Come to think of it, Guru Granth is all about exalting God ceaselessly, sÍwis sÍwis (with every breath),and with great yearning and relish;
drs ipAws myro mnu moihE hir pMK lgwie imlIjY ] (SGGS: 1269-17)
The thirst for the Lord's sight has bewitched my mind.
O Lord, I wish to take wings to fly and meet Theersik rsik hir ky gux gwau ] (SGGS:1150-8)
Sing thou, O man, God's praises with love and longing
Scriptures of all great religions which believe in God also glorify the Lord but not to the extent that our Gurus have done in their Bani. Almost all the shabads end up with praise of God through Naam Jaap which is also said to be the most effective way to attain Nirvana in the current era of Kali Yuga.
In a moment of frivolity someone at Langar remarked: "Oye yaar, Rab vee buttering pasandkarda hai (Listen, my friend, it is surprising that even God likes flattery." This idea had also crossed my mind, but I never shared it with anyone. The above remarks however prompt me to share my thoughts on the subject with the readers. That day the guest speaker had emphasized the significance of Vak of the day;
ieCw pUrku srb suKdwqw hir jw kY vis hY kwmDynw ]
so AYsw hir iDAweIAY myry jIAVy qw srb suK pwvih myry mnw ] (SGGS: 669-18)
The Lord is the fulfiller of our wishes and the giver of all comforts. The "wish-fulfilling cow" is in His power.
So, on such a Lord, meditate O my mind, so that thou shall obtain all the comforts.
To glorify (praise) God in order to fulfill your wishes and realize all types of Sukh -worldly comforts. This approach is no doubt stressed in Guru Granth all over, and in many ways, exhorting Naam Jaap for fulfilliment of wishes. For a repository of the merits accruing from glorifying God through Simran, a format for remembering and praising God, one has to read Sukhmani Sahib. Just over one hundred types of merits - 103 to be exact - are mentioned in the first two of 24 Ashtpadis of Sukhmani Sahib.
In glorifying God, it does appear from the following three verses that Bani endorses this view of extolling His virtues - praising - which is likely to be misunderstood.
ijs no bKsy isPiq swlwh ] nwnk pwiqswhI pwiqswu ] (SGGS: 5-15) Jap Ji Sahib
He, whom the Lord bestows the gift of praising and eulogizing Him Nanak says, is the king of kingsnwnku AwKY eyhu bIcwru ]isPqI gMFu pvY drbwir ]143-13] Asa di Var
Nanak says this after due deliberation : It is through His praise that the bond with His glory is establishedisPiq ijnw kau bKsIAY syeI poqydwr ]
kuMjI ijn kau idqIAw iqn@w imly BMfwr (SGGS:1239-11)
They, whom the Lord blesses with His praise, access the treasurer.
They are given the key, they alone obtain the treasure
The well known writer Khushwant Singh, in his weekly column 'This Above All' [The Tribune October 26, 2002] titled 'What is the strongest thing on earth', expresses similar views: "The third in the order of strength I would put is "chaaplusi" and "khushaamad" (flattery and sycophancy). To start with, we believe God is prone to flattery: the more you indulge him, the more he likes it. What are prayers except the most blatant forms of flattery?
Prayer - the best the strongest "weapon"
In response, we could quote from our scripture;
ijsu nwil joru n cleI Kly kIcY Ardwis [SGGS:994-14]
He, against whom power is of no avail, stand and ever supplicate in all humility!
Sometimes, what seems to be flattery could actually be an expression of humility. And humility, per se, as a trait without any selfish motive, is a virtue without a parallel, as evidenced from the following quote from the Guru Granth;
grIbI gdw hmwrI ] KMnw sgl rynu CwrI]
iesu AwgY ko n itkY vykwrI ] gur pUry eyh gl swrI ] [SGGS: 628-12]
Humility is my spiced mace - To be the dust of all men's feet is my two-edged armour.
These weapons no evil-doer can withstand - The perfect Guru has conveyed this to me
Praising God: The only other time outside the prayerful praises we make in our private prayer rooms, gurdwaras, or in our hearts, is when we have to interact with people, a friend or boss at the places of our employment. In the quote below, the word 'Darbar' of course means the divine court. However, it can also be applied to various professional and bureaucratic organizations. The act of praising, which bonds us with those praised, remains the common denominator.
isPqI gMFu pvY drbwir ] (SGGS:143-13) Asa di Var
It is through praise that the bond is established
Striking parallels in the spiritual and the temporal world: First, the fear factor. Praising (flattery) is resorted to out of fear of losing goodwill or friendship among friends, favors from politicians and those in high positions and fear of losing a job, a raise, a promotion, a good assignment or posting, a good evaluation, or even an opportunity for a junket in the employment circle. In the case of God we praise Him for fear of His retributive justice in failing to do our dharmic and karmic duties.
krmI Awpo AwpxI Awpy pCuqwxI ] AjrweIlu Prysqw iql pIVy GwxI ] [SGGS:315-4]
Over their respective deeds, they shall themselves regret
"Israel," the messenger of death, will crush them like sesame seeds in the oil press
If we are on God's side we need not fear any other. Imbibing His fear, all other fears fall away. This idea is repeatedly expressed in Bani. A quote;.
BY ric rhY su inrBau hoie ] [SGGS:223-19]
He who remains immersed in God's fear becomes fearless
Similarly, if we are able to please our boss, we need not fear any one else. Indeed, this was the first advice given to me by an old timer when I took up a job with a bureaucratic agency. I was told, 'If you can please your immediate boss, you need not worry about any other in the hierarchy.' Same idea is expressed in Guru Granth:
jw qUM swihbu qw Bau kyhw hau quDu ibnu iksu swlwhI ]
eyku qUM qw sBu ikCu hY mY quDu ibnu dUjw nwhI ] [SGGS:382-8]
When thou are my Lord then what fear is there and whom should I praise but Thee.
When I own Thee, then I own everything and there is none but Thee.
The Endearing Factor: Just as God instinctively (ibrdu) protects His Bhagats who have won His grace through constant remembrance of Him, so does a boss protect his favorite employee, who constantly shower him with praises and exhibit a deferential posture.
Bgiq vClu hir ibrdu hY hir lwj rKwieAw ] [SGGS:449-6]
To love His devotees is the inherent disposition of the Lord
The Enduring Factor: We have often observed that praising a person casually on his achievements goes a long way in keeping an enduring friendship, or make him more productive or efficient in his job. An Urdu poet has expressed this truth as:
Bashar ko chaaheeae kae milta rahae har kisi sae
Kabhi na kabhi yeh sahib salaamat kaam aa hee jaati hai
One should try to socialize with every one in his circle
Some time or the other this gift of exchanging 'Hellos' comes to good stead
This idea is expressed in our Bani to the effect that remembering God even for a moment pays dividends:
bwlmIku supcwro qirE biDk qry ibcwry ]
eyk inmK mn mwih ArwiDE gjpiq pwir auqwry ] [SGGS: 999-5]
Balmik, of the low caste, was saved and also was saved the poor hunts-man
The trapped elephant remembered God in his mind even for a moment and was saved.
We also find this idea of praising equated to wealth, and as a valuable asset, in Guru Granth, which cannot be stolen or exhausted, and which pays dividends in the long run:
ey mn iehu Dnu nwmu hY ijqu sdw sdw suKu hoie ]
qotw mUil n AwveI lwhw sd hI hoie ]
KwDY KricAY qoit n AwveI sdw sdw Ehu dyie ] (SGGS:555-14)
Oh my Self, Naam is the true wealth from which peace, ever and ever, springs
There is never a loss but profit ever.
By eating and spending, it does not decrease as the Lord, ever and ever, continues to give
Somewhat similar idea is implied in the Bible, as per quote from St. Luke;
"Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourself that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys . For where, your treasure is, there your heart will also be." - Luke 12:33-34
[Dear Reader -after selling your possessions, what is it that you take to heavens other than Naam?]
Striking differences in the spiritual and the temporal world: God does not shower Grace on people because they sing His praises. Nor does He come down upon them because they do not deify Him. Glorifying God does not mean that He wants to be flattered (praised) the way people flatter the rich, their bosses and the powerful - especially when they are in their employment or beholden to them for some precious help - in order to induce them to shower gifts on them.
In the case of God it is recalling His omnipotence. There is a difference in praising people and praising God in that what is attributed to people is generally not true. They may not deserve it. It is a make believe praise for achieving some personal objective. Whereas God is praised for His being the creator and omnipotent in giving us the gift of life and His creation.
scI qyrI isPiq scI swlwh ] scI qyrI kudriq scy pwiqswh ]
nwnk scu iDAwiein scu ]4 (SGGS: 463-8 Asa di Var)
True is Thy praise true Thine laudation
True is Thy Creation true are Thou
Nanak says true are those who meditate on Thee.vfI vifAweI jw vfw nwau ]
vfI vifAweI jw scu inAwau ] (SGGS: 863-10 Asa di Var)
Great is God's glory, as great is His Name
Great is His glory, as true is His Justice
He is praised because He is Sat (eternal) where as others will perish.dunIAw n swlwih jo mir vM\sI ] lokw n swlwih jo mir Kwku QIeI ] 1 ]
vwhu myry swihbw vwhu ] gurmuiK sdw slwhIAY scw vyprvwhu ] (SGGS:755-3)
Praise not the world which shall pass away
Praise not the people who shall die and become dust
Hail unto Thee, my Lord, hail.
By Guru's guidance ever praise the Lord who is True
He is praised because in doing so we will be transformed in His image:
Dwqu imlY Puin Dwqu kau isPqI isPiq smwie ] (SGGS:18-11)
As a metal merges in metal, so does an eulogizer gets absorbed in the praise-worthy Lord.
Glorifying God through Naam Jaap, Kirtan and other forms of worships and pujas are not for pleasing or propitiating God, but for our own spiritual progress. Recitation of His divine attributes enable us to dwell on the elevating ideals, approximate more and more to the divinity that is implicit in our nature. By constant thought an ideal gets imprinted in our heart. When we fix our thoughts all the time on the evil that others do, our mind gets polluted by the evil. When, on the contrary, we fix our mind on the virtues and well-being of others, our mind is cleansed of wrong and entertains only good thoughts. No evil thought can penetrate the mind of a person wholly given to love and compassion. If we immerse our mind in good thoughts, the world will be good.
On the other hand, if we soak our mind in bad thoughts, the world will be bad for us. The thought we indulge in shapes our nature, they affect not only others but us too. Thought may be momentary one, it may be a trivial one, yet its effect on the mind cannot be avoided. We become what we contemplate. It is because the ancient sages knew this important truth that they declared, "He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman." The only way to become Brahman is to ever be in thought of the Brahman.
Sage Valmiki who was a highwayman with the name Rathnaakra, while chanting the name of Rama and meditating on his form, experienced and acquired the effulgence of Rama. Similarly, the child Prahlada, by constantly chanting the name of Narayana reflected in his face the effulgence of Narayana. It is said that the great scientist Darwin, as a student, by constantly admiring and wishing to be like his teacher, acquired the traits of his teacher.
Guru Granth is replete with examples on this topic:
jY isau rwqw qYso hovY ] (SGGS:411-14)
Man becomes like Him with whom he is imbued.
Conclusion
For the purposes of this subject, I expect the readers to affirm that God does exist, otherwise the question of glorifying (Him) vs groveling (Him) would not have arisen. Next we must define who God is? He is universally known to be The First Cause and the Creator. As our Maker and Creator, God is literally our Parent and we are His offspring. But for Him, we will not be enjoying this life experience. Our very capacity to glorify or grovel comes from our existence, being, on this planet:
jh Awpn Awpu Awip pqIAwrw ] qh kaunu kQY kaunu sunnYhwrw ] (SGGS: 291-17)
When the Lord was all by Himself and self satisfied
Who was then the utterer and who the listener?
Notwithstanding my own misgivings on the subject, the 'Oye Yaar' remarks overheard during the langar session and the comments of Khushwant Singh, it is blasphemous to equate praising God and His created beings - who otherwise would have had no Vajood of their own - on the same level. Glorifying God is Holy - and not an act of groveling.