Meaning- Akaal moorat means the “Timeless Image.” It is the timeless image of the apparent reality, which is timed and transient.
Difference- Distinguishing
between ultimate reality and apparent reality, the Guru states that the former
is a timeless image of the later. According to him, the ultimate reality is the
perpetual, immortal and indestructible aspect of the time-governed reality
perceptible to the senses. It is the immutable state of the apparent reality,
also called Maya, which is time-bound and has cycles of finite existence.
The word akaal is an adjective ordinarily meaning
‘immortal’, or ‘without death’. It is a quality of something, which is not
subject to wear and tear and which does not grow, die or change with the
passage of time. It also means timeless, i.e., eternal and not bound by the
limits of time. The word moorat stands for picture, portrait, image,
copy, aspect, state, status, spectrum, conceptual frame, mental reflection or
‘an imagined entity that inheres in ideas’ in the Platonic sense. For Guru
Nanak, however, moorat is not mere an image but a durable imprint of the
changing existence which is perceptible to the senses. It is not just a copy of
the perceptible reality but its all-inclusive alternate, from which the finite
and time-specific shapes of the apparent reality get generated.
Similarly, the Guru does not use the term akaal to
mean ‘immortal’ or ‘deathless’ in the ordinary sense of the term. It is not
just immortal like soul, ideas, stars, sky and many other long lasting things
in the universe, as some scholars try to interpret. The ultimate reality of
Guru Nanak's conception, on the other hand, is timeless in the sense that it is
both beyond the finite parameters of time as well as outside the domain of
time. In fact, time is the product of the ultimate reality and not vice
versa. It is indeed a difficult concept to understand without prolonged
effort of mind and that is what the Guru exhorts his disciples to do.
It is, therefore, not appropriate to interpret the
term moorat literally as image, picture or portrait, because an image
cannot be drawn without knowing the tangible features of the object. If it were
possible to draw it somehow, the attempt would surely lead to idol worship of
sorts, which the Guru strongly disapproved in his teachings.
The attribute akal moorat, therefore, stands
for the timeless facet of reality existing in reserve and tranquility mode. It
is the permanent side of the manifest reality which does not substantially
change but generates myriad time-bound shapes of endless attributes out of
itself. It is the durable obverse of the temporary and perceptible universe. It
is the timeless imprint of the timed reality amenable to cognition. It is the
permanent cast of which the tangible reality is just a phasing impression. As
noun, it stands for the ultimate reality itself, which exists beyond the
restraints of time and space because time and space fall in it.
Incidentally, kaal (time) in the Indian
philosophical tradition is considered as a destroyer, which wipes out
everything by its action. It is the annihilator of things, issues and
relations. It, however, does not affect the ultimate reality. The concept of
time and space were born with the appearance of the apparent reality (maya). The ultimate reality is the
mother of maya i.e., time, space and
shapes (appearances). The attribute akaal moorat, therefore, visualizes the ultimate
reality as the zipped image of the apparent reality, whose timeless existence
and potential dynamism are a source of the kaleidoscopic spectra of the
perceived reality.
The Guru’s description of the ultimate reality as akaal
moorat of the apparent reality places him in the category of the leading
philosophers of the world who exercised their minds on this issue. As pointed
out earlier in this work,[1]
one of the major concerns of philosophy has been to discover regularity and
eternity behind the irregular manifestations of the apparent reality. It always
looked forward to trace a single root of the varied appearances, which strike
the eye everywhere. It conceptualizes its existence as a single source, giving
rise to the myriad shapes of the phenomena. The philosophers tried to
conceptualize a single stable element underneath the perceptible layers of the
unstable reality, which they sought to discover. The Ionic thinkers described
it as an independently existing ‘ion’;
Plato pointed to the grand eternal “Idea”; much later Hegel referred to it as
the timeless ‘Giest’ and recently Karl Marx alluded to it as a
micro-dynamic form of the matter itself.
Whereas most of the other views have been rejected by
science, the Guru’s formulation singularly stands out the discoveries of modern
science. The reason is not too far to seek. Most of the other philosophers made
the mistake of specifying their conjectures concretely, which foreclosed all
options of their adaptability to the future updates of scientific knowledge.
Guru Nanak, however, acted wisely by keeping his options open. Displaying
scientific acumen he keept room for the inflow of validated knowledge from
science. He did not put forward his formulation about the ultimate reality in
specific terms like the ion, or the Idea or the Giest, which the science could modify or refute. He merely
described it as "truth" without giving a specific name and identified
it as an imperishable eternal image to be explored through mathematically precise methods. In his hands truth was a
real but remote conceptual existence whose reality needed to be approached
rationally. His scientific disposition restrained him from making categorical
commitments without valid substantiation and verification.
Guru Nanak realized infinity in the phenomena of
nature everywhere but he never put it in a finite frame. This rare display of
commonsense puts him ahead of the whole range of philosophers and men of science