Notes for this study are hyperlinked to the end of each page. Followingare all the notes as well as other information sources for this study:
- Note 1: For more information on the NewSciences see: Algeny by Jeremy Riffkin (Viking Press New York, 1983) orThe Turbulent Mirror by John Briggs & F. David Peat (Harper &Row, New York, 1989).
- Note 2: At various times in Indianhistory the country was divided and subdivided into various kingdoms.For simplicity sake, I will refer to India as a single country. Forinformation on these divisions see footnote 11.
- Note 3: Some Sikh traditions reject theidea that Guru Gobind Singh was the final Guru. Groups such as theRuhani Satsang insist that living Gurus are necessary for spiritualsurvival and attainment (SoS 15).
- Note 4: 'Karmic debt' refers to past reactions which keep one bound to transmigration.
- Note 5: Siksha: an instructing spiritualmaster. Diksha: an initiating spiritual master. This Hindu distinctionof grades of teachers is not found in Sikhism.
- Note 6: The Vedas are the principle Hindu Scriptures.
- Note 7: Guru is always capitalized in Sikh literatures.
- Note 8: See also footnotes # 2, 9 and 11.
- Note 9: India is about 3,287,590 squarekilometers. There are over 746 million people with an annual growthrate of 1.9-2.1%. About 80% are Hindu, 11% Muslim, 2.6% Christian and 2%are Sikh. There are also smaller numbers of Jains, Buddhists, Parsis(Zoroastrians) etc. The average life-span is 50-54 years. The literacyrate is 25-36% (ICS xx,xxi).
- Note 10: There is also Sighelmus who,during the reign of Alfred, went on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St.Thomas at Mailapur but this is not verifiable (PS 414; LoI 27).
- Note 11: Bharata-Varsha (India) wasnamed after the Pandava Princes of Mahabharata fame. They weredescendents of King Bharata. It was divided into nine khandas or parts:Indra-dweepa, Kaserumat, Tamra-varna, Gabhastimat, Naga-dweepa, Saumya,Gandharva and Varuna (HM 47). See footnote # 9.
- Note 12: At the beginning of the eighthcentury the Arabians conquered the Sind. Two hundred and fifty yearslater Muhammadan Turks gathered around the north-west mountains ofAfghanistan. Ghazni was occupied in 862 and Mahmud, the Sultan of GazniAfghanistan, made fifteen raids on India, especially Lahore, from997-1026 (HBI 10).
- Note 13: Murtis are visible manifestations of divine beings which are worshipped or meditated upon. They 'channel'the divine presence.
- Note 14: It appears that the conjectureis that murtis had never existed in India prior to the birth ofBuddhism. This seems untenable. As Danielou explains: However far wereach into the history of Hindu thought we find a coherent use of imagesto represent abstractions" (GoI 363). It is more likely that the murtishad been removed during Buddhist control of the country and were nowbeing re-installed.
- Note 15: See above.
- Note 16: The Moghuls were the descendents of the Mongol Genghis Khan. 'Moghul' is the Indian form of Mongol.
- Note 17: It is worth noting thatalthough bhakti was originally a Vaishnava doctrine, in its technicalsense the word bhakti is first found in the Shvetashvatara-Upanishad, aprimarily Saivite Scripture of the fourth century B.C.E. (ToE 51,52).
- Note 18: According to tradition, Akbar was illiterate. It may be that Bhai Gur Das and Bhai Buddha read it to him (GiS 26).
- Note 19: Shortly after Mohammad's deathAli ibn abi Talib was elected khalif or successor. He was assassinatedin 661. His Syrian killer, Muawiya became khalif. Ali's supporters areknown as the Shi'a, Muawiya's followers are the Sunni. 90% of allMuslims today are Sunni (WR 331).
- Note 20: The Taj was completed in 1653.
- Note 21: The jizya was the Qur'anic tax imposed on non-Muslims. See above.
- Note 22: The Puritan Janamsakhi(biography) and Bhai Gurdas give the birthdate as October 20 (Kartik)while others give it as April 15 (baisakh) in 1469 (SR 14).
- Note 23: About 55 miles north-west of Lahore.
- Note 24: Unlike the traditional Hindudefinition of the term avatara, which is 'Incarnation of God,' Sikhstranslate it as 'Prophet.' Again, Nanak is not accepted as an avatara inthe Hindu sense.
- Note 25: Kalyug (Kali-Yuga) is the lastof the four ages. It is a yuga of ignorance, hypocrisy, confusion andlack of Dharma. It lasts 432,000 years, of which roughly 5,000 havepassed.
- Note 26: Lord Jagannatha, the 'Lord ofthe Universe' is a form of Lord Vishnu. Upon the death of Shree Krishna,a primary Incarnation of Lord Vishnu, his bones were collected andplaced within Lord Jagannatha's murti(HM 129).
- Note 27: The others being Som-nath, Badri-nath and Vishwa-nath.
- Note 28: The sarang (chatrik or papiha)is a bird which drinks only when 'the moon is in the mansion ofArcturus.' The meaning is, when it is time to drink of God's water,Nanak is very thirsty and ready to do so because, as the bird awaits theproper time, so too does Nanak (SR 38).
- Note 29: The Golden Temple is thephysical heart of Sikhism. It is the most important of the five majorTakhts ("thrones") of the religion. The temple was built and theGurmukhi, or hymns of the Gurus (and others), was enshrined here byGuru Arjan in 1604.
- Note 30: As discussed above, Sikhismmaintains that their understanding is not based upon the teachings ofany other religion or culture. To honor this, one might say thatHinduism had previously received the same light. See above.
- Note 31: It was not until theShata-Patha-Brahmana (8th or 9th century B.C.E.) that the word brahmanacquired the now prominent philosophical connotation of the Absolute orVast Expanse. Previously it was understood as a 'prayer' or 'meditation'employed to evoke the universal power (also called brahman). Its rootbrih means "to grow" or "to expand" (EDY 64).
- Note 32: Shree Ramanuja further insiststhat brahman is essentially saguna. Nirguna brahman is known as thebrahmajyoti or spiritual effulgence of the saguna totality as the raysof the sun emanate from that luminary (HG 107).
- Note 33: This is similar to theUpanishadic doctrine that nirguna brahman was first manifested as Om andthereafter established prakriti or nature (M 1).
- Note 34: Pronounced "Vaheeguru" (P).
- Note 35: The Name Gobind is the Punjabi form of Govinda, Who is Krishna (as a cowherder) or Vishnu.
- Note 36: Nad is Nadam or Transcendental Sound Currents (the Shabd) and Vad is Veda or Wisdom, especially Scriptural truths.
- Note 37: The Brahmanical prayers: Om Bhur Bhuvaha Svaha, Tat Savitur Varenyam...
- Note 38: Lords Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer/Transformer.
- Note 39: Tombs of great saints.
- Note 40: Communities of Sikh believers.
- Note 41:Khalsa Sikhs are those who accept the reforms of Guru Gobind Singh (GiS 68).
