DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0177
The Sikh Sect. 165
developed a taste for rapine and spoliation. The decaying
Mogul Empire was quite unable to hold its own against their
aggressiveness. Ultimately, they combined into powerful asso-
ciations (misals) under independent marauding chiefs, seized
large tracts of land, and took possession of the whole Panjab.
The first to inspire the Sikhs with a desire for political
union was the fourth Guru, Ram-das. He was himself a
quiet unassuming man, but he understood the value of money
and the advantage of organization. His affable manners
attracted crowds of adherents, who daily flocked to his house
and voluntarily presented him with offerings. With the con-
tributions thus received he was able to purchase the tank
called Amrita-sar (Sanskrit Amrita-saras, 'lake of nectar'),
and build the well-known lake-temple which afterwards
became a rallying-point and centre of union for the whole
Sikh community.
Ram-das conveyed his precepts to his followers in the form
of verses. Many of his stanzas, together with the sayings of
the previous Gurus, and especially of the first Guru, Nanak,
were for the first time collected by his son, the fifth Guru,
Arjun, who was appointed by his father to the Guruship just
before his death in 1581. From that time forward the suc-
cession was made hereditary, and the remaining five Gurus
were regarded as rulers rather than as teachers.
With regard to the fifth Guru, Arjun, it may be observed
that he was a worthy successor of his father. He perceived
that to keep his Sikhs or disciples together, it would be
necessary to give them a written standard of authority, and
some sort of machinery of government. It is to him, there-
fore, that the Sikhs owe the compilation of their first bible—
called the Granth, or book (Sanskrit Grantha)—and to him is
due the establishment of an organized system of collecting
a regular tax from all adherents of the sect in different
localities. Moreover, under him the sacred tank and temple
founded by Ram-das became the nucleus of the sacred town
developed a taste for rapine and spoliation. The decaying
Mogul Empire was quite unable to hold its own against their
aggressiveness. Ultimately, they combined into powerful asso-
ciations (misals) under independent marauding chiefs, seized
large tracts of land, and took possession of the whole Panjab.
The first to inspire the Sikhs with a desire for political
union was the fourth Guru, Ram-das. He was himself a
quiet unassuming man, but he understood the value of money
and the advantage of organization. His affable manners
attracted crowds of adherents, who daily flocked to his house
and voluntarily presented him with offerings. With the con-
tributions thus received he was able to purchase the tank
called Amrita-sar (Sanskrit Amrita-saras, 'lake of nectar'),
and build the well-known lake-temple which afterwards
became a rallying-point and centre of union for the whole
Sikh community.
Ram-das conveyed his precepts to his followers in the form
of verses. Many of his stanzas, together with the sayings of
the previous Gurus, and especially of the first Guru, Nanak,
were for the first time collected by his son, the fifth Guru,
Arjun, who was appointed by his father to the Guruship just
before his death in 1581. From that time forward the suc-
cession was made hereditary, and the remaining five Gurus
were regarded as rulers rather than as teachers.
With regard to the fifth Guru, Arjun, it may be observed
that he was a worthy successor of his father. He perceived
that to keep his Sikhs or disciples together, it would be
necessary to give them a written standard of authority, and
some sort of machinery of government. It is to him, there-
fore, that the Sikhs owe the compilation of their first bible—
called the Granth, or book (Sanskrit Grantha)—and to him is
due the establishment of an organized system of collecting
a regular tax from all adherents of the sect in different
localities. Moreover, under him the sacred tank and temple
founded by Ram-das became the nucleus of the sacred town