes us back to the Nath theory and still earlier to the Tantrik Buddhism.

The Sants were monotheists. But God, with whom they sought the union was not an anthromorphic God. He was manifested through his immense in His Creation. As such, the love of these Sants was to express through meditation on the Divine Name and not on the worship of of any external idol or exercise of practices like visit to the places of pilgrimage, or taking bath in so-called Holy waters of a tank. Like the bhaktas, the stress was made on efficacy and the need of a Spritual Guru, and this Guru might or might not be a human being, but the Inner Voice of God.

Another notable distinction of the Sants is that they expressed their beliefs not in the traditional Sanskrit, but in a language which was closely related to that of the common people to whom these teachings were addressed in various parts of the country. In its ultimate form, it aimed to be called Sadhukari (Sant language) having in its elements drawn from old Rajasthani, Apabhramsa and Persian with Khari Boli.

The first great Sant was Namdev, who lived in Maharashtra and is closely associated with the Varkari sect -- a sect within the Bhakti tradition in which the worship is centered on the famous idol of Lord Vithal, an incarnation of Lord Krishna. Elements of traditional Vaishnava Bhakti is evident in Namdeva’s work, but his main emphasis is in accord with the Sant concepts.

The second important Sant was Ravi Das, an outcaste leather-worker of Benaras. He belongs to the earlier stage of the Sant movement and rejects the concept of Divine Avatar, as also all external aids which are aids to worship. In his works the stress is on the imminence of God in external phenomena. Ravi Das makes the characteristic Sant emphasis with an evident stress upon the irrelevancy of the caste-system.

With Kabir, the Sant tradition moves into a more complicated phase. The compositions attributed to Kabir are indeed innumerable, of which two famous are Kabir Granthavali and the rigid Bijak.

The basis of Kabir’s religious belief was Tantrik Yoga. Though his Muslim name would suggest the Islamic influence, this Tantrik Yoga as the basis of his religious belief should not take us to believe that he was a Nath Yogi. To this background of Tantrik Yoga, Kabir clearly added the elements from Vaishnava hakti, and to some extent even Sufism. That he is indebted to the ‘Bhaktas’ is evident in the primacy he attaches to love, but his concept of love as a way of suffering is derived from Sufism. It is with these and other elements from the same sources that Kabir compounded his own mystical nature and brought about a synthesis which is the distinctive religion of Kabir. It is a religion which in true Sant style renounces all, i.e. external; affirming that God may by Grace reveal Himself within a man’s soul. But the revelation comes to him only who has prepared himself to see Him. The preparation is the path of Love, a love addressed directly to the Supreme Being, who is both transcendent and immanent, and a love which will inevitably involve long periods in the anguish of separation. The point at which this revelation occurs cannot be foreseen. It comes at the point of Divine initiative and all of a sudden. God, through the True Guru (Satguru), discharges the arrow of Word (Shabad) and man is slain, that in Death he may find True Life. This life is to be found in mystical Union and ineffable experience of dissolution in the Divine.

It must not be forgotten that there is much in Kabir’s attempts which remain obscure and cannot be explained fully. The works of Kabir show that he is certainly influenced by monotheistic concepts, but it is his own understanding of the nature of God that is important and on this account his thought must be regarded as monotheistic. In the works of Kabir, we find a representation of the highly personal ray of an individual experience. But they never place him within the famous Sant beliefs.

It was this Sant tradition which provided the basis of Guru Nanak’s thoughts, and inheritance which like Kabir, he re-interpreted in the light of his own personality and experience. This again should not mean that Nanak was, in any real term, a disciple of Kabir.Sant tradition was by far the most important element in all that Nanak inherited from his past or absorbed from his contemporaries.

Still the question persists regarding the antecedants of Nanak’s thought -- that indirect influences created upon his Sant traditions in an independent way. The dominant issue in this case is to assess the extent of his deterness to Islamic sources for whatever influence the Nath beliefs may have exercised  upon Nanak’s religious thoughts came through the indirect channel of Sant inheritance and the Nath concepts when congregated through Sant channels and underwent a great deal of transformation in their meanings.