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Religious values.
Relation between intrinsic and extrinsic values.
Relation between morality and religion.
Values form the basis of the entire cultural pattern of a nation. A sensitive study of
the entire system o f values in Sankardeva and Nanak’s thought brings out their uniqueness
and spiritualistic outlook. Sankardeva and Nanak’s thought exhibit a humanistic concern
in making the problem o f universal suffering their most important preoccupation This
frame of mind makes the concept of value the guiding principle of their religion Thus
axiological concern constitute an important motivation of their religious philosophy
Values reside in God. But the whole meaning and purpose of the conception of values is
conditioned upon its utility to mankind. From this standpoint, their teaching is highly
significant.
Religion is inextricnbly bound up with n purpose, end or vniue Vnlur dcnotci n
property possessed by a thing either o f conferring immediate satisfaction (or the opposite)
or serving as a means of procuring it. The value of a thing presupposes a sympathetic
universe behind it which somehow helps man in his endeavours to realize the highest
good. In religious discourse, value is also identified with the quest for God God is the
name of the cosmic power or force that helps the real satisfaction of values
In modem times it is believed that religious affirmations are not expressions of
theoretic insight. Unlike scientific understanding, philosophy and religion are concerned
with value in an important sense. There are some purposes and ultimate goal controlling
human life. Philosophy taking up the entire range of human experience, and religion
standing o^the valid experience of religious consciousness, cannot neglect value
The experience in which a religious believer finds God is value experience The
judgment on the supremacy of God is a value judgment. Thus a typical religious attitude is
an attitude towards value experience as a whole. This attitude consists in accepting that all
value experience is somehow related to God who is the source of values and the supreme
value1.
An analysis of different value experience reveals different types of values It may
be said that social values organize^ value experience from the standpoint of sharing, and
intellectual values organized value experience from the standpoint of knowledge, so
religious values organize it from the standpoint of worship2. It is the form in which the
finite spirit realizes the presence of the infinite within it. It may be conceded that in the
devotionalism of Sankardeva and Nanak none of the different types of values are
considered to be autonomous or sovereign. A devotee is peculiarly conscious of the
dependence of all values on their source, i.e., God. In Sankardeva’s thought, such a
devotee is found to address to his God, “0 Lord, fulfill the desire of a devotee, bestow me
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kama, moksa, dharma and artha”3, Likewise, in Nanak’s thought a devotee utters, “O
primal word (the creator of) maya and the primal cause, hail to Thee, Thou that art truth,
eternal bliss and beauty”4.
God is the source o f all values. All other values are relative to and dependent on
God. In Sankardeva and Nanak, the religious faith finds expression through the
development of moral character. Moral values are in that way intimately associated with
the religious values. Truth, a cognitive value, is for Sankardeva and Nanak, a religious
value as well. Because it is in relation to God that everything is evaluated. It is in this vein
Nanak says, “That alone is good which pleaseth my God”5.
Objectivity of religious values ;
For Sankardeva values are objective in the sense that the self has to realize them.
To realize them is to discover them. Values are inalienably subjective qualities o f ideal
entity or self in which they are rooted. This ideal entity or self is the spring o f value
experience. Sankardeva depicts God as the source o f aesthetic, moral and spiritual values.
As the repository of moral values, he is the cause o f the sansara, the protector of the
devotees, the pure one and the destroyer o f sin. He subdues the demons and delights the
gopis, lie i« tho blower o f Ihe fluid, the lord o f the wot Id, the bestowei o f salvation, the
accompiisher of all, the ruler of destiny and the most compassionate one to the poor. He is
pleased by devotion and dispels the sorrows. He is the lotus eyed, the destroyer o f fear6.
As the spring of aesthetic values, God is eternally beautiful7 God, the source of moral
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value is also the spiritual guide of the bhaktas. Sankardeva says, “The absolutely foolish
people wander about aimlessly in this world for enjoyment in this as well as in the next
birth. Such vile desires can be done away with by devotion to God. Let God be my
spiritual Guru and wipe out the egoism from my mind so that I may escape from the
drudgery of this world”8. This ideal self is the supreme bliss (parama ananda) and is found
to utter the following words “I am the soul as such and the supreme bliss who resides in
the person that entrusts ones mind to me becoming completely impartial towards all. The
happiness or the bliss that such a person derives therefrom can nowhere be enjoyed by a
person, whose mind is deeply engrossed in the worldly affairs”9.
_ or Nanak, the name signifies all the auspicious qualities and the name and the lord
who holds the qualities are synonymous. He has considered that the name and
the lord
should be regarded as a living entity. The name and the qualities are non different in the
ultimate state. Nanak says, “I have assembled in my heart the capital o f the lords name. O
God, whomsoever Thou blessest it with, he is emancipated. This treasure is neither burnt
nor stolen, nor drowned, nor periseth”10. Here name is the supreme purusha. He is the
supreme cause. He is the all good. He is the eternal truth. He is full o f kindness and
grace11. Here, the name, who is the repository o f all the values is personified and is
identified with the lord12. Thus, as in the religious thought o f Sankardeva, in Nanak also
the values are grounded on the supreme self3.
That the self is the supreme value is declared in the Brhadaranyaka text. It has
been said that everything health, wealth, son, father, husband, wife is for the sake of the
pleasure that one derives from the atman. In the absence of this atman nothing can be of
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any value. “This self is dearer than the son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything
else, and is innermost”14.
The ideal self is called purukh, in which all the values are conserved. It is what is
called God, lord etc. in religious terminology. The expression used by the Sikh gurus in
respect of God is “Thou” or “Tudh”, Teti, Turn etc.15. In the compositions of Nanak, a
devotee is found to utter “Thou O God, art Thy only attribute, Thou the one who utterest,
hearest, and dwellest on it. Thou thyself art the jewel, Thou the evaluator (thought)
beyond value art Thou. Thou art the honour and the glory and Thou the giver o f them”16.
A devotee thus believes that there are certain vital religious values which are met by the
character of God as goodness, love and wisdom.
Nanak employs the expressions like “Kimat” (price, value) in the compositions of
japjees to denote the priceless worth and excellence o f the principle o f truth which must be
made real in one’s deeper experience17. The human beings are not capable o f fathoming
the full worth o f the ultimate values which are divine^/T© quote one o f such expressions
priceless the devotion,
priceless the absorption.
Priceless the law divine,
Priceless the master’s court - his shrine.
Priceless the approval, priceless the bounties,
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Priceless the command, priceless his mercies,
Priceless beyond word, beyond thought,
As great he is as him it pleaseth,
How great is he, the true one alone
And he, who presumes and says he knows,
Is a fool among fools, as such he goes” 19.
These expressions are suggestive o f Otto’s conception o f the Numinous and its
relation with the absolute values. Rudolph Otto suggests that in the consciousness o f the
numinous there are two elements viz., the element o f the “mysterious” and the element of
the “absolute”. He argues that those who believe God as absolute thinks that as an
absolute reality God is the embodiment o f absolute rational values and man as created
spirits relatively realize the same values as are embodied in God in their striving in life.
The difference between human love, knowledge and goodness with that o f divine love,
knowledge and goodness is only one o f form and not o f content. This distinguishes the
absolute attributes o f God and “makes them mysterious” and “wholly other”20.
The nature of the absolute attribute is such that they cannot be grasped by the
human mind, because human understanding can grasp only the relative. According to
Otto, the Numinous or the Holy o f our religious consciousness as “wholly other” must be
beyond even the absolute values which belong after all to the sphere of reason and
religious consciousness is entirely mystical and “non-rational”21. Here Otto made
valuable contribution to the problem of the relation between God and the absolute
a
vulues
and Nanak’s thought certainly offered the ground or the germ of the idea.
The values have human significance :
While stressing the objectivity of religious values in Sankardeva and Nanak's
thought, we must guard ourselves against a very important point. When values are treated
to be objective, they do not lose the kind o f human significance which confer the religious
thoughts of Sankardeva and Nanak a practical discipline and not merely a theoretical belief
or attitude about the world. The values reside in the supreme being, but they are not
without reference to mankind. They are not barren and purposeless from a human point of
view. To be more precise, the social orientation of their religious world view have made
values conditioned upon its utility to mankind. Both the thinkers consider religion as a
social force, the grounds for which are to be discovered in the character of the individual
himself. It should be cleared however that this emphasis on the social aspect of religion
should not mislead us into much contused thinking sponsored by such writers as Emile
Durkheim, Westermerck and others who endeavour to explain it by the genetic method
The concept of “Sarba mukti” or “emancipation for all*” as in Mahayana Buddhism has
* This is to be discussed at length in the chapter IV.
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made religion a social force emphasizing the manifestation of the socially oriented
practical principles of religious life. ^
It is to be observed that the problem o f value is primarily the problem of the
concrete in contemporary western philosophy22. But paradoxical as it may seem, the
search for values by most of our philosophers has been a quest in terms of formal essences
or abstract criteria. It may be observed that this is due to the fact that western philosophy
is usually rooted in the formal side of Aristotle’s logic and so it has largely developed in
the form of abstract concepts, notions of the mind and formal essences We have an
analogous situation in the classical Indian thought in the vedic and post vedic period with
the exception in Buddhistic thought. The thoughts of Sankardeva and Nanak are a clear
deviation from this. They are interested in the concrete within the sphere of religion, ethics
and aethetics. As a matter o f fact, all the values which are grounded on the divine are the
values by which human character is to be perfected; they are concretised by their
manifestation in the society.
Of late, the doctrine of the subjectivity o f value in the sense that values are merely
matters of human interests, desires, and passions have been put forward. On this view,
values cannot be supposed to form the character and content of reality. Spinoza, Hobbes,
and materialists in the past and existentialists in recent times put forward arguments in
favour of subjectivity of values. The subjectivity of moral values leads to the docliinc ol
ethical relativity in the field of morals. It has taken many forms, some showing that values
are matters of individual taste while others trying to establish that they are not eternal and
change from time to time according to the conditions and social demands However, no
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arguments about the subjectivity o f moral values can be sustained. This is also true about
religious values. For the religious man, the order of reality and the order of value cannot
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be separated from one another. The dominant belief o f a religious eidook consists in the
contention that the world has a moral purpose. “To doubt the objectivity of value is to
adopt what has been called scepticism of the Instrument in so extreme a form as to make
all intellectual efforts futile”23. Man has fascination for the concreteness and so the
realisation of values seems to be effective for him only when they are personified by being
associated to some reality. “God is held to be real because of man’s intuitive appreciations
of aspirations to possess the highest values. Thus valuational analysis is made the
foundation of philosophy of religion”24.
Sankardeva and Nanak were ‘personal absolutists’ in the sense that they look upon
reality as the inexhaustible treasure house o f values in the realisation of which religious life
seeks its fulfilment. Even Bradley, for whom reality is an impersonal force, have
interpreted it in term of values. He says, “If metaphysics is to stand, it must think, take
account of all sides of our being. I donot mean that everyone of our desires must be met
by a promise of particular satisfaction, for that would be absurd and utterly impossible
But if the main tendencies o f our nature donot reach satisfaction in the Absolute, we
cannot believe that we have attained to perfection and truth”25. He says further, "we must
believe that reality satisfies our whole being. Our main wants for truth and life and for
beauty and goodness must all find satisfaction”26.
)
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Thus the realm of values form the common point of meeting for both an Absolutist
and theist in that, for both, reality is all-inclusive and therefore, it has to provide some
explanation for values ns well.
Relation between intrinsic and extrinsic values :
Theoretically speaking, values are distinguished into intrinsic and extrinsic. A value
is said to be intrinsic when it is choosen for its own sake. Something is valuable because it
is preferred. Hence the element of preference involved is regarded as ultimate or final, a
value is said to be intrinsic27. A value whose basal preference is subordinate to some other
preference is said to be an extrinsic or instrumental value. Thus, something is intrinsically
valuable when it is judged to be valuable in its own right and which consequently can be
said to be of absolute worth. An extrinsic value is one which is judged to be valuable
because o f its relation to another value in respect o f which it is a means. Thus an intrinsic
value is an end in itself, while an extrinsic value is a means to an end which is valued.
Hence, the problem of the relation between intrinsic and extrinsic value is the problem of
the relation between ends and means. Value is closely related to that o f the conception of
end. The two ideas imply one another. Both rest upon and psychologically develop out of,
man’s conscious activity28. Conative activity is always a striving towards some results. The
satisfaction in the result or the enjoyment o f the result constitute a value-feeling. These
elementary feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction are the rudimentary facts which
make spiritual development possible. There is however one important distinction between
value and an end. When we think of value we think of satisfaction in the result of a
process; when we think of end we think of the process itself moving to its goal The end
gives stimulus and direction to endeavour, while value denotes endeavour satisfactorily
completed29.
Theoretically, the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic value is not difficult to
state. But it involves considerable difficulty to analyse and apply the distinction practically
in the religious discourse. It may be noted that the term ‘extrinsic’ and ‘intrinsic’ are used
relatively within the whole range o f extrinsic values. Their relativity is due to the fact that
sometimes what is intrinsic from one level of our life becomes extrinsic when that level is
transcended. But it may be pointed out that from the highest level of our spiritual develop­
ment the intrinsic values become identical with Absolute values30.
In the devotionalism o f Sankardeva and Nanak spiritual realisation is a whole-some
endeavour. In this, the practice of certain values are held to be necessary These values
participate in the ultimate and ideal spiritual realisation. In connection with the pertinent
question of the relation between intrinsic and extrinsic values, we would like to proceed to
discuss the significance of devotion and the way in which it is preferred even to mukti. A
clear understanding of this is expected to throw light on the relation between intrinsic and
extrinsic values.
For a devotee, the supreme object of interest is God. He is the supreme value All
other values are relative to and dependent on God, their source. But this doesnot mean
that they are equally removed from the supreme value. On the contrary, Sankardeva and
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Nanak in their religious thought attach a special importance ta the value o f devotion
S&nkardeva says, “All virtues lead to devotion. So he who resorts to Me by discarding his
own form of religion subdues me, and lie l aver, O friend is really saintly"'1, Likewise,
Nanak states that one who listens to His name with devotion acquires courage,
contentment, holiness, learning, loyalty, truth and wisdom”32. One who obeys him,
concentrates his name in mind and realises God in self, achieves a state of bliss which is
beyond experience. He is virtuous, does not suffer punishment and is absorbed in God. He
not only himself achieves salvation, but also saves his disciples and followers33. We have
already stated in the proceeding chapter that bhakti is accompanied by an absolute self­
surrender to God and a feeling o f joy and happiness in serving or worshipping him. The
superiority and efficacy o f bhakti in this Kali age has been maintained by both Nanak and
Sankardeva. Thus Nanak says that in the Kali age*, the most sublime thing is the Lord’s
name34. Sankardeva also states in a similar tone, “In Satya yuga man resorted to
meditation, in Treta yuga he performed sacrifices. In Dwapara yuga he obtained the
desired objects by worshipping God. In Kali yuga, the act o f singing Hari’s glory is the
highest virtue”35.
Devotion, or bhakti thus, is a special value o f Kali age (present age). Both the
thinkers are unanimous in holding that in Kali age bhakti is the best mode o f worship in as
* Nanak has mentioned the four ages like S&nkardeva. He goes further and states their nature : “for the
spirit-filled human body there is a chariot and a charioter. A ge after age they change, yea, the w ise one
knoweth it aU. In the age o f Satya, contentment is the chariot and religion the charioter. In the treta age,
continence is the chariot and the power drives it on. In the Daapar age, austerity is the chariot and chanty
is its driving force. In the kali age the chariot is o f fire and ‘tis driven along by falsehood” - N a n a k : Asa
v a r : Tr. by Dr. G. Singh. Guru N an ak : P. 118.
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much as God can be easily pleased by bhakti alone. Further, it is easy to practise and
accessible to all irrespective of caste and creed, the high and the low36.
Sankardeva asserts the supremacy o f bhakti in the following lines. “Bhakti is
mother, father, friend, brother,.... and the highest treasure of life. Bhakti is the movement
(gati), the desire (mati) and guiding force of life. It is the highest desire and wealth (vitta)
and the germ of liberation; it is the solace o f life, the vital breath of the body as it were.
There is no other way of life save and except bhakti in this world and next”37.
Nanak in his japjis, have repeatedly asserted that the true way is to hear and
believe of Him with love, devotion and concentration o f mind38. When one dwells in the
indwelling name and ignites it, his mind becomes more precious and illuminated than the
gems, jewels, and rubies39. Certain virtues are enlisted on the various stanzas o f japjis.
These virtues help man to concentrate on God. These are chastity, compassion,
contentment, devotion, discipline,
divinity, faith, humility, knowledge,
patience,
renunciation (non-covetousness), self-repect, truth, and understanding40. These virtues are
in fact, religious values in as much as they are prerequisites to concentrate on God. In
Sankardeva also, the universally accepted conducts o f right living and praise worthy
virtues have been extolled, while vices have been deprecated. These qualities may be
enumerated as truthfulness, indifference to worldly pleasures, kindness, hospitality, tem­
perance, contenment, patience, purity o f heart, humility, control over passions etc. But
non-violence or mercy towards all creatures have been recognised as an excellent virtue41.
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The devotional writings o f Sankardeva and Nanak regard bhakti as more important
than mukti. It has been said that a true devotee never hankers after Slyujya mukti and
considers the state of bhakti superior to mukti. It is again stated that the devotees of Krsna
refuse even Salokya mukti in Vaikuntha (heaven) if it is offered without providing any
opportunity for practising devotion42. Thus, between the two, i.e., devotion and liberation
- the basal preference goes for the devotion. The terms devotion and liberation here should
be carefully understood. In liberation, a blissful state is attained by the soul by merging
itself in God, but looses its separate identity to taste the happiness and joy o f serving or
enjoying the beautiful form o f God. In bhakti or devotion one can merge with God still
living in the world but does not loose its separate identity so that he can serve and witness
the beatific form o f God43.
The choice for devotion over liberation strikes at another important point. To opt
for devotion is also to opt for this world. This worldly life is not to be renounced but to be
accepted with its fullness. “Religion, in theory atleast, requires us to renounce the world,
the flesh asserts itself, the devil has its due and the world expects us to work in it, making
it better or worse. Even religious leaders are worldly in spirit. Even if we are asked to
withdraw from life, It is as a preparation for participating in life and reforming it...”44. In
the religious thoughts o f Sankardeva and Nanak, the world is a positive value. One is
required to denounce the world neither in theory nor in practice. Even if one is asked to
withdraw from life, that is as a “preparation for participating in life and reforming it”.
The Indian concept o f values is represented in the concept o f four-fold aim of
human life (catuspurusartha) which consists o f dharma, artha, kama and moksa4S. The
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special consideration for moksa dominates the philosophical activity in Tndin, It is a value
of transcendental state which refuses to be harmonised with the so called emperical values.
Because, on the attainment of liberation - the summum bonura, there remains nothing to
be attained. This implies that in the face of the spiritual, other so called values must lose
their value. The case is just the reverse in Nanak and Sankardeva, The summum bonum is
not liberation, but devotion. This makes the significant difference. “The problem how to
decide between competing values could only be solved by the acceptance of a standard of
value; and a consistant standard o f value could not be secured unless a central or supreme
value was presupposed. The possession of an ideal value as a standard made it possible to
organise the values of life in a graduated system, where the lower stood to the higher in
the relation o f means and end”46. The line o f thought developed by Sankardeva and Nanak
represent values forming a system. There cannot be radical opposition among the various
emperical values. This is not because o f the simple acceptance o f a central or supreme
value, - but because, that supreme value is devotion itself. This is to be experienced in the
emperical existence in a society o f selves. Thus as soon as devotion or bhakti is valued
even to mukti, the other so called emperical values are automatically harmonised.
This emphasis on devotion reminds one to an important principle o f religion to
which Josiah Royce calls “Loyalty”. Loyalty is said to be “the will to believe something
eternal and to express that belief in the practical life o f human being, Tt is a positive
devotion o f the self to its cause.... it refers first to a cause to which one is loyal, secondly,
it implies a whole-hearted, complete exclusive, unswerving, willing devotion to it. Thirdly,
the expression o f such an attitude in the behaviour of the individual by being always
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devoted to the service of the cause”47. The Indian word “bhakti” perhaps comes very near
to Royce’s concept o f loyalty. Loyalty
is a devotion to a cause,
Royce defines the cause in
the following words - “The cause for any such devoted servant o f a cause as we have been
describing is some concieved, and yet also real, spiritual unity which links many individual
lives in one and which is therefore essentially superhuman, in exactly the sense in which
we found the realities o f the world o f the reason to be superhuman”48.
Thus, devotion to a cause constitute loyalty. The cause in both Sankardeva and
Nanak constitute spiritual unity. Devotion, in the sense o f loyalty to a cause possesses the
character o f unifying all men in the spirit o f fellow-feeling or community. Devotion is thus
the whole-hearted thorough going committment to a cause, that is, spiritual unity.
Devotion, in this sense is identical with the
pursuit
of
all such values and ideals which
constitute larger and larger communities culminating in the brotherhood o f all mankind
This parhaps explains why such a devotee prefers devotion even to liberation. He is as
Royce says, “concretely loyal” . To quote him, “that is whoever wholly gives himself to
some cause that binds many human souls in one superhuman unity, is just in so far serving
the cause not only o f all mankind, but o f all the rational spiritual world”49.
With this explanation o f the deeper implications o f devotion, w e are in a better
position to enter into the understanding o f the crucial relation between intrinsic and
extrinsic values. So tar as the question o f ends and means are concerned, for both the
thinkers, bhakti is clearly stated to be the means to attain liberation. Liberation is to merge
in God.
In their thought we have seen that God is good in itself, in the all-embracing sense
of the word. He is the true, the beautiful, the moral good, the life etc. So God is the allembracing absolute value. Apparently, bhakti is the instrumental value in the sense that it
is a means to something desirable or good, The matter however, does not end here. At this
point, the question o f the basal preference involved, deserves special attention On the one
hand, it is stated that bhakti leads to mukti and on the other hand, basal preference is
associated with bhakti. We have seen that bhakti is emphatically preferred even to mukti
Does it involve any contradiction ? The contradiction so concieved is only apparent, noi
real. Bhakti as loyalty to a cause is enough to show why the question o f basal preference is
associated with it. Bhakti as loyalty is both a means and an end. What is important here is
the way in which a devotee directs his efforts to realise the goal. It has become clear by
now that devotees should not direct their efforts to the attainment o f salvation It would
mean some sort o f selfishness on the part o f the devotee if his efforts were directed solely
towards attaining salvation. Liberation can be achieved by way o f devotion, but this is not
his intended aim. This is an unintended aim o f a bhakta which comes automatically in its
own course. It is inherent in bhakti50. Hence the goal is bhakti, not mukti. Bhakti to whom
? It is to God or God’s name. Here the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic value
shedes off. Bhakti with all its implications is intrinsic value along with God. Consequently,
the worldly life has a great extrinsic value because it is in this life one can serve God
through devotion.
The catagory o f means and ends however, involves considerable difficulty
Without going to the intricacies o f such problems two ambiguities associated with the
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meaning of the word ‘end’ must be cleared, Firstly, an end is the result but not a mere
result - it is a chosen and intended result. Secondly, an end may mean termination or
climax51. In the present context, it is the latter which is considered to be important.
Morality and religion:
No account of the religious philosophy o f any thinker can be considered complete
unless one dwells also on the interrelation o f morality and religion. With regard to the
relation o f religion and morality, different views have been taken.
(1) Religion and morality are inseparable and interdependent.
(2) Religion is independent o f morality.
(3) Morality is independent o f religion as an autonomous discipline.
In the contemporary ethical thinking, the question of the autonomy o f ethics is a
very hotly debated issue. Ethics is autonomous in the sense that it cannot be a branch of
any other discipline. Goodness is its own reward. Without going to the intricacies o f such
debate one observation must be made at the outset, that the problem of the relation
between different disciplines arise only at a comparatively advanced stage o f culture.
Morality and religion like science and art had proved themselves as normal aspects of
human culture. Some sort o f connection must subsist between them, for each in its own
way is a reaction of the human spirit on the facts o f experience. In face o f their common
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origin,
then, one would say that there must he bonds of affinity between them52
In the
idealistic philosophies of S&nkardeva and Nanak, the two cannot be split into two noncommunicative territories. A brief analysis o f certain striking features o f the morality in the
religious thoughts o f Sankardeva and Nanak will help towards a conclusion about the
relation between morality and religion in their thought.
The basic assumption that precedes every endeavour in Sikhism is the fact of
underlying spiritual unity which sums through all. “Within us is God, without us is God
too, yea, God is in the three worlds”53. As being created from this single source all are
contained in God. It is thus concieved that all are spiritually related. The moral trouble lies
in the human failure to discern this element o f unity54. The failure to discern this unity is
ascribed to the influence of consciousness of individuation (haumai). The moral agent is
required to direct his efforts to the realisation o f this underlying spiritual unity o f the self.
In this respect, Nanak stresses on the need to realise the unity in terms o f actions.
The effort through which the moral agent is to realise the underlying spiritual unity
of the self, necessitates moral progress. This is an ethico-spiritual progress leading to an
unitive experience. In this the conserted efforts o f the whole personality along with the
grace of God is involved.
The ethico-spiritual progress:
The path o f spiritual progress described by Nanak at the end o f japji in the Adi
Granth has been interpreted in the preceeding chapter from the standpoint o f the elements
o f religious consciousness. The process comprising o f khands, is very important from the
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standpoint o f morality as well. It points to a life o f progress towards the solution of the
contradiction between man’s higher and lower nature which is accompanied by the
transformation of the lower into the organ or expression o f the higher. This is a basic
problem o f morality. The essence of the moral life in Sikhism consists in the renounciation
of the private or exclusive self and the identification o f our being with an widening sphere
of spiritual life beyond us55.
Morality thus implies progress. This progress in Sikh ethics is concieved in the six­
fold stages. These are (1) A preparatory stage. Nanak has given no specific name to it. But
its crucial importance lies in the way in which it describes the spirit of the proceeding
seeker. (2) Dharam khand, the second stage is generally rendered as region o f customary
or conventional morality36. (3) Gian khand, the cognitive dimension. (4) The Saram khand
or the aesthetic dimension. (5) The Karam khand or the dimension o f action. (6) The Sach
khand, the dimension of truth.
In the first stage of the journey o f moral transformation undergone by a person,
what is required to be of great importance is the spirit of renunciation of pride. It is in this
spirit, the devotee utters,
“No power to speak, or silence to keep.
No power to beg, no power to give.
No power to die, no power to live.
No power to rule, or gather the soul.
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No power to awaken the soul to wisdom,
No power to find the way to freedom.
He alone hath the power, He alone hath the way.
And, of ourselves which high, which low, O none can say.” 57
The insignificance of the seeker is expressed in the following attitude -
“...H e who thinks o f himself much, in vain,
And will look small in God’s domain” .58
Sankardeva also stresses the spirit in which a person is to proceed. It is one of
humility and equipoise. A devotee has no pride o f his achievements. There is not the
slightest sense of pride in him59. In the stage of Dharam khand, the moral agent is to
cultivate moral virtues and perform his social obligations60. It is the moral context in which
the moral agent resides. There is no specific duties mentioned in connection with this
stage. The fact o f situational peculiarities makes it not possible to lay down specific duties
in each case61. In the next progressive stage, there is a process of gradual realisation in and
through the dimensions o f knowledge, feeling and action. The apex o f the moral progress
is to be reached through the integration o f knowledge, feeling and action. Nanak does not
mention the apex, namely the Sach khand as an independent stage. It is an integral stage
where knowledge, feeling and action are all fused. “The provision of the Sach khand
shows that all these are not isolatory but are integrated62. This is the ultimate stage where
126
none but the true one manifests. This also indicates that the whole moral endeavour of the
agent culminates in a spiritual realisation.
In Bhakti-ratnakar, and also in Nimi-nava-siddha-sambada, devotees are classified
into three classes on the basis of the nature o f the stage achieved by them in the ethicospiritual progress. They are (1) Uttama (Best), (2) Madhyama (Middling) and (3) Prakrta
(Ordinary). The classification is not exclusive but integral. The three types differ in the
possession of certain moral values. The difference is however, one o f degree. In short, one
who sees God in all creatures, who does not inflict violence towards anybody, who is
indifferent to worldly pleasures, who sheds off greed, attachment, desire, anger and who
never acts in view o f results is the uttama bhakat63. One who is friendly with the society,
have respect for the superior and bestows kindness to the inferior is the madhyama
bhakat64. On the other hand, one who worships the image o f God with devotion but have
no special feelings for the devotees of God and other persons is the prakrta bhakat65.
Certain qualities like sacrifice, mental tranquillity, self control, forgiveness, faith, modesty,
aversion etc. are possessed by the best type o f devotee in a maximum degree, the ordinary
devotee in a minimum degree, and the medium type o f devotee stands in between. Bhaktiratnakara have recorded and Katha-guru-carita have referred to antaranga bhakti as the
supreme devotion66. In this mental state, a devotee perceives the immanence o f God in all
animate and inanimate objects and devotees. Under such a state of mind one develops
respect for all objects and consider them as his own self67.
In Bhakti-ratnakara, it is stated that God’s grace favours those who practise
devotion in the association o f devotees68. Such a devotee achieves a mental state of
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indifference to worldly pleasures and knowledge of God comes to him which in turn
begets liberation. Like Nanak, Sankardeva also emphasises the importance of a
preparatory mental state. The ground for the cultivation of the name of God is to be
cleared first. It is only in such a mental state God’s name can be implanted. But until and
unless God favours him with His grace, he cannot expect to attain knowledge69. Till this
stage is reached, a man should perform such duties as are not in conflict with the path of
devotion. The last stage or the ideal stage is the stage of complete detachment or indif­
ference to worldly pursuits70* . In the final stage, ordinary ethical laws of good and bad
conduct cease to operate on him. But till the final and ideal stage is reached, a devotee
should scrupulously observe prescriptions and injunctions of the sastras. Defiance or
transgression of those sastric codes is adharma or sin. This gradual process of spiritual
elevation towards the attainment of the ideal bhakti, has been termed as Pippalayana
bhakti in Katha-guru-carita, because it is advocated by Pippalayana, one of the nine
siddhas who gives devotional instructions to the Nimi71.
It becomes clear from the above analysis that Nanak as well as Sankardeva in their
own ways recognise a basic fact o f human life. The fact being that in man there is a
discord between two natures - a higher nature - which is rational and universal and another
which is particular, limited. The solution of the problem as to how this contradiction can
HUhakli lias been classified into several types in the Assamese devotional scriptures. The Bluikli-ralnakara
o f Sankardeva classifies bhakti into four types viz., (1) Saprema, (2) Nirguna, (3) Antaranga, (4) Uttama.
We are not concerned here with the classification as such for two reasons. Firstly, they are not important
from the standpoint o f morality as they are not suggestive o f moral progress or development o f the moral
agent Here we are concerned only on those aspects which are significant from the ethical point o f view.
Secondly, the classification is not based on any scientific differentiation o f the salient features o f Bhakti.
The characteristics o f one type are not peculiar to that type - they overlap.
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be solved furnishes the key to man’s life as a moral and spiritual being. Morality can offer
only a partial solution to this discord. Hence it has to transcend to a still higher stage
where this division in man’s nature can be healed. It is religion which can solve it com­
pletely. The achievement consists in a step by step process. Each step being a step of
spiritual development.
Incidentally, it is interesting to note that in Buddhism, though in a different
background, the ethico-spiritual progress o f the seeker is conceived in various stages.
These stages are four in Mahayana Buddhism and eight in Hinayana Buddhism. The stages
are called Bhumis72 The seeker is required to shed his false notion prior to the
commencement of the spiritual progress in the pre - bhumi stage, somewhat similar to the
preparatory stage in Nanak’s thought. A Putthujjana is defined in the Majjhima Nikaya as
“one who labours under the delusion o f I-ness and mine-ness. Not knowing the true law,
he develops attachments to things which he should avoid”73. In Sankardeva, though the
stages are not clear-cut, they are o f course discernible. Sankardeva shows how the seeker
prior to the commencement of his journey affirms his insignificance in the total scheme74.
In a way, asramadharma of the Hindus also describes the various stages o f spiritual
progress. There is however, a difference between the two approaches. In Sikhism, the
khands do not stand for controls as in Buddhism, and as implied in asramadharma, they
cannot be described as division o f life75. The way in which JNanak and Sankardeva deal
with the whole issue, we may find a fine exposition o f how the gap between morality and
religion is bridged.
129
Here a very important question emerges as to whether in Sikhism as propounded
by Nanak, the process of realisation of the three khands5 is simultaneous or not
Interesting discussions may take place in this regard. We may however mention the views
of three eminent scholars of Sikhism. They are Sher Singh, Surindar Singh Kohli and
Avtar Singh. Sher Singh regards the process o f realisation of these three khands not as
simultaneous process while he says : “The defect o f the intellect makes us emotionally
alive and we enter a region of happiness”76. Surindar Singh Kohli also holds a similar view
while he says, “This realisation takes him into the next region, i.e., the region of effort
(saram khand), wherein he beautifies and purifies his mind and intellect”77. Here, progress
in the realisation is conceived in terms of step by step process, that is, finishing one and
then entering into another. Avtar Singh maintains, “Knowledge and feeling are to function
in harmony with action. But in so far as the realisation of the ideal o f all these three is
concerned, they mark a sort of continuity”78. The interpretation that the seeker first fur­
nishes with one and then enter another region cannot be held on the ground that the
khands do not stand for the division of life as it is the case with Hindu asramadharma.
Further, all the three khands of tri-dimensional progress have reference to three elements
of human mind viz., intellectual, emotional, and affective. These three elements are not
isolated fragmentary elements of human consciousness. Hence the view of Avtar Singh to
consider the fact of simultaneous realisation instead o f continuous transition from one
1 The field of realisation is though six fold, the first two and the last One may not be called dimensions in
the sense in which the remaining three can be so named. The predimension stage points the very spirit in
which the seeker proceeds in his march to progress. The second, Dharam khand, reminds one that a
■ person must accept the situation in which he is placed. The last one, namely, the Sach Khand, is not
mentioned by Nanak as an independent dimension. Though these are very crucial for the progress, they
are not independent dimensions. Hence, we are left with three dimensions namely, Gyan Khand, Saram
Khand, and the Karain Kliand.
130
khand to another seems quite tenable. Further this view presents us the whole scheme of
progress as one of integrated progress of which Avtar Singh describes as “Integrative
Spiritual Practicalism”79.
Morality serves as the social dimension of religion :
The religious thoughts o f Sankardeva and Nanak have a strong social dimension.
This leads them to insist on the fact that pursuit o f religion is not at the cost o f the duties
of the members of the society54. The devotee belongs to an environment or society of
persons to whom he bears some obligations, Sankardeva and Nanak have repeated the
point that without membership in the community, man cannot fulfill himself. Even
salvation comes through service. In fact, the test of spiritual realisation is in the conduct of
the person. This is called his Rahit (conduct)80. Nanak remarks, “when one dwells on the
word, one’s mind flows out to serve the others.... On hearing guru’s word, one becomes
jivan mukta. His conduct is pious (or true) and he is ever in bliss”81. In this, they depart
from the traditional division o f life into four stages in the ethics o f the Hindus. According
to the traditional Hindu ethics, in order to realise the supreme ideal a person should
completely renounce the social context. But both Nanak and Sankardeva emphasised the
%The folio-wing incident throws light on this. In one o f the Hariprasangas Sankardeva noticed that a
noted devotee was absent. The reason for his absence was, it was learnt, that he was attending an ailing
friend of his in the Kevaliyahati. On knowing this, some of the devotees were alarmed and expressed their
concern over the behaviour of the devotee who so neglected the prayer. Sdnkardeva, however, reacted in
the following way : “The devotee has done well. To serve a man is to serve God. He has done the real act
of service. My 'dear children, follow his example and do social service”, - H.M.Das : Contributions of
Sdnkardcva: P.i 25.
i
131
need for a change in attitude; the context of this change must be social. Even in this stage,
a devotee does not cease to work. The following remark well expresses the real import of
such a state. “True self freedom can never think of the restricted self expression of any
unit of life. His free instincts will revolt against such an idea. He will earnestly work to
secure full realisation of free life for all.... He will do everything that leads to the highest
good of all.... To work for highest life is to work for all life, for all is in that One”82.
The relation between morality and religion in Sankardeva and Nanak is broad
based upon this conception. We have seen that moral life implies progress. Now, it is
evident that a religious life too implies a progress. But, unlike morality which is progress
only towards the infinite, religion implies progress within the infinite. Hence, while
morality is the pursuit o f an ever eluding infinite, religion is the ever deepening conscious­
ness of an infinite that is already in our possession83.
Metaphysical basis of morality :
Unlike the modem thinkers Sankardeva and Nanak were critical o f any system of
ethics cut off from metaphysics. Morality is based upon certain metaphysical assumption.
Man has to live for an ideal, for a purpose, or goal. The goal is to realise the unity of man.
This ideal itself is a metaphysical character. Sankardeva and Nanak have recognised the
basic truth that cut off from the ontological foundation morality degenerates into
expediency and prudence. That is why the relation between morality and religion is very
intimate in the religious philosophy of Nanak and Sankardeva. The general Christian
132
thinking is also in line with this. For a devotee, the idea o f perfect goodness and the idea
of God coincide. That is why in obeying commands of duty and in the cultivation of
goodness the devotee feels that he is obeying God. Here, one proceeds from religion to
ethics rather than from ethics to religion. Here the following remark made by Dr.
TrueBlood is significant: “Some o f the hardest problems of our day are moral problems,
rather than economic or political ones but, moral problems as they are, many of them
cannot be solved except on a religious basis.... we will not accept all man as brothers until
we are really humble, and we are not really humble until we measure ourselves by the
revealation of the living God”84.
Practical M oralists.
Sankardeva and Nanak were practical moralists. Their chief concern is not to
discuss what goodness is, but how to become a good man. This led Nanak to say, “Truth
is higher than everything, higher still is true living”85. Morality is not a question o f laws
and conventions but one o f purity of mind and actions as its outward manifestations86. The
all important thing is the realisation o f truth as it is encountered in the experience than in
the striving after a theoretical, dry-as-dust, empty and abstract logical compatibility.
133
Sikhism as propounded by Nanak and Vaisnavism as propounded by Sankardeva
are predominantly normative and it is natural for them to encourage the members of the
faith group to move in the desired direction. The fundamental aim o f their thinking is to
link the daily life of human beings with the eternal purpose of life, and inspire moral and
spiritual unity amongst people.
Religion, according to them is integration. It transforms the whole being of the
individual self. But this transformation is not confined to the individual’s private self. It
must spread to the community or social self. They realise the ethico-social importance of
religion. Moral actions of a person is the necessary factor in self realisation. Moral actions
and self realisation go completely together. It is because o f this reason morality and
religion in their thought are complementary to each other. Consequently, each and every
moral value is at once a religious value. The gap between religion and morality is bridged.
All values are grounded on the absolute. But are to be realised subjectively by the self
through his active effort.
Sankardeva and Nanak were not that type of mystics who turned their back to the
world. For Nanak this world is an abode of truth (Sac di kothdi), and a temple of
righteous living (Dharamsal)87. Sankardeva too, maintains that this earth, though temporal,
yet is instrumental to the realisation of highest value88. In these teachings, they were
realists. Hence through the philosophy of activity they have offered a unique way of har­
monising mysticism with realism.
134
In their ethico-religious philosophy of values, both the thinkers are idealists; in the
question of enforcing these values or principles they are relativists. They are relativists in
the sense that according to them, absolute perfection can be achieved by means of relative
goodness. This position reconciles the dualism o f idealism and pragmatism. They are
pragmatists in the sense of being practical. But they never identify the truth with the use­
ful. We therefore come to the conclusion that morality and religion in Sankardeva and
Nanak are never opposed to each other. Nor one is subordinate to another. Man’s
awareness of infinity produces in them a desire (propensity) to realise this infinity fully in
this life. This is both a religious and moral endeavour. The moral awareness o f what is
good is not to be clashed with the religious awareness o f infinity.
135
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2. ibid. P.239.
3. Sankardeva : Kirtana. P. 449.
4. Nanak : Japji - 21. Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : Guru Nanak. P. 73.
5. Nanak : Japji -16. Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh: Guru Nanak. P. 73.
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7. Sankardeva: Bhakti - ratnakara. P. 154.
8. Sankardeva: ibid. P. 102.
9. Sankardeva : ibid. P. 113.
10. Nanak : Mara. Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : op. cited. P. 86.
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Sahib, pp. 7, 10, 5 etc.
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26. ibid. P. 158.
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28. Galloway, G eorge: The Philosophy o f Religion. P. 353.
29. ibid. pp. 353, 354.
30. Bhattacharya, H .M .: Principles o f Philosophy. P. 399.
31. Sankardeva: Bhakti - ratnakara: Verse 1037
32. N anak: Japji 5 : Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh: Sri Guru Granth Sahib. P. 3.
33. N anak: Japji 12-16. Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : Sri Guru Granth Sahib, pp. 4-5.
34. N anak: Dhamasri. 8. Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : Guru Nanak. P. 86.
35. Sankardeva: Bhakti-ratnakara. P. 168.
36. Sankardeva: K irtana: Section VII, verse 381. P. 96.
37. Sankardeva : Bhagavata, Book X, verse 10864. P. 866.
38. Nanak : Japji 5 : Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : Sri Guru Granth Sahib. P. 3.
136
39. N anak: Japji 6 : Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : Sri Guru Granth Sahib. P. 3.
40. ibid : Japji Nos. 10, 28, 29, 38. pp. 3, 8, 9, 11.
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62.
42. Sankardeva : Bhakti - ratnakara. P. 110.
43. Sarma, S.N. : op. cited. P. 42.
44. Radhakrshnan, Sarbapalli; Religion in a Changing World. P. 46.
45. Gupta, Shanti Nath : The Indian Concept o f Values. Preface.
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47. Royce, Josiah: The Philosophy of Loyalty. P. 18.
48. Royce, Josiah: The Sources of Religious Insight. P. 199.
49. Royce, Josiah : The Sources of Religious Insight. P. 203.
50. Sarma, S .N .: op. cited. P. 42.
51. Laird, John: The Idea of Value, pp. 38,41.
52. Galloway, George : The Philosophy o f Religion. P. 188.
53. N anak: Ramkali, Siddha Goshti. Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : Guru Nanak. P. 82.
54. Singh, Avtar : The Ethics of the Sikhs. P. 258.
55. Nanak : Siddha Goshti : Tr. by Khushwant Singh : The Hymns of Guru Nanak. pp.
179-180; 181.
56. Singh, Avtar : The Ethics o f the Sikhs. P. 221.
57. N anak: Japji 33 : Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : Sri Guru Granth Sahib. P. 10.
58. Nanak : ibid : Japji - 21. P. 6.
59. Sankardeva: Bhakti - ratnakara. P. 129.
60. Nanak : Japji 34 : Tr. by Dr. Gopal Singh : Sri Gum Granth Sahib. P. 10.
61. Singh, A vtar; The Ethics of the Sikhs. P. 227.
62. ibid. P. 222.
63. Sankardeva: Bhakti - ratnakara. pp. 128, 129.
64. ibid. P. 136, 137.
65. ibid. P. 139.
66. ibid. P. 116.
67. ibid. P. 114, 115.
68. ibid. P.231.
69. ibid. P. 231.
70. ibid. P. 225.
71. Lekharu, U . : (Ed.) Katha - Gum - Carita. P. 562.
72. Dutta, N. : Aspects o f Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana. P. 238.
73. ibid. pp. 248-249.
74. Sankardeva : Bhakti - ratnakara : Bairagya Mahatmya. pp. 222-223., Bhagavatar
Bhakti Prarthana Mahatmya. pp. 158-162 etc.
75. Singh, Avtar : The Ethics of the Sikhs. P. 220.
76. Singh, Sher : Philosophy o f Sikhism. P. 253.
77. Kohli, Surindar Singh : A Critical Study o f Adi Granth. P. 368.
78. Singh, Avtar : The Ethics of the Sikhs. P. 228.
79. ibid. P. 254.
80. ibid. P.215.
137
81. Nanak ; Adi Granth : Prabhati M.I (8-2). P. 1343. Tr. by Avtar Singh : The Ethics of
the Sikhs. P. 215
82. Goswami, B .K .: The Bhakti Cult in Ancient India. P. 223.
83. Caird, John: An Introduction to Philosophy o f Religion. P. 393.
84. Trueblood : The Predicament o f Modem Man. pp. 64-65.
85. N anak: Sri Rag. M.I. Asthapadis (14), A.G. 61-62. Tr. by Sangat Singh. P. 32.
86. Radhakrshnan, Sarbapalli: Eastern Religion and Westetn Thought. P. 107.
87. Singh, Trilochan : The Ethical Philosophy o f Guru Nanak. P. 2.
88. Sankardeva : Bhakti-ratnakara. P. 9.