Secularisation and the Sikh Religious Tradition

1. Among knowledgeable 'outsiders' we find such sharp disagreements as are illustrated by, for instance, the assertion that the Sikh religious tradition evolved in the direction of creating almost a nation' (Eliot 1954: 272) contrasted with the judgment that the Sikhs 'are virtually a caste of the Hindus' (Toynbee 1954: 415). The disagreements among the 'insiders' are equally acute and often on basic issues, such as the meaning of the word' Sikh' itself. According to Khushwant Singh, the word is' presumably derived ultimately from the Sanskrit shishya, disciple, or shiksha, instruction — Pali, sikkha' (1963: 36). While this is the generally accep ted view, other dissenting views mclude the following: 'The word « Sikh » ... derives its origin from Pali and means the same as in the great Buddha's Dhammpad — the elect, or in the Sikh parlance, chosen (by God), God's own' (G. Singh 1978: xxxv; also see Kapur Singh 1959: 276).

² The notions of 'faith' and 'cumulative tradition' are considered by W. Cantwell Smith as forming the core of the phenomenon called religion (see Smith 1963).

³ 'This age is a knife, kings are butchers; justice hath taken wings and fled' (MacAuliffe 1909: I,xliv)

⁴ See footnote 1 above.

⁵ For the argument in favour of a strong Muslim influence, see, e g., Khan 1967 McLeod (1968) has, however, argued against it and contentded that a third way, based on the rejection of both Hinduism and Islam, rather than a synthesis of the two, was mtended by Nanak Kapur Singh (1959) has put forward a strong and interesting argument in favour of Buddhist influences.

⁶ For accounts of Nanak's teachings I have depended upon his own 'Japuji' and other writings (in various English translations) Khushwant Smgh (1963), McLeod (1968), and Ray (1970).

⁷ Nanak warned:' This God-built house of the body, / Of which the soul is a tenant, has many doors / The five temptations that the flesh is heir to / Make daily raids upon it' (T. Singh et al. 1960: 84).

⁸ Cf. 'Over the life of the recluse the Guru has exalted the station of the Grihasti (householder)... The Grihasti is the person fixed amidst moral duty, which he must face and assume even at the cost of suffering. The Guru's meaning is unmistakably clear: our life is circumscribed by material surroundings, yet man must transcend these to affirm spiritual and moral fulfilment' (Talib 1969. 95).

⁹ To call 'the gentle and intense Indian mystic', Nanak, the « founder of Sikhism », as is often done, is surely to misconstrue both him and history. He was a devotee (bhakta) who .. attacked religious formalism of all kinds. Several generations later his followers were religiously formalised, systematised.... Out of this was born what we call «followerism»' (Smith 1963. 66f). Toynbee (1960: 9) refers to Nanak as the 'founder' of Sikhism but adds that Nanak himself would perhaps not have agreed.

¹⁰ The concept of the 'iron cage' is borrowed from Max Weber (1930 181).

¹¹ Guru Angad evolved the Gurumukhi script using for this purpose basically the script employed by Khattri traders to maintain accounts (see G. Smgh 1978: xl). It is obvious that he must have been familiar with account-keeping.

¹²pehle pangat piche sangat : first sit down m a row to eat with others ; only then may you sit with the Guru.

¹³ It is not clear how exactly Hargobind defined the relationship between spiritual authority and temporal power His religious tradition had paid little attention to the latter; in fact, Nanak had ridiculed and reviled kings, saying even worms were better for kings forget God. In this connection the significance of building Akal Takht separately, outside the holy tank, may not be minimised In the comparative context Dumont (1983: 15) has observed that the 'logical' relation between the two functions is one of 'hierarchical complementarity' with auctoritas encompassing potestas.

¹⁴ Cf the Bhagavadgita (IV.7-8): whenever righteousness wanes and evil prevails, I go forth from age to age to protect the good, punish the wicked, and reestablish the sovereignty of good

¹⁵ The emphasis originally was on the symbolic rather than a real sword; Gobmd himself used to wear a miniature sword in his hair. The other related symbols are as is well-known, unshorn hair tied into a knot with a comb placed in it, a steel bracelet worn on the right forearm, and knee-length trousers. Gobind laid down the wearing of unshorn hair as an obligation; the other items are not mentioned in the code of conduct (rahit nama) he had drawn up for the Sikhs For two different and unusual interpretations of the five symbols see Kapur Smgh (1959 137-54) and Uberoi (1969 123-38).

¹⁶ Gobind wrote in his 'Akal Utsat' 'Recognise all mankind, whether Hindus or Muslims, as one / The same Lord is the Creator and Nourisher of all, / Recognise no distinctions among them / The monastery and the mosque are the same, / So are the Hindu worship and the Muslim prayer / Men are all one' (H. Smgh 1966: 3)