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Gurbani (696-703)
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Gurbani (721-727)
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Gurbani (795-831)
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Thitteen (838-840)
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Chhant (843-848)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
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Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
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Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
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Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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Concept Of Sunn-Void,nullity,
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<blockquote data-quote="Sikh80" data-source="post: 68885" data-attributes="member: 5290"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><strong>SUNN</strong> a <a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Punjabi" target="_blank"><u><span style="color: #0000ff">Punjabi</span></u></a> form of the <a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sanskrit" target="_blank"><u><span style="color: #0000ff">Sanskrit</span></u></a> term <strong>sunya</strong> (Pali, sunna) is derived from the root <u>svi</u> which is connected with the root <u>su;</u> both these roots mean ‘<u>to swell’</u>, ‘to expand’ or ‘to increase’. From the etymological standpoint the term sunya is often used in the sense of ‘<u>zero</u>’ or ‘<u>cipher</u>’ (Arabic, <u>sifr),</u> a symbol of naught. However, ‘zero’ again, when used by a mathematician with a figure, increases the value of that figure ten times. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The word <strong>sunya belongs to the religious and philosophical terminology</strong> of India. Its meaning has to be explored in relation to two other cognate words, viz. <u>sunyata and sunyavada</u>. The words sunya and sunyata have attained widespread currency chiefly through the agency of Buddhist literature: while ‘sunyavada’ is the name given one of the systems of Buddhistic thought, the word sunya means void, empty, a lonely place or solitude. The word sunyata means voidness, emptiness, vacuity or nothingness. The word ‘sunyavada’ has been translated as ‘<u>the ism of void’</u> or ‘<u>the doctrine of empty’</u>. The barrenness of this translation is inherent in the pejorative force which gave birth to this name in anti-Buddhist circles. It is on the authority of anti-Buddhist Brahmanical sources that Monier-Williams described ‘sunyavada’ in 1899 as ‘the (Buddhist) doctrine of the non-existence (of any spirit either supreme or human), Buddhism, atheism.’ </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">As a mater of fact, it is in the work of the Brahmanical theologians, such as Kumarilabhatta and Sankaracarya, that the name ‘Sunyavada’ is employed for the Madhyamika School of Buddhist philosophy. <u>The Buddhist philosophers themselves have never used or approved this nomenclature. </u></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">At numerous places in the Pali scriptures it is stated that the world (loka) is <u>empty (sunya</u>); it is empty of self (atman) and empty of anything belonging to self. There is nothing in the world with which one could identify one’s self, or of which one could say, ‘this is myself.’ A whole section of the Patisambhidamagga is entitled ‘<u>discourse on the void.</u>’ In this section twenty-five kinds of void are enumerated. The Mahayanasutras and Sastras elaborated these teachings concerning sunya and sunyata and developed a soteriological technique based on the philosophy of Emptiness. A class of Buddhist </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sanskrit" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Sanskrit</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> literature consisting of the Prajnaparamitasutras is devoted to the exposition of emptiness. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The <u>Prajnaparamitasutras</u> teach that <u>sunyata </u>is the nature of all phenomenal things or entities called dharmas. Things are empty (sunya) because they are conditioned; they are conditioned because they depend on a multiplicity of causes. Nothing is uncaused; therefore nothing is free from sunya, emptiness. The dependence of entities on causes and conditions constitutes their emptiness. All things or phenomena are subject to dependent origination (pratiya-samutapada); therefore all phenomena are characterized by emptiness (sunyata). This fact is called dharma-sunyata, the emptiness of dharmas or the phenomena. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><u>Nagarjuna who flourished in the first century AD is the main originator of the doctrine of sunya</u> which in fact offers the critique of all the philosophies. Going beyond the viewpoints of <u>asti (is) nasti (is not) about the Supreme Truth,</u> the sunyavadins adopt a dialectical method which seeks to abolish all viewpoints but, side by side, they do not claim to have sunyavad, a viewpoint in itself. The aim of this teaching is soteriological and not philosophical. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Sunya means that all the objects of the world are lacking in their ‘own-nature’ (svabhava dharma or ‘self-existence’ (atmabhava); that is to say, the dharmas are without an essence of inward nature of their own and are without self. The absence of own-nature (nihsvabhavata) and the absence of self (nairatmya) are thus synonyms of emptiness. Not only the persons are characterized by emptiness (pudgala-nairatmya) but also the things are characterized by emptiness (dharma-nairatmya). He who realizes this twofold emptiness (sunyata) attains transcendental wisdom (prajnaparamita). </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The Prajnaparamitasutras have employed the master symbol sunyata not only for the phenomenal things but also for the Absolute. The phenomenal things are called sunya because they are dependent on causes and conditions. <u>The Absolute is called sunya because it is devoid of distinctions and discriminations</u>. Sunyata demonstrates the ultimate unreality of entities and the unseekability of the Absolute which transcends thought and speech. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The concept of sunya (sunn) was transmitted by the </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Siddha&action=edit" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc2200"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Siddhas</span></span></u></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"> and the Nathas to the sant-poets of medieval Vaisnavism. In the works of the Sikh Gurus we find the last phase of the development of the concept of sunya outside Buddhism. The </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikh_Gurus" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Sikh Gurus</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"> have used the words <u>sunn, sunn kala, anahat-sunn and sunn-samadh</u>i numerous times in their religious compositions. A careful analysis of the use of these key-terms in the </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikh" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Sikh</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> canon shows that their meaning is, in most cases, different from that found in Buddhism. In one case, however, there seems to be a continuity of the word and meaning from the time of the Buddhist Sutras to that of the hymns sung by the Gurus. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">This continuity is found in those cases in which <strong>sunn or sunya is employed as a symbol of the Absolute</strong>. Thus, for example, it is said that when one is awakened to the teaching of the Guru, one merges into the Void (sunn samaia) even while alive—jivat sunni samania gur sakhi jagi (GG, 857). Of course the concept of the Absolute in </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikhism" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Sikhism</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"> differs from that in the Madhyamika, but there can be no doubt that the Absolute is called sunn because it is devoid of duality and discrimination. This negative structure in speech with regard to the Reality is the basic function of the symbol sunn. All positive descriptions imply limitation and determination. The word sunn declares that the Truth is beyond limitations and determinations. Emptiness of Buddhism means ‘no doctrine about Truth’; sunn in </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikhism" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Sikhism</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> means <strong>‘no conception about the Inconceivable.’</strong> </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">An important feature of the conception of the Void in </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikhism" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Sikhism</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"> is that it can be realized through transcendental devotion (</span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Naam" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">naam</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">) which consists in the constant mindfulness of the Divine (</span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Simran" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">simran</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">). This feature brings in many positive elements as a matter of course and consequently the ecstatic experience of the Divine is characterized by positive attributes. Nevertheless, these positive attributes do not exhaust the innate state of sahaj or the Void (sunn). </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Kabir" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Kabir</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> <u>uses sunn in the sense of space, finite as well as infinite, i.e. ghatakash and mahakash. </u></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The three lokas enveloping sunya is nothing but Brahman with maya but the fourth sunya about which </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Nanak" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Guru Nanak</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"> stresses more is pure Brahman who is nirakar and nirguna. <u><span style="color: blue">In Rag Maru, Guru Nanak defines sunn as the creative power of the Almighty—paunu pani sunnai te saje</span></u> (GG, 1037). <span style="color: blue">The sense of nada has also been exacted from the term sunn in</span> the </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Sidha_Gosti&action=edit" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc2200"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Sidha Gosti</span></span></u></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"> where </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Nanak" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Guru Nanak</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"> says: <strong>“nau sar subhar dasavai pure tah anahat sunn vajavahi ture</strong> — after filling up the nine pitchers with love, through the tenth gate the entry is made; <span style="color: blue"><u>the anahat sunya in the form of melodies is realized</u></span>” (GG, 943). The term sunn in the </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Granth_Sahib" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Guru Granth Sahib</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> is thus used in a variety of senses, of which predominantly are Brahman with and without maya, the creation, the power of Brahman and nada. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Here the unstruck sound, inaccessible to ears, goes on as ‘the music of spheres’ as it were, and the wonderful (acharaj) bewilderment (bismad) characteristic of it cannot be described (kahanu na jai). Peace (santi), bliss (sukh, ananda) and satiety (santokhu) are attained in this state. But here in the ultimate state there is neither he who attains these things nor he who listens to their description; void has gone to Void, emptiness had merged into Emptiness. He says: sunnahi sunnu milia samdarsi—the individual spirit has joined the supreme spirit (GG, 1103). </span></span></p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Bhai_Gurdas" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #800080">Bhai Gurdas</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">, explicator of </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Gurbani" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Gurbani</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">, uses sunya in the sense of cosmic silence — "diti bangi nivaji kari sunni samani hoa jahana" (1.35). As in the Hathayogapradipika, </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Nanak" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Guru Nanak</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> also accepts that sunya is within, sunya is without and the three lokas are also imbued with sunya. <span style="color: blue"><u>Whosoever becomes the knower of the truth, sunya, goes beyond sins and virtues. He transcends both error and excellence. </u></span></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">It may be observed that like the word Nirvana, the word sunya also underwent a gradual process of transformation in its meaning and use in the literature of medieval </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/India" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">India</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px">. The Madhyamika conception of sunyata was almost completely changed in Nathapantha, Kabirpantha and </span></span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikhism" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: #0000ff">Sikhism</span></span></span></u></a><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'">. </span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sikh80, post: 68885, member: 5290"] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B]SUNN[/B] a [URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Punjabi"][U][COLOR=#0000ff]Punjabi[/COLOR][/U][/URL] form of the [URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sanskrit"][U][COLOR=#0000ff]Sanskrit[/COLOR][/U][/URL] term [B]sunya[/B] (Pali, sunna) is derived from the root [U]svi[/U] which is connected with the root [U]su;[/U] both these roots mean ‘[U]to swell’[/U], ‘to expand’ or ‘to increase’. From the etymological standpoint the term sunya is often used in the sense of ‘[U]zero[/U]’ or ‘[U]cipher[/U]’ (Arabic, [U]sifr),[/U] a symbol of naught. However, ‘zero’ again, when used by a mathematician with a figure, increases the value of that figure ten times. [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]The word [B]sunya belongs to the religious and philosophical terminology[/B] of India. Its meaning has to be explored in relation to two other cognate words, viz. [U]sunyata and sunyavada[/U]. The words sunya and sunyata have attained widespread currency chiefly through the agency of Buddhist literature: while ‘sunyavada’ is the name given one of the systems of Buddhistic thought, the word sunya means void, empty, a lonely place or solitude. The word sunyata means voidness, emptiness, vacuity or nothingness. The word ‘sunyavada’ has been translated as ‘[U]the ism of void’[/U] or ‘[U]the doctrine of empty’[/U]. The barrenness of this translation is inherent in the pejorative force which gave birth to this name in anti-Buddhist circles. It is on the authority of anti-Buddhist Brahmanical sources that Monier-Williams described ‘sunyavada’ in 1899 as ‘the (Buddhist) doctrine of the non-existence (of any spirit either supreme or human), Buddhism, atheism.’ [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]As a mater of fact, it is in the work of the Brahmanical theologians, such as Kumarilabhatta and Sankaracarya, that the name ‘Sunyavada’ is employed for the Madhyamika School of Buddhist philosophy. [U]The Buddhist philosophers themselves have never used or approved this nomenclature. [/U][/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]At numerous places in the Pali scriptures it is stated that the world (loka) is [U]empty (sunya[/U]); it is empty of self (atman) and empty of anything belonging to self. There is nothing in the world with which one could identify one’s self, or of which one could say, ‘this is myself.’ A whole section of the Patisambhidamagga is entitled ‘[U]discourse on the void.[/U]’ In this section twenty-five kinds of void are enumerated. The Mahayanasutras and Sastras elaborated these teachings concerning sunya and sunyata and developed a soteriological technique based on the philosophy of Emptiness. A class of Buddhist [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sanskrit"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Sanskrit[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] literature consisting of the Prajnaparamitasutras is devoted to the exposition of emptiness. [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]The [U]Prajnaparamitasutras[/U] teach that [U]sunyata [/U]is the nature of all phenomenal things or entities called dharmas. Things are empty (sunya) because they are conditioned; they are conditioned because they depend on a multiplicity of causes. Nothing is uncaused; therefore nothing is free from sunya, emptiness. The dependence of entities on causes and conditions constitutes their emptiness. All things or phenomena are subject to dependent origination (pratiya-samutapada); therefore all phenomena are characterized by emptiness (sunyata). This fact is called dharma-sunyata, the emptiness of dharmas or the phenomena. [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][U]Nagarjuna who flourished in the first century AD is the main originator of the doctrine of sunya[/U] which in fact offers the critique of all the philosophies. Going beyond the viewpoints of [U]asti (is) nasti (is not) about the Supreme Truth,[/U] the sunyavadins adopt a dialectical method which seeks to abolish all viewpoints but, side by side, they do not claim to have sunyavad, a viewpoint in itself. The aim of this teaching is soteriological and not philosophical. [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Sunya means that all the objects of the world are lacking in their ‘own-nature’ (svabhava dharma or ‘self-existence’ (atmabhava); that is to say, the dharmas are without an essence of inward nature of their own and are without self. The absence of own-nature (nihsvabhavata) and the absence of self (nairatmya) are thus synonyms of emptiness. Not only the persons are characterized by emptiness (pudgala-nairatmya) but also the things are characterized by emptiness (dharma-nairatmya). He who realizes this twofold emptiness (sunyata) attains transcendental wisdom (prajnaparamita). [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]The Prajnaparamitasutras have employed the master symbol sunyata not only for the phenomenal things but also for the Absolute. The phenomenal things are called sunya because they are dependent on causes and conditions. [U]The Absolute is called sunya because it is devoid of distinctions and discriminations[/U]. Sunyata demonstrates the ultimate unreality of entities and the unseekability of the Absolute which transcends thought and speech. [/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]The concept of sunya (sunn) was transmitted by the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Siddha&action=edit"][COLOR=#cc2200][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Siddhas[/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] and the Nathas to the sant-poets of medieval Vaisnavism. In the works of the Sikh Gurus we find the last phase of the development of the concept of sunya outside Buddhism. The [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikh_Gurus"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Sikh Gurus[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] have used the words [U]sunn, sunn kala, anahat-sunn and sunn-samadh[/U]i numerous times in their religious compositions. A careful analysis of the use of these key-terms in the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikh"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Sikh[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] canon shows that their meaning is, in most cases, different from that found in Buddhism. In one case, however, there seems to be a continuity of the word and meaning from the time of the Buddhist Sutras to that of the hymns sung by the Gurus. [/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]This continuity is found in those cases in which [B]sunn or sunya is employed as a symbol of the Absolute[/B]. Thus, for example, it is said that when one is awakened to the teaching of the Guru, one merges into the Void (sunn samaia) even while alive—jivat sunni samania gur sakhi jagi (GG, 857). Of course the concept of the Absolute in [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikhism"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Sikhism[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] differs from that in the Madhyamika, but there can be no doubt that the Absolute is called sunn because it is devoid of duality and discrimination. This negative structure in speech with regard to the Reality is the basic function of the symbol sunn. All positive descriptions imply limitation and determination. The word sunn declares that the Truth is beyond limitations and determinations. Emptiness of Buddhism means ‘no doctrine about Truth’; sunn in [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikhism"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Sikhism[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] means [B]‘no conception about the Inconceivable.’[/B] [/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]An important feature of the conception of the Void in [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikhism"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Sikhism[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] is that it can be realized through transcendental devotion ([/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Naam"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]naam[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]) which consists in the constant mindfulness of the Divine ([/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Simran"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]simran[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]). This feature brings in many positive elements as a matter of course and consequently the ecstatic experience of the Divine is characterized by positive attributes. Nevertheless, these positive attributes do not exhaust the innate state of sahaj or the Void (sunn). [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Kabir"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Kabir[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] [U]uses sunn in the sense of space, finite as well as infinite, i.e. ghatakash and mahakash. [/U][/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]The three lokas enveloping sunya is nothing but Brahman with maya but the fourth sunya about which [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Nanak"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Guru Nanak[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] stresses more is pure Brahman who is nirakar and nirguna. [U][COLOR=blue]In Rag Maru, Guru Nanak defines sunn as the creative power of the Almighty—paunu pani sunnai te saje[/COLOR][/U] (GG, 1037). [COLOR=blue]The sense of nada has also been exacted from the term sunn in[/COLOR] the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Sidha_Gosti&action=edit"][COLOR=#cc2200][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Sidha Gosti[/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] where [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Nanak"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Guru Nanak[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] says: [B]“nau sar subhar dasavai pure tah anahat sunn vajavahi ture[/B] — after filling up the nine pitchers with love, through the tenth gate the entry is made; [COLOR=blue][U]the anahat sunya in the form of melodies is realized[/U][/COLOR]” (GG, 943). The term sunn in the [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Granth_Sahib"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Guru Granth Sahib[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] is thus used in a variety of senses, of which predominantly are Brahman with and without maya, the creation, the power of Brahman and nada. [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Here the unstruck sound, inaccessible to ears, goes on as ‘the music of spheres’ as it were, and the wonderful (acharaj) bewilderment (bismad) characteristic of it cannot be described (kahanu na jai). Peace (santi), bliss (sukh, ananda) and satiety (santokhu) are attained in this state. But here in the ultimate state there is neither he who attains these things nor he who listens to their description; void has gone to Void, emptiness had merged into Emptiness. He says: sunnahi sunnu milia samdarsi—the individual spirit has joined the supreme spirit (GG, 1103). [/FONT][/SIZE] [URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Bhai_Gurdas"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#800080]Bhai Gurdas[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], explicator of [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Gurbani"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Gurbani[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3], uses sunya in the sense of cosmic silence — "diti bangi nivaji kari sunni samani hoa jahana" (1.35). As in the Hathayogapradipika, [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Nanak"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Guru Nanak[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] also accepts that sunya is within, sunya is without and the three lokas are also imbued with sunya. [COLOR=blue][U]Whosoever becomes the knower of the truth, sunya, goes beyond sins and virtues. He transcends both error and excellence. [/U][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]It may be observed that like the word Nirvana, the word sunya also underwent a gradual process of transformation in its meaning and use in the literature of medieval [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/India"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]India[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]. The Madhyamika conception of sunyata was almost completely changed in Nathapantha, Kabirpantha and [/SIZE][/FONT][URL="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikhism"][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#0000ff]Sikhism[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/URL][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]. [/FONT][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
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