The Sikh Religion by Max Arthur Macauliffe is a comprehensive work that explores the beliefs, practices, and history of Sikhism, offering a detailed account of the religion's development from its inception to the late 19th century. Published in six volumes, the book is regarded as one of the most authoritative texts on Sikhism, presenting translations of the Sikh scriptures (the Guru Granth Sahib) and the teachings of the ten Sikh Gurus.
Macauliffe, a British colonial official, was deeply interested in understanding and documenting the spiritual, social, and philosophical aspects of Sikhism. His work highlights the core principles of Sikhism, such as monotheism, equality, service, and devotion to God. He also emphasizes the importance of the Gurus in shaping Sikh identity and the community's distinctive practices, Though Macauliffe's perspective is influenced by his colonial background, his work remains a valuable resource for understanding the foundational principles of Sikhism.
I BRING from the East what is practically an unknown religion. The Sikhs are distinguished throughout the world as a great military people, but there is little known even to professional scholars regarding their religion. I have often been asked by educated persons in countries which I have visited, and even in India itself, what the Sikh religion was, and whether the Sikhs were Hindus, idolaters or Muhammadans. This ignorance is the result of the difficulty of the Indian dialects in which their sacred writings are contained.
Judaism has its Old Testament; Islam its Quran Hinduism its Veds, Purans, and Shastars; Budhism its Tripitaka; the Parsi religion its Zend-avesta; and Confucianism its Analects, its Spring and Autumn, its Ancient Poems and its Book of Changes. The languages in which the holy writings of these religions are enshrined, though all difficult, are for the most part homogeneous, and after preliminary study with tutors can generally be mastered by the aid of grammars and dictionaries; but not so the mediaeval Indian dialects in which the sacred writings of the Sikh Gurus and Saints were composed. Hymns are found in Persian, mediaeval Prakrit, Hindi, Marathi, old Panjabi, Multani, and several local dialects. In several hymns the Sanskrit and Arabic vocabularies are freely drawn upon.
There were no dictionaries of the Granth Sahib, or sacred book of the Sikhs, when the author commenced his labours. Some have been since published, but each lexicographer has adopted a system of his own which makes it difficult to find the word required, and even when found the interpretation is not always satisfactory. For these reasons it is necessary for the translator of the Sikh sacred writings to reside for long years in India, and work with the assistance of the few gyanis, or professional interpreters of the Sikh canonical writings, who now survive. It would probably be an exaggeration to say that there are ten such men in the world. Of these few or none is capable of giving an English interpretation. They generally construe in tedious paraphrases in their own local dialects. But more than this, there is hardly any one Sikh who is capable of making a correct translation of his sacred writings. A man who is a good Sanskrit scholar will not know Persian and Arabic, and he who knows Persian and Arabic will not know words of Sanskrit derivation. A man who knows Hindi will not know Marathi; a man who knows Marathi will not know Panjabi and Multani, and so on. Moreover, there are words in the Sikh sacred writings which are peculiar to them, and cannot be traced to any known language. As to these one must accept the traditional interpretations.
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