Concept of Akaal Shakti in Sikhism and the wrong conclusions by non-Sikhs – part II

Concept of Akaal Shakti in Sikhism and the wrong conclusions by non-Sikhs – part II

Part I

Did Chandi show up while doing the yajna?

This has been the topic of debate among many Sikh scholars. From the prominent scholars like Bhai Vir Singh ji, Giani Gian Singh ji, Bhai Santokh Singh ji, Giani Ditt Singh ji, etc., they have written articles in favour and against it. Many common Sikhs who have not read any granths decline the whole history of a scholar just because he talked about Chandi.

This incident is seen by many non-Sikhs as a direct link between Hinduism and Sikhism. Some even go far and say the Sikh Gurus worshipped the Hindu deities. Both the Sikh scholars who are in favour or against the incident never say that the Sikh Gurus followed any rituals of Hindus or teachings of the Vedas and Shastras. Although some similarities are there among Sikhs and Hindu, but it doesn’t imply the influence of the religion on another. Same is true between Sikhs and Islam, Hindus and Islam, Christianity and Hinduism, Buddhism and Hinduism, Judaism and Islam, etc. How many people will you find who will say that Muslims are Christians or Jews because there were older religions available before Islam?

People with tiny brains go a little further and say that Christianity was influenced by Hinduism, and Jesus Christ came to Indian to learn about astronomy. How much truth is there in the story which is widespread on the Internet cannot be known without looking into the history. And history is a very tricky endeavour for a man who wants to know the past. It can be manipulated with the words and incidents happenings that led to its making. Sometimes history is written, sometimes it’s concluded.

We’re going to talk about Twarikh Khalsa by Giani Gian Singh, and another article named Devi Pujan Pratal by Bhai Vir Singh ji. Giani Gian Singh also wrote Panth Parkash which is a tome describing the lives of Sikh Gurus and after that till the time of the British. Panth Parkash is poetry, on the other hand Twarikh Khalsa is written in non-poetry style.

Giani Gian Singh ji debunked the story of Guru Gobind Singh ji doing some yajna to get the blessings of some goddess as people talk about it. He clearly mentioned the following verses in his tome Panth Parkash.

gurU aucwrI jyqk bwnI [

nwih mnweI ikqY BvwnI [

mMglcwr aucwrXo jhW [

purK Akwl DÎwXo qhW [

Banis that Guru Sahib ji wrote.

Nowhere he worshipped any deity.

Wherever the maglacharan (beginning of a prayer) is written.

Akaal Purakh is worshipped there.

cMfI cirqR cMfI vwr [

joaU gurU ny krI aucwr [

so jYsy AOrn ky jMg [

vrnY gurU AnykY FMg [

qYsy dyvI ky jMg vrny [

is`Kn mWih bIr rs Brny [

Chadi Charitar and Chadi di Vaar.

That Guru Sahib ji wrote.

Whatever the wars were there.

Guru Sahib ji wrote in different ways.

The same way the war of the devi was written.

To fill Sikhs with bir-ras.

doihrw

dyvI ieSt n gurU kw bnq iksy prkwr [

pUjI mwnI nw kbI iksI gurU ny Fwr ]11]

guru Gr mWih aupwsnw iek Akwl kI Awih [

mwnq pUjq iqsI ko hy dso guru cwih ]12]

Dohra

There is no way that Guru Sahib was a devotee of a goddess.

No Sikh Guru followed the tradition of that.

In Guru Ghar (Sikhism) there is worship of only One.

All the Sikh Gurus believed in Him and worshipped only Him.

He elaborates it more in his book Twarikh Khalsa. Note that this is the first group of people that we are going to talk about, those who believe that Guru Sahib ji wasn’t seeking the blessing of some goddess.

1. Not in favour:

Below is the exact translation of the chapters of Twarikh Khalsa.

Chapter 55. Kesho Das and starting of the yajna

So many kavishars (those who put the history in the odes, especially the warrior-spirit type verses) lived around Guru Gobind Singh ji, and so many debates were started on different topics at that time. One day, they started talking about the Mahabharat. Once the Sikhs heard the characters which came in the story of Mahabharat, like Arjun, Karan, Bheem, and their unexplainable power, they asked the pandit if those incidents were just to praise those warriors or they had such powers. The pandit said with pride that the Shastras never lie. Whatever is written is the truth. The pandit said that with so many of yajnas they got the blessings of the devta (a male deity.) Then the Sikhs asked if the devta could be invoked these days. The pandit said that only a true brahman can do that, and the devotee should trust that, and if he does he would have the same powers as Bheem and Arjun had. He further said that the mantras were all there but the ways were not the same anymore.

The Sikhs further asked if there’s someone who could do that these days. The pandit said there’s a great pandit called Kesho Das who’d the power to do it, whichever devta he wanted to invoke he could do that. But because of the Mughals he didn’t do it.

When the Sikhs said this to Guru Gobind Singh ji, Guru Maharaj said that the brahmgyaan is more than devtas.

After around six months, someone came to Guru Sahib and said Kesho Das pandit, whose knowledge of the Vedas was widely known by many people, was going to do his prayers at Jawala Mukhi and came here after listening about you; and he’s in the garden. Guru Sahib sent Nand Chand and Dya Ram to Kesho Das with eatable things. Next day he came to see Guru Sahib.

Pandit Kesho Das sang some verses from the Vedas and put one coconut in front of Guru Sahib. Guru Sahib talked with him. The pandit, looking around the place, thought that Guru Sahib was very rich and he could get money from Guru Sahib as much as he wanted. He thought he walked out of the house on some special auspicious time that he got to see a rich person like Guru Sahib. Just to tell the Sikhs that these yajna were not any worth these days and to Sikhs, Guru Sahib used his power and Kirpal Chand ji (Uncle of Guru Gobind Singh ji) told the pandit that Guru Sahib wanted to do something which’s good for all the people who were living there. Kirpal Chand ji said many things like there’s not much water because of the rains, and the Mughals were killing innocents, etc. Kesho Das said that it’d be done only if a devta showed up in the place. Even Ram, Krishan, Yudhistar, Jarasand, etc. did the yajna, you should do the same. For this task, the money would be needed, secondly there should be a quiet place to do it and no Mughals should be there as Aurangzeb was not allowing to do these things.

Guru Sahib ji said that these things could be done, but are you sure some devtas would show up? The pandit said if we got the full money, we can even do something to make you see Maha Maaya. Mama Kirpal Chand ji asked how much money would be needed. Kesho Das said that the pandits would take one lakh and twenty-five thousand rupees; and bringing all the required materials to do the yajna wouldn’t take less than the same amount. Guru Sahib said (to tell the Sikhs that it’s not worth of doing) it should be done and don’t care about the money.

Listening to that, the pandit smiled and said you’re doing it for the people, it should work.

So many pandits came to the place.

All the required materials were bought and the yajna started on 1754 bikarmi. Guru Sahib ji would go two times in a day and ask Sikhs to be present there. So many Hindus and Muslims came to see the yajna. After months, the pandit asked Guru Sahib that the yajna should be done in a quiet place, but because of so many people coming here it’s not possible to do that. Guru Sahib showed him the mountain of Naina Devi (this mountain was the place of a man named Naina Gujjar. He built some mandir here for a Hindu deity, later it was termed as Devi of Naina, means the temple built by Naina Gujjar, with the passage of time, the place is known as Naina Devi now). The pandits felt happy to see a quiet place.

Kesho Das, Kaali Das, Shivbakar, Vishnupaal were present there. Sahib Chand, Gurbhaksh Rai, Mama Kirpal Chand, Nand Chand, and some other Sikhs were giving them the required things. (All these things were brought by Deep Chand, a Sikh, whose house was in Gurdaspur) The place of Naina Devi was far from Anandpur and was on the mountain, so not many Hindus or Muslims went there.

After seven months, Mama Kirpal Chand ji asked the pandit when the devi would show up here. By seeing it’s not working, he said even if the devi didn’t show up, the boons of doing a yajna, which were mentioned in the Vedas, would definitely be helpful.

56. Devi, and the ego of the brahmins

After eleven months, Guru Sahib ji asked the pandit when the devi would show herself. Kesho Das said if you stop hunting, the devi would show up. He thought that Guru Sahib ji wouldn’t leave hunting, and it’s good for him. That day whatever Guru Sahib hunted, Guru Sahib used his powers to bring them to life.

The day that the pandit had said the devi would show up came, and Guru Sahib asked him again, he said that the offering should be some nobleman. This was to point out the son of Guru Sahib, and the pandit had thought that Guru Sahib would never do it and he’d got a reason to tell why the devi was not coming.

Guru Sahib said according to your shastras, Brahmans were above all, so we could use you as an offering. And when the devta/devi showed up, would ask them to bring you back to life and then ask what we need. Guru Sahib put his hand on the sword. Sweating, the pandit told Guru Sahib that he needed to bathe and went away.

When Kesho Das didn’t come back, the other pandits thought Guru Sahib might take their heads to offer to the devta/devi. They thought of saving their lives without asking for the money that’s said at the beginning, they left the place. Guru Sahib did this just to tell the Sikhs about his first words that brahmgyaan is above devta. (All the other deities are nothing.)

At last Guru Gobind Singh ji put everything in the yajna, and a blazing fire arose with that. As everything’s happening at the top of the mountain, that blazing fire was seen from a very long distance (and called as Chandi was invoked by Guru Gobind Singh ji). Guru Sahib did everything to teach the Sikhs (as done by Guru Nanak Dev ji in Hardwar when the pandits were offering water to the sun. These days, some people come with logic that this’s done to concentrate on the sun from the other side of the water when you pour out from a pot and doing that would give you good eyesight. Don’t know the truth behind that, but as I’ve said it many times that people are changing the definitions of the rituals to attract the people of other lands. How many of the people would believe that the water they are offering would go to the sun? None. So change the logic to attract the crowd.)

But in the books written later, it’s said Guru Sahib ji worshipped some deity (will talk about it in the other section). By reading those books and false information spread by some fanatic Hindus, the Sikhs are believing that Guru Sahib ji worshipped some Hindu deity. They don’t think the devi who’s sweeping the floors of Guru Nanak Dev ji, how could the Tenth Master of the same throne would invoke the same deity for his help! He couldn’t have worshipped any Hindu deity, and he never did.

When Guru Sahib came back to Anandpur, people met Guru Sahib.

This yajna incident was spread all over the land, so many Sikhs wrote (these books were written after 70-80 years after joti jot of Guru Sahib) Guru Sahib worshipped a Hindu deity.

After waiting for those pandits, Guru Sahib gave food to the Sikhs. Brahmans came later and got infuriated by seeing Sikhs eating the food. They said that the food should be given to them first, not these shudars (as many of the Sikhs present there were from the so-called low caste.)

Guru Sahib ji said the following svaia to shatter their ego.

svYXw

jo kuC ilKÎo ibDnw soeI pwXq imsr jU Sok invwro ]

myro kCU AprwD nhIˆ gXo Xwd qy BUl n kop icqwro ]

bwgo inhwlI pnY dYhoˆ Awj Bly qum ko inhcY jIA Dwro ]

CqRI sBY ikRq ibpn ky ienhU pY ktwC ikRpw ko inhwro ]1]

juD ijqy ienhI ky pRswid ienhI ky pRswid su dwn kro ]

AG AauG trY ienhI ky pRswid ienhI kI ikRpw Pun Dwm Bry ]

ienhI ky pRswid su ibdXw leI ienhI kI ikRpw sB sqRU mry ]

ienhI kI ikRpw ky sjy hm hYˆ nhI mo so grIb kror pry ]2]

syv krI ienhI kI Bwvq Aaur kI syv suhwq n jIko ]

dwn dXo ienhI ko Blo Ar Awn ko dwn n lwgq nIko ]

AwgY PlY ien hI ko dXo jg mY jsu Aaur dXo sB PIko ]

mo gRih mY mn qy qn qy isr lau Dn hY sBhI ienhI ko ]3]

Daya Ram and Ram Kor told the pandits so many things, and the pandits regretted and went to their houses praising Guru Sahib.

The second article that I want to discuss is by Bhai Vir Singh ji, another scholar who worked 10+ years on the tome Suraj Parkash written by Bhai Santokh Singh ji. Bhai Vir Singh ji wrote many inspirational books that changed the Punjabi literature to such an extent which was never done by anyone else. His books Sundri and Bijaye Singh are the most read books by the youngsters, which talk about the Sikhs and the time when the Mughal Empire was ruling India. Of course, Sundri is a fictional novel but it inspires so many people to know how a woman’s life can change the people around her, and her sacrifices and the way she does the things. I suggest everyone to give it a read.

Now, let’s talk about Suraj Parkash. This tome is famous among Sikhs so much that it’s placed in so many gurudwaras and read every day to the sangat. This tome talks about the Sikh Gurus and their lives. Prominent scholars say that there’re few handful of incidents which are not according to the gurmat. Sometimes they skip them or talk about them how they don’t lie with gurbani. Chandi pargat hona is mentioned in the tome.

Bhai Vir Singh ji put notes in his teeka of Suraj Parkash to tell the readers how few incidents are not on a par with gurbani. His book has a big role to tell the Sikhs about the mentioning of chandi pargat hona in Suraj Parkash. Many Sikh Scholars, while writing the history, would bring the article of Bhai Vir Singh in their books while talking about the incident.

It’s a book of 90+ pages and we might not be able to cover that in point-to-point translation, but I will write the summary of what Bhai Vir Singh ji wrote.

Getting in the core of Hinduism is very difficult because of the different sources and sometimes the missing pieces that have to be put together to get to the original source of their core beliefs. In general, if we talk about the devis in Hinduism, they happen to be wives of some great deities or their powers. While talking about Kaali, a goddess in Hinduism, Bhai Vir Singh ji mentioned that she was worshipped by the people who were living in India before the Aryan race came to India.

Kaali might not be some goddess but a princess who was living in India, but later people of the land started worshipping her as a goddess. Sacrifices of the animals to Kaali was very common (I’ve seen the sacrifices of animals too, but I don’t know if they were for Kaali or some other goddess.) and sometimes human beings too. Bhai Vir Singh ji mentioned that a Chinese traveller came to India and he was thrown at the feet of Kaali for sacrifice. Somehow, he happened to survive that.

Giani Ditt Singh ji, another scholar who wrote several books on Sikhism, mentioned that the devis that Hindus believe in might be the princesses of Rajput Kings and when the outsiders tried to take them away, they fought back with them, and their bravery might have raised them as goddesses. Even in Dasam Guru Granth Sahib ji we have Chandi Charitar from Markande Puran to tell the war-stories of the devi. The original source i.e. Markande Puran might have been inspired by the battles of the Rajput Princesses.

On the other hand, Kaali seems to be the representation of God. Like, from the word Kaali means that it’s without any time, without any death. It is as if Kaali is somehow the definition of God, not like that Kaali is from the beginning but just a small mirror that reflects the attributes of God.

There’re 330 million gods mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. These days people say that they’re not 330 million but 33 gods or 33 types, something like that. If some people change the definition of ‘kot’ and say it means type, even then it’s wrong. Gurbani talks about 33 kror devi devta, but they are not above Waheguru. They’re just the servants of Waheguru.

In Sikhism, there’s no difference between Waheguru and His Power – Akaal Shakti. Both are genderless and with gender. He doesn’t have any form and He’s all the forms. It’s strange and can’t be comprehended with the brain which is staggering in the worldly matters with no spiritual understanding. Following are the verses that say that Waheguru is sargun and nirgun both.

qUM inrgun qUM srgunI ]2] – AMg 211

You are absolute, without attributes, and also related, with

the most sublime attributes.

inrMkwr Awkwr Awip inrgun srgun eyk ] – AMg 250

He Himself is formless, and also formed.

inrgunu Awip srgunu BI EhI ] – AMg 288

He Himself is formless, and also formed.

Devis and devtas, or deities, of any religion or culture are not above Creator. Their presence is because of maaya, and Waheguru Himself is above maaya, He created it.

dyvI dyvw mUlu hY mwieAw ] – AMg 129

The source, the root, of the gods and goddesses is Maaya.

If Guru Gobind Singh ji had worshipped any deity, then in his writings there should be mentioning of it. Everywhere, Guru Sahib wrote only Waheguru (with different names: Kaal, Mahakaal, Akaal, Akaal Purakh, Sarbloh, Asdhuj, Jagmaat, Sarab Kaal, etc.) Including the charitars, Guru Sahib mentioned that all the yajnas and superstations wouldn’t help you in the afterlife. There are many examples in Dasam Guru Granth Sahib ji. And the deities were mentioned just like insects in front of Waheguru.

Considering the vast majority of people claiming that Chandi showed up on the mountain of Naina Devi, it seems nothing more than a made-up story after the joti jot of Guru Gobind Singh ji. Here, we are not excluding the Singhs who believe that Chandi was there. Their context and definition is completely different than those who say that it’s some Hindu deity who blessed Guru Sahib. Guru Sahib who was Akaal Jot of Waheguru would worship some Hindu deity? It’s just laughable. These are the same people who say that Guru Nanak Dev ji’s gurus were Shivji, Brahma and Vishnu.

And one of the best things that I liked most in the book written by Bhai Vir Singh ji is that he mentioned Guru Sahib didn’t ask the blessings from Brahma to have the descendants of Sikhs, or from Vishnu or his power to give food to Sikhs, or Shivji or his power not to give death to Sikhs in a young age, then how could Guru Sahib worship some war-goddess to help him win the battles or help him start the Khalsa Panth when Guru Sahib himself mentioned in Bachitar Natak that Waheguru ji told Guru Sahib to start a new panth?

mY Apnw suq qoih invwjw ] pMQu pRcur krby khu swjw ]

I made you my son. To start a new panth.

jwih qhW qY Drmu clwie ] kubuiD krn qy lok htwie ]29]

Wherever you go spread the path of righteousness. Guide the wrongdoers to walk on the right path.

Here we are talking about Suraj Parkash written by Bhai Santokh Singh ji. There are other books too which were written by Bhai Santokh Singh ji. One of them was Garab Ganjni Teeka of Jap Ji Sahib. In that, Bhai Santokh Singh ji mentioned that all the deities are not above Waheguru, and the Sikh Gurus never worshipped any deities. Bhai Vir Singh ji concluded that the chapters in Suraj Parkash where the devi pujan parsang is was taken from other sources which were available at that time.

Other sources that were present at that time had their own advantages and disadvantages. Bhai Sukha Singh wrote the same thing that was mentioned by Bhai Santokh Singh ji, but he also mentioned that he heard about it so he was writing that. History is written in two ways: you are present at the time of happening, or you read the books of other contemporary authors or hear from the people.

The very first source that we’ve is the writing of Guru Gobind Singh ji. If we look in the autobiography of Guru Gobind Singh ji, Guru Gobind Singh ji mentioned the words Kaal, Mahakaal, Prabh, Gurdev, Kaalka, etc. to describe Waheguru, but not once he mentioned it to be some kind of deity. The word Kaalka is where many people point their finger at, but in the last article we’ve discussed that. And in the next article of this series, we might be checking more examples as they were mentioned in the original article present at http://www.adishakti.org/ and the author used those verses to conclude that Guru Sahib worshipped some female deity.

There was a letter which was found by Bhai Ram Kishan Singh ji, which was sent to Aurangzeb by his emissary.

Everyone is equal, and all the members of Khalsa shouldn’t have any inferior feelings. They shouldn’t think of the Ganga and going there to rinse their sins. They shouldn’t believe in Ram Chandar ji, Krishan, Brahma, deities, but Guru Nanak Dev ji and all the other Sikh Gurus. They should take the pahul and eat in one platter without any second thoughts of discrimination. Like that he said so many things. In there, some Hindus were also present who blatantly disagreed and said that they wouldn’t do something which was against Vedas and Shastras (like eating in the same platter with the so-called low castes.) They said that they wouldn’t follow it, but twenty thousand people took the pahul.

In the letter, he didn’t mention of worshiping of any deity. This needs to be noted because this’s at the time when everything was happening, not after 50 or 60 years later after the joti jot of Guru Gobind Singh ji.

Next we have Mahima Parkash (poetry), which was written in 1798 bikarmi (1741 AD.) In this also, there’s no mentioning of worshipping of any deity. However, it’s mentioned that ‘Guru Sahib called the pandits, they performed yajna, and the Khalsa Panth was created.’ It’s according to what Giani Gian Singh ji mentioned in Twarikh Khalsa that Guru Sahib ji did that to tell Sikhs how unimportant it’s to do a yajna in this age. One thing that I forgot to mention is that Giani Gian Singh ji also first wrote Guru Sahib ji worshipped some deity, but later he changed it and said it never happened. The same was captured in Panth Parkash.

eyho bwq jgq ibdqweI ] jo Ab lO hY PYl rhweI ]

is`Kn pusqkoˆ mYˆ ilK rwKI ] soeI ipK mwKI pr mwKI ]

mYˆ BI mwrI Bul ky Kws ] pihly bIc pMQ prkwS ]

so PYlÎo bhu jgq mJwrI ] Ab siqgur jb ikrpw DwrI ]

bKSI suD bu`iD idF swcI ] Awpy pRyrÎo siqgur swCI ]

swcI swKI qb Puir AweI ] ilKI soaU jo guru ilKweI ]

Mahima Parkash (without poetry): This is written by Saroop Das ji in 1833 bikarmi (1776 AD). It’s mentioned that Guru Sahib ji went to the mountain with the pandits. Later, Pandit Kesho Das said that he didn’t have the power to see Chandi, so he moved down from the mountain but Guru Sahib ji stayed there. One important thing that is worth mentioning here is that in the same book, it’s written that all the deities are afraid of Guru Sahib. If that’s the case, why would Guru Sahib worship a goddess?

mwnuK dyvI dyvqy siB rwKq gur kI Awn [

Lala Daulat Rai, Surendar Sharma, Dr. Gokal Chand, Giani Ditt Singh, these scholars were not in the favour of Guru Sahib worshipping some deity. Giani Ditt Singh wrote a book on that named Durga Parbodh, which is a conversation between a Sikh and a pandit. They also mentioned in their work that some people say Guru Sahib was follower of some Hindu deity as Guru Sahib wrote Chandi Charitar and Chandi di Vaar, but these are just baseless stories created to spread the false information among Sikhs.

Even these days, the same stories have been circling, and we are believing them. This is not Sikhi. Sikhi is believing in Guru Sahib and their teachings.

Bhai Vir Singh ji mentioned so many points and the interesting one that I find is that if there’s worshipping of some deity on the mountain of Naina Devi, Sikhs would definitely go there and it would be their religious place, which is not the case. We have Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib, but I never saw any gurudwara on the mountain of Naina Devi.

2. In favour: There’re some Sikhs too who believe that Chandi showed up, and there also we have two different stories that I’ve heard. One is the same as was mentioned in Suraj Parkash. It is available on www.gurmatveechar.com, katha by Giani Inderjit Singh ji Raqbe wale. Actually, this was the first time when I heard it and it made sense to me, the way he explained it was so good and it’s not against gurmat. (I’ve still not made my mind which story is true but writing this article to debunk the claims of those who want to represent Sikh Gurus as the followers of some deities. Maybe the image will be clear in my head with guru’s kirpa.)

This thing we have already discussed in the first part, but let’s just recall whatever we discussed earlier. Akaal Shakti is Chandi, it’s not some goddess or deity but the Power of Waheguru, which is inseparable from Waheguru. Even Bhai Vir Singh ji mentioned that that there’s no difference between Akaal and Akaal Shakti. We can see it as the sun and sunlight; there can’t be the sunlight without the sun. The existence of one is the outcome of another.

While doing the katha of the parsang which came in Suraj Parkash, Giani Inderjit Singh ji said that there’s no deity that people are believing these days. It was the formless God (Akaal Shakti) that took a form to appear. All are of His form and He’s no form. Both are opposite but both are the attributes of Waheguru. He is the Father and He’s the Mother too. He is without gender and He’s a gender too.

In the life of Bhagat Namdev ji, there’s one incident that I want to mention here. It was when he was in a young age and Waheguru ji appeared in the form of a lion. All his friends ran away, but Bhagat Namdev ji started playing with him. Now if a person says that Waheguru is a lion it would be very stupid of him. The same is true for those who say that if Waheguru’s Shakti appeared in the form of a woman, then it’s a female deity.

We can’t have Akaal and His Shakti in any form. For some reason, Waheguru or His Shakti takes a form, but in general He is formless. Like in the life of Namdev ji. Calling Waheguru an animal would be stupidity.

I read somewhere on a Sikh-site, a Sikh woman wrote a book and some extract was available there. She said that there’s a feminine presence in the gurbani, which she was referring to Akaal Shakti. I do not hold anything against her, but these days our minds are wandering in the materialistic world and we’re grasping every single tiny detail of what the people are talking about. We are not focusing on Rehat Maryada but the reasoning of some slick person’s mind. I’m not concluding that we should not hear them out, we actually should. Because without listening them we cannot know if whatever he or she is talking about is correct of not. But we forget to read history and gurbani, taking santhea, and listening to katha. We start using our brains and question the very basic thing that is very near to the heart of the Khalsa Panth – Rehat Maryada. We are talking about changing the panj bania, panj kakaar, meaning of gurbani just to have it to be according to how we want it to be. We are destroying the roots of our own religion.

The second story is that Guru Gobind Singh ji didn’t do any yajna but Akaal Shakti showed up. When Guru Gobind Singh ji pulled his sword, It merged into the sword. Later Guru Sahib said that the weapon is your Chandi. And that Akaal Shakti is now in the form of weapons or Shri Sahib. Even Giani Inderjit Singh ji said that some Hindus came to him to talk about Akaal Shakti and he told them that we worship Akaal Shakti in the form of weapons.

Both of the stories, and the one that said no Chandi was there, agreed that there’s no Hindu deity. It’s not Durga or wife of Shivji. Gurbani says that there’re crores of Durga in the universe. Have you heard someone say that Akaal Shakti is in crores or there are crores of Waheguru (I am not talking in the sense of souls but different beings)? If not, how can you say that it’s some Hindu deity?

mhwdyv Aru kiblws ]

durgw koit jw kY mrdnu krY ]

bRhmw koit byd aucrY ]1] – AMg 1162

Millions of Shivas and Kailash mountains.

Millions of Durga goddesses at His Feet.

Millions of Brahmas chant the Vedas for Him. || 1 ||

So Akaal Shakti is not some female or Hindu deity. Sometimes Waheguru ji is referred as Father and Akaal Shakti as Mother. Sometimes Waheguru ji is referred as both Father and Mother. Both the examples you can find in gurbani. Why? Because both are not different; they are same.

3. Idiots: The third type of people are the idiots who have been trying hard to merge Sikhism into their beliefs but are not successful. This fight has been going on for a long time. Here, I am not only just talking about some few handful Hindus but Muslims and Christians too.

One incident that I remember is the misunderstanding of the word that came in gurbani. A Christian woman called out that the word ‘Esha’ means Jesus Christ. When a Sikh educated her by saying that it’s said in a context when Waheguru took a form (see, Akaal Shakti taking a form we have heard, and in here it’s Waheguru taking a form, although both are not different but same, and this story is the last charitar of Charitro Upakhyan in Dasam Guru Granth Sahib ji.) and killed the demons. When asked if Jesus Christ fought a battle with the demons, she didn’t have an answer. This is how they manipulate the scripts, taking it out of context and then bring forward their theories.

Same is true with other religions. I do not hold any grudge against any religion but the fanatics who know nothing of gurbani but talk about it, although they might have a good understanding of their religion; but pushing your own conclusions in the form of facts is somewhat criminal.

Concept of Akaal Shakti in Sikhism and the wrong conclusions by non-Sikhs – part III