During the ministry of Guru Nanak it was a general belief that Ganesh is Sidhi Datta (donor of supernatural power) and Sarswati is Budhi Datta (donor of spiritual knowledge), which are the two main requirement of mankind. Guru Nanak says if these two powers can be obtained from anyone other than the God, then there is no need to worship God. Guru Nanak declared that Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesh, Saraswati and Indra etc. all are the creation and Will of One Supreme God and they are subject to birth and death. They can be the object of veneration but not object of human worship. He further clarified that none of these deities have independent authority and thus are not attribute or aspect of God. He says, “It is God alone who is the Doer of deeds. There is none else.” – Guru Granth ang.276.18. Hence the creation has to worship the Creator – the Almighty God in His abstract form i.e. baani - the Gur Sabd. Gurabni tells us 'thakhur ek sabhai naar- Our relation with God is like husband and wife." So why we do need an outsiders in our spiritual journey. It is only when dispute arises intermediatary needs comes. Our gurus have addressed themselves in Gurbani as Mahal - wife.
Guru Nanak was careful in the concept of God, so that people will not blindly pray to him (while considering Guru) but rather to the omnipresent, almighty, formless God or Waheguru. Never ever was this beauty so disclosed in the hearts of humans as in these heart piercing words. “nwnk eyko psirAw dUjw kh idRstwr ] - The One is All-pervading; where is any other to be seen? There is only one Thakur who is doing it all. It is all an expanse of this ONE IK ONG-KAAR.His creativity is infinite and His method of self creativity is a real wonder when we look at the creation and growth of living organisms. All this is to say that dualities and human gurus are creation of we humans; the ‘Ultimate Reality is only One and we should not get entangled in the complications created by the dualities.
Guru Granth is a living scripture open to contemporary interpretation. And this is what Guru Granth means to a Sikh. Unlike interpretation of some other scriptures, it is neither history nor mythology, nor a collection of incantations. Its contents are spiritual revelation, the vision of the cosmic order and exhortation to the higher life. Further this is the only scripture, which corroborates modern scientific theories in the domain of cosmology. Gurbani, page after page, dwells upon the kernel without its shell, the essence - the Naam. Gurbani does not belong to any particular religion. In addition Guru Nanak's verses appear in Question-Answer style more than hundred times in Guru Granth Sahib and in a very easy and spoken language.
So it does not any further human Guru. Satguru is consolidated Guru, is spiritual, exists forever, has been existing forever, is free from the cycle of birth and death and is divine knowledge (Satguru ki Baani). As a divine word (the Sabd/Gurmantar), is divine spirit (Jyot) with melody, residing in everybody? This is the intermediate link between the devotee and God, as the vehicle/channel to meet God. This was declared on the bases of Guru Nanak's declaration, 'Sabd Guru surt dhun chela' (Sabd is Guru and consciousness towards it makes one his disciple - Sikh). Since the Sabd is the Guru, and Sabd is incorporated into the Granth, therefore, the Granth is the Guru. Instead of difficult Sanskrit or Persian, it is written in spoken language Punjabi of the people which is in Gurmukhi script, thus eliminating the intermediary like Pandit, Mullah for reading, writing or translating and giving importance to them and who further dictate their terms and bring duality. In that respect it is a unique scripture among the source books of religion.
Regards Sahni Mohinder
