Publisher's Synopsis
The impulse behind the study in hand was the longing to find adequate answers to certain vital questions-What exactly does Sikhism stand for? Why was it originated and developed by Guru Nanak and his nine successors? How did it strike roots among people? What institutions and structures the Gurus evolved to highlight and escalate it? What type of praxis of man and society Gurus visualized? How was it different from contemporary religious systems-Islam, Hinduism, Sahajyana, Buddhism, Nathism, Bhakti system etc.? Was it a synthesis of different traits of different religions? Was it a syncretism of Hindu and Muslim cultures or was it an independent system? Did Sikhism purport to design to raise itself on premises different from the ones which formed the foundations of Hindu or other societies? Was it merely reformist movement aiming at certain targets within time and space or a distinct spirito-social process to urge the people to march towards integrated development both at micro and macro levels? What was the true nature of Supreme Reality as conceived by the Gurus? How is this related with the universe including man and how does it permeate, pervade and operate the whole universe? What type of society conforms to God's Will and how was its consummation possible? Which models of polity and social edifice were recommended by the Gurus? Is Sikhism a life-affirming dispensation or life-negating philosophy? Why was structural bonding of religion and politics effected and institutionalised? What is the place of Sikhism in the comity of religions and how it is relevant to challenges of the present-day world? Such questions and a lot more being vital and crucial for the understanding of the role of Gurus and their dispensation, have been fully taken cognizance of in the present study.
