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Religious Studies 120
Page1
Module #5 Homework
Sikhism
Instructions:
There is only one part to this assignment. Read the assigned reading, then answer the
questions.
The point of this current homework is to understand the basics of Sikhism as presented by
David S. Noss.
Part One: Read David S. Noss A History of the World’s Religions: Chapter 8 Sikhism. Exact
page numbers are below. Then answer the questions.
Part One / David S. Noss – Sikhism: A Study in Syncretism
1. Read Sikhism in Noss pages 240-252 (photocopied handout), and answer the following
questions.
Although Sikhism is a syncretism, how is it a new religion and not merely a philosophical
merging of two religions (page 240)?
2. Read section One, the Life and Work of Nanak, The Historical Antecedent of Nanak
pages 240-242.
How did Kabir influence Nanak?
3. Read the Religious Awakening (pages 242-3).
Briefly describe Nanak’s religious awakening.
Religious Studies 120
Page2
4. Read section Two: Nanak’s Teaching (pages 244-246).
What is the single central concept of Nanak’s teaching (page 244 right column)?
This is the sovereignty of the one God, the Creator.
5. Read Distrust of Ritual (pages 245-246).
Why do Sikhs distrust ritual (page 245 right column)?
6. Read the Social Mission (pages 246).
What was Nanak’s criticism of the yogins, sadhus, sannyasins, other Hindus, and the
Muslims Mullahs?
7. What did Nanak say about social responsibility?
8. Read section three: the Political History of Sikhism (pages 247-251).
Read A Militant Succession (page 247-248).
How did Guru Har Govind change Sikhism (page 247-248)?
9. Read Govind Singh “The Lion” and Khalsa, the Order of Singhs (pages 248-250).
Religious Studies 120
Page3
Besides writing hymns about battle, what order did Govind Singh found and what are the
five K’s (pages 249-250)?
The five K’s are
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
10. Read Transition: The Granth as Guru (pages 250-251).
What did Guru Govind Singh say would be his successor?
11. Read Continuing Political Unrest (page 251).
Briefly explain why there has been continued political unrest in the Sikh community.
A History of the
WORLD’S RELIGIONS
TWELFTH EDITION
David S. Noss
Heidelberg College
Blake R. Grangaard
Heidelberg College
PEARSON / Prentice Hall
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data
Noss, David S.
A history of the world’s religions / David S. Noss. — 12th ed.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-614984-2 (casebound)
ISBN-10: 0-13-614984-7 (casebound)
l. Religions. I. Title.
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ISBN-13: 978-0-13-614984-2
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8 SIKHISM*
A Study in Syncretism
Facts in Brief
FOUNDER: Nanak, 1469-1538, the first Guru)
ADHERENTS IN 2006: 25 million
PREDECESSOR MOVEMENT: Kabirpanthis (Kabir,
Akali separatist 1440-1518)
DEITY: The Name, identified with Allah, Vishnu
(theistic), God
NOTABLE SUCCESSOR GURUS: Fifth, Arjan, compiler
of the Adi Granth
Sikhism is a comparatively young religion; its
founding dates only from the fifteenth century. It
emerged in northwest India, where for four centuries
Hindus and Muslims had lived side by side, sometimes
in open conflict, always in uneasy tension. The two
traditions strongly influenced each other; unconscious
borrowing had taken place despite fervent assertions of
distinctness. Sikhism openly drew upon the resources
of both communities and managed to develop a
character of its own.
Sikhism is not in any absolute sense new. Its basic
tenet—monotheism—coincides
with
Muslim
conviction, while the pronounced bhaktic character of
its devotional literature and many of the doctrines it
professes are in agreement with Hinduism. Indeed,
Sikhism is an outstanding example of a successful
interweaving of religious traditions (syncretism) and
one that has proven stable.
On the other hand, Sikhism is not simply two old
religions made one. It is, rather, a genuinely fresh start.
Its followers believe it to have been authenticated by a
new divine revelation to the founder, Nanak. It is
therefore felt by its adherents to be the opposite of an
intellectual reconstruction of faith arrived at after an
academic examination of the articles of older religions.
•This chapter on Sikhism is placed in this part of the book because it is a South Asian religion.
Readers following a chronological approach may wish to read it after reading about Islam in Part
4
Tenth, Govind, founder of the Khalsa (Singhs,
Kaurs)
ADHERENTS: (by degree of separatist zeal):
Akali Dal, revolutionary separatist
Khalsa Dai, separatist
Nanak-panthis (Sahajdhari), Khalsa turbans,
beards, and so on not required
SACRED LITERATURE: Adi Granth Granth of the Tenth
Guru
God—“the True Name”—appeared to Nanak and
charged him with a redemptive mission to a divided
world. It is thus evident that the religion of the Sikhs is
not to be confused with the rationalistic syncretisms
whose adherents have been engaged in a reworking of
philosophy rather than in a revival of religion in its
emotional and ethical completeness.
I. THE LIFE AND WORK OF
NANAK
The Historical Antecedents of Nanak
Before Nanak appeared on the historical scene, the
ground was prepared for him by men who had no
thought of founding a new religion but who saw a
need for cleansing and purifying what seemed to
them a decadent Hinduism. Their recurrent efforts at
reform were the indirect effects of two developments:
(l) the resurgence of the thousand-year-old Bhakti
movement in Hinduism, partly as a response to the
stimulus of Muslim Sufism, and (2) the severe and
militant monotheism of the Muslims.
The Muslims (known in India as Musulmans) had
reached India in the eighth century C.E. and in
CHAPTER 8 Sikhism: A Study in Syncretism
time wielded an enormous power. By the eleventh
century, they firmly dominated the whole of northwest
India, and then, with remorseless pressure, extended
their suzerainty over most of India. As early as the
twelfth century, a Hindu reformer-poet called Jaidev
used the phrase that was to be a key word of Sikhism
at a later date. He taught that the practice of religious
ceremonials and austerities was of little value
compared with “the pious repetition of God’s name.”
This is an Islamic teaching adapted to Hindu use.
Two centuries later, another reformer named
Ramananda established a Vaishnavite bhakti sect that
sought to purge itself of certain Hindu beliefs and
practices. He excited great discussion by “liberating”
241
himself and his disciples both from accepted Hindu
restrictions on social contacts between castes and from
prohibitions against meat-eating. But his chief claim to
fame today rests upon the fact that he had a follower
greater than himself, who in turn won the admiration
of the founder of Sikhism.
This disciple—Kabir* (1440—1518)—has given
his name to sects still existing in India, the
Kabirpanthis (those who follow the path of Kabir).
Kabir, reared by Muslims, had a hatred of idols, and,
like the Hindu poet Namdev a generation before him,
he scorned to believe that God can dwell in an image
of stone. He
*Words in color also appear in the glossary on p. 252.
242
PART 2 The Religions of South Asia
took no satisfaction in the external forms of religion—
rituals, scriptures, pilgrimages, asceticism, bathing in
the Ganges, and such—if these were unaccompanied
by inward sincerity or morality of life. As a
monotheist, he declared that the love of God was
sufficient to free anyone of any class or race from the
Law of Karma. In other words, the all-sufficient means
of bringing an end to reincarnation is the simple,
complete love of God that absorbs the soul into the
Absolute. He denied the special authority of the Hindu
Vedas, wrote in the vernacular rather than in Sanskrit,
attacked both Brahmin and Muslim ceremonialists for
their barren ritualism, and set up in place of their
standards of belief the person of the inspired spiritual
leader and teacher (the guru), apart from whom, he
held, the right life attitudes cannot be gained. Clearly,
a combination of Hindu and Muslim elements appears
in Kabir’s teaching.
Upon a similar foundation of ethical monotheism
Nanak was to rear his own doctrinal position.
Nanak’s Youth
As nearly as the facts can be ascertained, Nanak was
born in 1469 C.E. at the image of Talwandi, about
thirty miles from Lahore, in present-day Pakistan. His
parents were Hindus belonging to a mercantile caste
locally called Khatri (probably an offshoot of the
ancient Kshatriya caste), but they were-comparatively
low in the economic scale, his father being a village
accountant and farmer. His mother, a pious woman,
was very devoted to her husband and son. The town of
Talwandi, at the time of the birth of Nanak, was
governed by a petty noble named Rai Bular, who was
of Hindu stock but had been converted to the Muslim
faith. He maintained, however, a tolerant attitude
toward the adherents of the old faith and encouraged
attempts to reconcile the two creeds. Nanak was in due
time to excite his friendly interest.
The stories of Nanak’s youth are typical examples
of historical fact transmuted into wonder tales. It is said
that he was a precocious youth, a poet (bakta) by
nature, and so much given to meditation and religious
speculation as to be worthless in the capacity of
herdsman or storekeeper, two occupations chosen for
him by his solicitous parents. His father agreed with
some relief to his acceptance of a brother-in-law’s offer
of a government job in Sultanpur. Nanak set out for the
district capital. During business hours he worked, it is
claimed, hard and capably. Meanwhile, he married
and had two children, but he spent the evenings singing
hymns to his Creator. His friend, the minstrel Mardana,
a Muslim who was to have an important part to play in
his career, came from Talwandi to join him. Gradually
they became the center of a small group of seekers.
Religious Awakening
Eventually the inward religious excitement of Nanak
approached a crisis. There came a decisive experience,
which was described over one hundred years later in
terms of a vision of God.
One day after bathing in the river Nanak disappeared in the
forest, and was taken in a vision to God’s presence. He was
offered a cup of nectar, which he gratefully accepted. God
said to him, “l am with thee. I have made thee happy, and also
those who shall take thy name. Go and repeat Mine, and
cause others to do likewise. Abide uncontaminated by the
world. Practice the repetition of My name, charity, ablutions,
worship, and meditation. I have given thee this cup of nectar,
a pledge of My regard.”A1
Modern Sikh scholars are convinced that this story is a
reconstruction of the original experience by use of
symbols of spiritual events, that the cup of nectar was
in fact the thrilling revelation of God as True Name,
and that the words attributed to God perceptively
interpret a profound experience of being called to
prophecy. They find in Nanak’s own hymns a better
account.
I was a minstrel out of work;
The Lord gave me employment.
The Mighty One instructed me:
“Night and day, sing my praise!”
The Lord did summon this minstrel
To his High Court;
On me He bestowed the robe of honor
Of those who exalt Him.
On me He bestowed the Nectar in a Cup,
The Nectar of His True and Holy Name.B1
CHAPTER 8 Sikhism: A Study in Syncretism
243
The Poet Kabir
Brought up near Benares as the son of a poor Muslim weaver, Kabir (1440—1518) is revered as a saint by Hindus, Muslims, and
Sikhs, as well as by his own devotees, the Kabir-panthis. His songs in vernacular Hindi reject dogma, caste, asceticism,
pilgrimages, and ritual requirements generally, calling for interior devotion free from pride and egoism. (Courtesy of the Bodleian
Library, Oxford. MS Douce Or.a2, fol. 14)
Under the stress of his feelings (a true expression of
bhakti) Nanak is said to have then uttered the preamble
of the Japji, a composition that is silently repeated as
a morning devotional rite by every devout Sikh to this
day.
There is but one God whose name is True, the Creator, devoid
of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent, great and
bountiful.
The True One was in the beginning, the True One was in
the primal age.
The True one is, was, O Nanak, and the True One also
shall be.A2
After three days, Nanak emerged from the forest.
He remained silent for one day, and the next he uttered the
pregnant announcement, “There is no Hindu and no
Musalman. “A3
This was the opening statement of what was to
become a wide-ranging campaign of teaching that had
as its object the purification and reconciliation of
religious faiths.
Itinerant Campaigning
Setting out on an extended tour of north and west
India, which lengthened into years of wandering, he
took as his sole companion his friend, the minstrel
Mardana, who, while Nanak was singing his
evangelistic hymns, played an accompaniment upon a
small stringed instrument called a rebeck. The fartraveling pair visited the chief places of Hindu
pilgrimage, including Hardwar, Delhi, Benares, the
Temple of Jaganatha, and holy places in the Himalaya
Mountains. Undaunted by the rebuffs and hostility of
religious authorities, Nanak sang and preached in
marketplaces, open squares, and on street corners,
pausing only to
244
PART 2 The Religions of South Asia
make a few converts before proceeding on his way,
apparently in faith that God, the True Name, would
cause the seed he broadcast to spring up and bear fruit
of itself. He devised for his own wear a motley garb
that at sight proclaimed his attempt to combine the two
great faiths. In addition to the Hindu lower garment
(dhoti) and sandals
he put on a mango-colored jacket, over which he threw a
white safa or sheet. On his head he carried the hat of a
Musalman Qalander [mendicant], while he wore a necklace
[rosary] of bones, and imprinted a saffron mark on his
forehead in the style of the Hindus.A4
But it was not until they reached the Punjab that
they had any marked success. There groups of Sikhs
(literally, disciples) began to form.
According to an interesting but now discredited
legend, Nanak took Mardana with him late in life into
the heart of the Arab world. In the blue dress of Muslim
pilgrims, staff in hand, and carrying cups for their
ablutions and carpets for prayer, they are said
eventually to have reached Mecca after many months.
We are asked to believe
when the Guru arrived, weary and footsore, he went and sat
in the great mosque where pilgrims were engaged in their
devotions. His disregard of Moslem customs soon involved
him in difficulties. When he lay down to sleep at night he
turned his feet toward the Kaaba. An Arab priest kicked him
and said, “Who is this sleeping infidel? Why hast thou, O
sinner, turned thy feet towards God?” The Guru replied,
“Turn my feet in the direction in which God is not.” Upon this
the priest seized the Guru’s feet and dragged them in the
opposite direction.A5
To return to more reliable data, at Kartarpur,
Mardana fell ill and died. He had grown old and was
wearied out with wandering. Nanak, now sixty-nine
years old, did not long survive him. Knowing his end
was drawing near, and with his eye on the future
growth of his following of Sikhs, he made a decision
that was to have far-reaching consequences. He
appointed a disciple, Angad, to be his successor.
In October 1538, he lay down to die. The tradition
says that Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims gathered round
him, mourning together. The Muslims, so runs the tale
(which also is told of Kabir), said they would bury him
after his death; the Sikhs of Hindu extraction said they
would cremate him. When they referred the matter to
the Guru, he said, “Let the Hindus place flowers on my
right, and the Musalmans on my left. They whose
flowers are found fresh in the morning may have the
disposal of my body.” So saying, he drew the sheet
over his head and became still. When the sheet was
removed the next morning, “there was nothing found
beneath it. The flowers on both sides were in bloom.”A6
Thus, even in death, Nanak reconciled Hindu and
Muslim, so says the pious tale.
II. NANAK’S TEACHING
Basic Concepts
The doctrinal position of Nanak has a surprisingly
simple form, in spite of its blending of the insights of
two widely differing faiths. The consistency is due to
adherence to a single central concept—the sovereignty
of the one God, the Creator.
Nanak called his god the True Name because he
meant to avoid any delimiting term for him, like Allah,
Rama, Shiva, or Ganesha. He taught that the True
Name is manifest in manifold ways and in manifold
places and is known by manifold names, but he is
eternally one, the sovereign and omnipotent God, at
once transcendent and immanent, creator and
destroyer. If any name is to be used, let it be one like
Hari (the Kindly), which is a good description of his
character; for his mercy is inexhaustible, his love
greater than his undeviating justice. At the same time,
God inscrutably predestines all creatures and ordains
that the highest of the creatures, the human being, be
served by the lower creations. (This removed the
Hindu taboo against meat eating.) In these articles of
Nanak’s creed a Muslim element is evident.
On the other hand, Nanak subscribed to the Hindu
doctrine of maya, but he did not give maya the
connotation of pure illusion. By it he intended to say
CHAPTER 8 Sikhism: A Study in Syncretism
that material objects, even though they have reality as
expressions of the Creator’s eternal Truth, may build—
around those who live wholly, and with desire, in the
mundane world—a “wall of falsehood” that prevents
them from seeing the truly Real. God, he held, created
matter as a veil about himself that only spiritual minds,
free of desire, can penetrate. By its mystic power, maya
“maketh Truth dark and increaseth worldly attachment.”B2
Maya, the mythical Goddess,
Sprang from the One, and her womb brought forth
Three acceptable disciples of the One:
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Brahma, it is said, bodies forth the world,
Vishnu it is who sustains it;
Shiva the destroyer who absorbs,
He controls death and judgment.
God makes them to work as He wills,
He sees them ever, they see Him not:
That of all is the greatest wonder.B3
God, ultimately, not maya, is the true creator, by
an emission of a Primal Utterance (Word, Logos).
God Himself created the world and Himself gave names to
things.
He made Maya by His power.A7
245
only of God, endlessly repeat his name, and be
absorbed into Him; in such absorption alone lies the
bliss known to Hindus as Nirvana. For salvation is not
going to Paradise after a last judgment, but
absorption—an
individuality-extinguishing
absorption—in God, the True Name.
Like the Sûfi Muslims, Nanak emphasized that
God dwells within the world and is in the human heart.
Like the bhakti Hindus he stressed the primacy of
devotion. Sikhs call their path Nam- (Name-) Marg to
distinguish it from the Hindu Karma Marga. To act
always in the name and for the sake of God is better,
they say, than Karma Marga, which some Hindus tend
to follow for self-seeking motives instead of in the
spirit of the Bhagavad Gita, that is, without thinking of
rewards.
Distrust of Ritual
With deep distrust of ritual and ceremonial, Nanak
denounced Hindus and Muslims for going through the
forms of worship without really thinking about God. In
fact, he felt that ritual was a positive distraction; it
turned the current of people’s thoughts away from God
to mere forms and motions of worship. On every hand
he found illustrations of his thesis. In the first Muslim
religious service he attended after his call to be the
Guru of God, he is said to have laughed aloud at
something he noticed in the demeanor of the judge
(Qazi) leading a prayer. The Muslims could scarcely
wait till the service was over before pouncing on him
for an explanation.
The world is, then, immediately real, in the sense
of made manifest by maya to the senses, but ultimately
unreal, because only God is ultimately real. (Here we
have a conviction resembling the advaita of Shankara
but without the latter’s impersonal monism, for to
Nanak God is as personal as he was to Ramanuja. See
The Guru replied that immediately before prayer the Qazi had
again p. 120.) “The world is very transient, like a flash
unloosed a new-born filly. While he ostensibly performed
A8
of lightning” Nanak sang, and he did not shrink from
divine service, he remembered there was a well in the
the parallel thought that humanity is also transient.
enclosure, and his mind was filled with apprehension lest the
Retaining the Hindu doctrine of the transmigration of
filly should fall into it.A10
souls, together with its usual corollary the Law of
Karma, Nanak warned his hearers not to
Because
Qazi’s
mind had
prolong the round of their births
wandered, his ritual prayer was not
by living apart from God; that
accepted of God, Nanak said.
is, by choosing through
“Search
not
for
He felt a similar distrust
egoism (haumai) and
of
Hindu rites, going on
the True One afar off;
sensuous desire life in
pilgrimages,
asceticism of
the world (maya) in
He is in every heart,
the extreme type, and
preference to egoand is known by the Guru’s
idolatry of any sort.
abandoning absorption
A9
Instructions.”
–
Nanak
in God. An egocentric
life
accumulates
karma. Let them think
246
PART 2 The Religions of South Asia
In the last case, he thought not only did idols distract
one’s thoughts from God’s reality, but, as he declared
with all but Muslim fervor, God could not be contained
in an image of wood or stone. As for pilgrimages,
merely repeating the True Name is equal to bathing at
the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage. In regard to the
ascetic retreat from the world, “Why go searching for
God in the forest? I have found Him at home,” Nanak
cried.C1
Social Mission
Nanak believed that religion has a social mission to
perform, a mission to improve the lot of people of all
classes and societies. He criticized yogins, sadhus,
sannyasins, and other Hindus like them for running
away from the problems of life in a self-centered
escape from social responsibility. The Muslim mullahs
(clerics) also ignored the social principles of the
Qur’an, he charged, confining themselves to the duties
and rites of the mosques, and treating non-Muslims
with unkindly intolerance.
The Sikhs do not despise, nor despair of
improving, this world. Nor do they despise the body;
the mystery of creation and of life is within it; it has
nobility, and they do not have to be ashamed of it.
However, Nanak warned,
spouse and renounces all others, avoids quarrelsome
topics, is not arrogant, does not trample on others, and
forsakes evil company, associating instead only with
the holy.
Nanak’s creed and practice were distinctly
conciliatory and peaceful, and yet it was the singular
fate of the religion he established to be obliged by
persecution to change with the years into a vigorously
self-defensive faith, its adherents resorting to the
arbitrament of the sword. This is a fascinating story, to
which we now turn.
III. THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF
SIKHISM
Nine gurus, as official heads of the Sikh religion,
succeeded Nanak, and the body of believers grew.
Of the first four, Guru Amar Das (1552—1574) is
typical. He was noted for his humility and freedom
from pride of class, saying, “Let no one be proud of his
caste. . . . The world is all made out of one clay.”A12
The nonviolence of early Sikh religion was evident in
all he did. The Sikhs of his time lived by the rule: “If
anyone ill-treat you, bear it three times, and God
Himself will fight for you the fourth time.”D
Several novel features of Sikh communal life
were originated by Nanak and were continued through
the years because they cemented both high and low
This God-built house of the body,
together. Congregations (sangats) were set up,
Of which the soul is a tenant, has many doors.
primarily for worship, but also with the function of
The five temptations that flesh is the heir to
town meetings. In time, buildings for
B5
Make daily raids upon it.
worship (gurdwaras) were
built. These often served as
hostels for transients
The good person and
and
included
the good Sikh is pure
Nanak to Hindus:
community
in motive and in
kitchens
act, prefers the
(langars)
with
virtuous,
Religion consisteth not in a patched
free common
accepts others
coat, or in a Yogin’s staff, or in ashes smeared over
meals.
without
the body; Religion consisteth not in earrings worn,
Social
regard
to
service,
or a shaven head, or in the blowing of horns . . .
caste, craves
democracy,
the Guru’s
Religion consisteth not in wanderings to tombs or
and
word an all
places of cremation, or sitting in attitudes of
harmony
divine
contemplation. Religion consisteth not in wandering
were thus
knowledge
in foreign countries, or in bathing at places of
promoted.
as a creature
pilgrimage.” A11
craves food,
loves
one
CHAPTER 8
Sikhism: A Study in Syncretism
247
The Adi Granth Compiled
First, Arjan compiled the Adi Granth, the Sikh Bible.
Realizing that the devotional hymns used by the Sikhs
in their worship were in danger of being lost, he
brought them together into one collection. He was
himself a talented poet, and half of the collection
consisted of hymns of his own composition. The rest
were mostly by Nanak, with a number by the second,
third, and fourth gurus, and by Jaidev, Namdev, Kabir,
and others. This compilation was at once recognized as
notable by persons both within and outside the ranks
of the Sikh following. The Muslim Emperor Akbar, of
the Mughal dynasty, was told of it by his advisors, who
considered it a dangerous infidel work, but Akbar was
a tolerant monarch, and after hearing some readings
from the Granth declared he discovered no dangerous
ideas in it. He even paid Arjan a respectful visit and
thus indicated his general approval. But the liberalminded Akbar was succeeded by his more strictly
Islamic son Jahangir, who, on the charge of political
conspiracy, had Guru Arjan seized and tortured to
death.
A Militant Succession
Langar
Sikhs in various countries designed their buildings for worship (gurdwaras).
These included community kitchens and sometimes hostel facilities for
transients. (Partly because they were free from caste and dietary restrictions
Sikhs were drawn into occupations involving transience such as truck driving
and military life.) After worship a free meal (langar) is offered as a social
service. This Gurdwara is located in Delhi, India.
But because the Sikhs were increasing rapidly and
were being viewed by outsiders with suspicion, if not
hostility, the Fifth Guru, Guru Arjan (1581—1606),
began a transition to something more self-defensively
militant. This was due to a changed attitude on the part
of the Muslim authorities, and within Sikhism itself to
the vigor and leadership of the handsome Arjan. In
addition to completing the ambitious project of his
predecessors—the artificial lake of Amritsar and the
Har Mandir (Temple of God) on its island—Arjan did
two things of lasting significance.
Before he died, however, Arjan accomplished his
second deed of lasting significance: he left the
injunction to his son, Har Govind or Hargobind, to “sit
fully armed on his throne, and maintain an army to the
best of his ability.”C2
Guru Har Govind (1606—1645) obeyed the last
injunction of his father. At his installation he refused
to wear, as being too suggestive of pacifism, the
ordinary turban and necklace that had been passed
down from his predecessors. His intention was clearly
expressed: “My seli [necklace] shall be a swordbelt,
and my turban shall be adorned with a royal
aigrette.”A13 He lost no time in suiting his actions to
his words. He surrounded himself with an armed
bodyguard, built the first Sikh stronghold, and in due
time drew thousands of Sikhs eager for military
service. He was able to provide rations and clothing, as
well as weapons, out of the monies in the treasury of
the temple.
The Muslim world around him had been getting more
and more hostile as the Sikhs, provided now with a
248
PART 2 The Religions of South Asia
The Golden Temple at
Amritsar
On the tiny island in the lake at Amritsar the
temple housing the holy Granth, or Sikh
scriptures, receives pilgrims who come to
behold the sacred book under its jeweled
canopy and to join in the worship of God,
the True Name. When separatist militants
massed here in 1984, Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi sent troops onto the sacred
premises. In retaliation she was
assassinated by a Sikh body guard.
(Courtesy of the United Nations. UNOP/.)
capital city and a rich and beautiful temple, began to released him – to fight again. Peaceful but wary
develop a national feeling. The Sikhs were no longer, consolidation of Sikh strength marked the rule of the
from the Muslim point of view, an inconveniently next three gurus, the last of whom was imprisoned and
close-knit yet otherwise harmless sect; they were a executed by the Emperor Aurangzeb.
political and social reality that menaced the balance of
power in northwest India. So the Muslims began to
Govind Singh, “The Lion”
bestir themselves. And the Sikhs on their part found in
The unequal struggle broke out in renewed
themselves the qualities of fighting men.
military conflict in the time of the
Things did not go too well at
Tenth Guru, Govind Singh
first, however. Guru Har
(1675-1708). On his
Govind fought and was
accession this guru
imprisoned by the
Nanak
to
Muslims:
was called Govind
same
Jahangir
Rai, but he is
who had put his
better known
father
to
“Let compassion be thy mosque, Let faith be thy
as
Govind
death,
but
prayer mat, Let honest living be thy Koran, Let
Singh,
when, soon
modesty
be
the
rules
of
observance,
Let
piety
be
the
Govind
the
after that,
fasts
thou
keepest;
In
such
wise
strive
to
be
a
Lion
He
Jahangir
Muslim;
Right
conduct
the
Ka’ba;
Truth
the
Prophet,
found
the
died,
the
Good deeds thy prayer; Submission to the Lord’s
Sikhs
payment of
Will thy rosary; Nanak, if this thou do. the Lord will
a
fine
be thy Protector.” B4
CHAPTER 8
aroused for a major struggle. They were, he declared,
not animated by enmity to any person but only
fearlessly resolved to declare and defend the Truth.
Only if they had to would they seek a separate Sikh
state. He hoped the Muslims would not force the issue.
Meanwhile, he exhorted the Sikhs to stand firm in their
faith. While he awaited a possible clash of arms, he
fortified the spirits of his followers by writing hymns,
after the manner of the first gurus, but at times in a very
martial style. God was reinterpreted to bring out his
character of a militant Lord of Hosts in time of peril.
