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Ik Onkar, also spelledEk Onkar orIk Oankaar (Gurmukhi:ੴ orਇੱਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ;Punjabi pronunciation:[ɪkːoːəŋkaːɾᵊ]; alternate spellings likeIk Ong Kar andEk Ong Kar also exist[32]; literally, "oneGod",[2][3][4][5] hence interpreted as "There is only one God[6] or one Creator."[7]) is a phrase inSikhism that denotes the one supreme reality.[8] It is a central tenet ofSikh religious philosophy.[1]
Ik Onkar are the first words of theMul Mantar and also the opening words of the Sikh holy scriptureGuru Granth Sahib.[9] The first symbol "ik" is actually not a word but the Punjabi symbol for the number 1.[10][11]
Ik (ਇੱਕ) is interpreted as "one and only one, who cannot be compared or contrasted with any other",[12] the "unmanifest, Lord in power, the holy word, the primal manifestation of the Godhead by which and in which all live, move and have their being and by which all find a way back to Absolute God, the Supreme Reality."[13]
Ik Onkar has a distinct spelling in theGurmukhi script[14] and the phrase is found in many Sikh religious scriptures and inscribed in places of worship such asgurdwaras.[15][16][17] SomeSikh flags are decorated with the Ik Onkar glyph.[18]
Ik Onkar is also the opening phrase of theMul Mantar, present as opening phrase in theGuru Granth Sahib, and the first composition ofGuru Nanak and the final salok is byGuru Angad. Further, the Mul Mantar is also at the beginning of theJapji Sahib, followed by 38 hymns and a finalSalok byGuru Angad at the end of this composition.[19]
ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ ਜਪੁ।। ਆਦਿ ਸਚੁ ਜੁਗਾਦਿ ਸਚੁ ਹੈ ਭੀ ਸਚੁ।। ਨਾਨਕ ਹੋਸੀ ਭੀ ਸਚੁ।।
(Ik Oankaar Sati nāmu karatā purakhu nirabha'u niravairu akāla mūrati ajūnī saibha gura prasādi. Japu.. Ādi sacu jugādi sacu hai bhī sacu.. Nānaka hōsī bhī sacu...)
This Being is one, truth by name, creator, fearless, without hatred, of timeless form, unborn, self-existent, and known by the Guru's grace.[20]
Ik Onkar is the statement of oneness inSikhism, that is 'there is one God'.[21][22]
According toWendy Doniger, the phrase is a compound ofik ("one" in Punjabi) andonkar, canonically understood in Sikhism to refer to the "absolute monotheistic unity of God".[9] Etymologically, the wordonkar denotes the sacred sound "Om" or theabsolute in a number of Indian religions.[9] Nevertheless, Sikhs give it an entirely different meaning.[9][23][24] Pashaura Singh writes that "the meaning of Oankar in the Sikh tradition is quite different in certain respects from the various interpretations of this word in the Indian philosophical traditions",[23] and the Sikhs "rather view Oankar as pointing to the distinctively Sikh theological emphasis on the ineffable quality of God, who is described as 'the Person beyond time,' the Eternal One, or 'the One without form'."[9]Onkar is, according to Wazir Singh, a "variation of Om (Aum) of the ancient Indian scriptures (with a slight change in its orthography), implying the seed-force that evolves as the universe."[25]Guru Nanak wrote a poem entitled Oankar in which, states Doniger, he "attributed the origin and sense of speech to the Divinity, who is thus the Om-maker."[9]
Oankar ('One, whose expression emerges as the primal sound') createdBrahma.Oankar fashioned the consciousness. Fromoankar came mountains and ages.Oankar produced theVedas. By the grace ofoankar, people were saved through the divine word. By the grace ofoankar, they were liberated through the teachings of the Guru.
— Ramakali Dakkhani, Adi Granth 929–930, Translated by Pashaura Singh[26]
Pashaura Singh goes on to state,
"By beginning with 'One,' Guru Nanak emphasizes the singularity of the Divine. That is, the numeral '1' affirms that the Supreme Being is one without a second, the source as well as the goal of all that exists. That is quite evident from the following statement: 'My Master (Sahib) is the One. He is the One, brother, and He alone exists' (AG 350). In a particularly striking instance, Guru Arjan employs the cognates of the Punjabi wordikk ('One') five times in a single line of his Asa hymn to make an emphatic statement of oneness of the Supreme Being: 'By itself the One is just One, One and only One, and the One is the source of all creation.'[23]
He also considers the process ofreification of the concept ofIk Oankar as having begun with the writings ofGuru Nanak andGuru Arjan themselves,[27] with the numeral ੧ (one) as emphasising the unity ofAkal Purakh inmonotheistic terms.[27]
Other common terms for the one supreme reality alongsideIk Oankar, dating from the Gurus' time include the most commonly used term,[23]Akal Purakh, "Eternal One," in the sense ofNirankar, "the One without form," andWaheguru ("Wonderful Sovereign").[23]
In 2019,Air India launched a direct flight fromLondon toAmritsar with the phraseIk Onkar printed in golden colour with a red background, on the tail of aBoeing 787 Dreamliner. The plane was launched ahead of and in honour of the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak’s birth.[28]
TheGurmukhi symbol ੴ is registered under just threeTLDs[29][30][31] asverisign supports gurmukhi letters in these TLDs:[32]ੴ.com,ੴ.net andੴ.cc.
Oankar corresponds to the Sanskrit term Om.....Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh tradition, wrote a long composition entitled "Oankar", in which he attributed the origin and sense of speech to the Divinity, who is thus the "Om Maker"
'Oankar' is actually a cognate of "Om" and can carry the same mystical meaning
On the other hand, Nanak refers to God as Onkar, 'the expression of Om', that is, of the sacred syllable of the Hindus, a conception that actively continues as Ik Onkar, 'the one om expression'.
It is the diagram that emerges when the first two words of the Adi Granth-words attributed to Nanak-are written together in Punjabi script. The words are ek omkar- "1 Omkar" or simply "1 OM"- and they are almost always interpreted as meaning that God, who is signified by the mysterious syllable OM, is one.
the 'a,' 'u,' and 'm' of aum have also been explained as signifying the three principles of creation, sustenance and annihilation. ... aumkār in relation to existence implies plurality, ... but its substitute Ekonkar definitely implies singularity in spite of the seeming multiplicity of existence. ...
