Sikhism_ Religion and Theology

Sikhism: Religion and Theology

Introduction

Sikhism is a practical religion which does have merely words or any

certain set of beliefs. This religion does not involve visiting shrines

and tombs or following Yogis. This religion believesthat a life should

be lived in some patterns.it’s main asset is its simplicity. It does not

have any kind of supernaturalism or mythology where it keeps its feet

up. It does not have any concepts of devils, angels or heavenly spirits

(Sikhism, n.d., Para 1).

syncretistic religion that can be related to Bhakti movement within

Hinduism. They associate Sikhism with Hindu religion. But many

Sikhs disagree on this point; they believe that Sikhism is direct

revelation from God and does not originate from any religion like

Hinduism or Islam (Robinson, 2006, Para 2).

Marriage and Family: Marriage is sacred and it’s a bond not only

between the man and woman but also in the whole families. Normally

Sikhs have arranges marriages where the partners are chosen by the

parents for their children which is based on mutual interests and

similarities in culture. Divorce is against the lessons of the guru (Sikh

family life, 2007, Para 7).

During the wedding ceremony, the couple sits before the Guru ranth

sahib where the Granthi reads certain wedding hyms from the holy

book. The couple takes round of the it slowly and friends and family

shower their blessings by throwing flowers on them. The bride wears

red wedding costume that represents health and wealth and after

ceremony prashad, sweets are distributed (Sikh family life, 2007, Para

8 & 9).

expected to achieve same as boys (Sikh family life, 2007, Para 1-3).

Getting old and death: Older people of this community get lots of

respect. When athere is a death in a Sikh family, they are cremated

wearing the five Ks. They believe in incarnation and union with God

Foundation of Sikhism

Sikhism is the youngest religion which is just five hundred years old

(Introduction to Sikhism, 2009, Para 1). Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji was

the person who satrted this religion. He got the vision to preach the

way to God (Robinson, 2006, Para 3). At this time India was being

segrated on the basis of castes, religious factions and sectarianism. He

respected all religions (Introduction to Sikhism, 2009, Para 1).

He preached, “There is no Hindu and Muslim” which became one of

the pillars of Sikhism (Robinson, 2006, Para 3). Guru Nank and his

2006, Para 4).

Philosophy and Teachings

The word Sikh means a diciple. A true Sikh is not attached to wordly

things but he must do his duty towards his family and community.

conditions (Sikhism, Main Principles, n.d., Para 1):

Salvation: it is also called Mukti. According to Guru, “The man of

God rejects salvation. He just wants love. The happiness lies only in

merging in Divine Spirit. A man can have Mukti only when he

medidates on God (Sikhism, Main Principles, n.d., Para 3).

Khalsa: The Khalsa is about worshiping one God and meditating daily

He must donate one-tenth (daswand) of his income for religious

purposes. He must practice arms and should be ready o protect the

weak (Sikhism, Duties of the Khalsa, n.d., Para 3).

his family and live away from it. The Gurus conveyed that married

life is the best mode of life. Escaping from the realities of life is a

saintly act (Sikhism, Main Principles, n.d., Para 12).

The 5K’s of Sikh

Sikh’s who have done Amrit Cermony or public commitment to the

faith, are called Khalsa. They have accepted 5 symbols. These

symbols are called 5 K’s. They not only prove the Sikh identity, but

also have spiritual meanings (The 5 K’s, n.d., Para 1). They are

powerful symbols of faith. Most Sikhs follow the traditions of Khalsa

(The 5 K’s, n.d., Para 1).

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, gathered together the first

members of Khalsa on Baisakhi in 1699 and gave them the five items

Truth & freedom from every other entanglement (The 5 K’s,

n.d., Para 2).

righteously defend the fine line of the Truth (The 5 K’s, n.d.,

Meaning of these 5 K’s

Kara

It is a bangle, which is generally made of iron or steel and it is worn

on the right wrist. The steel represents strength and the circular shape

represents unity and eternity (The 5 K’s, n.d., Para 4). It shows Sikhs’

belief that God is eternal (The 5 K’s, n.d., Para 4).

Kangha

A Kangha is a wooden item to keep the hair clean and tidy. Guru

Gobind Singh stressed on cleanliness while performing Khalsa (The 5

explanations to the use of this Kachera. One of them is that it made

Sikhs move easier to move in battle. Many Sikhs believe that it

represents modesty (The 5 K’s, n.d., Para 6).

Kirpan

Kripan is worn as a memento of the bravery of the first five Sikhs,

who were keen to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their religion.

The Kripan is therefore a symbol of bravery and of faith in God. For

many, the most important meaning is that the kripan stands for the

commitment to fight ‘one’s own internal enemy’ that is weakness in

one’s own character & behaviour (The 5 K’s, n.d., Para 7).

Kesh

By tradition, Sikhs both men or women do not cut their hair and male

Sikhs should not cut their beards The 5 K’s, n.d., Para 8).This natural

condition shows devotion in god. Guru Gobind Singh encouraged that

Sikhs grow their hair, which is to follow ‘as God intended’ (The 5

K’s, n.d., Para 8).

under the guidance of Arjan Dev in 1963 and 1964. Its script is

Gurmukhi, which was standardised by Arjan Dev for using it in Sikh

scriptures.It was created to protect the hymns and teachings of the

Sikh gurus (Sikhism, n.d., Para 10-11).

Sodhi family of Kartarpur. Actually, the history says that original

version of this scripture was burned by Ahmad Shah Durrani’s army

in 1757 when they burned Kartarpur (Sikhism, n.d., Para 10-11).

Guru Granth Sahib: It has the original version of Adi Granth with

some addition of Teg Bahadur’s hymns. Guru Gobind Singh’s verdict

was that Guru Granth Sahib will be the eternal guru for all the Sikhs

(Sikhism, n.d., Para 12).

It consists of the composition of the first five gurus, Teg Bahadur and

just one ‘Salok’ from Guru Gobind Singh (Sikhism, n.d., Para 13).

Dasam Granth: The Dasam Granth is also called The Book of the

Tenth Master. It is an eithteenth-century collection of poems, which

(Overview of Sikh Scriptures, n.d., Para 11, 12 & 14).

The Ten Gurus and their teachings

The word “GURU” in Sanskrit means person having great knowledge,

wisdom and authority, a teacher, a soul who can dispel darkness. In

Enlightened Masters (Ten Guru, n.d., Para 2). Starting with Guru

Nanak in1469 & ending with Guru Gobind Singh in 1708, their

wisdom, preaching’s have been compiled in the Holy Scripture “The

Guru Granth Sahib” (Ten Guru, n.d., Para 2).

First Guru – Guru Nanak Sahib

Guru Nanak was born to Tripta, a simple religious woman and wife of

Mehta Kalyan Das, on April15, 1469 in Shekhpura (Pakistan), now

Nanakana Sahib (Ten Guru, n.d., Para 1).

From the earlier child hood Nanak was an extraordinary child. He

learnt Hindi & Sanskrit at the age of seven and by thirteen learned

Persian too. He got married to Mata Sulakhni, who gave him two

sons: Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das. (Ten Guru, n.d., Para2)

In the year 1522 Guru Nanak Sahib founded the city of Kartarpur

(now in Pakistan) and spent the rest of his life there (Ten Guru, n.d.,

Para5). There he pioneered the Langar or free kitchen. In 1539 he

established Bhai Lehna ji (Guru Angad Sahib) as the second Nanak.

On Sept 22, 1539 he left for the heavenly aboad. He was a good poet

Sahib, Asa-di-Var, Bara-Mah, Sidh-Gosht and, Onkar. Guru Arjan

Sahib compiled all these in Guru Granth Sahib (Ten Guru, n.d.,

Para5).

ended the line of personal Gurus and passed on th succession to the

Holy Book “The Guru Granth Sahib” (Ten Guru, n.d., Para 13).

Sikhism in History

The time period of all the ten gurus lasted for more than 239 long

years. The Sikh religion prospered very well during this period, which

could be possible under the guidance of the Gurus (Sikh History,

Gurus Period, n.d., Para 1).

Banda Singh Bahadur whose real name was Madho Das possessed

started soon after that (Sikh History, Religious Persecution Era, n.d.,

Para 1-3).They were attacked and robbed. They stayed alive on

vegetables and fruits but they were not discouraged. Having faith in

Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s prediction that the Sikh would rule the

country one day, they continued their mission of religious persecution

tyrants and after gathering strength they were ready to defeat the

tyrants and then they started ruling around 1760s (Sikh History,

Religious Persecution Era, n.d., Para 1-3).

Maharaja Ranjit Singh became their leader and conquered Lahore in

1799. He ruled Punjab for 40 years. His Kingdom was so big that he

had to divide it in 4 different states. He died at the age of 59 in 1839

(Sikh History, Sikh Kingdom Era, n.d., Para 1 & 2).

The British bought then the generals of the army and attacked the Sikh

kingdom (Sikh History, Colonial Era, n.d., Para 1 & 2). In 1849 they

finished the Sikh kingdom era and controlled Punjab with other parts

of India. As the British knew that the Sikhs are brave warriors, they

appointed them with jobs in their army (Sikh History, Colonial Era,

independence (Sikh History, Colonial Era, n.d., Para 1 & 2).

The Indians’ struggle for freedom began in 1920s and it lasted in

1947. The Sikhs played a major role during that struggle by

participating in this mission enthusiastically (Sikh History, Colonial

starting of the national struggle for freedom (Duggal, 2008, Para 4).

The Battle of Saragarhi was fought between the fourth Battalion of the

Sikh Regiment of British India and approximately 10,000 Afghan and

Orakzais tribesman on 12 September 1897 (Battle of Saragarhi, Sikh

Regiment, 2009, Para 1).This battle has been noted as the exampe of

exceptional bravery. UNESCO has portrayed the battle of Saragarhi as

one of the legends of joint bravery (Battle of Saragarhi, Sikh

Regiment, 2009, Para 1).

The British rulers of india had built many forts in the North West

Frontier Province to strengthen their position and to control the hostile

activities of the local tribal groups who were living in the north

western frontiers of undivided India (Battle of Saragarhi, Sikh

forts. In 1897 Afridi tribes attacked Fort Gulistan and later the troops

of Orakazai and Afridi made fresh attacks and seiged Fort Lockhart

and Saragarhi (Battle of Saragarhi, Sikh Regiment, 2009, Para 2 & 3).

The strength of Afghani force was about 12000 to 14000 who were

fully armed tribesman.

They tried to make the Sikhs surrender but the Sikhs were determined

to fight against them and they continued fighting. For this reason it

became the famous battle of Saragarhi. Sepoy Gurumkh Singh was the

person who continued giving every detail of the battle through

heliographic signal until the enemy set the place near Saragarhi on

fire. When the enemay were close Sepoy Gurumukh Singh took out

his rifle after closing heliograph and he killed 20 people of them

before dying (Battle of Saragarhi, Sikh Regiment, 2009, Para 2 & 3).

Every soldier who defended Saragarhi died in this outstanding action

of bravery. When this courgeous deed was narrated in the Parliament

of the United Kingdom, the memebers gave standing applause to it.

Even Queen Victoria also came to know about this incident. It was

annouced in the Parliament that the army having the brave Sikhs

Honours Day (Battle of Saragarhi, Sikh Regiment, 2009, Para 4 & 5).

The British also built tow Saragarhi Gurudwaras one in Amritsar and

another in Ferozepur to respect those soldiers (Battle of Saragarhi,

Sikh Regiment, 2009, Para 4 & 5).

Sikh Culture: Sikh culture is the mixture of many asects, including

many festivals and ceremonies. There are songs which are many

religious as they are sung in praise of God. For that reason they are

different from other songs (Sikh Culture, n.d., Para 1).

Sikh festivals are time for these people to rededicate themselves to the

faith (Sikh Festivals, n.d. Para 1). Even they take death anniversaries

of their Gurus as festival since it reminds them the value of sacrifice

for a good cause(Sikh Festivals, n.d. Para 1). Some of the main Sikh

festivals are (Sikh Festivals, n.d. Para 1):

Baisakhi: it is a New Year festival in the Sikh calendar. The Sikh new

years starts with Chet 1 (Sikh Calendar, 1998, Para 2). On this day in

1699 Khalsa was created by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. It generally falls

Diwali: Sikhs celebrate Diwali since Guru Hargobind reached

Amritsar on this particular day after he got released from Gwalior jail

(Sikh Festivals, n.d. Para 5). It is the festival of lights. On this day the

Golden Temple complex is decorated with lights and magnificient

displayed (Sikh Festivals, n.d. Para 5).

In 1577 the Golden Temple’s foundation was kept on Diwali itself

(Sikh Festivals, n.d. Para 6).Sikhs have continuedthis yearly

celebration with lighting up lamps and distributing sweets. The largest

gathering takes place at the Golden Temple on this day (Sikh

Festivals, n.d. Para 6).

Hola Mohalla: This is an annual festival which takes place at

Anandpur Sahib (Sikh Festivals, n.d. Para 7). Guru Gobind Singh

started this festival to exercise millitary practices. Mock battles are

also fought on this day which is just after Holi festival. Music and

poetry competitions follow mock battles (Sikh Festivals, n.d. Para 7).

On this day kirtan and religious lectures are performed in number of