Sikhism: Questions & Answers

Q. When and where did Sikhism come into being?

At the age of twenty-seven in 1496 C.E., Guru Nanak, who was born in Punjab, South Asia had an epiphany. During the process of revelation he realized that the divine light permeates the entire universe and is the common source of all human beings. As a messenger of God, he made it his life's mission to spread this revelation of universalism. For this purpose he undertook four long odysseys to various parts of the world on foot. Guru Nanak attracted large number of followers to whom he imparted a definitive revelation that forms a part of the corpus of the Sikh scripture on which Sikhism is based.

Q. Who is the present (religious leader) of the Sikhs?

Guru Nanak's nine successors (1539-1708) exegetised, developed and applied to concrete socio-political situations what was revealed to Guru Nanak by God and what he taught. The historical Sikh Gurus claim no more than that they can help human beings, through teaching to cultivate this religious intuition so as to awaken the divine light within. The last Sikh Guru proclaimed that, in all the Sikh Gurus it was the same Light and the identical Spirit that historically and successively manifested itself. Even though the mortal frames changed, the identity of the Spirit, the light remained intact. After tenth Guru, this Light was deposited in the Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth and the Spirit continues to operate in the historically permanent mystic body of committed Sikhs called the Khalsa, who follow this light.

Q. What does the institution of community kitchen (Guru Ka Langar) signify?

It signifies equality of all. Guru Ka Langar when translated means, a community kitchen run in the name of the Guru. In Sikhism, the institution of langar started with the founder, Guru Nanak himself. Community kitchens came into existence with the sangats (holy congregations) of disciples which sprang up at many places in his time.

Sikhs sat in a pangat (a row) without any distinction of caste or status to partake in a common meal prepared in the langar. Langar was entirely a community effort from the beginning. The food stuff required was contributed to by the members of the congregation and the food was prepared and served by members of the congregation as well. The Gurus themselves contributed to and participated in this effort.

Guru Amar Das, the third Nanak, established his open free kitchen that served food to visitors round the clock and the Guru made it obligatory for every visitor to have food in this langar before coming to his presence. The Emperor and the prince, the rich and the poor, the high caste and the low caste, all complied with this requirement. All the Gurus propagated this institution.

Thus, in the hands of the Gurus, langar became a powerful means of social reform; one that gave practical expression to the notion of equality.

Q. Why do Sikhs use music for worship?

Guru Nanak composed most of his religious verse to the settings of the Sikh classical music tradition. Successive Gurus followed his example, for they too considered divine worship through music the best means of attaining that state which results in communion with God. They were aware of the effect music has on one's mind.

Guru Arjan, the fifth Nanak, organized the poetic hymns in the Adi Granth, scriptural predecessor of Guru Granth, according to the 31 ragas to which they belonged. The same organizational scheme was used by Guru Gobind Singh when organizing the Guru Granth later on. There are a total of 5,694 hymns in the Guru Granth; 4,857 of which were contributed by six of the ten Gurus and the remaining 837 were the compositions of Sufi saints, Bhagats and Sikh devotees.

Q. Describe the background of a Gurudwara, the Sikh house of worship.

Guru Nanak laid the foundation for the first Sikh assembly in 1521. In the mornings and the evenings the followers of Guru Nanak formed a Sangat (congregation) and hymns were sung by the Guru and his disciple Mardana, in chorus with all present. The venue of such a congregation was known as Dharamsala (place or seat of religion). The second master, Guru Angad, developed and started the instruction of Gurmukhi script for children. This provided the educational component to the Dharamsala which later was to be called the Gurudwara. Guru Amardas, the third master, further added the institution of community kitchen (langar) to Dharamsala. The Fourth master, Guru Ram Das established a center at Amritsar, and the Fifth master, Guru Arjan built the Harmindar Sahib there later on. The term Gurudwara (a door to Guru) became common in everyday parlance to describe the place where the Adi Granth (scriptural predecessor of Guru Granth) was present and where the people congregated to read and reflect upon the scripture. Almost all the Gurus set up Gurudwaras wherever they went to bring the Sikhs together in congregation.

Gurudwara today is not only a place of worship, but also a community center. A community kitchen (langar) is always a part of a Gurdwara. The Gurudwara is also used for performing the birth, marriage and death ceremonies of Sikhs. The scripture is called Guru Granth Sahib and it contains the compositions of the first five Gurus, the Ninth Guru, as well as those of Bhagats and Sufis. Guru Granth Sahib is kept in a central place on a raised dais to signify that the revelation of God is sovereign.

Q. What is Sikh Rehat Maryada?

Rehat Maryada is the code of conduct that every Sikh must follow in their day to day life. It also outlines conduct during special ceremonies like birth, death and marriage. The original Rehat was verbally communicated by the tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh to the Five Beloved Ones in 1699. Following that event the rehat was primarily transmitted orally. During the eighteenth century some individuals wrote down what they understood of the rehat. None of these written versions, however, seem to have comprehensively captured the original verbal communication to the Five Beloved Ones.

After the Guru, one person cannot document the rehat as the Guru transferred his authority to the Guru Panth and the Guru Granth. So it is only the Panth, the collective of all committed Sikhs, who has the authority to draft the rehat in light of the teachings of the Guru Granth. Through out the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the Khalsa would assemble at the Akal Takht, or elsewhere when the Takht was inaccessible and make decisions for the Panth through consensus. The rehat during these years was never disputed and it remained an oral tradition, although disputes in the correct code of conduct started becoming prevalent. By the end of the 19th century the rehat and Sikh practice had deteriorated so much that the Sikh identity was pretty much lost. As with the Buddhists, the Sikhs had been engulfed into the larger Hindu fold. The Sikhs had also become complacent about their practices and identity.

In the later half of the 19th century, Sikhs realized their own plight and several reform movements started that sought to revive the original intent of the ten Sikh Masters. One of these movements was the Singh Sabha lehar. These movements also addressed the issue of the community not having a uniform rehat.

In 1925, after much debate and discussion, a rehat was drafted by scholars from several differing schools of Sikh thought. This draft of rehat was then sent to Sikhs all over the world. After eleven years of debate and discussion, a final version was agreed to in 1936. This version is what most mainstream Sikhs today accept as the Guru Panth's rehat.

Q. What is the role and status of women in the Sikh society?

In the late 1400's when Guru Nanak was spreading his message of equality, one faction of the society was in dire need of this equality, the women. At this time the position women held in the society was low and unenviable. The tyranny of caste had left undeniable marks on the Hindu women, not to mention the trauma caused by the repugnant custom of Sati where a woman was supposed to burn herself on her husband's funeral pyre. This was preferable to living in the society as a widow to many, for the society in those times held no sympathy for a woman whose husband was no longer alive.
The Muslim women fared no better. A Muslim man could marry four times, reducing the status of women to that of objects of sexual gratification. Strict purdah was imposed on women and their education and movements were heavily restricted.

In times like these, Guru Nanak proclaimed:
"So kyon manda akhiye jit janme rajan"
Why consider her inferior, the one who gives birth to kings.

All the Gurus made it a point to stress equality of women to men through practical measures. The third master, Guru Amar Das abolished Sati and female infanticide and staunchly advocated widow remarriage. When he appointed bishops for manjis (religious centers) all across South Asia and three of the manjis were headed by women. Over thirty percent of preachers appointed by the Guru were women.

All Gurus encouraged the participation of women in various religious ceremonies. Guru Gobind Singh ensured that the women received Khandey Kee Pahul, the most significant Sikh ceremony, on equal terms with men. Women participated in the singing of hymns, preaching in religious gatherings without any distinction. The Gurus always made it a point to repudiate the accepted notion of women being unworthy of performing religious ceremonies or being impure and temptation incarnate.

Guru Hargobind called women the conscience of man. Accounts of women having fought battles side by side with men exist in Sikh literature. The Gurus empowered women in every way possible and made them into scholars and soldiers just like the men. The Sikhs, later, inspired by the Gurus, invented the salwar-kamiz, a comfortable dress that enabled Sikh women to ride horses and fight against the oppressors of the time.

Q. Do Sikhs have any dietary restrictions?

The Sikh Rehat Maryada, the Sikh Code of Conduct, prohibits consumption of alcohol, tobacco and other intoxicants that are known to pollute the body. It also prohibits use of all sacrificial meat, often labeled as halal and kosher because Sikhs believe that one can't please God through rituals or sacrifices.

Q. What is the Order of the Khalsa?

The Order of the Khalsa is a society of committed Sikhs, who voluntarily agree to join it and are deemed fit to dedicate their lives for creating necessary conditions for the prevalence of the Sikh way of life culminating in a plural, open and tolerant world society and a world culture. The Sikh discipline of wearing uncut hair, and other articles of faith is a part of the discipline made mandatory for the knights of the Order of Khalsa.

Q. What is the Sikh initiation ceremony of Khandey Kee Pahul?

Khandey Kee Pahul ceremony initiates a willing Sikh into the Order of the Khalsa. It is called so because the Khanda (a double-edged sword) has a special significance for the Sikhs. It represents Guru Gobind Singh's aim to make his Khalsa sovereign over the temporal as well as the spiritual realm to continue Guru Nanak's mission, his aim to create saint-soldiers who were devoted to the service of the humankind.

The Pahul was meant to create fearlessness in the Sikhs. They were enjoined to carry the Kirpan, for purposes of the defense of others and for the uprooting of evil. This mission of the defense of the weak and the downtrodden gave an impetus to a spirit of service and sacrifice. The Khalsa Panth is under obligation to protect the weak against oppression. The Khalsa was intended to perpetuate the ideal of the godly warrior -- the saint-soldier -- which Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh had in mind. Here was a harmonious development of physical and spiritual personality within the Grihst Ashram (The state of an activist who leads the married life of a householder.) Here the best characteristics of past and present were fused together to create a human being for the future -- a Khalsa -- dedicated to the glory of God and the freedom and dignity of humankind.

On the Vaisakhi day, March 29, 1699, Guru Gobind Singh established the Order of the Khalsa. On that day he asked the gathered crowd if any among their numbers was willing to sacrifice his or her life for dharma five times. Those who answered his call were administered the Pahul and they became the first members of the Order. They were called the Five Beloved (Panj Piyaare) because they had endeared themselves to God by their selflessness and dedication. Guru Gobind Singh then asked the Beloved to accept him into the Order.

When the Pahul is administered, five Sikhs of any gender who themselves belong to the Order and are known to be of good and truthful conduct, are chosen to represent the Five Beloved. Khandey Kee Pahul is prepared by stirring pure cane sugar patashas into water with the Khanda while reciting the five banis by the Beloved.

The conduct of the ceremony is designed to remove prejudice of any sort based on religion, gender or status. In one part of the ceremony, all candidates for the Pahul drink out of the same iron bowl. Once accepted into the Order, they are to regard themselves as the daughters and sons of Guru Gobind Singh and Mata Sahib Kaur (his wife) and are to abstain from the four misdeeds: removing hair, eating halal meat, adultery and using tobacco. They are also to wear the five articles of faith, namely, Kesh(long hair), Kanga (Comb), Kachehra (Knickers), Kara (Iron wristband), and Kirpan (Sword).

Q. Does Sikhism assign any conditions or duties to the institution of organized religion?
If so, what are these conditions or duties?

Sikhism holds that it is the duty of an organized religion, not only to accept and uphold liberty of conscience to all, but defend actively the right to such liberty of those whose conscience moves them in a different direction. For instance, the ninth Master, Guru Tegh Bahadur unequivocally denounced Brahminism but sacrificed his life to defend the right of the Kashmiri Brahmins to practice their religion when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb wanted to convert them to Islam forcibly.

Sikhism was meant to be highly egalitarian in nature, rejecting any form of hierarchy: social or intellectual, to oppose the oppression inflicted upon the masses in the name of caste system. The institutions such as Langar and Khandey Kee Pahul are but small examples of the application of this principle of equality of all and upliftment of the downtrodden in social settings. Whereas the absence of a privileged priestly class upholds the belief that any individual can empower himself or herself enough by the guidance of the Guru and can be raised to the same level as the Guru as the same divine light permeates all.

All social theories and political organizations which result in the subjugation or suppression of the spiritual autonomy of the individual are unacceptable to Sikhism. This sense of revolt, inherent in the Sikh spirit, persistently strives to flower in influential non-conformity. Guru Gobind Singh made sure by commanding Sikhs to keep their hair unshorn, that not even for an instance could a Sikh think of conforming to the ideals of the society.