The Guru directed all the masands to appear with their Sikh constituents before him at Anandpur at the Baisakhi festival, held about the middle of the month of April. They collected large sums of money as a preparation for their journey. Half they kept for their own use, and half they placed before the Guru. The Guru then addressed them, ‘O brother masands, you have been the servants of the Guru’s house since the time of Guru Ram Das. You used formerly to collect large sums of money. Why have you brought so little this year for the support of the faith ?’ The masands replied, “ O true Guru, the rich Sikhs are all dead, and we must take what we can obtain from the survivors.’ The Guru rejoined, ‘Say not that my Sikhs are poor. I am going to make them all kings. If you desire your welfare, disgorge the offerings you have received from them.’ The masands became angry, and began to say among themselves, ‘ The Guru is of our own making. Did we not contribute the money necessary for his maintenance, no one would call him a Guru.’
The masands left the Guru’s court and went to complain to.Bhai Chetu, the eldest member of their body who had survived since the days of Guru Ram Das. They represented to him that no Guru had previously found fault with them, but now Guru [ p. 85 ] Gobind Rai had threatened them with serious consequences. Chetu promised to speak to the Guru on their behalf, but at the same time reminded them that he was at the youthful age when men utter praise and blame without due discrimination.
Chetu kept his promise and spoke to the Guru on behalf of the masands, ‘ True king, the masands are all thy servants. I beg thee to treat them with respect, so that the Sikhs may follow thy example. The next time they come they will bring a larger amount of money for the supply of thy public kitchen.’ The Guru replied, ‘Ask their brother Sikhs here what language the masands have been using regarding me. They have stolen the Guru’s money and deposited it in their own homes. They are very proud. They admit not the Guru’s power. They have called my Sikhs poor, whereas I am daily advancing them and bestowing on them the sovereignty of the country. And, finally, the masands are telling me falsehoods.’ Chetu begged the Guru to pardon them. The Guru then said that Chetu had countenanced them in embezzling the offerings, and that he too deserved punishment like his fellows. At this Chetu began to storm and pretend innocence. The Guru was now thoroughly satisfied that the masands had arrived at a pass where they did-not believe in any Guru, and that their insolence must bechecked. He therefore decided that, as the human Guruship must end with himself, so must his Sikhs be freed from the tyranny of the masands.
Chetu went to the Guru’s mother, and threatened that if the Guru disowned the masands, the Sikhs would go in a body to Dhir Mal, and the Guru would be left without any means of support. When the Guru heard this, he said, ‘ Be not anxious, OQ mother, my public kitchen belongeth to the immortal God, and He will supply it with provisions.’
It happened that at that time a man arrived at Anandpur from Chetu’s district. He had given [ p. 86 ] Chetu a set of bracelets made of rhinoceros hide as a present for the Guru’s mother. When Chetu was questioned, he said he had duly given her the bracelets, but it was satisfactorily proved that he had not, and that he had been prevailed on by his wife to bestow them on her. Chetu was duly punished for his dishonesty.
The Guru continued to receive many complaints against the masands. One of them in particular billeted himself on a poor Sikh, and claimed sweets instead of the crushed pulse and unleavened bread which formed the staple food of his host. The masand took the bread, threw it into his host’s face, and dashed the crushed pulse on the ground. He then began to abuse the Sikh, and would not cease until the poor man had sold his wife’s petticoat to provide him with sweets. When the Guru was informed of this he set about punishing the masand. He ordered that henceforth the Sikhs should themselves present their offerings, and that the employment of the masands for the purpose should cease.
One day a company of mimes went to perform before the Guru. He ordered them to imitate the masands. One of them accordingly dressed as a masand, two as a masand’s servants, and a fourth as a.masand’s courtesan riding behind him on horseback as he went to collect offerings for the Guru. The mimes portrayed to life the villanies and oppression practised by the masands. The Guru upon this finally resolved to free his Sikhs from their tyranny. He ordered that all the masands should be arraigned for their misdemeanours. He listened in every case to their defences and explanations, punished those whom he found guilty, and pardoned those who succeeded in establishing their innocence. Among the latter was a masand called Pheru, of whom mention has been made in the life of Guru Har Rai. Pheru lived in the country then called Nakka, between the rivers Raviand Bias. The Guru ordered [ p. 87 ] that he should be brought before him. The Guru remembered an expression used by Guru Har Rai to Pheru, ‘ My purse is at thy disposal. Spend what thou pleasest from it.’ Guru Gobind Rai added, ‘The purse is thine, and its disposal is also thine.’ Pheru replied, ‘ Great king, thine is the purse and thine also its disposal: whether I am bad or good I am thine.’ The Guru knowing him to be without guile acquitted him, and with his own hands invested him with a robe of honour. Some other masands too were acquitted as the result of Pheru’s pleadings on their behalf.
Once a company of Udasis brought the Guru a copy of the Granth Sahib, written with great elegance, for his attestation and signature. At that time no Granth was accepted as correct unless countersigned by the Guru. But petitioners had first to approach his minister, Diwan Nand Chand, and submit the work to him for approval. The latter observing the beautiful penmanship of the volume formed the dishonest intention of appropriating it. He told the Udasis to come in a month’s time, and he would meanwhile find some means of obtaining the Guru’s signature. When they returned after the expiration of that period, he told them he had not yet had an opportunity of speaking to the Guru on the subject, and suggested their waiting for another ten days. By similar subterfuges he kept the Udasis going backwards and forwards in suspense for six months. At the end of that time he asked them to take the price of the Granth Sahib from him, and prepare another for the Guru’s approval. The Udasis refused, whereupon he had them forcibly expelled from Anandpur.
One day, when the Guru went hunting, the Udasis found an opportunity of complaining to him of Nand Chand’s conduct. The Guru at once ordered that. their Granth should be restored to them. Nand [ p. 88 ] Chand sent a message to the Guru that he was ready to return the book, but at the same time told the Udasis to leave the place at once if they valued their safety. If they made any further complaint to the Guru, they should be imprisoned and put to death. The Udasis were, however, not so easily deterred. They bided their. time to approach the Guru on another occasion. They complained that Nand Chand had disobeyed his order, forcibly expelled them from the city, and threatened them with death in the event of their return and making a further complaint against him. The Guru sent a severe message to Nand Chand, ‘Evil days have come for thee. As I treated the masands so shall I treat thee. If thou desire thine own welfare, restore their Granth Sahib to the Udasis.”. When the Guru’s message was communicated to Nand Chand, he said, ‘Go away; I will not return the Granth Sahib. See, my friends, how the Guru seeketh to frighten me. Were I to shake the dust off the skirt of my coat, I could make many Gurus like him.’ The Sikhs replied, ‘ Very well ; let the Guru come to thee, and thou shalt see. He will draw no -distinction between thee and thy brother masands.’
Nand Chand, shrinking from the consequences of his temerity, fled with the Granth Sahib to Kartarpur. When the Guru heard that he had fled through fear of death, he replied, ‘ Death will reach him there too.’ When Nand Chand reached Kartarpur, he sent a message to Dhir Mal, ‘ Hundreds of thousands of Sikhs adhere to thy cause; they will all worship thee, and make thee the Guru of the. world. It is in my power to-day to raise thee to that eminence. Nand Chand was, however, seriously distrusted at Kartarpur. It wassuspected that he had come from the Guru to practise some treachery— either to kill Dhir Mal or take possession of the town. Dhir Mal consulted his masands as to what was best [ p. 89 ] to be done. They advised that Nand Chand should be put to death according to the following stratagem. As he came to pay a visit, a musketeer should be hidden within the house to fire at him. This was agreed on. When Nand Chand entered Dhir Mal’s anteroom, he received a bullet in the thigh. As he staggered, the doors were closed to prevent his ‘escape, and he then received several fatal bullets from the roof which had been opened for the purpose.
One day the Guru saw two horsemen pass his place and then make a diversion towards the Satluj. They were Gurdas and his brother Tara, great-grandsons of Bhai Bahilo and masands of Ram Rai, who had come to seek the Guru’s protection, but whose courage failed them at the last moment. The Guru caused them to be brought before him. In reply to his messenger’s questions they had said that they were Bairars. When they appeared before the Guru, he detected their disguise and asked why they had falsely represented themselves as Bairars. They told their history. The Guru on his visit on a former occasion to Dehra, believing them to be trustworthy, allowed them to remain there with Panjab Kaur, Ram Rai’s widow, for her protection. The other masands had poisoned Panjab Kaur’s mind against them, and they now fled to the Guru for protection. On arriving at Anandpur they had heard of the Guru’s treatment of other masands, and through fear turned aside to avoid him. The Guru complimented them as the descendants of Bhai Bahilo on their finally confessing the truth to him, and mentioned the respect in which Bhai Bahilo had been held by the preceding Gurus. After their repentance the Guru entertained them for some years, and then allowed them to depart to their homes.
The Guru always held the belief that it would be proper and advantageous to his Sikhs to wear long hair and otherwise not alter man’s God-given body, [ p. 90 ] and he often broached the subject to them. On one occasion they replied that, if they wore long hair, they would be subjected to the banter and annoyance of both Hindus and Muhammadans. The Guru then suggested that they should wear arms, and be at all times ready to defend themselves. This advice was adopted.
In ancient times the Guru said it was the universal custom to wear one’s natural hair, and he instanced the cases of Ram Chandar, Krishan, Christ, and Muhammad. ‘Why should hair grow if God had meant it to be cut off? A child’s hair groweth in the womb.’[1] The Guru therefore hoped that his followers would never be guilty of the sin of shaving or cutting off their hair, and those who obeyed his injunctions he promised to consider true members of his faith.
It is recorded that at this time the Sikhs lived in great social love and harmony. They regarded themselves as brothers. They used to feed one another, shampoo one another when tired, bathe one another, wash one another’s clothes, and one Sikh always met another with a smile on his face and love in his heart.
A company of Sikhs came to visit the Guru and made the following representation : ‘ We have found it very difficult to approach thee on account of the violence of the Muhammadans. Some of our company have been killed by them on the way. Others have been wounded, and have returned to their [ p. 91 ] homes. To whom can we look for assistance but to thee ?’ The Guru on hearing this remained silent, and reflected that the tyranny of the Turks had certainly become intolerable, and that all religion was being banished from the land.
The Guru invited all his Sikhs to attend the great Baisakhi fair at Anandpur without shaving or cutting their hair. On finding them assembled, he ordered that carpets should be spread on a raised mound which he indicated, and that an adjacent spot should be screened off with qanats or tent walls. When this was done, the Guru ordered a confidential Sikh to go at midnight, tie five goats in the enclosure, and let no one know what he had done. The goats were duly tied, and separate orders were given to the Guru’s orderlies not to go within the tent walls.
Next morning the Guru rose a watch before day, performed his devotions, and put on his arms and uniform. He then proclaimed that there should be a great open-air gathering. When all were seated he drew his sword, and asked if there was any one of his beloved Sikhs ready to lay down his life for him. No reply was given. All grew pale on hearing such a proposal. The Guru asked a second time, but with the same result. A third time he spoke in a louder voice, ‘ If there be any true Sikh of mine, let him give me his head as an offering and proof of his faith.’ Daya Ram, a Sikh of Lahore, rose and said, ‘ O true king, my head is at thy service.’ The Guru took his arm, led him within the enclosure, and gave him a seat. He then cut off a goat’s head with one stroke of the sword, went forth and showed the dripping weapon to the multitude. The Guru again asked, ‘Is there any other true Sikh who will bestow his head on me?’ The crowd felt now quite convinced that the Guru was in earnest, and that he had killed Daya Ram, so no one replied. At the third time of asking Dharm Das of Dihli answered, ‘O great king, take myhead.’ The Guru, [ p. 92 ] assuming an angry mien, took Dharm Das within the enclosure, seated him near Daya Ram, and killed another goat. The Guru then looking very fierce came forth and said, ‘ Is there any other Sikh who will offer me his head ? I am in great need of Sikhs’ heads.’
On this some remarked that the Guru had lost his reason, others went to the Guru’s mother to complain, and said that he had undergone a complete change, and was no longer responsible for his actions. They instanced his sacrificing two Sikhs with apparently no object. His mother was advised to depose him and confer the Guruship on his eldest son. She sent a messenger for him, but he was too intent on his own purpose at the time to receive messengers of any description. He called out for a third Sikh ready to offer him his life, whereupon Muhakam Chand of Dwaraka offered himself as a sacrifice. Upon this the Guru handed him into the enclosure and killed a third goat. He then came forth showing his dripping sword as before. When the Guru called out for a fourth Sikh for sacrifice, the Sikhs began to think that he was going to kill them all. Some ran away and many hung down their heads. Sahib Chand, a resident of Bidar, clasped his hands in an attitude of supplication, and said he placed his head at the Guru’s disposal. The Guru took him behind the tent walls and killed a fourth goat. When he came forth as before, he asked for a fifth Sikh who was prepared to lay down his life for him. On this there was a general flight of the remaining Sikhs, and only those who were very staunch in their faith ventured to stay. Himmat of Jaggannath answered the Guru’s last call, and said he might take his life also. The Guru then took him inside the enclosure and killed the remaining goat.
The Guru was now ready to sacrifice his own life for the five Sikhs who showed such devotion to him. [ p. 93 ] He clad them in splendid raiment, so that they shone like the sun, and thus addressed them: ‘ My brethren, you are in my form and I am in yours. He who thinketh there is any difference between us erreth exceedingly.’ Then seating the five Sikhs near him, he proclaimed to the whole assembly, ‘In the time of Guru Nanak, there was found one devout Sikh, namely, Guru Angad. In my time there are found five Sikhs totally devoted to the Guru. These shall lay anew the foundation of Sikhism, and the true religion shall become current and famous through the world.’ The people became astonished at the Gurwt’s expedient, and fell at the feet of the five devoted Sikhs, saying, ‘ Hail to the Sikh religion! You, brethren, have established it on a permanent basis. Had we offered our heads like you, we too should be blest.’
The Guru again addressed his Sikhs: ‘ Since the time of Baba Nanak charanpahul hath been customary. Men drank the water in which the Gurus had washed their feet, a custom which led to great humility ; but the Khalsa can now only be maintained as a nation by bravery and skill in arms. Therefore I now institute the custom of baptism by water stirred with a dagger, and change my followers from Sikhs to Singhs or lions. They who accept the nectar of the pahul shall be changed before your very eyes from jackals into lions, and shall obtain empire in this world and bliss hereafter.’
According to the Persian historian Ghulam Muhai ul Din, the newswriter of the period sent the Emperor a copy of the Guru’s address to his Sikhs on that occasion. It is dated the first of Baisakh, Sambat 1756 (A.D. 1699), and is as follows: ‘ Let all embrace one creed and obliterate differences of religion. Let the four Hindu castes who have different rules for their guidance abandon them all, adopt the one form of adoration, and become brothers. Let no one deem himself superior to another. Let none [ p. 94 ] pay heed to the Ganges, and other places of pilgrimage which are spoken of with reverence in the Shastars, or adore incarnations such as Ram, Krishan, Brahma, and Durga, but believe in Guru Nanak and the other Sikh Gurus. Let men of the four castes receive my baptism, eat out of one dish, and feel no disgust or contempt for one another.’
The newswriter, when forwarding this proclamation to his master, submitted his own report: ‘ When the Guru had thus addressed the crowd, several Brahmans and Khatris stood up, and said that they accepted the religion of Guru Nanak and of the other Gurus. Others, on the contrary, said that they would never accept any religion which was opposed to the teaching of the Veds and the Shastars, and that they would not renounce at the bidding of a boy the ancient faith which had descended to them from their ancestors. Thus, though several refused to accept the Guru’s religion, about twenty thousand men stood up and promised to obey him, as they had the fullest faith in his divine mission.’
The Guru caused his five faithful Sikhs to stand up. He put pure water into an iron vessel and stirred it with a khanda or two-edged sword. He then repeated over it the sacred verses which he had appointed for the ceremony, namely, the Japji, the Japji,[2] Guru Amar Das’s Anand, and certain Sawaiyas or quatrains of his own composition.
The Guru in order to show his Sikhs the potency of the baptismal nectar which he had prepared put some of it aside for birds to drink. Upon this two sparrows came and filled their beaks with it. Then flying away they began to fight, the chronicler states, like two rajas struggling for supremacy, and died by mutual slaughter. -The inference was that all animals which drank the Guru’s baptismal water should become powerful and warlike.
[ p. 95 ]
Bhai Ram Kaur, a descendant of Bhai Budha, went and told the Guru’s wife, Mata Jito, that he was inaugurating a new form of baptism. He also gave her an account of the incident of the sparrows. Mata Jito, taking some Indian sweetmeats called patasha, went out of curiosity to the Guru. He said she had come at an opportune moment, and asked her to throw the sweets into the holy water. He had begun, he said, to beget the Khalsa[3] as his sons, and without a woman no son could be produced. Now that the sweets were poured into the nectar the Sikhs would be at peace with one another, otherwise they would beat continual variance.
The five Sikhs, fully dressed and accoutred, stood up before the Guru. He told them to repeat ‘Wahguru’ and the preamble of the Japji. He then gave them five palmfuls of the amrit [4] to drink. He sprinkled it five times on their hair, and their eyes, and caused them all to repeat ‘Wahguru ji ka Khalsa, Wahguru ji ki Fatah.’ On this he gave them all the appellation of Singhs or lions. He then explained to them what they might and what they might not do. They must always wear the following articles whose names begin with a K, namely, kes, long hair; kangha, a comb; kripan, a sword; kachh, short drawers ; kara, a steel bracelet. They were enjoined to practise arms, and not show their backs to the foe in battle. ‘They were ever to help the poor and protect those who sought their protection. They must not look with lust on another’s wife or commit fornication, but adhere to their wedded spouses. They were to consider their previous castes erased, and deem themselves all brothers of one family. Sikhs were freely to intermarry among one another, but must have no social [ p. 96 ] or matrimonial relations with smokers, with persons who killed their daughters, with the descendants or followers of Prithi Chand, Dhir Mal, Ram Rai, or masands, who had fallen away from the tenets and principles of Guru Nanak. They must not worship idols, cemeteries, or cremation-grounds. They must only believe in the immortal God. They must rise at dawn, bathe, read the prescribed hymns of the Gurus, meditate on the Creator, abstain from the flesh of an animal whose throat had been jagged with a knife in the Muhammadan fashion, and be loyal to their masters.[5]
When the Guru had thus administered baptism to his five tried Sikhs, he stood up before them with clasped hands, and begged them to administer baptism to himself in precisely the same way as he had administered it to them. They were astonished at such a proposal, and represented their own unworthiness and the greatness of the Guru, whom they deemed God’s vicar upon earth. They asked why he made such a request, and why he stood in a suppliant posture before them. He replied, ‘TIT am the son of the immortal God. It is by His order I have been born and have established this form of baptism. They who accept it shall henceforth be known as the Khalsa. The Khalsa is the Guru and the Guru is the Khalsa. There is no difference between you and me. As Guru Nanak seated Guru Angad on the throne, so have I made you also a Guru. Wherefore administer the baptismal nectar to me without any hesitation.’ Accordingly the five Sikhs baptized the Guru with the Same ceremonies and injunctions he—himself had employed. He thus invested his sect with the dignity of Gurudom. The Guru called the five Sikhs who had baptized him his Panch Piyare, or five [ p. 97 ] beloved, and himself Gobind Singh, instead of Gobind Rai, the name by which he had been previously known.
Upon this many others prepared to receive baptism. The first five to do so after the beloved of the Guru were Ram Singh, Deva Singh, Tahil Singh, Ishar Singh, and Fatah Singh. These were named the Panch Mukte, or the five who had obtained deliverance. After them many thousands were baptized. A supplementary ordinance was now issued that if any one cut his hair, smoked tobacco, associated with a Muhammadan woman, or ate the flesh of an animal whose throat had been jagged with a knife, he must be re-baptized, pay a fine, and promise not to offend any more: otherwise he must be held to be~excommunicated from the Khalsa. The place where the Guru administered his first baptism is now known as Kesgarh.
The Sikh chronicler, Bhai Santokh Singh, has composed the following on this memorable event :—
God’s Khalsa which arose is very holy. When its followers meet, they say ‘ Wahguru ji ki fatah !’
The Khalsa hath abolished regard for pirs, spiritual rulers, and miracle-workers of other sects, whether Hindu or Musalman.
The world on seeing a third religion was astonished ; enemies apprehended that it would deprive them of sovereignty.
The Guru inaugurated a new custom for the establishment of the faith, the effacement of sin, and the repetition of God’s name.
Several texts from Hindu writings are cited on the importance and sanctity of hair. Thus in the Institutes of Manu—Even should a man be in wrath, let him never seize another by the hair. When a Brahman commits an offence for which the members of other castes are liable to death, let his hair be shaved off as sufficient punishment.’ In the Mahabharat it is stated that when Arjan was, according to the laws of warfare, on the point of killing Aswatthama for murdering the children of the Pandavs, he appeased his wrath by merely cutting off Aswatthima’s hair. And when Krishan defeated Rukmin, who had resented the abduction of his sister Rukmini, he merely cut off his hair—a punishment deemed worse than death itself. ↩︎
The Japji is Guru Nanak’s, the Japji the tenth Guru’s own composition. ↩︎
This word comes from the Arabic khalis pure, and was applied by Guru Gobind Singh to the Sikhs who accepted the baptism of the sword, which will presently be described. ↩︎
Nectar. The consecrated water used in the baptism of Sikhs is so called. ↩︎
In the present day an injunction is added at the time of baptism to be loyal to the British Government, which the neophytes solemnly promise. ↩︎