Who is Greater - Guru or Nirankar(God)?

Question:  Who is greater – Guru or Nirankar (God)?

To be honest, I don't understand the significance of this question at all.

Why do we need to differentiate between the two? 

Why is it important to give more significance to one or the other?

I had written previously and shared numerous times in vichars the beautiful example of ‘Tea and the Cup’ given by Baba Gurbachan Singh ji - that when we want to have tea, we need a cup to drink it from.

Now, why do we need to place more importance on one over the other? 

While drinking tea – do we ask ourselves which one is more important? 

Or do we ask our guests “Would you like tea or a cup?” 

Or after serving them tea, do we ask “Which one do you think is better or more important to you – tea or the cup?”

No one ever asks such questions. 

In fact, these questions do not even come to our mind. 

Tea and the cup – both have their own roles. 

Tea provides us warmth and energy that we seek for. But it cannot be had or served without the cup or a container.

Similarly, Guru and Nirankar- both have their own important roles to play in our lives. 

Undoubtedly, they both are equally important – and there is no need to place one’s importance over the other.

Question: 

But didn’t Kabeer ji say that Guru is greater than God? 

There is a very popular doha – verse written by him:

           गुरु गोविन्द दोउ खड़े - काके लागूँ पाय 

          बलिहारी गुरु आपुने जिन गोविन्द दियो मिलाय 

          “Guru Govind dou khaday – kaa kay laagun paaye

           Balihari Guru apunay – jin Govind deeyo milaaye”

What is your opinion about it?
                                          - - - - - 

First of all, though, this verse is quite popular among people, the scholars doubt if it was actually written by Kabeer ji. There is no authentic proof that this verse was in fact written by him. But then again, this could be said about the writings of any other saint or any writer of the past.

But regardless of its authenticity, this verse does not say anything about one being greater than the other. 

The correct literal meaning of this verse should be:

“Guru and Nirankar – both are in front of me. To whom should I bow?

I am so very grateful to the Guru, who connected me with the Almighty”.

Obviously, the word ‘Balihaari’ could be in question here.

Balihaari is very commonly used in northern India to show one’s liking and gratefulness towards someone. 

There are numerous songs and dialogues in Hindi saying: “Topay Bali bali jaaun – O’ Sajnaa main topay balihaari etc. Mothers in Punjab can be often heard saying to their children “Balihaari jaavan – vaaray vaary jaavan”. 

It’s a phrase to show one’s appreciation, and gratitude towards someone.

Now if we see, Kabeer ji was showing his gratitude towards his Guru Ramanad ji - saying I am so grateful to you that you have connected me to the Almighty God.

A disciple is always grateful to the Guru and that’s the way it should be. 

But there is no need for a disciple to question if the knowledge is greater or the Guru – the provider of the knowledge. 

They both have very significant and vital roles in our lives and are equally important.

                                       ‘Rajan Sachdeva’