We now come to further objections made by the Hindus to the Khalsa. They said, ‘ It is impossible to observe the rules of the Khalsa. How can the four castes dine together ? Were we to accept the Guru’s words, there would be no trace of caste left [ p. 98 ] in the world. The Guru hath confounded the four castes. He hath stirred water with a dagger and called it nectar. No matter who cometh to him, he associateth with him without distinction of caste and without regard for the duty prescribed for his stage of life. He hath renounced the Veds and the popular beliefs, and only believeth in Asidhuj,[1] of whom we have never before heard, and who is not known even to pandits. The learned men among the Hindus preach of Ram, Krishan, and the other incarnations recorded in the Purans, and adhere to the ancient religions. Brethren, this Khalsa is a new-fangled institution for which we have no scriptural authority. It is the Guru who hath introduced this absurdity, and informed the world that there is only one caste. He hath broken the sacrificial thread of Brahmans and Khatris, and by causing them to eat together hath brought discredit on ancient customs sanctioned and hallowed by religion. He hath ordered us not to give our daughters in marriage to any one who cutteth his hair. So smitten is he with affection for his Khalsa, that he hath rejected not only the Hindu but the Muhammadan religion. He hath prohibited tobacco, pilgrimages, and periodical oblations to the manes of ancestors.’ [2]
The Guru wrote to his Sikhs wherever they resided to come and accept baptism, and become members of the Khalsa. He warned those who failed to do so that they should afterwards regret it. When they met with affliction, they would be glad to seek the protection of the Khalsa, but this could only be obtained by their acceptance of baptism and by their repentance and submission. The holy Khalsa would then remove their entanglements and accept them as brothers in the faith.
[ p. 99 ]
On this great occasion the hill chiefs, including Raja Ajmer Chand, the successor of the late Bhim Chand, went to visit the Guru. Ajmer Chand said, ‘It is thou who hast instituted the Khalsa religion. By thy power and greatness all the Turks shall be destroyed.’ The Guru replied, ‘If thou be baptized and become a Sikh, thy glory shall increase tenfold.’ Ajmer Chand inquired what the marks of the Guru’s Sikhs were, that is, how they could be recognized. The Guru replied, “ My Sikhs shall be in their natural form, that is, without the loss of their hair or foreskin, in opposition to ordinances of the Hindus and the Muhammadans.’ In reply to Ajmer Chand’s further inquiries, the Guru informed him of the acts allowed and disallowed his Sikhs. Ajmer Chand replied, ‘Great king, we must worship our idols and shave on the occasions of deaths in our houses. This is ordained by our religion.’ The Guru replied, ‘ If hair were not pleasing to God, why should he have caused it to grow ? In giving the baptismal nectar I change you from jackals to tigers. My Singhs shall destroy all oppressive Pathans and Mughals, and rule in the world.’ Ajmer Chand said, ‘ That is impossible. Each Turk can eat a whole goat. How can we who only eat rice, cope with such strong men?’ The Guru replied, ‘My Singhs too are permitted to eat flesh, and one of them shall be able to hold his ground against one hundred thousand Turks. I will kill hawks with sparrows. O Raja, have no anxiety. I shall make men of all four castes my Singhs (lions) and destroy the Mughals. If thou too embrace my faith and become a Singh, thy realm shall abide.’
The Guru’s teaching had the magical effect of changing a pariah or outcast through an interminable line of heredity intoa brave and staunch soldier, as the history of the Sikh Mazhabi regiments conclusively proves. This metamorphosis has been accomplished in defiance of the hide-bound prejudices [ p. 100 ] and conservatism of the old Hindu religious systems. Prior to the time of the Sikh Gurus no general ever conceived the idea of raising an army from men who were believed to be unclean and polluted from their birth; but the watchword and war-cry of the Sikhs ‘Wahguru ji ka Khalsa, Wahguru ji ki fatah’, and the stimulating precepts of the tenth Guru, altered what had hitherto been deemed the dregs of humanity into warriors whose prowess and loyalty never failed their leaders.
The Guru continued to address the assembled rajas: ‘How has your religious, political, and social status deteriorated! You have abandoned the worship of the true God and addressed your devotions to gods, goddesses, rivers, trees, &c. Through ignorance you know not how to govern your territories; through indolence and vice you disregard the interests of your subjects. You place over them officials who not only hate you, but are besides your mortal enemies. In your quarrels regarding caste and lineage you have not adhered to the ancient divisions of Hinduism into four sections, but you have made hundreds of subsections and subordinate minor castes. You despise and loathe one another through your narrow prejudices, and you act contrary to the wishes of the great Almighty Father. Your morals have become so perverted that through fear and with a desire © to please your Musalman rulers, you give them your daughters to gratify their lust. Self-respect hath found no place in your thoughts, and you have forgotten the history of your sires. I am intensely concerned for your fallen state. Are you not ashamed to call yourselves Rajputs when the Musalmans seize your wives and daughters before your very eyes. Your temples have been demolished and mosques built on their sites ; and many of your faith have been forcibly converted to Islam. If you still possess a trace of bravery and of the ancient spirit of your [ p. 101 ] race, then listen to my advice, embrace the Khalsa religion, and gird up your loins to elevate the fallen condition of your country.’ Upon this the rajas took their departure without accepting the Guru’s proposal to substitute his Khalsa for existing Indian religious systems.
A Sikh called Ude Singh appeared before the Guru without any offering. He said he had one, but was unable to lift it. He had killed a tiger, but was not strong enough to bring its body to the Guru. The Guru sent for the tiger, skinned it, and clothed a potter’s donkey with the skin. The donkey thus arrayed being let loose frightened all animals and rejoiced in his unmolested freedom. Several complaints and requests to kill him were made to the Guru. One day the Guru and some Sikhs went to shoot him. On hearing the noise made by the Guru’s party the donkey fled for protection to his old master. The potter, seeing the animal’s behaviour and movements those of a donkey and not of a tiger, and moreover hearing him bray, approached him, took off the tiger’s skin, gave him a sound drubbing, and employed him as before to carry burdens. The Sikhs on hearing this asked the Guru what he meant by such.a stratagem. The Guru replied, ‘As long as you were bound by caste and lineage you were like donkeys and subject to low persons. I have now freed you from these entanglements and given you all worldly blessings. I have clothed you in the garb of tigers, and made you superior to all men. Enjoy happiness in this world, and the Guru will take care of you in the next, and grant you the glorious dignity of salvation. When the donkey wore a tiger’s skin he was formidable, but when he fell into the potter’s power he was beaten and a load put on his back. In the same way, as long as you preserve your tiger’s exterior, your enemies shall fear you, and you shall be victorious, but if you part with it, and return to caste observances, you shall [ p. 102 ] revert to your asinine condition and become subject to strangers. Moreover, I have made you really tigers, and not merely given you their garb, and it is for you not to resume your caste habiliments. As I have raised you from a lowly to a lofty position by imparting to you spiritual knowledge, so if you revert to evil ways and Hindu superstitions from which I have delivered you, your last condition shall be worse than your first, for then there will be no hope of your amendment.’
Some Sikhs went to the Guru and told him that the Ranghars and Guyjars of the village of Nuh had been plundering their property, but that those who were armed had successfully defended themselves. The Guru took this as a text to preach to his people the advantage of wearing arms. They who practised their use should develop their martial instincts, enhance their prestige, and defend their property, while those who remained in the slough of ancient apathy should lose all they possessed. But in addition to arms men should also come to him to be baptized, and should for the purpose appear before him with their hair uncut, with drawers, daggers, and complete armour, and retain all these objects of defence as long as they had life.
A man named Nand Lal now visited the Guru. He was son of a Vaishnav Khatri and disciple of a Bairagi. At the age of twelve years the Bairagi desired to put on his neck a wooden necklace, one of the outward symbols of his sect. Nand Lal refused, and asked to be invested with the necklace of God’s name, which he might repeat to obtain future happiness. The Bairagi dismissed him, and subsequently explained his action to Nand Lal’s father. He had not the particular necklace which Nand Lal had asked for, and so he set him free to select another spiritual guide.
Nand Lal was an accomplished Persian scholar. There is a tradition preserved among his descendants, [ p. 103 ] that when the King of Persia sent a dispatch to Aurangzeb, his chief courtiers were invited to draft a reply. Nand Lal’s draft was deemed the most suitable, and it was accordingly selected for dispatch to Tuhran. Aurangzeb sent for Nand Lal, and after an interview remarked to his courtiers that it was a pity such a learned man should remain a Hindu. Nand Lal on being apprised of the emperor’s desire to convert him to Islam, and ever thinking of the spiritual guide suitable for him, decided to flee from court and take refuge with the Guru. He communicated his intention to a friend of his, a high Muhammadan official. They resolved to go together to Anandpur and place themselves under the Guru’s spiritual guidance. Nand Lal presented the Guru a Persian work called Bandagi Nama in praise of God, a title which the Guru changed to Zindagi Nama, or ‘ Bestower of eternal life.’ The following are extracts from the work :—
Both worlds, here and hereafter, are filled with God’s hght ;
The sun and moon are merely servants who hold His torches.[3]
If, my friend, thou associate with the holy, Thou shalt obtain abiding wealth.
Evil is that society from which evil resulteth,
And which will at last bring sorrow in its train.
As far as may be, remain servants and claim not to be Master : [4]
A servant ought not to search for aught but service.
Hence, my dear friend, thou oughtest to distinguish between thyself and God. Even if thou art united with [ p. 104 ] Him, utter not one word which doth not express thy subjection to Him. When Mansur said, I am God, they put his head on the gibbet.
This heart of thine, O man, is God’s temple :
What shall I say? This is God’s ordinance.
Since thou knowest that God abideth in every heart,
It is thy duty to treat every one with respect.
Though thy Lord sitteth and converseth with thee,
Yet through thy stupidity thou runnest in every direction to find Him.[5]
The Omnipotent is manifested by His omnipotence.
Sweetness trickleth from the words of the holy ; The water of life drippeth from every hair of their bodies.
The saints are the same without and within ; Both worlds are subject to their orders.
They who search for God are ever civil.
Courtesy pointeth out the way that leadeth to God.
The discourteous are beyond God’s kindness.[6]
In the following extract from Nand Lal’s Diwan Goya, a clear distinction is drawn between God and man :—
Although the wave and the ocean both consist of water, yet there is a great difference between them. I am one wave of Thee who art an endless sea. Thou art as distinct from me as heaven is from earth,
A name of God. He who hath the sword on his banner—an epithet invented by the tenth Guru. ↩︎
Gur Bilas, Chapter 12. ↩︎
This was addressed to those who held the sun and moon to be gods and objects of worship. ↩︎
Some Vedantists with their pantheistic ideas claim to be God Himself. ↩︎
That is, thou goest on idolatrous pilgrimages ↩︎
After the death of Aurangzeb Bhai Nand Lal found a patron in his son the Emperor Bahadur Shah, under whom he found leisure to write his works on the Sikh religion. ↩︎