ONKAR, generally written down as Oankar in Sikh Scriptural writings, is derived from the Upanisadic word Oankara (om+kara) originally signifying pronouncing or rendering into writing the syllable Om. Known as synonym of Om it has been used in the Vedic literature and, in particular in its religio philosophical texts known

BHANA MANNANA: Bhana Mannana literally means to bow before the Will of God. Anything unpleasant should not make a Sikh despondent or angry. One should try to do one\'s best and leave the rest to God. Sikh is not a fatalist but a Sikh has an obligation not to question

PARAMARTHA, a combination of param, i.e. the highest or the supreme, and artha, i.e. meaning or objective or purpose, is, in literature, the title generally applied to a work of exposition of a scriptural text. Unliked which deals with the text in an elaborate and comprehensive way, the paramdrtha, in

BHAGAT- Bhagat has roots in the word Bhaj or Bhakt, which means divided (into self and the \'other\'; this \'other\' may be a god or the Almighty) or sacrificed (into pieces for some god or for the Almighty); hence, Bhagat is one who is devoted to some god or the

SANT, commonly translated as saint though not very exactly, for the English term, used in the adjectival sense `saintly` for a person of great holiness, virtue or benevolence, has a formal connotation in the Western culture, is a modified form of sat meaning lasting, real, wise and venerable. Sat

FIVE KHANDS or Panj Khands, lit. realms (panj == five, khand == region or realm), signifies in the Sikh tradition the five stages of spiritual progress leading man to the Ultimate Truth. The supporting text is a fragment from Guru Nanak`s Japu, stanzas 34 to 37. The Five Realms enumerated

SIKH. The word sikh goes back to Sanskrit sisya, meaning a learner or disciple. In Pali, sisya became sissa. The Pali word sekha (also sekkha) means a pupil or one under training in a religious doctrine (sikkha, siksa). The Punjabi form of the word was sikh. The term Sikh

GOD, a term used to denote any object, of worship or evocation, signifies the belief of most modern religions in the existence of a Supreme Being who is the source and support of the spatio temporal material world. Theologians remember Him by the name of God. The fundamental belief of

SUNN, a Punjabi form of the Sanskrit term sunya (Pali, sunna), is derived from the root svi which is connected with the root su; both these roots mean `to swell`, `to expand` or `to increase`. From the etymological standpoint the term sunya is often used in the sense of

GRANTHI, from the Sanskrit granthika (a relaier or narrator), is a person who reads the granih, Sanskrit grantha (composition, treatise, book, text). The terms are derived from the Sanskrit grath which means "to fasten, tie or string together, to compose (a literary work)." In Sikh usage, granih refers especially to

TIKA, derived from the root tik, a loan word from the aboriginal languages, meaning `to mark` or `to explain`, signifies commentary, exegesis or explanation, especially of a scriptural text. Originally meant to provide a simple paraphrase of the spiritual and mystical revelations, a tika may now embrace an exhaustive analysis

AKAL, lit. timeless, immortal, non temporal, is a term integral to Sikh tradition and philosophy. It is extensively used in the Dasam Granth hymns by Guru Gobind Singh, who titled one of his poetic compositions Akal Ustati, i.e. In Praise (ustati) of the Timeless One (akal). However, the concept of