Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
291
Ult imat ely, it is t he bride who suc c eeds in c reat ing proximit y t o t his dist ant
Groom. She is the one to c hart the way that will make the Transcendent accessible
to human experienc e. She addresses the ‘Wholly Other’ in most personal terms:
‘mere sundar gahir gambhir lal – O my handsome, unfathomable Beloved’: ‘my
Beloved is t he most delic ious inebriat ion’. T he Wholly Other is perceived so
int imat ely t hat t he bride announc es: ‘My loved Groom isn’t far at all’ (GG: 1197).
She praises him lavishly:
My Beloved is ut t erly glorious, brilliant ly c rimson,
Compassionate, beneficent, beloved, enticer of the hearts,
overflowing wit h rasa, like t he lala flower. (GG: 1331)
The bac kdrop to the this sc enario is nuptial union. The red c olour, the lala
flower, the entic ing of hearts, the latent joy – all point t o t his c onsummat ion. The
bride in this phenomenal world sees her transc endent al Groom direc t ly and
physic ally. In her eyes, He is like the lala flower. He is dyed deep in glorious
beaut y; He is mind-bedazzling. He is overflowing wit h rasa. The senses of sight
(c rimson, brilliant ), smell (like t he fragranc e of t he flower) and t aste (rasa – the
juice, the essence) all unite to convey to the reader the bride’s complete and
thoroughly sensuous unity with her divine Lover. The female is the model to be
emulat ed for spirit ual union.
The Guru’s expression of unity points in the direc tion of a more egalitarian and
open-ended soc ial struc ture than the ‘Lord’ and ‘Fat her’ symbolism dominant in
many religions. As Jewish and Christian feminist sc holars have analyzed, the Lord–
Fat her symbol basic ally upholds a hierarc hic al, pat riarc hal frame of reference from
which the female experience is excluded. In c ontrast, the bride symbol in Sikh
sc ript ure exalt s feminine love. Here, equalit y is t he basis of t he relat ionship. The
bride, simply by loving, not by fearing or remaining in awe, or being t ot ally
dependent, senses the proximity of her Infinite Groom and is then able to share
that feeling with her sisters and friends. Through her intense love, she is able to
establish a free and non-aut horit arian relat ionship wit h t he Divine. Her experience
h a s much to offer women who are struggling to free themselves from a Father–Lord
symbol that they find oppressive. Moreover, she does not need any mediators such
as priest or t heologians. The Sikh bridal symbol suggests a freedom from
pat riarc hal media; wit h no one standing in between, the bride direc tly and
passionately seeks to embrace the Wholly Other.
Bu t t he bridal symbol has t o be fully underst ood and not read simplist ic ally as
though women must be dependent on their husbands. Not at all. The Granthian
bride is dependent only on the Divine One, and men, women and the entire c osmos
share this dependence. The Sikh sc ripture message is not the subjugation of the
female to the male, for her Groom is beyond gender; rather, it is rising of the
individual spirit t owards the Absolute. T he ric h variet y of Grant hian images reveals
the complexity and dignity of the female experience, and loosens the grip of
masc uline symbols on the c ontemporary imagination. She is spirit ually refined. Her
emotions are strong. Her body is regarded positively. She is the model to be
emulated. The lingering effec t of suc h passages produc es an emotional strength
that helps to confront sexist attitudes and practices.