Nikita Coppisetti ’22… Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy in Sikh ism and Hinduism

Nikita Coppiseti ’22

Rumi once mused, “The lamps are different, but the Light is the same.” This saying about observing similarities in differences can be translated onto viewing texts, more specifically Sikh and Hindu texts. Sikhism veers away from Hinduism in the sense that God is inherently part of everyone regardless of status, whereas Hindus’ connections to God are restricted by caste level. However, these contrasting religions are rather similar in many ways. Both the Guru Granth Sahib, the central sacred text of Sikhism, and the Bhagavad Gita, a section of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, stress that God is an all-knowing creator with the ability to demolish evil. The writings give prominence to similar orthodoxies about God. Furthermore, Guru Nanak’s three teachings highlight that to be on the path to God, one must share, remember God, and work hard to earn an honest living. Similarly, bhakti yoga and karma yoga focus on the way to God as loving God and acting without selfishness. In reading the Guru Granth Sahib through the lens of the descriptions of God in the Bhagavad Gita and in examining Guru Nanak’s three teachings through the lens of the practices of bhakti and karma yoga, the revelations uncovered suggest that the orthodoxy and orthopraxy of Sikhism and Hinduism emphasize related ideas, implying that the two religions are more fundamentally similar than they are different.

The Guru Granth Sahib and the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, “Divine Splendor,” both pronounce God an immortal who can terminate malevolent thoughts or actions. Where the Guru Granth Sahib states that God is “[t]he creator,” Krishna calls himself “the source from which the gods and sages / come” and “the Lord of all / creation,” another example of Sikhism and Hinduism agreeing on a major orthodoxy about God (Bhagavad Gita 52). Furthermore, the Guru Granth Sahib expresses God as an “Eternal Being… Beyond birth and death… [and ] Time / And Space,” and Arjuna describes Krishna as an “eternal spirit” who is “unborn / and infinite” (Fisher 444, Bhagavad Gita 53). These core ideas regarding God’s nature appear in both Sikhism’s sacred text and the Bhagavad Gita. Moreover, the Guru Granth Sahib proclaims that God is “[t]he ruthless destroyer / Of all pride and evil,” and Krishna declares, “I destroy the darkness / of [my followers’] ignorance” (Fisher 444, Bhagavad Gita 53). These two 60

texts concur about this fundamental concept of God’s vast power to eliminate selfishness and unacceptable traits in people. In sum, when analyzing the Guru Granth Sahib through the lens of the Bhagavad Gita, the two texts reflect similar essential ideas about what God is and what God does, making the orthodoxies of Sikhism and Hinduism similar rather than divergent.

Two of Guru Nanak’s three teachings accentuate the significance of earning an honest living and remembering God in order to find a path to God, as do Hinduism’s bhakti yoga and karma yoga. Bhakti yoga focuses on japa, “the practice of repeating God’s name,” by singing, praying, meditating, and reading about God in order to find a way to God (Smith 29). The orthopraxy followed by all Sikhs as per Guru Nanak’s teaching to remember God mirrors the goals of bhakti yoga. Thus, this finding suggests that when looking through the lens of bhakti yoga, Sikhism and Hinduism are similar. Further, Guru Nanak encourages Sikhs who want to find a way to God to earn an honest living while working hard, and bhakti yoga prompts Hindus to find a way to God by loving. Looking at the idea of connecting to God through love more deeply, bhakti yoga inspires its followers to “love God for no ulterior reason… not even to be loved in return” (Smith 29). By interpreting Guru Nanak’s teaching to earn an honest living, the underlying significance derived is that this principle just means being truthful in actions helps one discover God. Just as bhakti yoga desires its followers to have no concealed intentions to eventually reach God, Guru Nanak wishes Sikhs to be genuine in their actions. Here, it can be perceived that bhakti yoga’s central message coincides with Guru Nanak’s teaching about honesty, showing that the similarities between the orthopraxy of Sikhism and Hinduism are illuminated by looking through the bhakti yoga lens. Likewise, karma yoga proposes that the way to God is to “work in ways that carry [one] toward God, not away from God” by acting “without thought for [one]self” which “diminishes [one’s] self-centeredness until nothing separates [one] from the divine” (Smith 32). Karma yoga puts emphasis on being selfless, and followers can interpret that being honest will set one on the right path to God. In this way, these two practices intersect considering both motivate followers to be sincere and unselfish, elucidating the shared orthopraxy of Sikhs and Hindus. On top of that, in karma yoga, acts should be “performed as a service to God,” for “they are regarded as prompted by God’s will and powered by God’s energy” (Smith 32). In looking at Guru Nanak’s advice to remember God through the karma yoga lens, it is conceived that these Sikh and Hindu practices mirror each other, by virtue of every behavior should be done in the name of God. To conclude, through 61

looking at Guru Nanak’s teachings to remember God and earn an honest living by working hard through the lenses of bhakti yoga and karma yoga, Hinduism and Sikhism share many similarities in orthopraxy.

In browsing the Guru Granth Sahib through the lens of the portrayal of God in the Bhagavad Gita and in evaluating Guru Nanak’s three teachings through the lens of the traditions in bhakti and karma yoga, readers perceive that these two religions are relatively similar in orthodoxy and orthopraxy. This insight is significant because it can help bridge the gap between two distinct religions and promotes followers of any religion to be pluralistic, in that they can borrow ideas and even share beliefs with other traditions. Hopefully, seeing the similarities in distinct religious traditions can promote unity, leading to a more peaceful and harmonious world.

Works Cited

Eknath, Easwaran. The Bhagavad Gita. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1985. Print. Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions (8th Edition). Boston, MA: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print. Religion and Philosophy Department, The Lawrenceville School. “Introduction to Religious Studies Reader,” 2019. Print. Smith, Huston. The Illustrated World’s Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions. HarperOne, 1995. Print.