Ik Onkar

Ik Onkar (Gurmukhi: , ਇੱਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ; Punjabi pronunciation: [ɪkː oːəŋkaːɾᵊ]) is the symbol that represents the one supreme reality[2] and is a central tenet of Sikh religious philosophy.[1] Ik Onkar has a prominent position at the head of the Mul Mantar and the opening words of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.[3] Ik (ਇੱਕ) means one and only one, who cannot be compared or contrasted with any other,[4] the "unmanifest, God in power, the holy word, the primal manifestation of Godhead by which and in which all live, move and have their being and by which all find a way back to Absolute God, the Supreme Reality."[5]

Ik Onkār,[1] a Sikh symbol (encoded as a single character in Unicode at U+0A74, )

It is a symbol of the unity of God in Sikhism, meaning God is One or One God,[6][7] It is found in the Gurmukhi script[8] and is found in all religious scriptures and places such as gurdwaras.[9][10][11]

In Mul Mantar

Mul Mantar written by Guru Har Rai, showing the Ik Onkar at top.

It is also the opening phrase of the Mul Mantar, present as opening phrase in the Guru Granth Sahib, and the first composition of Guru Nanak. Further, the Mul Mantar is also at the beginning of the Japji Sahib, followed by 38 hymns and a final Salok at the end of this composition.

Punjabi: ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ ਜਪੁ।। ਆਦਿ ਸਚੁ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਸਚੁ ਹੈ ਭੀ ਸਚੁ।। ਨਾਨਕ ਹੋਸੀ ਭੀ ਸਚੁ।।:
Simplified transliteration: Ik Oankaar Satnaam Kartaa Purakh Nirbhau Nirvair Akaal Moorat Ajoonee Saibhan Gur Prasaad
English: One universal Creator God, Truth and eternal is the name, Creative being, Without Fear, Without Enmity, Timeless and deathless Form, Not affected by the circle of life and death - unborn, Self-Existent, He can be realized by the grace of the true and eternal Guru who has the power to enlighten us.[12]

Discussion

Ik Onkar is the statement of oneness in Sikhism, that is 'there is one God'.[13][14]

The phrase is a compound of the numeral one (ik) and onkar, states Doniger, canonically understood in Sikhism to refer to "absolute monotheistic unity of God".[3] Ik Onkar has a prominent position at the head of the Mul Mantar and the opening words of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.[3]

While the Onkar of Sikhism is held by some non-Sikh scholars to be related to Om in Hinduism,[3] Sikhs do not believe that Ik Onkar is the same as Om,[3][15] "that the meaning of Oankar in the Sikh tradition is quite different in certain respects from the various interpretations of this word in the Indian philosophical traditions,"[15] and "rather view Oankar as pointing to the distinctively Sikh theological emphasis on the ineffable quality of God, who is described as "the Person beyond time," the Eternal One, or "the One without form.""[3] Onkar is, according Wazir Singh, a "variation of Om (Aum) of the ancient Indian scriptures (with a slight change in its orthography), implying the seed-force that evolves as the universe".[16] Guru Nanak wrote a poem entitled Oankar in which, states Doniger, he "attributed the origin and sense of speech to the Divinity, who is thus the Om-maker".[3]

Oankar ('One, whose expression emerges as Primal Sound') created Brahma. Oankar fashioned the consciousness. From Oankar came mountains and ages. Oankar produced the Vedas. By the grace of Oankar, people were saved through the divine word. By the grace of Oankar, they were liberated through the teachings of the Guru.

Ramakali Dakkhani, Adi Granth 929-930, Translated by Pashaura Singh[17]

Pashaura Singh goes on to state,

"By beginning with 'One,' Guru Nanak emphasizes the singularity of the Divine. That is, the numeral '1' affirms that the Supreme Being is one without a second, the source as well as the goal of all that exists. That is quite evident from the following statement: 'My Master (Sahib) is the One. He is the One, brother, and He alone exists' (AG 350). In a particularly striking instance, Guru Arjan employs the cognates of the Punjabi word ikk ('One') five time in a single line of his Asa hymn to make an emphatic statement of oneness of the Supreme Being: 'By itself the One is just One, One and only One, and the One is the source of all creation.'[15]

He also considers the process of reification of the concept of Ik Oankar as having begun with the writings of Guru Nanak and Guru Arjan themselves,[18] with the numeral ੧ (one) as emphasizing the unity of Akal Purakh in monotheistic terms.[18]

Other common terms for the one supreme reality alongside Ik Oankar, dating from the Gurus' time include the most commonly used term,[15] Akal Purakh, "Eternal One," in the sense of Nirankar, "the One without form," and Waheguru ("Wonderful Sovereign").[15]

Depictions

In 2019, Air India launched a direct flight from London to Amritsar with Ik Onkar printed in golden colour with a red background, on the tail of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The plane was launch ahead of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.[19]

See also

References

  1. Rose, David (2012). Sikhism photopack. Fu Ltd. p. 10. ISBN 1-85276-769-3.
  2. "Basic Articles". SGPC. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  3. Doniger, Wendy (1999). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. p. 500. ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
  4. "ਇੱਕ - meaning in English". Shabdkosh. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  5. "Ek-Omkār / Ik-Omkār / Ekankār It is from the Sanskrit word Omkar. The mystic name of God. It is used at the beginning of prayers and holy recitations, and also at the beginning of writing respectful salutations. The unmanifest, God in power, the holy word, the primal manifestation of Godhead by which and in which all live, move and have their being and by which all find a way back to Absolute God. God is the Supreme Reality. His other name is 'Sat Nām'. The Sikhs meditate on God as Ek-Omkar, and not in any other way like worship of idols “Rām Nām Jap Ek-Omkar". (GGS, p. 185) Ek Omkar is the Transcendent Lord of entire creation, who existed before the creation and who alone will survive the creation. (GGS, pp. 296 and 930, and Bhai Gurdas Var, 4011.)" — Ramesh Chander Dogra & Gobind Singh Mansukhani, Encyclopaedia of Sikh Religion and Culture, pp 138–139
  6. Real Sikhism: Meaning of word Ik Onkar.
  7. Mayled, John (2002). Sikhism. Heinemann. p. 16. ISBN 0-435-33627-4.
  8. David Rose, Gill Rose (2003). Sacred Texts photopack. Folens Limited. p. 12. ISBN 1-84303-443-3.
  9. 'Ek Onkar Meaning "God is one", these first two words in the Guru Granth Sahib are the ones most repeated by Sikhs. They are one of the cornerstones of Sikhism, and in their written form make up one of the most famous symbols of the Sikh religion.' — Signs and Symbols, London: Dorling Kindersley, 2019, p 185. ISBN 978 0 2413 8704 7
  10. "IK OANKAR (Punjabi: “God is One”), expression or invocation that opens the ADI GRANTH, the primary SCRIPTURE of SIKHISM. The expression is a compound of the numeral 1 and the letter that represents the sound “o” in Gurmukhi, the writing system developed by the Sikhs for their sacred literature. Referring to the Sikh understanding of the absolute monotheistic unity of God, the expression is the central symbol of Sikhism. — Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions, 2006, p 500. ISBN 978-1-59339-491-2
  11. "IK-OANKAR. A popular emblem used by Sikhs, a combination of the Gurmukhi figure 1 and the letter O, taken from the Adi Granth, where it is employed as the first part of various invocations. It represents the unity of God (“One Oankar” or One Being). The emblem is a common feature of Sikh logos and frequently appears on buildings, clothing, books, letterheads, and so on. “Oankar” is actually a cognate of “Om” and can carry the same mystical meaning. Many Sikhs, however, object to any suggestion that they are the same word. For them “Om” is Hindu whereas “Oankar” is Sikh." — W. H. McLeod, Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 2nd ed, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow, 2005, p 97.
  12. Arvind Mandair (2008), Shared Idioms, Sacred Symbols, and the Articulation of Identities in South Asia (Editor: Kelly Pemberton), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415958288, page 61
  13. Singh, Wazir (1969). Aspects of Guru Nanak's philosophy. Lahore Book Shop. p. 20. Retrieved 2015-09-17. the 'a,' 'u,' and 'm' of aum have also been explained as signifying the three principles of creation, sustenance and annihilation. ... aumkār in relation to existence implies plurality, ... but its substitute Ekonkar definitely implies singularity in spite of the seeming multiplicity of existence. ...
  14. Singh, Khushwant (2002). "The Sikhs". In Kitagawa, Joseph Mitsuo (ed.). The Religious Traditions of Asia: religion, history, and culture. London: RoutledgeCurzon. p. 114. ISBN 0-7007-1762-5.
  15. Pashaura Singh (2014), in The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199699308, page 227|quote="It should be however, be emphasized that the meaning of Oankar in the Sikh tradition is quite different in certain respects from the various interpretations of this word in the Indian philosophical traditions." (Pashaura Singh 2006: 247)
  16. Wazir Singh (1969), Guru Nanak's philosophy, Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 1, Issue 1, page 56
  17. Pashaura Singh (2014), in The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies (Editors: Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199699308, page 227
  18. Pashaura Singh (2000). The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and Authority. Oxford University Press. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-19-564894-2.
  19. "Air India Paints Sikh Symbol On Aircraft In Tribute To Guru Nanak". NDTV.com. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
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