Superstition:
An archetypal superstition, originating from the subcontinent, holds that bowing down at any religious locus is enough to accrue divine favor. This fallacy has proliferated to such a degree that some individuals deplete their entire life by rapidly journeying from one place to another just to bow their heads and earn divine grace. Ironically, this same practice has taken root among the Sikhs who believe that solely bowing their heads at various Gurudwaras will efface their sins and achieve them their often trivial wants. Now obviously the argument can be made that such Sikhs are bowing to the Guru Granth alone so what is the problem? After all, is this not something to be encouraged? There is, however, a caveat to remember here: bowing is a sign of submission and surrender. But is the act alone enough if the mind within remains stubbornly unchanged?
History:
Guru Nanak instituted the practice of solely bowing to the Guru among his Sikhs. This not only sundered them from the neighboring Hindu and Islamic faiths but also signalled their self-distancing from tyrannical honchos who made it imperative for the less powerful to bow to them. From the second Guru onwards, each and every successive Guru bowed to their predecessor until Guru Arjan composed the Guru Granth and made it emblematic of the Guru’s own authority. From thereon the canon was bowed to when the physical Guru was absent as in the case of Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur. Guru Gobind Singh ratified the Granth as Guru in 1708 enjoining the Khalsa to reverentially bow to it in recognition of its supremacy. The practice continues to this day with it being a codified rule that an aspect of the Sikh life is solely to bow to the Guru Granth and no other element.
The Hypocrite’s Bowing:
Gurmat recognises two distinct forms of bowing. Firstly, we have the external bowing i.e., when one bows to physically express submission but is internally obdurate. This is purely strategic bowing to fool the masses. Unfortunately many Sikhs and non-Sikhs fall for this routine act when it is done by politicos even going so far as to vote them into power just because they bowed at a Gurudwara. Several months down the line they miserably reap the seeds which they blindly sowed when their new leaders antagonize them. This phenomena is described by Gurbani thus,
ਆਪਣੈ ਭਾਣੈ ਜੋ ਚਲੈ ਭਾਈ ਵਿਛੁੜਿ ਚੋਟਾ ਖਾਵੈ ॥
ਬਿਨੁ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸੁਖੁ ਕਦੇ ਨ ਪਾਵੈ ਭਾਈ ਫਿਰਿ ਫਿਰਿ ਪਛੋਤਾਵੈ ॥੧॥
“One who selects to walk as per his own will suffers separation and undergoes torment. Without the divine truth tranquility is unobtainable and regrets continue to mount.”
-Guru Granth, 601.
Considering the fact that it has been almost a near century that Sikhs have continually suffered at the hands of corrupt politicians who repeatedly perform the same charade over and over again, their deplorable state would be laughable if the situation did not retain such a gravitas. Come election time they will again run to vote for whoever comes first to bow at the Gurudwara.
Yet multiple Sikhs are equally corrupt as the leaders they rail against with the only difference being theirs is a spiritual corruption. This malaise afflicting them misleads them into believing that bowing alone suffices to realize their desires; that no internal change or external effort is warranted on their part.
ਮਨ ਕੀ ਮਤਿ ਤਿਆਗਹੁ ਹਰਿ ਜਨ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਬੂਝਿ ਸੁਖੁ ਪਾਈਐ ਰੇ ॥
ਜੋ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਕਰੈ ਸੋਈ ਭਲ ਮਾਨਹੁ ਸੁਖਿ ਦੁਖਿ ਓਹੀ ਧਿਆਈਐ ਰੇ ॥੧॥
“Renounce your mind’s base intellect and comprehend that only by living within reality (Divine Writ) will you discover any satisfaction. Whatever the Master does, accept that as being beneficial. Whether in pain or pleasure, accept what transpires.”
-Guru Granth, 209.
By indulging in hypocrisy nothing can be altered. Reality or divine writ is unalterable. Man runs hither-thither trying to alter it forgetting that by accepting it for what it is he has better chances of thriving within it. Hollow bowing only raises one’s expectations that the more they perform such acts they more they will benefit. When reality hits home, their spectacular inability to realize their desires destroys them.
The Khalsa’s Bowing:
The Khalsa’s bowing is both externally and internally submissive. A Khalsa retains no insidious tricks within their mind through which it seeks to to either fool the world or their Maker. They bow in acceptance of the Guru Granth’s words and its emphasis on living within Hukam (reality). They are miles above the Manmukhs who,
ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਪਰਤੀਤਿ ਨ ਆਈਆ ਸਬਦਿ ਨ ਲਾਗੋ ਭਾਉ ॥
ਓਸ ਨੋ ਸੁਖੁ ਨ ਉਪਜੈ ਭਾਵੈ ਸਉ ਗੇੜਾ ਆਵਉ ਜਾਉ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਸਹਜਿ ਮਿਲੈ ਸਚੇ ਸਿਉ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਉ ॥੧॥
“Refusing to acknowledge the Divine truth they do not adhere to the Shabad (divine word). They receive no contentment irrespective of whether they come (to the place of truth as opposed to accepting the truth) a hundred times or more. Nanak, the Gurmukhs imbibe tranquility when they adhere wholeheartedly to the truth.”
-Guru Granth, 591.
When Madho Das bowed to Guru Gobind Singh and begged for initiation into the Khalsa, the Guru elucidated to him the difference between bowing hypocritically and bowing truthfully. “Both,” the Guru smilingly revealed, “bear a different fruit proving the original intent.” When Madho Das persisted, the Guru related to him:
ਤਨੁ ਮਨੁ ਧਨੁ ਸਭੁ ਸਉਪਿ ਗੁਰ ਕਉ ਹੁਕਮਿ ਮੰਨਿਐ ਪਾਈਐ ॥
“Dedicate your body, your mind and your achievements entirely to the Guru and obey the the Divine writ.”
-Guru Granth, 918.
This is the Khalsa’s mode of bowing, having dedicated its entire self to the Guru’s path.
Us:
How should we bow when we go to Gurudwaras? Out of personal desire and to alter reality? To beg for the mundane and trivial? Or out of a desire to submit to the Divine writ? Once we alter ourselves for the better, we can alter the world around us. Let us not be fools and run after every other individual who bows at the Gurudwara. Let us also try fathoming the intent-whether its hypocritical or pristine.