Part 2
WHY AM I A SIKH?
Written & Published BY SIKH MISSIONARY COLLEGE, (REGD.) LUDHIANA
Because I need no priestly order to redeem my sins.
I am priest to myself. I can stand alone and pray to God for my redemption. He listens to my prayers. I have also full faith in congregation of my people — devotees of my Guru. We sit together in the presence of our Guru — Holy Granth, sing in chorus hymns from the Granth, till we are all one and in harmony with the Guru. We stand up then and pray with folded hands for redemption of our sins, for proper guidance in life and for His blessings for the entire mankind and the Universe. There I feel One with universe, a member of the common brother-hood and lie prostrate at His feet with all humbleness praying for the common good of all friends or foes. What a wonderful prayer! Hence I am a Sikh.
Because Sikhism recognises no caste or creed as high or low, nor is there any colour, country or race bar.
Saint Kabir, in Adi Granth, in a satrical tone says:
“There is no clan or caste while dwelling in the womb. Every thing is Created from the seed of Brahman (God), Say O Pandit ! When were the Brahmans created?
Do not waste thy life by proclaiming the Brahmanhood. If thou art a Brahman, born of a Brahman woman. Why hast thou not come through another way?”
Its doors are open to the black and the white, to the western and the eastern and to the Negro and the American alike. There are no untouchables with the Sikhs. They run free community kitchens and call them Guru-ka- Langar. Because I have my own festivals like Gurpurbs, Hola, Baisakhi. etc.
Dussehra and Diwali, the two important festivals of the Hindus, are celebrated to mark the death of Havana at the hands of Sri Ram Chandra and the return of victorious Ram Chandra to his kingdom, Ajudia. The Sikhs do not regard the killing of Ravana by Ram Chandra a virtuous act. Guru Nanak said:
“The blind ten headed Ravana was beheaded, but what greatness was achieved by killing Ravana.”
As the Sikhs do not regard Krishna as incarnation of God, therefore, they do not participate in the Hindu festivals of Janam Ashtmi, the birthday of Shri Krishna.
Whosoever may contribute the ration cooked in the Langar is considered to be that of the Guru, there is only the service that they do in person. It is therefore that even the wealthiest among them and persons commanding greatest respect male or female are seen cooking meals and cleaning utensils in the Guru-ka-Langar, where all dine sitting in one and the same row (pangat) and partake of one and the same food regardless of the fact of one’s descending from a royal lineage or having in hand a beggar’s bowl or of being a Brahman or a Shudra. Again they have common bathing tank at Amritsar, Tarn-Taran, at Baoli at Goindwal, constructed by the Gurus themselves, where all are welcome to have a dip without the least distinction of caste or creed. When they join bands in congregational prayers, they place no bar on any body, may be of any nationality or professing any religion. Their common mess, common bath and common prayer with a common Holy Granth to revere and one common God of all to pay their homage to, are the grand insignia to their deep-rooted faith in one common brotherhood of man. They stand their congregation (Sangat) and their mess dinners (Pangat) are wonderful spectacles to look at. It is the universal brotherhood, a commonwealth of man in Sikhism that appeals to me to be a Sikh.
Because it is a faith based on Unity of God and Brotherhood of man. Love of God and service of humanity are the main themes with it. Human soul enchained in human body feels separated from God and it has to be reunited with Him. Love is not only uniting force. Service humanizes and makes one tenderhearted and receptive — qualities essential for a loving heart. Love and service are hence enjoined upon every Sikh.
He quits his bed early before dawn, to get himself immersed in the love of his great Master, and with sunrise he devotes himself to the service of humanity performing ail the time his routine duties with all sincerity and integrity — noble ideals for a man. To own these I earnestly aspire to be a Sikh of the Guru.
Thus spoke Guru Gobind Singh when he took me unto his fold-the Khalsa and enjoined upon me to stand always for righteousness, truth and justice and uproot the evil and the evildoers, I draw all my potency from Him alone and look to no other deity, god or goddess. I hold as an emblem of His unparalleled and unexcelled power to annihilate the vice and the vicious and fight for the humble and the unprotected. I have others to raise army of invulnerable soldiers, everyone of whom match his sword with a lakh and a quarter, I shall draw them from the so-called Shudras and Vaishas to humble the pretentious high castes. I shall be true to my name only if I convert those lowly people into Sardars, Rajas and Statemen. My sparrows shall prey upon the hawk of tyranny and oppression. They shall safeguard the interests of the weak and the lowly and protect the honour and chastity of woman. I shall give them a distinct uniform that shall never be put aside — a saintly appearance and the valour of God made soldiers. I shall nourish no lamb or sheep but my Sikh shall always have swords on to meet aggression and offence. They shall be my saint-soldiers. “I call upon ye to join my army and defend the cause I have espoused, imbibe a warrior’s spirit and always have my uniform on.
I shall be the symbol of your inner high spirits.
Be heroic but not ostentatious.
Let not vanity soil your serene self.
Be humble but suffer no humiliation, it damps your spirits.
Be of the world but spotless, people may not finger at you.
Be lovable and He will shower His blessings and love on you;
Meditate on His great qualities in the ambrosial hours before dawn and start your task of the day with a clear and guiltless conscience.
Let service and sacrifice be your watchwords in life.
Service of humanity and sacrifice of self to uphold truth and righteousness.
Entertain no fears, as it is but the Will of God that always prevails. Be chaste and respect the chastity of woman.
Suffer no intoxicants nor shall ye smoke.
I have named Ye, Singh a lion and you have therefore to forgo all sluggishness.
I have no place for cowards and you have therefore to discard all cowardice.
I have taken you unto my fold and you have therefore to be always in the costume of my fold, it gives you my appearance and you shall never disfigure it. I have enlisted you a member of my commonwealth-Khalsa, the pure and you have therefore to be pure in thought, word and deed. The Khalsa meditates on the One Living, Divine Being with unshaken faith and love.
The Khalsa discards all gods and goddesses, idols, tombs hermits and monasteries.
The Khalsa recognises no fasts, pilgrimages, charities and austerities.
The Khalsa kindles in him one Divine radiant light, it is only than that he is Khalsa, there then remains no difference between me and the Khalsa.
“Such a Khalsa belongs to my master Almighty, who has all victory to Himself, Victory is yours therefore, when you initiate yourself into the fold of the Khalsa. The initiation starts with the Amrita, the sweet drink consecrated with the Shabad (hymns) of Guru Nanak. I have stirred it with double-edged sword of mine to steel the hearts of the Khalsa against timidity, cowardice, weakness and irresolution. You have to drink it from one and the same bowl to be one of the brotherhood, that recognizes not your former caste, creed, colour or faith, and initiates you in a common fold irrespective of your previous sect or birth. In such a commonwealth of the Khalsa I see myself, rather my Master personified and to it I pay my homage in all humbleness in perfect devotion. Five of tiiem— the Five Piaras (My beloved ones) shall administer the same Amrit to me, and Initiate me into the fold of the Master’s Khalsa.
Any five of the true Khsrisa shall represent me and just as a candle enlightens another candle, the Five shall kindle the light of the Khalsa in who-so-ever desires to be so kindled.
This sermon makes me a Sikh.