Sikhs Through Others' Eyes

Arnold Joseph Tonybee (Historian1889-1975)



Toynbee in his "Sacred Writings of the Sikhs—A Unesco Publications explains, “Although the future of religion is bleak but yet one hope is there in the form of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji which teaches us all God’s message of love and gives direction to life."


Toynbee also writes about his one personal experience. He recalls one accident when he had met an American lady. She wanted to ask something from him for she knew that he had studied different cultures, traditions, religious and views. So she felt that probably only Toynbee could give her the answer. She asked Toynbee if he could tell her who is the most beautiful person in this World? Toynbee immediately replied, “A man with open beard and a complete Gursikh”. She was surprised to hear his answer. She thought a little and then again asked, “who is the most ugliest person to you” ? Toynbee replied, “Sikh who has cut his hair”. This time she became more surprised. These answers grew curiosity in her about Sikh religion and she decided to gain more knowledge about it.





Max Arthur Macauliffe (Historian 1841-1913)


In his book, "The Sikh Religion," Macauliffe writes:
Unlike the scriptures of other creeds, they do not contain love stories or accounts of wars waged for selfish considerations. They contain sublime truths, the study of which cannot but elevate the reader spiritually, morally, and socially. There is not the least tinge of sectarianism in them. They teach the highest and purest principle that serve to bind man to man and inspire the believer with an ambition to serve his fellow men, to sacrifice all and die for their sake."

"The Sikh religion differs as regards the authenticity of its dogmas from most other great theological systems. Many of the great teachers the world has known, have not left a line of their own composition, and we only know what they taught through tradition or second-hand information.... Guru Nanak was not a priest either by birth or education, but a man who soared to the loftiest heights of divine emotionalism, and exalted his mental vision to an ethical ideal beyond the concept of Hinduism or Mohammadanism"





Bertrand Russell (Philosopher, Mathematician 1872-1970)


"If some lucky men survive the onslaught of the third world war of atomic and hydrogen bombs, then the Sikh religion will be the only means of guiding them." When asked, isn’t this religion capable of guiding mankind before the third world war? He said, ‘Yes it has the capability, but the Sikhs haven’t brought out in the broad daylight the splendid doctrines of this religion, which has come into existence for the benefit of the entire mankind. This is their greatest sin and theSikhs cannot be freed of it."

Pearl S. Buck (Author, Noble Prize winner 1892-1973) while giving her comments on the English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib (From the foreword to the English translation of Guru Granth Sahib by Gopal Singh Dardi) wrote:

"I have studied the scriptures of the great religions, but I do not find elsewhere the same power of appeal to the heart and mind as I find here in these volumes. They are compact in spite of their length and are a revelation of the concept of God to the recognition and indeed the insistence upon the practical needs of the human body. There is something strangely modern about these scriptures and this puzzled me until I learned that they are in fact comparatively modern, compiled as late as the 16th century when explorers were beginning to discover the globe upon which we all live is a single entity divided only by arbitrary lines of our making. Perhaps this sense of unity is the source of power I find in these volumes. They speak to a person of any religion or of none. They speak for the human heart and the searching mind.
The hymns in Guru Granth are an expression of man’s loneliness, his aspirations, his longings, his cry to God and his hunger for communication with that being. It speaks to me of life and death; of time and eternity; of the temporal human body and its needs; of the mystic human soul and its longing to be fulfilled; of God and the indissoluble bond between them."

Swami Nitya Nand (who left his physical body at the age of 135 years) writes in his book Guru Gyan:

"I, in the company of my Guru Swami Brahma Nanda, while on a pilgrimage tour, reached Punjab. There we met Swami Satya Nanda, Udaasi (a Hindu ascetic) He expounded Guru Nanak’s philosophy and religiosity so eloquently that Swami Brahma Nanda experienced spiritual bliss. During the visit to the Golden temple in Amritsar his soul was so impressed that he became Guru’s devotee. After sojourn in Punjab we went to Hardwar. One day I saw tears in his eyes, though he was healthy. When asked about it he answered, "I have sifted sand all my life. The truth dwells in the house of Guru Nanak. I have to take another birth in that house then only I will attain Mukti (salvation). As he said that his spirit passed away.
I too contemplate incessantly on Wahéguru (wonderful God) as manifested by Guru Nanak. For many years I practiced Yoga Aasnas taught by Yogis, but the rapture and serenity I feel now was never attained before. "
Swami Nitya Nand used to practice Yoga in order to attain God. But he couldn’t attain him with yoga alone. He writes that at one place, when he meditated according to the principles of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, he was able to achieve the experience of God. He writes that as he remembered God as told in Gurbani, he was able to attain spiritual peace which he had not been able to experience through his yoga practice previously. So this Swami was not able to recommend yoga as a sole means to attain God and spiritual peace. He too becomes a follower of Guru Granth Sahib Ji which is the ultimate source of delight for him. It gives tranquility to his mind and soul.