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THE DOCTRINE OF LIBERATION IN INDIAN RELIGIONS
In Sikhism nāmsimran is the loving remembrance of God's true name (satnām) as instructed by the true Guru (satguru). The Guru states that nothing is eternal except the name of God. In the name of God is the eternal joy. It is the key to one's deliverance and the way. All types of knowledge, austerity and powers are included in the constant remembrance of God's name. The Ādi Granth declares that “Mercy, peace, riches, nine treasures, wisdom and all miraculous powers, knowledge, austerity and yoga are all in the remembrance of the Lord's name.”23
The extreme importance of nam is recognized with the blessing of guru and guru is called the ship to cross the ocean of samsāra. The true name (satnām) when given by a true guru and fully practised with spiritual discipline reveals the light of God.
"In the Name I reside, the Name resides in the mind; without the guru, darkness prevails, without His word there is no illumination; through the guru's Wisdom His Light is revealed.”24
Guru kā sabad and nāmjapnä are both fundamental factors of the pathway to liberation. Both are interconnected and paye the way for God-realization. A man may perform many types of rituals and ceremonies, read many sacred books, and practise noble virtues such as charity, piety and austerity, but all these are inferior to nāmjapnā, muttering God's name.
"All thy meditation, austerity, knowledge, meditations, The discourse on the six śästras and the smritis, The discipline of yoga, the way of works, Renunciation and wandring about in the woods, And the kinds of efforts done, And deeds of charity and piety and oblation to the sacred fire, And cutting up of the body and offering each bit as a sacrifice, And keeping of fasts and other deeds of merit. These all equal not meditation on God's name, Nānak, through the Guru, dwell thou then on the Lord's Name
for once."25 Guru Nanak believes that of all the religions, meditation on God's name is the noblest one, and through constant meditation on God's name one is able to purify one's heart. Of all the works or
23. Ā di Granth, p. 295 Tr. by Gopal Singh, p. 288. 24. Ibil., vol. I, p. 53. 25. Ibid., p. 265. Tr. by Gopal Singh, p. 256.
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