Selected Editorials - The Sikh Bulletin
Selected Editorials - The Sikh Bulletin
Selected Editorials - The Sikh Bulletin
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I would interpret this phrase, called ‘Moolmantar’ as:<br />
‘<strong>The</strong>re is One and Only, a Singular Reality, called <strong>The</strong> Creator, that created Itself; It has no human<br />
attributes such as fear, enmity, limited life span, an image and therefore it does not communicate with the<br />
Prophets directly or through others, as the Semitic religions claim, nor does it incarnate as a human as<br />
Hinduism (actual term should really be Brahmanism) claims. IT can only be comprehended through<br />
knowledge.”<br />
Thus Guru Nanak discarded the pre Nanak God concept completely and unequivocally. Not only that, to<br />
press his point home even more strongly, in the very first verse in Jap that immediately follows the above<br />
‘Moolmantar’ the Guru reasserts the basic truth:<br />
afid scu jugfid scu ] hY BI scu nfnk hosI BI scu ]ñ]<br />
True In <strong>The</strong> Primal Beginning. True Throughout <strong>The</strong> Ages. True Here And Now. O Nanak, Forever And<br />
Ever True. ||1||<br />
<strong>The</strong> word KARTAR in Punjabi and CREATOR in English come from the parent language, Indo-<br />
European. If one removes the vowels from both, the consonants in both languages are the same ‘KRTR’<br />
and ‘CRTR’ and sound exactly the same. It might not be too far out to speculate that the Indo-European<br />
people, before they spread to the present geographical expanse from British Isles through Europe and Iran<br />
to the Indian sub-continent, developed the concept of a single Creator but as the time went on it evolved<br />
into multiple private single Gods. <strong>The</strong> man first showed his audacity by first creating a God and then<br />
having that God create man in HIS image.<br />
I am told by one knowledgeable source that in Guru Nanak’s time the greetings were ‘Sat Kartar’. <strong>The</strong><br />
fact that Guru Nanak named his settlement Kartar Pur, the ‘place to practice righteousness’, further<br />
reinforces that and also the fact that he chose his own name for Bhagwan, Ishwer, and God and that name<br />
was ‘Karta Purakh’.<br />
It is time for us to bring the teachings of Guru Nanak to the notice of the outside world. Best way to<br />
do that is through the medium of English first and then translation from English into other<br />
languages. What I think we need to concentrate on is to take advantage of the electronic media and<br />
use the pages of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Sikh</strong> <strong>Bulletin</strong> to coordinate the translation of the Bani of Guru Nanak into<br />
English. For sure there are several versions of it already but none of them do justice to what the<br />
Guru is saying.<br />
I ask the readers of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Sikh</strong> <strong>Bulletin</strong> in the Diaspora to create a dharamsal in their own homes,<br />
become missionaries for Guru Nanak and let their computer be the channel of communication.<br />
Email to me one hymn of Guru Nanak and its English translation that you think is worthy of being<br />
brought to the notice of the population in the countries of our residences. We will invite our<br />
readers’ opinions, arrive at a consensus and then make it available for everyone to use.<br />
Hardev Singh Shergill<br />
*****<br />
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