How are Hinduism and Sikhism related, considering they both originated in Punjab, India?
Last Updated: 01.07.2025 17:08
ਕੈਸੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਬ ਮੋਹਿਆ ਹੈ ਮਾਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥
I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.
ਹਜ ਕਾਬੈ ਜਾਉ ਨ ਤੀਰਥ ਪੂਜਾ ॥
Because in my previous life, I did not practice penance and intense meditation. ||1||
Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23)
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.
ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥
ਕਬੀਰ ਨਿਰਗੁਣ ਨਾਮ ਨ ਰੋਸੁ ॥
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I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. ||2||
ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਉ ਨ ਨਿਵਾਜ ਗੁਜਾਰਉ ॥
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
ਗੁਰ ਪੀਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਖੁਦਿ ਖਸਮੁ ਪਛਾਨਾ ॥੫॥੩॥
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
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Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered, where millions of Saraswatis, goddess of music play the vina,
ਜਬ ਲਗੁ ਮਨਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠ ਕੀ ਆਸ ॥
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
This supermassive black hole is eating way too quickly — and 'burping' at near-light speeds - Space
To him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminating.
Kaashi and Magahar - I consider them the same.
ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥
NOW…
ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
Why are white women so hard to date?
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹੁ ਕੀਆ ਵਖਾਨਾ ॥
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He does not dwell at the Lord's Feet. ||3||
then who is there to know what happens without?
ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਰਸ ਤਪੁ ਕੀਆ ਕਾਸੀ ॥
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
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Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss.
I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.
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.
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Panch-Padas:
He accepted even women (Sursuri and Padywati) as disciples. Bhagat Pipa and Dhanna were Rajput and Jat who were also his disciples.
So in the same spirit Kabir finds pilgrimages to holy cities futile as his mind is fixated on Rama!
With inadequate devotion, how can anyone swim across? ||4||
ਸਗਲ ਜਨਮੁ ਸਿਵ ਪੁਰੀ ਗਵਾਇਆ ॥
I do not perform Hindu worship services, nor do I offer the Muslim prayers.
ਬ੍ਰਹਮ is Brahm i.e the Brahman of vedanta but it gets interpreted as an all-pervading lord god.
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
Now tell me, Lord, what will my condition be?
ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥
These morons know nothing, they wander about in ignorance,
— Kabir, Ramaini 1, Translated by David Lorenzen
ਪੂਰਬ ਜਨਮ ਹਉ ਤਪ ਕਾ ਹੀਨਾ ॥੧॥
ਗਉੜੀ ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀ ਪੰਚਪਦੇ ॥
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Sriraag / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 92
Raamaanand Jee, First House:
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!
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹ ਕਹੀਐ ਕਾਹਿ ॥
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 326
My consciousness does not go out wandering. My mind has become crippled. ||1|| Pause ||
One day, a desire welled up in my mind.
ਮਰਨੁ ਭਇਆ ਮਗਹਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਸੀ ॥੩॥
I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.
Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;
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.
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Ravidas (a chamar shoemaker)
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But we have actually seen how much Kabir is also rooted in the Vedantic concept of “supreme realization” but in a non-mainstream path.
The Word of the Guru's Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. ||3||1||
Where millions of Vishnus bow their heads, where millions of Brahmas are reading the Vedas,
The Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is heaven. ||4||10||
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.
ਕਹੁ ਗੁਰ ਗਜ ਸਿਵ ਸਭੁ ਕੋ ਜਾਨੈ ॥
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 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…
Kabir (a weaver)
Sadhna (a Muslim butcher) and
How can they kill the mother, whose milk they drink like that of a wet nurse?
Ramananda accepted disciples without discriminating against anyone by gender, class or caste and they included even people from humble origins like
यस्य देवे परा भक्तिः यथा देवे तथा गुरौ । तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मन इति ।
ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥
I do not make pilgrimages to Mecca, nor do I worship at Hindu sacred shrines.
ਜਿਉ ਜਲ ਛੋਡਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਭਇਓ ਮੀਨਾ ॥
Now that my time to die has come, I have come to dwell at Magahar! ||3||
Again we see that the originator of this Sant Sampraday himself talks about Brahman even in Gurbani.
Sant Kabir was staunchly against cow slaughter.
ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥
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.
For many years, I practiced penance and intense meditation at Kaashi;
Kabir, Ravidas and ultimately the NINE SIKH GURUS are a product of this very Sant Sampraday founded by Ramanandacharya!
At the time of my death, I moved to Magahar. ||2||
ਤਜੀ ਲੇ ਬਨਾਰਸ ਮਤਿ ਭਈ ਥੋਰੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Let’s see what Gurbani has about Ramanandacharya’s views.
Where spring, the lord of seasons reigneth, there the unstruck music sounds of itself,
ਓਛੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਕੈਸੇ ਉਤਰਸਿ ਪਾਰੀ ॥੪॥
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ
Here ਨਿਰਗੁਣ is Nirgun and not just lord. This is just another example to show that Kabir himself continued in the NIRGUN BHAKTI path.
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.
ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥
ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
You are totally pervading and permeating in all.
From Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 1195
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.
Hari is in the East, Allah is in the West.
Where millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation, where millions of Indras dwell in the sky,
The young and the old drink milk pudding, but these fools eat the cow's body.
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ ॥੫॥੧੫॥
Wherever I go, I find water and stones.
I have taken the One Formless Lord into my heart; I humbly worship Him there. ||3||
You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.
ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
All the men and women of the world are His living forms.
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
I am like a fish out of water,
Kabeer: O worthless mortal, do not lose the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
— Kabir, II.57, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
ਕਾਸੀ ਮਗਹਰ ਸਮ ਬੀਚਾਰੀ ॥
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
Now here in this verse
ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥
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.
ਏਕ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰ ਲੇ ਰਿਦੈ ਨਮਸਕਾਰਉ ॥੩॥
ਤਬ ਲਗੁ ਹੋਇ ਨਹੀ ਚਰਨ ਨਿਵਾਸੁ ॥੩॥
My body and breath of life belong to Allah - to Raam - the God of both. ||4||
That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. ||1||
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧
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.
I wasted my whole life in the city of Shiva;
Without looking into one's heart, how can one reach paradise?
As long as the mind is filled with the desire for heaven,
There is my Lord self-revealed, and the scent of sandal and flowers dwells in those deeps.
Let's look at the views of Sant Kabir
That Kabeer died chanting the Lord's Name. ||5||15||
ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥
Says Kabeer, the Guru and Ganaysha and Shiva all know
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage,
ਅਬ ਕਹੁ ਰਾਮ ਕਵਨ ਗਤਿ ਮੋਰੀ ॥
I went to God's place, and worshipped Him there.
Sikhism is a NIRGUN path descending from the Sant Sampraday of Ramanandacharya and traces its ideas to VEDANTA!
We have searched the turaki Dharam (Turk's religion, Islam), these teachers throw many thunderbolts,
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
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.
Kabir is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.
Let’s look at the most used verse by McSikhs to show that Sikhs are neither Hindus nor Muslims.
Ramarchan Paddati gives more info about his teachings.
Meeting with the Guru, my Spiritual Teacher, I realize God, my Lord and Master. ||5||3||
If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
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.
Sain (a barber)
Says Kabeer, unto whom should I tell this?
There, where millions of Krishnas stand with hands folded,
There the streams of light flow in all directions, few are the men who can cross to that shore!
CONCLUSION:
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.
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.
Says Kabeer, this is what I say:
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
ਅਲਹ ਰਾਮ ਕੇ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਪਰਾਨ ॥੪॥
I serve the One Lord, and not any other. ||2||
I left Benares - I had little common sense. ||1|| Pause ||
ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥
— Kabir, III.2, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
He who has highest Bhakti of Deva (God), just like his Deva, so for his Guru (teacher),
Recklessly they display boundless pride while explaining their own aims, they kill cows.
ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠੈ ਆਹਿ ॥੪॥੧੦॥
ਏਕੋ ਸੇਵੀ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਦੂਜਾ ॥੨॥
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ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
How can people understand You, when they are entranced by Maya? ||1|| Pause ||
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