‘Mool Mantra’

Sikh mantra; the first hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib. The ‘Mool Mantra’ sums up Sikh beliefs about God, and is said to be Guru Nanak's first teaching. Translated from the Gurmukhi script, it says, ‘There is only one god. His name is truth. Present in all beings, creator of everything, he is without fear or hate. He is timeless, beyond birth and death. Self-existent, he is known by the Guru's grace’.

The nine statements of the ‘Mool Mantra’ are:

Ik Onkar ‘There is only one God’: Sikh statement that God is one (monotheism). It is formed from two letters in Gurmukhi script, and is often used as a symbol.

Sat Nam ‘His name is Truth’: Sikh name for God. The name itself is a holy formula, or mantra, that contains everything about God. Sikhs believe that chanting or meditating on God's name will enable the worshipper to get closer to God, and eventually to reach a state of pure understanding, peace, and salvation.

Karta Purakh ‘He is the creator of everything’: Sikhs believe that God is the creator and ‘mover’ of everything; nothing happens without God's will. Sikh attitudes to the sanctity of the God-given environment and the human body are shaped by this belief.

Nir Bhau ‘He is without fear’: Sikhs believe that God has no fear because he is in control of the world, and nothing exists outside his domain to threaten him.

Nir Vair ‘He is without hate’: Sikhs believe that God cares equally for everything he created. Thus everyone is forgiven for mistakes if they are sincerely sorry, as God is goodness and mercy.

Akal Murat ‘He is timeless’: Sikhs believe that God is immortal, that he has always existed and always will; he has no limits and can see all events. As God is everywhere (omnipresent), he has no need of movement, he just ‘is’.

Ajuni ‘He is beyond life and death’.

Saibhang ‘Self-existent’: Sikhs believe that God is not in relation to another; he exists self-sufficiently in relation to himself.

Gur Prashad ‘He is known by the Guru's grace’.