BTTRCDUOTTON

IHK jmSTQSB m > PX.AH 0? THl! BTfSBt

lRlZrod£C^,J.SSarla

It is a hlBtorloal fact that wiienerer dharma deos^B and adharma flourl8h«t» great leaders of thought and action appear on the horizon In reeponce to the demande of time In order to re-establieh the rule of dharma* t

India's oonfrontation with Islam began some­ time^ in the tenth century. By the beginning of thirteenth century Islam started asserting itself as an active socio-religious creed backed by political authority and military force and by beginning of fifteenth century it had already made in-roads into class structured and caste-ridden Hindu society. The elenents which were foreign to Indian faith had node

ingress into Hindus belonging to lower castes*

Conversion to Islam of indigenous population under coercion and ruthless policies of the oonquerors was a normal feature. So much sot that they tTanted to administer all human affairs under the religious codes and laws based on bigotry and prejudice. They sentenced qaints of the other persuation to death in the name of divine religious laws. They came« not as conquerors but enemies and the face of Indian history was narred (11) with theee euppreeslve forcesf for it wae not the pollciee but the institution^ which were nathlesely oppreeeed, Man lived in a system without taking part in its decisions and society itself gave In because there was inner decay, for reasons more than one* evidence being society itself. Subjugation to invaders, deaoralisation owing to absence of social justice, practice of Inequality, discrimination on grounds of religion, lack of value for human difpiity and absence of reverence for human personality created a deterior­ ated and divided society. The invaders took full advantage of the divided scene and tried, not only to banish idolatry froa the land but also to convert the

•infidels* to Islam, The awe and terror of the eword was so great that^ both culture and religion^ reached ebyemaX depths.

True religion had been choked by selfishness of priests end indifference of the people. The highly spiritual ch^acter of Hinduism had been replaced by formalin and was confined to peculiar foms of eating and drinking, rituals and rites, sacrifices and superstitions and other such mechanical observations.

This was the condition of the indigenous population in the fifteenth century. (lii)

The Bituatlon demanded enengetio action, eenee of Belf-reppeot^ and unity, rererence and reepect for human personality, belief in equality and fraternity of mankind, and eooial Justice* Belief in one formleBB

Ood and dignity of mankind on the bseie of laan ae manifestation and abode of Cod were the crying need of the time. Only a epiritaal revolution could survive in Buch a suffering country; only a epiritually mighty force could effectively check proeelytissation, and perhaps restore, what wao otherwise a culture, ethically and spiritually of the highest order.

Sikhism and Sikh society emerged froa the social and spiritual transfomation effected Toy Guru i^anak and his nine succe&eors. This was the most significant and creative response to the challenge thrown by the dominating and despotic ruling authority to the contem- prorary Indian society* The tenth (Juru - Guru Oobind

Singh •> brought a significant metamorphosis in by creating the order of Khalsa, a eocio-religious militant force* The order of Khalsa was a personified

answer to that challenge to the human dignity and

-»v\ freedo^ of one’s faith and one’s way of life. The

Cikhe, under Guru Gobind Singh, emerged as a well

organised socio-religious and politico-military force and were prepared to fight the despotism, tyranny ( i v ) and injuBtioe of Mughal rulere. The secular and eplritual ende of the ooramunity were merged in one militant force to fight oppreaeion and evil# It is needless to Bay that this traneforraation of eooiety brought about by the tenth Guru, was nothin" abort of a miracle*

Statement of the problem and need for the study

How each a metamorphoeis was broufjht about in a

eocietyi ishioh had reached such a low level of degen­ eration and deterioration* ie not only a matter for coneideration for history, sociology and social psychology but also a matter for the philosophyi of values. The* fact that such a transformation toolc place in the way of life and institutions of the Sikhs shows that they recognised certain socio-religious values.

What these values were and what efforts were made by the

Sikhs to attain these values is a matter of interest froa the point of view of philosophy of values. It will, therefore* be useful to determine the philosoph­

ical foundations of the Sikh Value System, which became

operative in the Sikh society and social institutions, • The philosophy of the Sikhs is embodied in Adi Granth

in the form of compositions of Sikh Ourus and Saints

of India. My claim that there is a need to carry out

such a study and research is supported by the views of ir)

. K.L* Seshaglri, Profeeeor of comparative religion,

■ Punjabi University Patiala* He bcqtb, "Bubetantial

etudiee have been made regarding the oocial, political

and cultural implicatione of the teaohinge contained

in the Gurbani. It hae been and continuee to be

pervaeivoly used for personal and communal edification*

but the works that focus on the philosophy of Gurbani

are few and far between. It is a field rich with

potentialities for research* There is need for

sustained study of the basic concents of Gurbani and

® systematic exposition of its philosopl^".

Purnose of the Study

The purpose of the present work is to bring out

and to systenatiee the values implied in the Sikh view

of life as found in Adi Granth, and to determine the

extent to which they are operative in the Sikh way of

life and the Sikh social institutions* Bince this

necesoitates determination of the philocophical found­

ations of the £ikh value systera, an attempt is also

taodo in the thesis to formulate such philosophical

foundations*

PlaP. of the Worj£

The present study is suitably divided into seven

chapters* The order in which these chapters are arranged

facilitates the development of content and thought in (vi)

Buoh a way that It flret builds the value c^jretcaa implied in the Sikh view of life bb found in Adi Oranthf and then conBidere how f a r these values are operative in the Sikh way of life and social inetitutlone.

In the first chapter, the concepiB of value and values in general are set forth* 5?he contents of this chaptcr cover disouesione oft the concept, classification and hierarchy of values, The chapter ends with the discuaoion of the path-waye for the attainment of the ideal. This chapter, thus brings out the various aspects of the conception caid attainment of values.

Without the understanding and knowled??e of the nature of value, the developaent of a philosoTJhlcal study like the present one is inconceivable.

Chapter two deals vdth the epistesioloclcal dimension of the theory of value in general and Sikh valua in particular. This involves the discussion of the various means of knowledge with a view to deterralnine their relative importance as found in the Sikh thought*

In chapter three are discuesed the metaphysical views of the Sikhi?* It deals with the ccaiception of

Ultimate Reality* The discussion also covcrs the SlWh conoeptione of ’levels of reality', creation of the phenomenal world and its nature and purpose, nature of (vll) the oelf and its relation with the phen<»nenal world and God*

Chapter four »etB forth the philosophical found­ ation of the Siich value system or viftiat may he called the

Sikh view of life* The disouBsion of the Sikh view of life as underlying their value system consietB of the discussion of the Ultimate Value» ae also of the spiritual9 social and survival values and Mlsvalues** The chapter ends by giving a syot^atised schematic diagram of the Sikh valjie system as derived from the texts of Adi Granth*

In chapter five the way to God Realisation is discuBEed* This also covere the concepts of Kam (Word),

Gureabad, Gurmantra and Kam-Toga*

Chapter six deals with the values as operative in the Sikh way of life* In fact the pumose of the chapter is to expound the philosophy behind Sikh socio- religious value system and explicate the social and spiritual values as operative in the Sikh way of life and the Sikh social Inst it ut ions*

Chapter seven summarises, in a way, the vAiole thesle and establishes that the values implied in the

Sikh view of life as found in Adi Granth are operatiye in the Sikh way of life and the Sikh social institutions, fhe concluding remarks suggest that the value systeo (▼Ill) given in Adi Oranth would eerre ae an ideal blueprint for realieation of God both at indlTidual and eooial planes*

In Bhort, the Silch Y d ue theory ie an axiolop-ioal abeolutiem in ivhlch Ood is the Supreme Value and the

ideal is to realise God on the individual and social

planes*

As the present study makes references to various

Silch historical incidents and various scriptures,

including Adi Granth, it is considered indispensable to

give here a vexy brief account of the social situation

prevailing at the times of Gurus and the values advocated

by them aS also the details regarding the various

scriptureSt particularly Adi Granth ().

2

SIKHISM t SAIEHT FRATUKRS

The Sikh Religion, a monotheistic religion, is the most modem of all the world's religion* Guru Ilanak

(U69-1539 A*D), the founder of the Sikh Religion came

on the earthly scene when the socio-political conditiom

in India were in a miserable state* India in H 6 9 was

under Muslim donination and had suffered invasions of

foreigners for about four hundred years before the

birth of Guru Uanak* People of India had for^^otten their ( 13 C ) eplrltual treasure» were divided into caetee and olasees at war with one another and had oonseciuently lost the power of united action to defend themselyes and their motherland*^ 7he Moh^amedanfi ruled India} no woman*B honour and no man's Belf->reBpeot wae eafei

Hinduiem meant political elayery. ThouBande of Hindae were compelled to embrace Islam* loot was the order of the day, The ri^t to private property and family life* practice of one’s religion and freedcm of epeoeh did not exist* Apart from political conditions the social end religious conditions had reached the most degenerated state* The social structure based on castes and classes discriminated between man and man*

This weakened the ^ole social structure politically, educationally and economically* While the learning and enlightenment was reserved for the few belonging to the upper classes| the masses of the middle and lower classes continued to remain backward economically, politically, socially and educationally* The upper class Hindus ill-treated the Shudras who were regarded as untouchables* The eq.uality of man and the respect for human personality were non-existent* The ruthless taxation and social tyranny made the lot of the average

1* Prd*Gobind Singh Mansukhani i"The Quintessence of Sikhism" p* 10* (x)

Hindu miserable and unbearable. People lost the senee

of self-iretjpeot and the will to defend theraBelveBf they resigned themselves to their lot and became totally

peselaistio and inactive•

Voman had no respect in the society. She tms disrespected and mal-treated. Purdah and Sati syetems were in vosue. The eril oustom of female infanticide I also crept in among the Hindu respectable families.

£ven the position of Husllm wonan was far from satis­

factory* Muslims regarded woman as the object of

sexual gratification and confined them in four walls*

The honour of the woman, Hindu or SIu s II jr, was always

in danger* She could be picked up hy the powerful local

rulers at any time for gratification of their lust*

The real spirit of the religion had absolutely disappeared* Instead of giving importance to ISie

essential significance of the teaching of their respective religious books, the Hindus anfl MusII bb

believed and were involved in sjnnbols, rituals and rites of their religions*

These were the degenerated political, eocial and

religious conditions prevailing at that critical period

in Indian history, when Ouru Nanak was bom* It was the J-I dark<98^ before the dawn* This darkness is described by (xi)

Guru Hanak as i

"The a^e 1b the knife, the rulere arc the butoheret

Pharma has taken to the wings. 2 And the Moon of the Truth is not seen anywhere”

"0 LaloS he (Babar) has come from Kabul,

With a wicked horde (a wedding party of sin ),

And demande by force the gift (of wealth and wcmen),

0 Lalol falsehood is dominant, and modesty and rl/'hteouenees hare dieapceared}

0 L^oi Qazie and Brahmins are helpless.

The Satan is officiating instead" ^

The need of the hour was to restore faith in One

Supreme Ood, the sole creator of all that is visible and invisible in the Universe* The philosophy of life then prevailing needed to be reinterpreted in such a way that the method of attainment of the Ultimate Reality brought

2 * Kal kati raje kasai dharaa pankh kar ud rea*

Eju* amavas each chandramS dise viSht keh charei*

Adi Granth. p« 143«

3, Pap ki janjh lai Kabuloh dhaea jori mangeh dan ve

Lfldo* ^aram dharma doe ohhap khaloe kur phire

pardhan ve Lalo» Kajia bahaana ki gal thaki agad

parai saithi^ ve Li^o* Adi Granth. p.722. (xil) one simple anlfied eystem Instead of diverse rituals and rites lAiioh wore then being preached by Pandits end

Mullahs of HinduiOB arU! Islam. Guru Kanelc preached accordingly. Guru Hanak believed in One Eternal Reality, call Him Rimy Ehuda, Allah or Wabegoru* The ultimate aim is to realise His existence and live in His Hufcem.

Guru Hanak*s God is the first causey cause of all oauseBi there is none else; He is transcendental and

He is immanent in Hie creation* To attain Him one has to sell one*8 mind to the Guru* A total surrender to the Hukam or the Will of God is a prerequieite to the attainment* This surrender is mode posBible by anni­ hilation of ego (I-am-ness) through repetition of

Warn* Guru’s Way is the way of N3a-Yoga*

> Zh this age of'^ali-Tuga the Guru attached leseer importance to Gyan-Marga and Karoa«>Marga* In

Kali-Yuga the realisation is to be achieved through love* devotiont surrender and Nam->Yoga*

His preachings for practical, spiritual and secular life are based on intrinsic values derived from the concept of man - in-reallty or man-in-Ood*

Therefore, a great stress is laid on equality and fraternity of man, self-resceot, respect for the huloan-personality, service of humanity, productive and honest means of earning, eharlng of one's earnings (*1 1 1 ) with the poor and dleablad, dlenit; of labour, houBeholder*8 llfe» couraget protection of the poor and use of Tlolence against in just ice and imrighteoue- nees if other non-violent meane fail to produce results, A domooratio way of Ilf© and freedom of epeeoh 1 b greatly valued* Wonan ie given an equal status In all spheres of spiritual and secular life*

The Ouru conderane a life of falsehood and hypocrisyy wastage of tine in gossips and lasy and

luxurious ways of liv ng, adultery* Indulgence in

lusty greedy attachmenty ai^er and vanity* Excepting

fulfillment of basic needsy over-indulgence in eatingy

sleepingy other bodily pleasures and materlQlistic poCGessions are for^dden*

After Guru Nonaky the nine Gurus who succeeded him continued to practise and preabh the tenets of

Sildiisffl as laid down ^ the first Guru* The tenth

Guruy Guru Goblnd Singh (1666-1708 A*D*) brought to

completion the mission started Guru Nanak by /C . creation of^ order of Khalsa « a eocio«-religlous and

politically militant force which fought against the

unrighteousy unjust and atrocious Mughal rulers and

eventually drove them out of Indian soil* The spiritual

base of these patriots arose out of the perennial

river of Guru Honoky which became a torrential and

potent force in Guru Goblnd Singh* Por creation of (xiy) \ this force the tenth Guru introduced an institution knoim a» Amrlt Senoh^ which is eocio-relisious and politico-ffiilitant in diaracter. This is an inetitution for baptieing men and women into the fraternity and brotherhood of Khalea* At the time of Asorit Sanchar»

Sikh religious and eocial raluee are preached in the form of orders from the fire chosen ones known as Panj

Pyaras* Accordtng to these orders no one is to be proud of his caste as nobody belonfis to any higher or lower caste. All men and women are equal and are to be treated so* The creator is onej in everyone dwells the same Ood and shines the same light. Each SIkii is to live a life of a Saint-6 oldier. He is to carry five Ks - kes (hair), kanga (comb), kachh (a special type of underwear), kara

(an iron ring) and kirp^ (sword)* After Amrit Sanch^, he is named as Singh (lion) end is expected to use arms, if other peaceful means fail, to suppress op^'ression, tyranny, unrighteousness and injustioe* In other words, he is to stand for dharma and is to remain prepared to lay down his life, if need be, to suppress adharma* Ee^h Sikh is to soil his mind to his Guru and abide by his teachings* Norms and moral codes of social and individual ethics as already mentioned in the last two paragraphs are given out in form of orders by Panj

Pyaras at this ceremony* (xr)

The idea of unity of epirlt wae not a new one

in Indip-. However, the greatest contribution of the

ten Eikh Gurus was the trnnelntion of this high philo-

Bophy into daily prncticel life of general raaBGee

through a gradual transformation brou?;ht about during

a period of about two hundred and forty years. The

naraee of the ten CuruB of Sikh religion with their life 4 span are as follows x*

(a) Guru Kanak (U69-1539 A.T?.)

(b) Guru An-ad (1504-1552

(0) Guru Amar Das ( 1479-1574 A.T).)

(d) Guru Ham (1534-1581 A.3).)

(e) Guru Arjun (1563-1606 A."^.)

(f) Guru nar.'!0bind (1595-1644 / .■'.) (g) Guru Hari Rai (1630-1661 A .D .)

(h) Guru Hari ICrishan (1656-1664 A.T'.)

(1) (1621-1675 A.'O.)

(J) Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708 A.D.)

After the tenth Guru, Sri Guru Granth Sahib

(Adi Granth) which ombodiee in it the vrritingB of six

Gurue and various medieval Hindu and Muslim Bhaktae

of India ie taken teas embodiment of Gurue by the Sikha*

The compil&tion is in Gurmukhi script. There are

certain outstandiw; features which go to make Adi

Granth, a uniq.ue scripture of its own type in this

4 . Gopal Singh : ”The Religion of the Sikhs" p. 1-22 (acvi) world* Firstly, this is the only eoripture which hafi been ooapilcd by one of the founders of the religion himself during his life time* The Adi Granth was compiled by , the fifth Guru in 1604 A.3),

Therefore, its authenticity oan never be questioned*

The eeoond and the most unique aspect of the Adi

Granth is catholicity of outlook that has been shovn by the Sikh Gurus in bringing together the views of the

Saints of diverse religions, castes, creeds and classes irresoective of their belonging even to those religions which are diametrically opposite to the tenets of Sikh faith* Included in the Goru Granth

Sahib are the ccMapocitions of Hindu Saints like Kabir,

Eamanand, Ravidas, Surdas, Sain from Uttar Pradesh*

Kwdev, Triloohan and Parmanand from l!aharashtra; Pipa

and Dhanna from Rajasthan; Jaidev from Bengal and Beni

from North India* The writings of !>!usllms like Baba

Parid, Bhikhan, Satta, Balvand and Mardana are also

included in the Guru Granth Sehib besides the writings

of Sundar and eleven Bhate*

5* Dr* Gopal Singh t ”Sri Guru Granth Sahib (English

Version" Vol I, p* XVII*

Bhai Jodh Bingh i "Lectures on Sri Guru Granth Sahib"

p* 4* Ishar Singh * "The Philosophy of Guru Hanak"

p* 245* "UlTRSOO oollections of representative

works, Indian series"* p*211->264* (xvll)

It is worth noting that noet of theee Salnte

belong to the lower classes of the Hindu social structurei

Kahlr was a wearer| Namdey was a calico printer; Sadna

was a butcher from Sindhj Rarldas was shoe-makerj Sain was a barber* Cn the other handy Pipa was a king of

Oagaraungarhf Trlloohan a Brahman and Dhanna a Jat frcoi

a place Bhuan near Deoli* The inclusion of these Saints

irrespective of their rGligion, caste, class, position

and status in society is in keeping with the spirit of

Sikhisa in v^ich caste, religion and status is no bar

to the realisation of the Supreme Truth# The Guru

preached that humanity was one and the teachings in

Cruru Granth Sahib were to act as a unifying force for

the humanity. The Sikhs were required to eliminate

the differences between Hindus and Muslims, touchables

and untouchables, high and low and create a social

structure with fraternity of man believing in the

fatherhood of One Supreme God.

The Guru Granth Sahib contains 5894 Yiymm in

all. The hymns of Adi Granth are poetic and are set

out in musical measures called Hagas. There are 31

Ragas in Guru Granth Sahib. These are - Sri, Majh,

Gauri, , Gujri, Devgandhwri, B ih ^ r a , Vadhans,

Sorath, Shanasri, , , , ,

Suhi, Bilavol, Gaud, Rimkali, Sat Narayan, Wall,

Gaura, Maru, Tukhari, Ked&ra, Bhairo, , Sarang, (rvlii)

Malheur, Kanarif Kalyan, Parbhatii Jaljalvantl. The elziglng and Iletening of hymoa In Ragaa by the devotees eleratee their spirit and helps to bring devotion, love and surrender to the Ouru* The Gurbani sung in

Rajsas mystioally creates a feeling of intoxication and bliss called Frem-Has (neotar of love) due to involvement of emotions of love totjards the Creator whose praises are sung in the hymns. Due to this, the poetry and music forms an inseparable part of the

Sikh culture, and singing of hymns in Hagas (Klrtan) by the Sikh men and wcnnen is given a high place in the

Sikh religion*

To conclude, it will only be appropriate to quote tiro passages from the introductory address given by

Niharranjan Hay at the proceedings of a seminar on

Guru Gobind Singh, Sikhiism and Indian Society held

at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study during 18-24

September 1966t

^"The historical situation of the late sixteenth and seventeenth century helped the process of growth and the build up of the nature and character of Sikhism

6 * Niharranjan Ray i "Sikhism and Indian Society"

Transaotions of the Indian Institute of Advanced

Study Vol* IV* (3Cix)

and Sikh eoolety. Because of their secular and socio­

temporal, activist attitude, the conimunlty of Ranaka-

panthis grew up to be more and more socially and politi­

cally conscioue, than the other protestant comaunities.

Indeed, the protestantiem of the Sildis was more total

and all-pervasive. The Adi Oranth «hich was compiled

by the fifth Guru Arjan Deva sometime towards 1604, is

a testament of Siidiism, a religio-epiritual document, yet

here is a document that reveals in a telling manner the

contenporary social situation in India x?here the temporal

rulers were "butchers**, when "greed was the king end

sin his minister, c^en the Muslim imperial state policy was directed against the ruled majority that happened to be Hindus and when Hindu feudal rulers lived and thrived on the blood of their subjects. The Sikh

comjnunity consisting mainly of men and women coming from lower stations of life had to suffer these humiliations, and this suffering slowly but surely went to build up into them a spirit of resistance. But not until the time of the sixth Guru Hai^ovind, after

the martyrdom of Guru Arjuna Deva, this spirit of

resistance started taking the form of an organised

force committed to the creed of f it t in g oppression

and tyranny, fighting affront to freedom of one’s faith

and way of life wherever and whenever they tried to (xx) aceert themselvee, utiether from the iBlamic imperial

Btate or from the Hindu feudal authoritiee. The mart­ yrdom of Guru Arjuna Deva and Guru Tegh Bahadur onl^ served to help the prooesB ithich was finally given a shining steel-like frame by the tenth and last Guru

Govind Singh* Re all but shook the edifice of the community of the Sikhs» and transformed them from a purely God^edioated peaceful and pietietic community to a socio-political body, spiritually awakened, ethically pure, but at the same time earthbound, dynamic, conecioue, ready to fight evil even unto death, if necessary. For the first time, fear of death, the darkest and greatest of all fears, were taken out of man, death not merely in the heat and tumult of war, but death in silent defiance of the most painful and torturous tyranny, the kind of death that '

Banda kissed and embraced in serene faith and supreme composure only a few years after the death of Guru

Govind Singh* Yet the universal God was ever their sole inspiration and ideal of socl£d and individual activity?

"Seen in the social context of the seventeenth century, this was nothing short of a miracle, this transformation of a society brought about by one single individual* This individual was Guru Govind Singh. (xxi)

Times have ohszigedt and eo hare the values of medieval

Indi^ society of the sixteenth and seventeenth ccnturies.

Ve no longer think and act in terms of a God-centred»

Ouru-oentred socio-religious oonmunity or in those of a state within a state# Yet our value still remains the satnet the human value of the right to hold one’ s faith and to regulate his total life in accordance with that faith".

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