How are Hinduism and Sikhism related, considering they both originated in Punjab, India?
Last Updated: 17.06.2025 00:33
Sain (a barber)
I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. ||2||
ਪੂਰਬ ਜਨਮ ਹਉ ਤਪ ਕਾ ਹੀਨਾ ॥੧॥
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
Ramananda accepted disciples without discriminating against anyone by gender, class or caste and they included even people from humble origins like
Let’s look at the most used verse by McSikhs to show that Sikhs are neither Hindus nor Muslims.
Do you usually wear your panties over or under your pantyhose?
Now that my time to die has come, I have come to dwell at Magahar! ||3||
The young and the old drink milk pudding, but these fools eat the cow's body.
Says Kabeer, the Guru and Ganaysha and Shiva all know
What's the most sordid activity you've ever seen or heard about at a bachelorette party?
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 326
ਕਬੀਰ ਨਿਰਗੁਣ ਨਾਮ ਨ ਰੋਸੁ ॥
Now here in this verse
Kabir is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.
Kaashi and Magahar - I consider them the same.
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.
Why didn't my ex fight for our relationship? He gave up so easily.
He accepted even women (Sursuri and Padywati) as disciples. Bhagat Pipa and Dhanna were Rajput and Jat who were also his disciples.
ਕਾਸੀ ਮਗਹਰ ਸਮ ਬੀਚਾਰੀ ॥
Kabeer: O worthless mortal, do not lose the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
What are some mind-blowing facts that sound unreal but are actually true?
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That Kabeer died chanting the Lord's Name. ||5||15||
Sant Kabir was staunchly against cow slaughter.
I'm pretty sure that my dog is transgender, how would I go about transitioning it?
There is my Lord self-revealed, and the scent of sandal and flowers dwells in those deeps.
For many years, I practiced penance and intense meditation at Kaashi;
ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥
I left Benares - I had little common sense. ||1|| Pause ||
You are totally pervading and permeating in all.
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
What kind of person does a narcissist hate?
— Kabir, Ramaini 1, Translated by David Lorenzen
ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥
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.
What are some ten strong legal evidences that are needed for a divorce?
At the time of my death, I moved to Magahar. ||2||
Where millions of Vishnus bow their heads, where millions of Brahmas are reading the Vedas,
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
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.
One day, a desire welled up in my mind.
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.
Sikhism is a NIRGUN path descending from the Sant Sampraday of Ramanandacharya and traces its ideas to VEDANTA!
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.
ਗੁਰ ਪੀਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਖੁਦਿ ਖਸਮੁ ਪਛਾਨਾ ॥੫॥੩॥
CONCLUSION:
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹੁ ਕੀਆ ਵਖਾਨਾ ॥
Where millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation, where millions of Indras dwell in the sky,
I am like a fish out of water,
ਮਰਤੀ ਬਾਰ ਮਗਹਰਿ ਉਠਿ ਆਇਆ ॥੨॥
ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
With inadequate devotion, how can anyone swim across? ||4||
ਹਜ ਕਾਬੈ ਜਾਉ ਨ ਤੀਰਥ ਪੂਜਾ ॥
These morons know nothing, they wander about in ignorance,
My body and breath of life belong to Allah - to Raam - the God of both. ||4||
Ramarchan Paddati gives more info about his teachings.
Without looking into one's heart, how can one reach paradise?
Hari is in the East, Allah is in the West.
Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss.
Because in my previous life, I did not practice penance and intense meditation. ||1||
From Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 1195
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Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Panch-Padas:
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.
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.
How can they kill the mother, whose milk they drink like that of a wet nurse?
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
I do not make pilgrimages to Mecca, nor do I worship at Hindu sacred shrines.
NOW…
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.
Ravidas (a chamar shoemaker)
यस्य देवे परा भक्तिः यथा देवे तथा गुरौ । तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मन इति ।
ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠੈ ਆਹਿ ॥੪॥੧੦॥
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.
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.
ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥
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.
ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥
I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
As long as the mind is filled with the desire for heaven,
I have taken the One Formless Lord into my heart; I humbly worship Him there. ||3||
ਅਬ ਕਹੁ ਰਾਮ ਕਵਨ ਗਤਿ ਮੋਰੀ ॥
ਏਕ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰ ਲੇ ਰਿਦੈ ਨਮਸਕਾਰਉ ॥੩॥
I wasted my whole life in the city of Shiva;
ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
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.
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
I serve the One Lord, and not any other. ||2||
ਤਜੀ ਲੇ ਬਨਾਰਸ ਮਤਿ ਭਈ ਥੋਰੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
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ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥
The Word of the Guru's Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. ||3||1||
ਗਉੜੀ ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀ ਪੰਚਪਦੇ ॥
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
Sadhna (a Muslim butcher) and
I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.
ਏਕੋ ਸੇਵੀ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਦੂਜਾ ॥੨॥
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage,
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!
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
We have searched the turaki Dharam (Turk's religion, Islam), these teachers throw many thunderbolts,
There the streams of light flow in all directions, few are the men who can cross to that shore!
How can people understand You, when they are entranced by Maya? ||1|| Pause ||
Says Kabeer, unto whom should I tell this?
So in the same spirit Kabir finds pilgrimages to holy cities futile as his mind is fixated on Rama!
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.
Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered, where millions of Saraswatis, goddess of music play the vina,
My consciousness does not go out wandering. My mind has become crippled. ||1|| Pause ||
Now tell me, Lord, what will my condition be?
— Kabir, III.2, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
ਕਹੁ ਗੁਰ ਗਜ ਸਿਵ ਸਭੁ ਕੋ ਜਾਨੈ ॥
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
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
I do not perform Hindu worship services, nor do I offer the Muslim prayers.
All the men and women of the world are His living forms.
ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥
Kabir, Ravidas and ultimately the NINE SIKH GURUS are a product of this very Sant Sampraday founded by Ramanandacharya!
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.
Meeting with the Guru, my Spiritual Teacher, I realize God, my Lord and Master. ||5||3||
Wherever I go, I find water and stones.
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Sriraag / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 92
then who is there to know what happens without?
ਮਰਨੁ ਭਇਆ ਮਗਹਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਸੀ ॥੩॥
The Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is heaven. ||4||10||
Again we see that the originator of this Sant Sampraday himself talks about Brahman even in Gurbani.
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ਸਗਲ ਜਨਮੁ ਸਿਵ ਪੁਰੀ ਗਵਾਇਆ ॥
But we have actually seen how much Kabir is also rooted in the Vedantic concept of “supreme realization” but in a non-mainstream path.
ਬ੍ਰਹਮ is Brahm i.e the Brahman of vedanta but it gets interpreted as an all-pervading lord god.
Let's look at the views of Sant Kabir
Let’s see what Gurbani has about Ramanandacharya’s views.
I went to God's place, and worshipped Him there.
There, where millions of Krishnas stand with hands folded,
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹ ਕਹੀਐ ਕਾਹਿ ॥
ਜਿਉ ਜਲ ਛੋਡਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਭਇਓ ਮੀਨਾ ॥
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
ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥
ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਉ ਨ ਨਿਵਾਜ ਗੁਜਾਰਉ ॥
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
ਅਲਹ ਰਾਮ ਕੇ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਪਰਾਨ ॥੪॥
ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥
ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਰਸ ਤਪੁ ਕੀਆ ਕਾਸੀ ॥
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ ॥੫॥੧੫॥
To him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminating.
ਜਬ ਲਗੁ ਮਨਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠ ਕੀ ਆਸ ॥
You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.
ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥
He who has highest Bhakti of Deva (God), just like his Deva, so for his Guru (teacher),
ਕੈਸੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਬ ਮੋਹਿਆ ਹੈ ਮਾਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Raamaanand Jee, First House:
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧
ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥
If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
He does not dwell at the Lord's Feet. ||3||
ਓਛੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਕੈਸੇ ਉਤਰਸਿ ਪਾਰੀ ॥੪॥
Says Kabeer, this is what I say:
Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23)
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…
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— Kabir, II.57, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
ਤਬ ਲਗੁ ਹੋਇ ਨਹੀ ਚਰਨ ਨਿਵਾਸੁ ॥੩॥
Recklessly they display boundless pride while explaining their own aims, they kill cows.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥
Kabir (a weaver)
I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.
That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. ||1||
Here ਨਿਰਗੁਣ is Nirgun and not just lord. This is just another example to show that Kabir himself continued in the NIRGUN BHAKTI path.
Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;
Where spring, the lord of seasons reigneth, there the unstruck music sounds of itself,