To say anything of the Sikh Gurus taking any inspiration from Bhakti movement is fallacious Sikh Gurus included the writings of other saints in the Guru Granth Sahib implying that as taking inspiration from them is false From Parasaraprasna Kapur Singh Guru Nanak Dev University Press Amritsar Thus those who see in the origin and contents of the Sikh movement anything of this VaiSlJavism or the historical Bhakti movement of the Middle ages which was based on this VaiSDavism or cognate propositions show a complete lack of understanding ofthe real nature of Sikhism Beyond the fact that Sikhism is of historical proximity to this Bhakti movement of the Middle ages and that it somewhat partakes of the atmosphere and temper of VaiSDavist climate it has not much in common with the latter Among the principal features of this climate are its anti Brahmanical attitude its preference for vernaculars26 over Sanskrit its total surrender theory such as Lokacarya s marjara27 doctrine its stress on devotion through image worship rather than through knowledge and its own peculiar forms of ritualism such as caste marks It is easy to demonstrate that similarities of Sikhism with some of these features are not so intimate or fundamental as to suggest any direct or indirect borrowing