Guru Nanak — "Why do you call her inferior, when from her, kings are born?"
Why do you call her inferior, when from her, kings are born?
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More from Guru Nanak
"The True Guru is the Giver of peace and tranquility."
"The whole creation is His temple."
"God is the Doer, and He alone is the Creator. And sometimes, He creates really long queues."
"The nights are wasted sleeping, and the days are wasted eating; the human spends his life in vain."
"There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim, there is only one human race."
About Guru Nanak (1469-1539)
Founder of Sikhism and the first of the Ten Sikh Gurus, whose teachings of one universal God and rejection of caste shaped Punjab. Closely associated with Kabir (mystical poet whose verses appear in the Sikh Guru Granth Sahib). For an intellectual contrast, see Brahmanical orthodoxy, the Hindu caste-and-ritual establishment of his era — Sikhism was founded as a deliberate alternative to both Hindu ritual hierarchy and Islamic exclusivism — Nanak's universalism was a structural rejection of caste and priestly mediation.
Details
From the Guru Granth Sahib, challenging gender inequality.
Date: c. 15th-16th century
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Dismissing women as lesser beings is logically incoherent — the very rulers and great men societies exalt were carried, birthed, and raised by women. If women were truly inferior, how could they produce those deemed superior? This challenges the circular reasoning behind patriarchal hierarchies, demanding respect for women on the basis of their fundamental role in human dignity and continuity.
Relevance to Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak openly challenged caste discrimination, religious hypocrisy, and gender inequality — radical positions for a 15th-century Punjab holy man. He included women in congregational worship, composed hymns honoring them, and rejected the orthodox Hindu practice of excluding women from spiritual life. This quote directly reflects his lived advocacy for women's equal spiritual standing within the nascent Sikh community he founded.
The era
In 15th-16th century Punjab, women faced severe restrictions under both Hindu caste conventions and patriarchal tribal customs reinforced by Mughal-era social norms. Female infanticide, purdah, and exclusion from religious ceremonies were widespread. Guru Nanak's challenge was politically and spiritually subversive — publicly questioning the male-dominated structures of both Hindu and Islamic societies simultaneously, making this declaration genuinely dangerous and revolutionary.
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