In its usage in the religious literature it generally stands for the self emancipated from contamination of allurements and temptations of the mundane existence. In this sense, it is used in the Rhagavadg~itd (V. 10) and at numerous places in the Sikh canon. In the latter, it has been coupled with the duck which holds its wings dry while swimming on water. In the mythology and spiritual history of India, it figures in the legend of Visnu from whose naval sprang the lotus that contained Brahma, thus giving Visnu the attributive name of Padmanabha, i.e. one who has lotus in his navel.
Visnu is also called Padmapam (having lotuslike hands) but this latter attributive name is used for Brahma and Buddha as well. LakshmT, Visnu`s consort, is called Kamala or Padma (one with a lotus in hand) and Kamalalaya because, according to one Hindu legend, she appeared at creation floating over water on the expanded petals of a lotus. Brahma is called Padmalaya because liewas seated on the lotus that came from Visnu`s navel. Like Brahma, Buddha is also delineated in figures as seated on a lotus.
Padmarekhd (the lotus line) is believed to be a lotus shaped figure of lines on the right hand or foot of a great man betokening eminence. Such a figure is said to have adorned a foot of Krsna. Guru Amar Das, the third spiritual preceptor of the Sikh faith, is also said to have had such a sign on his foot. Kama! also symbolizes the beauty of various organs of the body, so that we have such substantives as kamalnayan, aravindlochan (lotuseyed), mukhdr^nnd (the lotus mouth), charnakamal, charandrinnd (lotus feet), haslka mal (lotus hand), etc. Apart from Hinduism and Buddhism, in Jainism too the lotus has been employed as a sacred, auspicious symbol standing for purity and spirituality.
In the Indian spiritual tradition, a particular posture in meditation, commended also in Sikhism, is called padmdsan (the lotusposture), i.e. sitting crosslegged with the body slightly inclined forward in a meditative mood. In the mysticism of hal.h yoga, the six nerve centres sought to be penetrated by the aroused kundalim are also called padmas (lotuses). The typical representation of lotus in Indian art is somewhat stylized in the form of a standing cup, symbolizing the mind receptive to the elixir of illumination (gydn, jridna), as against the mind not receptive to that elixir which has been likened to a cup turned upside down in the direction of mdyd, i.e. illusion or ignorance.
In Sikh sacred literature its symbolic use is of frequent occurrence. So ubiquitous is tins use of the lotus symbol in this context that by a longestablished convention the metaphor lias come to signify the object symbolized, without overtly instituting a comparison or giving it the form of a simile or a metaphor. Says Guru Nanak, “When by the Master`s Word is the lotus opened its wanderings and desires cease” (GG, 224). The lotus here stands for the mind. Similarly, Guru Amar Das also affirms that “When by the Lord`s Word the lotus is illumined, the egoistic, foul thinking is cast out” (GG, 1334).
The symbol of lotus has also been employed to represent gurmukhs, untouched by worldly impurities. Guru Nanak says “God`s devotees, beloved of Him, remain uncontaminated even as a lotus in a pool remains untouched with water” (GG, 353). Similarly, Guru Ram Das says: “The devotee, even though a householder, remains ever detached, just as lotus in water” (GG, 1070). At some places, the human body, because of its beauty and tenderness, has also been compared to the lotus flower. Guru Amar Das says:
“The lotus of the body must one day wither away” (GG, 1051). The lotus at places has also been employed to symbolize the mankind in general. There it comes in association with the symbol of swan that is used for the pure and the liberated among the mankind. Guru Nanak says: “One is the lake, on which are found lotuses of unique beauty, ever blossoming, in fragrance. There swans pick up the orient pearls, sharing in the supreme bliss of the Lord` (GG, 352).
The lake here symbolizes the supreme Self, the lotuses, the creatures of the universe, and the swans, the liberated souls. At another place, all these symbols represent, in unison, the supreme Self (lake), mankind (the lotus) and the liberated (swan), signifying the essential oneness of all. Guru Nanak, invoking the supreme Self, says: “Thou art the lake and the swan, the lotus and the lotusbuds, and Thou bcholdest in joy Thy own beauty” (GG, 23).
The devout attachment of the self to the Lord has been symbolized in the gurbdm as the attachment of the humming bee {bhanvar} to the lotus (GG, 496). Bhai Gurdas in his Varan, XXIV. 23, paying homage to Guru Arjan`s sacrifice, compares the Guru in bliss of absorption with Lord to the humming bee lying at night inside the shelter of the closed lotus flower. The honey of the lotus flower has also been used symbolically to express the sweetness of the bliss of the mystic union of the self with the supreme Self.
At the close of the Araft, it is said, “My heart yearns for the sweet honey of Thy lotus feet fragrant in unquenchable thirst. Bestow on the chdtrik, Nanak, the water of Thy bounty and grant him endless abode in Thy Name” (GG, 663). The lotus thus symbolizes, in Indian religious poetry, the pure and the unsullied self, the liberated self, the mind receptive to illumination of knowledge, a right minded householder uncontaminated by worldly impurities and devoted to, and blissfully united with the supreme Spirit. This is the theme it illustrates in gurbdw.
References :
1. Snbadnrlh Sn Guru Cranth Sahib. Amrilsar, 1959
2. Gurclas, Bliai, Varan. Amrilsar, 1962
