I have started this thread beacause many hindus here are trying to prove that sikhism is a sect of hinduism

and not a separate religion. So i want to explain them the differences between sikh religion and Hinduism

Gurbani rejects following hindu practices: Shradh(ritual serving of food to priests for the salvation of ancestors on appointed days as per the lunar calendar). Khiah(ritual serving of food to priests - brahmins - on the lunar anniversaries of the death of an ancestor). Pind(offering of funeral barley cakes to the deceaseds relatives). Patal(ritual donation of food in the belief that that would satisfy the hunger of the departed soul). Diva(the ceremony of keeping an oil lamp lit for 360 days after the death, in the belief that that lights the path of the deceased) Hom(lighting of ritual fire and pouring intermittently clarified butter, food grains etc. into it for propitiating gods for the fulfillment of a purpose) Jag(religious ceremony involving presentation of oblations). Sikha-sut(keeping a tuft of hair on the head and wearing thread). Bhadan(shaving of head on the death of a parent Adh Marg (the ceremony of breaking the pot used for bathing the dead body amid doleful cries half way towards the cremation ground) Foorhi (sitting on a straw mat in mouming for a certain period) Budha Marna (waving of whisk, over the hearse of an old person's dead body and decorating the hearse with festoons)

GURBANI REJECTS IDOL WORSHIP Why worship gods and goddesses, o siblings of destiny? What can we ask of them? What can they give us? The stone gods are washed with water, o siblings of destiny, But they just sink in the water. (SGGS p637) "Within the home of his own self, he does not even come to see his lord and master. And yet, around his neck, he hangs a stone god. The faithless cynic wanders around, deluded by doubt. He churns water, and after wasting his life away, he dies. That stone, which he calls his god, that stone pulls him down and drowns him. O sinner, you are untrue to your own self; a boat of stone will not carry you across. Meeting the Guru, O Nanak, I know my lord and master. The perfect architect of destiny is pervading and permeating the water, the land and the sky." (SGGS p739) GURBANI REJECTS SHRADH

"The rice balls are offered to the dead ancestors, but it is the brahmins who eat them!O Nanak, the rice balls of the lord are a gift which is never exhausted." (SGGS p358) "He does not honor his ancestors while they are alive, but he holds feasts in their honor after they have died. How can his poor ancestors receive what the crows and the dogs have eaten up? If only someone would tell me what real happiness is! Speaking of happiness, the world is perishing. How can happiness be found? Making gods and goddesses out of clay, people sacrifice living beings to them. Such are your dead ancestors, who cannot ask for what they want." (SGGS p332

GURBANI REJECTS LUSTFUL BEHAVIOUR In Bhagvat Purana chapter 10, section 22 says that once Krishna saw women taking bath in the river. So he went there and stole their clothes and made them come outside naked to get their clothes. When they did he forced them to mate with him. What kind of God would do that? Is this the kind of love God gives to his children? In the same chapter section 60 says that Krishna had 16,108 wives and Radha was not one of them. Each wife gave birth to 10 sons and one daughter means that Krishna had 161,080 sons and 16,108 daughters. So all together he had 177188 children. This shows how lustful Krishna was. God is not lustful at all. Guru Ji has taught us to overcome the five thieves-Lust, Anger, Greed, Emotional Attachment and Egotism. "For a moment of sexual pleasure, you shall suffer in pain for millions of days. For an instant, you may savor pleasure, but afterwards, you shall regret it, again and again." (SGGS p403) "O sexual desire, you lead the mortals to hell; you make them wander in reincarnation through countless species. You cheat the consciousness, and pervade the three worlds. You destroy meditation, penance and virtue. But you give only shallow pleasure, while you make the mortals unsteady; you pervade the high and the low. Your fear is dispelled in the company of the holy, o nanak, through the protection and support of the lord." (SGGS p1358) "As a consequence of my fickle mind, now within the body and mind are thieves like sexual desire, which has stolen my jewel of spiritual wisdom. I am a poor orphan, o God; unto whom should I complain? Who has not been ruined by sexual desire? What am I?" (SGGS p1194)

GURBANI ENCOURAGES FAMILY WORSHIP OF GOD In Hinduism a person who takes up sannyas gives up all worldly life. Instead of working for a living, hinduism leads people into laziness and indolence, condemning them to primitive living conditions. Hindu sanyasis walk the streets early in the mornings, with bowls in their hands, accepting offerings from the people. But gurbani rejects asceticism: "The one who lacks spiritual wisdom sings religious songs. The hungry mullah turns his home into a mosque. The lazy unemployed has his ears pierced to look like a yogi. Someone else becomes a pan-handler, and loses his social status. One who calls himself a guru or a spiritual teacher, while he goes around begging - dont ever touch his feet. One who works for what he eats, and gives some of what he has - o Nanak, he knows the path." (SGGS p1245) "Some pick and eat fruits and roots, and live in the wilderness. Some wander around wearing saffron robes, as yogis and sanyasis. But there is still so much desire within them - they still yearn for clothes and food. They waste their lives uselessly; they are neither householders nor

renunciates. The fear of death hangs over their heads, and they cannot escape the three-phased desire." (SGGS p140)

GURBANI REJECTS THE IDEA THAT CERTAIN DAYS ARE MORE AUSPICIOUS THAN OTHER Hindus beleive that navratri days are more auspicious than other days which can't be justified as every day is God's creation and God doesn't discriminate. This is what Guru Granth Sahib Ji says about belief in omens and days: "The omens and days all come and go. But the word of the guru`s shabad is eternal and unchanging. Through it, one merges in the true lord. The days are auspicious, when one is imbued with truth." (SGGS p842) "Concern with these omens and days leads only to duality. Only idiots and fools worry about these omens and days." (SGGS p843) The brahmins observe twenty-four fasts during the year, and the muslims fast during the month of Ramadaan. The Muslims set aside eleven months, and claim that the treasure is only in the one month. (SGGS p1349)

GURBANI REJECTS CASTE SYSTEM "What merit is in caste? The real truth is that he who tastes the poison will die." (SGGS p142) "Everyone says there are four castes, but it is from God that everyone comes; the same is the clay which fashions the whole world. The five elements make up the body's form, and who can say who has less of these or who has more?" (SGGS p1128)

GURBANI REJECTS POLYTHEISM "Through Brahma, the hymns of the vedas were revealed, but the love of maya spread. The wise one, Shiva, remains absorbed in himself, but he is engrossed in dark passions and excessive egotism. Vishnu is always busy reincarnating himself - who will save the world? The gurmukhs are imbued with spiritual wisdom in this age; they are rid of the darkness of emotional attachment." (SGGS p559)

GURBANI REJECTS BELIEF IN HOROSCOPES Horoscope matching is very deep and intensely rooted in hindu society. Before entering in to marriage relationship an astrologer is referred to for his analysis of the horoscopes (match making) of boy and the girl. After getting the horoscopes matched of the would-be bride and groom, jotish decides an auspicious day for the marriage. But gurbani rejects such useless rituals. Counting is meaningless when it comes to God because God is incalculable: "Calculating and counting, the astrologer draws the horoscope. He studies it and announces it, but he does not understand reality." (SGGS p904)

"Those who know the shaastras and the vedas, astrology and the rules of grammar of many languages; those who know tantras and mantras and all medicines even they will die in the end. Those who enjoy regal power and rule, royal canopies and thrones, many beautiful women, camphor and fragrant sandalwood oil in the end, they too will die. I have searched all the vedas, puraanas and simritees, but none of these can save anyone. Says kabeer, meditate on the lord, and eliminate birth and death." (SGGS p476-477) "God is beyond calculation, beyond measure, uncountable and unfathomable." (SGGS p292)

GURBANI REJECTS SANDHYA TARPAN Hindus read and recite gyatri and other mantras for the praise and greatness of gods and do sandhya (worship) through angan yas (touching various parts of the body) and offer water to gods and ancestors but such worship is forbidden in sikh religion. Only contemplation of God, meditation of all pervading power, through gurbani is recommended. "That evening prayer alone is acceptable, which brings the God to my consciousness. Love for the lord wells up within me, and my attachment to maya is burnt away. By guru's grace, duality is conquered, and the mind becomes stable; i have made contemplative meditation my evening prayer. O Nanak, the self-willed manmukh may recite his evening prayers, but his mind is not centered on it; through birth and death, he is ruined." (SGGS p553

In hindu religion yag (yajna) and homa have great importance and it is accepted that through Yajna every mission is successful. "Yajna accords all fruits, gods live only through Yajna. The animal that is slaughtered in a Yajna along with the killer goes to heaven." (Vishnu Simarti Ch 51) "Brahma created animals for Yajna only. The whole world benefits from the killing of animals in a Yajna. Therefore, violence must not be condemned. In a Yajna animals, trees, rice, birds, tortoise etc. that are destroyed (killed) enter better births. Anyone who does not eat meat offered in a Yajna spends twenty one births as a pig." (Mannu Ch 5 Sh 35-40) But gurbani rejects such useless rituals. The following is teachings of the Gurus about Yajna and Homa: "You may make burnt offerings, sacrificial feasts and pilgrimages to sacred shrines in egotism, but your corruption only increases. You are subject to both heaven and hell, and you are reincarnated over and over again. As the Guru has taught me, so have I spoken. Says Nanak, listen, people: sing the Kirtan of the Lord's Praises, and you shall be saved." (SGGS p218) "Through burnt offerings, charitable feasts, ritualistic chants, penance, all sorts of austere self-discipline and pilgrimages to sacred shrines and rivers, they do not find God. Self-conceit is only erased when one seeks the Lord's Sanctuary and becomes Gurmukh; O Nanak, he crosses over the world-ocean." (SGGS p1139)

GURBANI REJECTS IDEA OF DOWRY Gurbani rejects idea of dowry which is very common in hinduism: Any dowry which the perverse offer for show, is only false egotism and a worthless display. O my father, please give me the name of the lord God as my wedding gift and dowry.

(SGGS p79) You have lost your self-discipline, you fool, and you have accepted an offering under false pretenses. The daughter of the alms-giver is just like your own; by accepting this payment for performing the wedding ceremony, you have cursed your own life. (SGGS p435)

GURBANI REJECTS FASTING "He does not eat food; he tortures his body. Without the guru's wisdom, he is not satisfied." (SGGS p905) "The mind is not softened by fasting or austerities." (SGGS p905) "To practice forgiveness, good conduct and contentment is the true fast." (SGGS p223

GURBANI REJECTS KARVA CHAUTH Karva chauth is a festival celebrated by all married hindu women. They observe a fast for the long life of her husband. In keeping of karva chauth, a woman is to be grateful to her husband for providing her with food, shelter, clothing, respectability, comfort etc. But gurbani rejects such useless rituals. According to sikh religion, men and women are equal. Sikh religion teaches that the way to God is to conquer the mind which is polluted by the 5 passions. By fasting and tormenting one's body God is not attained. "One who abstains from this grain, loses his honor in the three worlds. One who discards this grain, is practicing hypocrisy. She is neither a happy soul-bride, nor a widow. Those who claim in this world that they live on milk alone, secretly eat whole loads of food. Without this grain, time does not pass in peace. Forsaking this grain, one does not meet the lord of the world. Says kabeer, this I know: blessed is that grain, which brings faith in the lord and master to the mind." (SGGS p873) "To practice forgiveness, good conduct and contentment is the true fast." (SGGS p223)

STATUS OF WOMAN HINDUISM 1. Women are described as evil agents of cupid designed to destroy men: Having(attractive) tresses and putting on collyrium, women, difficult to touch but pleasing to the eyes are(verily) the flames of the fire of sin and they burn men as though they were straw. Women pleasing and cruel, are the fuel for the hell-fires, that inflame even at a distance and though juicy(loveable) are devoid of moisture(flavour). Silly women are the nets spread by the hunter called cupid to entangle the bodies of men in the form of birds. Woman is the bait stuck in the fish-hook at the string of evil propensity to catch men in the form of fish that are in the pond of worldly life and that are active in the mud of the mind. Enough of women to me, forever, who are the strong caskets(to preserve) all gems of evil and are the chains of misery. He who has a woman with him has desire for enjoyment; where is the scope for enjoyment to one who is without woman? Discarding woman is discarding worldly life; one shall be happy after abandoning worldly life." (Yajnavalkya Upanishad) 2. Speaking with a low caste woman is regarded as a hindrance to heaven:

"If one sorely afflicted recovers, renunciation in the prescribed order should be embraced.(An ascetic) shall not converse with a low caste woman, one fallen from virtue, and a woman in he courses. The ascetic has no worship of gods, nor witnessing(temple) festivals. The goal of asceticism is not one (and the same) heaven. The sorely afflicted and the Kutichaka ascetics gain the worlds Bhur and the Bhuvas respectively. The Bahudaka ascetic(gains) heaven(svarga). The hamsa ascetic, the world of truth(satya-loka). The turiyatita and the avadhuta ascetics attain supreme bliss in themselves by deeply meditating on the true nature of the self according to the maxim of the wasp." (Sannyasa Upanishad) SIKH RELIGION 1. A challenge to men to accept women as equals and as being inherently good: "From the woman is our birth, in the woman's womb are we shaped; to the woman we are engaged, to the woman we are wedded; the woman is our friend and from the woman is the family; if one woman dies, we seek another, through the woman are the bonds of the world; why call women evil who give birth to kings? From the woman comes the woman, without woman there is none; o nanak, God alone is the one who is independent of woman(because he is unborn)." (SGGS p473) 2. The veil as a useless outdated piece of clothing: Stay, stay, o daughter in law - do not cover your face with a veil. In the end, this shall not bring you even half a shell. The one before you used to veil her face; do not follow in her footsteps. Says Kabeer, the soul-bride shall win, only if she passes her life singing the lord's praises." (SGGS p484) 3. Hindu tradition of sati(burning of alive widow on funeral pyre) redefined: Do not call them 'satee', who are burnt with husbands' corpses. They are known as 'satee', who abide in modesty and contentment. They serve their lord, and rise in the early hours to contemplate him. (SGGS p787) 4. The light of God sits equally within both men and women: In the earth and in the sky, i do not see any second. Among all the women and the men, his light is shining. In the lamps of the sun and the moon, i see his light. Dwelling among all is my ever-youthful beloved. In his mercy, he attuned my consciousness to the lord. (SGGS p223)