BHAANA
Bhana literally means: “to like” and Bhaana Mannana means: to accept the Will (of God)”. A Sikh has an obligation to accept the Bhaana of God without any grudge or rancour.
Every phenomenon in this universe has only one Cause i.e. the Will of God. One cannot claim to have faith in the Divine Order when one does not bow before the Bhaana of God.
Nothing, seemingly unpleasant, should make a Sikh despondent or angry. One should try to do one’s best and leave the rest to God. Sikh is not a fatalist. A Sikh has an obligation to submit to the Grace of God. To have faith in God and also to grudge over some unpleasant phenomenon is contradiction in terms.
However, it does not make Sikhism an ideology of fatalism. A Sikh is not a pessimistic. A Sikh must always make efforts, struggle and strive to the best of feasibility but the final Order is the Divine Will.
The Sikh concept of Charhdi Kala (living in high spirits) is also closely related to Bhaana. Struggle (effort), knit with faith in God, leads to achievement of every goal. The faith of a Sikh in the Grace and the Blessing of God is the nucleus of Sikh spiritual culture. In Sikh Scriptures Razaa too has been used as a synonym of Bhaana.
Also see: Charhdi Kala, Contenment.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)