How are Hinduism and Sikhism related, considering they both originated in Punjab, India?
Last Updated: 21.06.2025 09:57
ਮੇਰਾ ਚਿਤੁ ਨ ਚਲੈ ਮਨੁ ਭਇਓ ਪੰਗੁ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਤੂ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਸਭ ਸਮਾਨ ॥
Says Kabeer, this is what I say:
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ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
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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.
ਜਿਨਿ ਸਕਲ ਬਿਕਲ ਭ੍ਰਮ ਕਾਟੇ ਮੋਰ ॥
There, where millions of Krishnas stand with hands folded,
Is there a band whose members have been present for every one of their concerts?
Bhakti movement began in South (Tamil Nadu to be precise) and slowly spread to Northern parts of India. This movement was extremely popular because of its simple fundamentals which could be understood by even commonfolk. Vaishnavism, Shaivism etc… were already connecting with commonfolk from a long time and this Bhakti movement reinforced it by making the devotee feel a personal connection with the deity.
ਏਕ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰ ਲੇ ਰਿਦੈ ਨਮਸਕਾਰਉ ॥੩॥
ਕਤ ਜਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਘਰ ਲਾਗੋ ਰੰਗੁ ॥
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I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਉ ਨ ਨਿਵਾਜ ਗੁਜਾਰਉ ॥
I am a sacrifice to You, O my True Guru.
Why do nice guys rarely or never win?
That Kabeer died chanting the Lord's Name. ||5||15||
For many years, I practiced penance and intense meditation at Kaashi;
I wasted my whole life in the city of Shiva;
Dicta numquam repudiandae corrupti labore ea facere.
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
He who has highest Bhakti of Deva (God), just like his Deva, so for his Guru (teacher),
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
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Ramarchan Paddati gives more info about his teachings.
There the streams of light flow in all directions, few are the men who can cross to that shore!
Hari is in the East, Allah is in the West.
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I would go there, only if the Lord were not here. ||2||
How can they kill the mother, whose milk they drink like that of a wet nurse?
Because in my previous life, I did not practice penance and intense meditation. ||1||
ਕਬੀਰ ਨਿਰਗੁਣ ਨਾਮ ਨ ਰੋਸੁ ॥
ਘਸਿ ਚੰਦਨ ਚੋਆ ਬਹੁ ਸੁਗੰਧ ॥
ਸੋ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਬਤਾਇਓ ਗੁਰ ਮਨ ਹੀ ਮਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
ਕਾਸੀ ਮਗਹਰ ਸਮ ਬੀਚਾਰੀ ॥
Now tell me, Lord, what will my condition be?
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Sant Kabir was staunchly against cow slaughter.
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 326
Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss.
You are totally pervading and permeating in all.
I do not perform Hindu worship services, nor do I offer the Muslim prayers.
ਗੁਰ ਪੀਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਖੁਦਿ ਖਸਮੁ ਪਛਾਨਾ ॥੫॥੩॥
ਮਰਨੁ ਭਇਆ ਮਗਹਰ ਕੀ ਬਾਸੀ ॥੩॥
then who is there to know what happens without?
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
He does not dwell at the Lord's Feet. ||3||
How can people understand You, when they are entranced by Maya? ||1|| Pause ||
ਕਹੁ ਗੁਰ ਗਜ ਸਿਵ ਸਭੁ ਕੋ ਜਾਨੈ ॥
My body and breath of life belong to Allah - to Raam - the God of both. ||4||
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
My consciousness does not go out wandering. My mind has become crippled. ||1|| Pause ||
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Gauri / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 325
ਪੂਰਬ ਜਨਮ ਹਉ ਤਪ ਕਾ ਹੀਨਾ ॥੧॥
Meeting with the Guru, my Spiritual Teacher, I realize God, my Lord and Master. ||5||3||
Now here in this verse
Let's look at the views of Sant Kabir
Kabir, Ravidas and ultimately the NINE SIKH GURUS are a product of this very Sant Sampraday founded by Ramanandacharya!
Where millions of Vishnus bow their heads, where millions of Brahmas are reading the Vedas,
ਤਜੀ ਲੇ ਬਨਾਰਸ ਮਤਿ ਭਈ ਥੋਰੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
To him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminating.
One day, a desire welled up in my mind.
There is my Lord self-revealed, and the scent of sandal and flowers dwells in those deeps.
Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.23)
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹ ਕਹੀਐ ਕਾਹਿ ॥
I ground up sandalwood, along with several fragrant oils.
ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠੈ ਆਹਿ ॥੪॥੧੦॥
ਕੈਸੇ ਬੂਝੈ ਜਬ ਮੋਹਿਆ ਹੈ ਮਾਇਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
Kabir is the child of Allah and of Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.
Let’s see what Gurbani has about Ramanandacharya’s views.
ਤਬ ਲਗੁ ਹੋਇ ਨਹੀ ਚਰਨ ਨਿਵਾਸੁ ॥੩॥
That God showed me the Guru, within my own mind. ||1||
ਹਜ ਕਾਬੈ ਜਾਉ ਨ ਤੀਰਥ ਪੂਜਾ ॥
ਗੁਰ ਕਾ ਸਬਦੁ ਕਾਟੈ ਕੋਟਿ ਕਰਮ ॥੩॥੧॥
ਓਛੀ ਭਗਤਿ ਕੈਸੇ ਉਤਰਸਿ ਪਾਰੀ ॥੪॥
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We have searched the turaki Dharam (Turk's religion, Islam), these teachers throw many thunderbolts,
ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੈ ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਤੋਰ ॥
ਪੂਜਨ ਚਾਲੀ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਠਾਇ ॥
Gauree, Kabeer Jee, Panch-Padas:
Kaashi and Magahar - I consider them the same.
Kabeer: O worthless mortal, do not lose the Naam, the Name of the Lord.
The young and the old drink milk pudding, but these fools eat the cow's body.
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.
I am like a fish out of water,
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
Sadhna (a Muslim butcher) and
ਗਉੜੀ ਕਬੀਰ ਜੀ ਪੰਚਪਦੇ ॥
Let’s look at the most used verse by McSikhs to show that Sikhs are neither Hindus nor Muslims.
ਜਹਾ ਜਾਈਐ ਤਹ ਜਲ ਪਖਾਨ ॥
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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.
ਬ੍ਰਹਮ is Brahm i.e the Brahman of vedanta but it gets interpreted as an all-pervading lord god.
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.
I went to God's place, and worshipped Him there.
So in the same spirit Kabir finds pilgrimages to holy cities futile as his mind is fixated on Rama!
ਅਬ ਕਹੁ ਰਾਮ ਕਵਨ ਗਤਿ ਮੋਰੀ ॥
यस्य देवे परा भक्तिः यथा देवे तथा गुरौ । तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मन इति ।
— Kabir, III.2, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
The Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is heaven. ||4||10||
Ramananda accepted disciples without discriminating against anyone by gender, class or caste and they included even people from humble origins like
Where spring, the lord of seasons reigneth, there the unstruck music sounds of itself,
As long as the mind is filled with the desire for heaven,
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.
Says Kabeer, the Guru and Ganaysha and Shiva all know
ਜਬ ਲਗੁ ਮਨਿ ਬੈਕੁੰਠ ਕੀ ਆਸ ॥
Raamaanand Jee, First House:
ਨਾ ਹਮ ਹਿੰਦੂ ਨ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ॥
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
Again we see that the originator of this Sant Sampraday himself talks about Brahman even in Gurbani.
ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਰਸ ਤਪੁ ਕੀਆ ਕਾਸੀ ॥
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…
All the men and women of the world are His living forms.
ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ ॥੫॥੧੫॥
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.
NOW…
I am not a Hindu, nor am I a Muslim.
Ravidas (a chamar shoemaker)
Without looking into one's heart, how can one reach paradise?
I serve the One Lord, and not any other. ||2||
— Kabir, II.57, Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
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.
Recklessly they display boundless pride while explaining their own aims, they kill cows.
ਮਰਤੀ ਬਾਰ ਮਗਹਰਿ ਉਠਿ ਆਇਆ ॥੨॥
ਬੇਦ ਪੁਰਾਨ ਸਭ ਦੇਖੇ ਜੋਇ ॥
From Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 1195
Where millions of Shivas are lost in contemplation, where millions of Indras dwell in the sky,
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.
Sain (a barber)
These morons know nothing, they wander about in ignorance,
I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas.
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage,
Where the demi-gods and the munis are unnumbered, where millions of Saraswatis, goddess of music play the vina,
Wherever I go, I find water and stones.
ਏਕ ਦਿਵਸ ਮਨ ਭਈ ਉਮੰਗ ॥
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.
You have cut through all my confusion and doubt.
— Kabir, Ramaini 1, Translated by David Lorenzen
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਰਮਤ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ ॥
ਅਲਹ ਰਾਮ ਕੇ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਪਰਾਨ ॥੪॥
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.
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.
Now that my time to die has come, I have come to dwell at Magahar! ||3||
ਏਕੋ ਸੇਵੀ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਦੂਜਾ ॥੨॥
I do not make pilgrimages to Mecca, nor do I worship at Hindu sacred shrines.
The Word of the Guru's Shabad eradicates the karma of millions of past actions. ||3||1||
If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?
I have taken the One Formless Lord into my heart; I humbly worship Him there. ||3||
Says Kabeer, unto whom should I tell this?
ਜਿਉ ਜਲ ਛੋਡਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਭਇਓ ਮੀਨਾ ॥
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.
But we have actually seen how much Kabir is also rooted in the Vedantic concept of “supreme realization” but in a non-mainstream path.
Sikhism is a NIRGUN path descending from the Sant Sampraday of Ramanandacharya and traces its ideas to VEDANTA!
He accepted even women (Sursuri and Padywati) as disciples. Bhagat Pipa and Dhanna were Rajput and Jat who were also his disciples.
ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਹੁ ਕੀਆ ਵਖਾਨਾ ॥
CONCLUSION:
With inadequate devotion, how can anyone swim across? ||4||
Kabir (a weaver)
Bhagat Kabir ji / Raag Sriraag / / Guru Granth Sahib ji - Ang 92
Here ਨਿਰਗੁਣ is Nirgun and not just lord. This is just another example to show that Kabir himself continued in the NIRGUN BHAKTI path.
ਰਾਮਾਨੰਦ ਜੀ ਘਰੁ ੧
ਸਗਲ ਜਨਮੁ ਸਿਵ ਪੁਰੀ ਗਵਾਇਆ ॥
ਊਹਾਂ ਤਉ ਜਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਈਹਾਂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥੨॥
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.
Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;
Raamaanand's Lord and Master is the All-pervading Lord God.
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!
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ਮੁਆ ਕਬੀਰੁ ਰਮਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮੈ
At the time of my death, I moved to Magahar. ||2||
I left Benares - I had little common sense. ||1|| Pause ||