Does the Gurbani assign a particular gender to God? In other words, according to the Gurbani, is God male or female or something else? What's His skin color, caste etc.? The Sikh philosophy does not attribute particular gender to God. Also He is said to be beyond castes, and so on. Therefore, it's only for the ease of writing and reading that a pronoun "he" for God (or human beings) is used herein, but surely God (and Soul, which is His "Ansh" or part-and-parcel) transcends all gender and limitations!

• suMn mMfl ieku jogI bYsy ]nwir n purKu khhu koaU kYsy ]iqRBvx joiq rhy ilv lweI] suir nr nwQ scy srxweI: Sunn mandal ik Yogi baise. Naar na purakh kahahu kou kaise. Tribhavan joti rahe liv laaee. Sur nar naath sache saranaaee: The Yogi, the Primal Lord, sits in the Realm of Absolute Stillness (state free of mind's wanderings or Phurne). (Since God) is neither male nor female; how can anyone describe Him? The three worlds center their attention on His Light. The godly beings and the Yogic masters seek the Sanctuary of this True Lord (sggs 685).
• n nr hY] n nwr hY: Na nar hai. Na naar hai: (God is) neither man nor woman (Guru Gobind Singh Jee, Akaal Ustat).
• rUp rMg Aru ryK ByK koaU kih n skiq ikh: Roop rang aru rekh bhekh kou kahi na saakat kih: (God) is without colour or form, and without any distinctive norm (Guru Gobind Singh Jee, Jaap Sahib).
• jh dyKw qh dIn dieAwlw ] Awie n jweI pRBu ikrpwlw ] jIAw AMdir jugiq smweI rihE inrwlmu rwieAw ]1] jgu iqs kI CwieAw ijsu bwpu n mwieAw ] nw iqsu BYx n Brwau kmwieAw ] nw iqsu Epiq Kpiq kul jwqI Ehu Ajrwvru min BwieAw ]2] qU Akwl purKu nwhI isir kwlw ] qU purKu AlyK AgMm inrwlw: Jah dekhaa tah deen diaalaa. Aai na jaaee prabh kirapaalaa. Jeeaa andar jugat samaaee rahio niraalam raaiaa ||1|| Jag tis kee shhaaiaa jis baap na maaiaa. Naa tis bhain na bharaaou kamaaiaa. Naa tis oupat khapat kul jaatee ohu ajaraavar mani bhaaiaa ||2|| Too akaal purakh naahee sir kaalaa. Too purakh alekh agam niraalaa: Wherever I look, I see the Lord, merciful to the meek. God is compassionate; He does not come or go (in reincarnation). He pervades all beings in His mysterious way; He is the Sovereign and remains detached. ||1|| The world is a reflection of Him; He has no father or mother. He has no sister or brother. There is no creation or destruction for Him; He has no ancestry or caste. The Ageless Lord is pleasing to my mind. ||2|| O "Akaal Purakh", death does not hover over Your head. You are the unseen inaccessible and detached Primal Lord (sggs 1038).

Being in the framework of time and space, the human body is limited. However, in the Gurbani, God is said to be Unlimited, Timeless, Infinite and Formless. And that which is Infinite and Formless has to be beyond the framework of time and space (Akaal Moorati). Thus, the Absolute Principle such as God cannot be confined to human characteristics or limitations.

• Awid inrMjnu pRBu inrMkwrw: Aad niranjan prabh nirankaaraa: The Primal, Immaculate God is formless (sggs 1075).
• prmysru pwrbRhm byAMqu: Paramesar paarabraham beant: The Transcendent and the Supreme Lord is infinite (sggs 894).
• Awie n jwvY myrw pRBu AibnwsI: My God does not take birth and does not die (sggs 562).

If God is not a male or a female (i.e., Viaktee) and does not possess human characteristics or limitations, then what is He? According to the Gurbani, God is Light (Joti-Svaroopa, Chaanan, Pragaas, Noor etc.). The theory of the physics indicates light to be composed of particles called photons, and has energy and momentum. In other words, God is not a person (Viaktee) but Energy (Shakti, Spirit, Absolute Power etc.), which pervades within and without.

• joiq srUpI qq AnUp: Joti saroopee tat anoop: He is the Embodiment of Light, the incomparable essence (sggs 344).
  
• sB mih joiq joiq hY soie ]iqs dY cwnix sB mih cwnxu hoie: Sabh mahi joti joti hai soi. Tis dai chaanan sabh mahi chaanan hoi: Amongst all is the Light-You are that Light. By this Illumination, that Light is radiant within all (sggs 13).
• isv skqI dyhI mih pwey: Siva saktee dehee mahi paaye: Both Spirit (Transcendent aspect) and matter (immanent aspect), are placed into the body (sggs 1056).
• krqw sBu ko qyrY joir: Karataa sabh ko terai jor: O Creator Lord, all are in Your Power (sggs 17).

The Gurbani indicates there is One God. The Gurbani also refers to This One God as our "Mother, Father, etc.". This implies God is as much female as He is male and as much male as He is female. How can this be reconciled? Perhaps this can be explained as follows. First, if we think we are the children of the same One God, then logically that makes God our both Mother and Father. Also, if God is the Substratum (Adhaar) of all, then naturally He becomes our best Friend, Brother, Beloved, Relative, etc. Second, this assignment of human characteristics to describe God (called “anthropomorphism”) is simply a means for God (a Spiritual Being) to communicate Truth about His Nature to mankind, a physical being. Therefore, the Gurbani (God's Word) perhaps uses this figurative language in which God is mentioned as "Mother, Father, etc." to make it possible for man (a physical being) to understand God (a Spiritual Being). Since man is a physical being, man is limited in his understanding of those things beyond the physical realm, and anthropomorphism helps man to understand who God is. Third, the Gurbani tells us that God has made us in His True Image ("Joti-Svaroopa"). This means He must have endowed us with both the motherly (female) and fatherly (male) qualities as well. Perhaps here the Gurbani reminds both the man and the woman to awaken these complementary powers within themselves. Generally, men are mostly intellectually centered and women are emotionally centered. The gap between these two centers can be closed and both centers can be harmonized by balancing motherly and fatherly qualities. In one's True Nature, one is perfectly in balance. But not in our false nature (Haume- or ego-consciousness).

• Awpy purKu Awpy hI nwrI: Aape purakh aape hee naaree: You Yourself are the male, and You Yourself are the female (sggs 1020).
• Awpy nru Awpy Puin nwrI Awpy swir Awp hI pwsw: Aapae nar aape fun naaree aape saar aap hee paasaa: He Himself is male, and He Himself is female; He Himself is the chessman, and He Himself is the board (sggs 1403).
• nwnk ipqw mwqw hY hir pRBu hm bwirk hir pRiqpwry: Nanak pitaa maataa hai har prabh ham baarik har pratipaarae: O Nanak, God is our father and mother. we are His children; the Lord cherishes us (sggs 882).
• qUM myrw ipqw qUMhY myrw mwqw ]qUM myrw bMDpu qUM myrw BRwqw ]qUM myrw rwKw sBnI QweI qw Bau kyhw kwVw jIau: Toon meraa pitaa toon hai meraa maataa. Toon meraa bandhap toon meraa bhraataa. Toon meraa raakhaa sabhanee thaaee taa bhaou kehaa kaarraa jeeou: (O Lord) You are my Father, and You are my Mother.
  You are my Relative, and You are my Brother. (Since) You are my Protector everywhere; no fear or anxiety can (overwhelm) me (sggs 103).
• Twkuru eyku sbweI nwir: Thakur ek sabaaee Naar: There is one Lord ("Akaal Purakh"), and all are His brides (sggs 933).

In nutshell, if we take the gist of the entire SGGS, including the Mool Mantra, the SGGS indicates God to be an Absolute Principle (i.e., Infinite, Timeless, Formless, etc.). In other words, since God is a Spiritual Being, the Gurbani indicates God does not possess physical human characteristics. He is indicated to be Light or Energy. Furthermore, Bhagat Nam Dev Jee in the SGGS hints us against performing worship with the notion of male or female. If we did, then we created ourselves a roadblock in the path of spiritual evolution. Because a worshipper becomes that which he worships — by visualizing God a form (male, female etc.), the devotee limits the Absolute who is Formless and Infinite to a form.

• mhw mweI kI pUjw krY ]nr sY nwir hoie AauqrY: Mahaa maaee kee poojaa karai. Nar sai naar hoi aoutarai: The man who worships Mahaa Maaee (i.e., Great Goddess), will be reincarnated as a woman (sggs 874).
• swcu kqyb bKwnY Alhu nwir purKu nhI koeI: Saach kateb bakhaanai alahu naar purakh nahee koee: Your holy scriptures say that Allah is True, and that He is neither male nor female (sggs 483).

The Gurbani indicates that as one ascends towards Higher Consciousness, one transcends all labels such as "male", "female", and so on. Because — from the standpoint of Higher Consciousness — there is no male or female (or duality)! It's just One mass of homogeneous Consciousness there. Distinctions, differences, divisions, and duality exist only so long the mind's conditioning persists (Haume or false ego-sense, attachments, self-limitation etc.). Baabaa Nanak points to this state of Higher Consciousness that we must realize inside by becoming the Gurmukh or Brahm-Giaanee. For before the rise of the phantom of the mind (Haume or false ego-sense), that's what we all were!

• purK mih nwir nwir mih purKw bUJhu bRhm igAwnI]Duin mih iDAwnu iDAwn mih jwinAw gurmuiK AkQ khwnI: Purakh mahi naar naar mahi purkhaa boojhau barahm giaanee...: The female is in the male, and the male is in the female. Understand this, O God-realized being! Meditation is in the Dhuni (of Naam, Shabad-Surti, Unstruck Transcendental Vibratory Sound-current, etc.), and His knowing (Realization, experience, etc.) is in such meditation. Become the Gurmukh, and speak this Unspoken Speech (sggs 879).
• nwir purKu nhI jwiq n jnmw nw ko duKu suKu pwiedw: Naar purakh nahee jaat na janmaa naa ko dukh sukh paaidaa: (Before the rise of material consciousness) neither there was female, nor male, nor caste, nor birth nor did any one suffer pain or pleasure (sggs 1035).
• mn qUM joiq srUpu hY Apxw mUlu pCwxu: Mann tu jot saroop hai apnaa mool pashaan: O my mind, you are That — the true image of the Divine Light — know your Reality (sggs 441).

— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org

Updated on Monday, October 6, 2008 11:58 AM (PST)

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