A celebration of faith

By: Jagmohan Singh
On the occasion of Baisakhi, I feel it is useful to provide information and review some facts relating to this momentous day in the Sikh religion, to satisfy curiosity and to bring an awareness and better understanding in society.
Religious Revolution
Culturally and religiously this day has been very popular for celebrations, get-togethers, fairs and religious congregations in the Sikh community, much before the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, chose it to establish ‘Khalsa’ in 1699 in Punjab.
The first of the 10 living Sikh gurus (1469-1708), Guru Nanak Dev, came out of the river Vein one day in 1499 and gave a message: ‘Na koi Hindu, na Musalmaan’—no one is a Hindu, no one is a Muslim.
In this message he planted the seeds of a social and religious revolution at a time when each faith claimed its franchise on God and when there was a very serious and deep-rooted hatred between religions and castes in society.
He practiced and preached this message of ‘the truth’—all humans are children of the same one father (one god), an eternal entity. His message was appreciated by many who became his followers and were called Sikhs—literally, disciples or learners. The Sikh faith (a set of beliefs and practices) has its roots in the above message. It offers a path of life towards universal brotherhood.
‘Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of humanity’ in Sikh religion or the Sikh way of life was nursed through a system of ‘sangat’ and ‘pangat’—congregations for bhajans and bhojan (prayers and food)—for the soul and body respectively, by the second, third, and fourth gurus. Everyone, irrespective of gender, religion, caste, was and is still welcome to sit together as equals.
During the life of the fourth guru, Ramdas, followers were required to use water from the same source (well) and bathe in the same pool to make them feel equal.
The fifth guru, Arjan Dev, compiled the hymns of the earlier four gurus and of other holy persons along with his own hymns into a Granth Sahib—the holy book, to which the 10th guru, Gobind Singh, added hymns of the ninth guru, Teg Bahadur, to complete the Aadi Granth Sahib.
This compilation is the present eternal guru of the Sikhs—the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
Guru Gobind Singh in 1708 ordered his followers to consider this their future guru in every respect (in preference to his own compilation, Dasam Granth). All these holy persons preached the message that a reflection of God may be seen in every human being.
Since such a concept of equality among humans was not liked by those with vested interests and the authorities, all Sikh gurus were harassed in various ways. The fifth and ninth gurus were arrested, tortured and martyred under the then Mughal rulers. No one deviated either from the path of ‘the truth’ or from their “right to be free to practice or preach their faith”.
The 5 Beloveds
The tenth guru, who was earlier named Guru Gobind Rai, chose Baisakhi day in 1699 to convene a special gathering of Sikhs at Kesgarh Sahib at Anandpur, Punjab.
He chose five persons—who came forward one by one—to fearlessly protect the truth, live their faith, and die for the cause. He baptized them (by giving them ‘amrit’) and called them panj pyare (five beloveds).
The following three observations about the five beloveds are noteworthy:
Four of them—Daya Ram, Dharam Chand, Mohakam Chand and Himmat Rai—represent four important human attributes—compassion, duty and responsibility, lesser attachment (to worldly materials) and courage. Through these a person acquires the status of master—Sahib—the first name of the fifth beloved, Sahib Chand.
The five came from Lahore, Delhi, Dwarka, Puri and Bidar, respectively, representing different parts of India at that time.
And all belonged to different castes—khatri, jaat, washman, water-carrier and barber, respectively.
Guru Gobind Rai then asked them collectively to give him the same ‘amrit’. He changed his name and called himself Gobind Singh and became perhaps the first guru to submit to his own disciples. He declared that the five beloveds have the power to dictate, even to him. As per reports sent to Delhi, 20,000 persons took ‘amrit’ on this day in 1699, at Anandpur Sahib.
The male and female members of the Khalsa Panth (the pure group/fellowship/organization), were asked to adopt Singh and Kaur as suffixes to their names, respectively.
Code of Conduct
They were given a code of conduct (reht), which included a uniform of five articles of faith—5Ks: kes, keski, kangha, karha, kirpaan, kachhera—together with a life of simran (meditation in the name of God) and well wishes for humanity. They were forbidden to indulge in the four keep-aways—4Hs: hukka, hajjam, haraam, halaal. Any five of this group, in the presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, could also represent the guru in person.
Sangat was now transformed into the Khalsa Panth, which the guru termed: “The army of the one eternal God.”
While the 5Ks became tokens of the guru and also a uniform for this army to fearlessly live an honest and truthful life and to always be ready to fight against tyranny and injustice and protect the helpless, they have since become the identity and pride of Sikhs. The 4Hs provide the yardsticks to maintain the desired quality of life by keeping away from each of the four practices.
Guru’s directions for the code of conduct (reht) are accompanied by his orders to his followers to live an exemplary disciplined life (rehni). The guru further ensured means to not only achieve this state of mind in life but also to continue to maintain oneself at this level, through his words: “One who lives as per exemplary discipline, is my master and I am his disciple.”
The Khalsa as a member of the Panth, consequently, is a ‘soldier’ not of any worldly agency but of God, for serving people and protecting their human rights, as their duty to serve humanity. Thus, Khalsa Panth is a fellowship of all those who not only worship one God and love his humanity without discrimination, but also of all those who promised or pledged to believe in and practice ‘The Truth’ at any cost. This fellowship was established to ensure and protect the faith, freedom, the weak, self-respect and dignity, and to fearlessly struggle and sacrifice one’s life for the cause, if necessary.
Because of the then prevailing vested interests, obstinacies, excesses and exploitation of the masses, Sikhs as members of the Khalsa Panth, struggled to secure human rights for the weak.
Legal Troubles
During most of the following 18th century, becoming a Singh (member of the Khalsa Panth) was against the law and prizes were awarded for the heads of Singhs. But they became the formal rulers of Punjab, following the lead provided by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who coordinated different units of the Panth (missals) in the then Punjab and took over Lahore 100 years later in 1799, becoming the first Sikh ruler in this part of India.
The reasons for the phenomenal growth and success of Sikhs were strong enough: Equal rights among human beings, honesty and humility, fearlessness for justice, service to mankind, protection to the poor—at the cost of their own lives—and above all, a very high character; provided a universal appeal of this new religion (way of life).
This is best confirmed, ironically, by the writings a Muslim historian Kazi Noor Mohammad, who had an extreme hatred for Sikhs and referred to them as ‘sugg’ (dog in Persian) instead of Singh, but wrote the following:
“In no case would they slay a coward, nor would they put an obstacle in the way of a fugitive. They do not plunder the wealth and ornaments of women, be she a well-to-do lady or a maid-servant. There is no adultery among these dogs nor are these mischievous people given to thieving. Whether a woman is young or old, they call her ‘buria’—‘mayee’ (old lady) and ask her to get out of the way. There is no thief at all among these dogs nor is there any house-breaker born among these miscreants. They do not make friends with adulterers.”
Historic Day
Baisakhi is therefore a historic day for Sikhs, which is a reminder of the invitation of Guru Gobind Singh extended to all believers in equality of humanity to join the army of the lord, to protect and propagate the cause of ‘Fatherhood of God and universal brotherhood of humanity’, in accordance with the Sikh way of life.
It must be recognized that all the 10 Sikh gurus worked towards this common cause. Guru Gobind Singh’s invitation for partaking ‘amrit’ (baptism) on this day is to be seen as a step to take a (voluntary) pledge or an oath to live one’s life in this way.
Maintaining the identity and exemplary life of high Sikh values and character will only amount to a meaningful celebration of Baisakhi and that alone will pay a meaningful tribute to the Sikh gurus and all the sacrifices they made to spread the message of peace and welfare for all humanity.
The writer is a professor at BITS Pilani, Zuarinagar campus