DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0179
The Sikh Sect. 167
curious compound of pugnacity, courage, superstition, and
fanaticism, If Nanak, the first Guru, was the founder of the
Sikh religion, Govind, the tenth Guru, was the founder of the
Sikh nationality. Many other reformers had attempted to
abolish caste as a religious institution, but Govind regarded
the evils of caste from a purely political standpoint. He
perceived that the power exercised over the Hindus by the
Muhammadans and other conquerors was mainly due to the
disunion caused by caste. He, therefore, at the risk of
offending the most inveterate Hindu prejudices, proclaimed
social equality among all the members of the Sikh com-
munity.
Nor was this all. He devised other plans for uniting his fol-
lowers into a distinct people. They were to add the name Sinh
(' lion') to their other names. They were to be distinguished
by long hair, they were always to carry a sword—in token
of engaging in perpetual warfare with the Musalmans—to
refrain from smoking tobacco, and to wear short trowsers,
instead of the ordinary Dhoti. They were to be called
Khalsa, or the peculiar property of the Guru, and were to be
admitted to discipleship by a kind of baptismal rite called
Pahul—that is to say, sugar was dissolved in water, conse-
crated by the repetition of certain texts taken from the
Granth, and stirred with a two-edged sword. Then part of
this decoction — euphemistically styled nectar—was ad-
ministered to each new disciple, and the rest sprinkled on the
head, mouth, eyes, and other parts of his body, while he
was made to take an oath not to mix with certain ex-
communicated persons, not to worship idols, not to bow to
any person whatever, except a Sikh Guru, and never to turn
his back on a foe.
Govind even composed a second bible (Granth), which was
added as a supplement to the first, and called the book of
the tenth Guru. The precepts of Nanak and his successors,
which had been compiled by Arjun, were too full of passages
curious compound of pugnacity, courage, superstition, and
fanaticism, If Nanak, the first Guru, was the founder of the
Sikh religion, Govind, the tenth Guru, was the founder of the
Sikh nationality. Many other reformers had attempted to
abolish caste as a religious institution, but Govind regarded
the evils of caste from a purely political standpoint. He
perceived that the power exercised over the Hindus by the
Muhammadans and other conquerors was mainly due to the
disunion caused by caste. He, therefore, at the risk of
offending the most inveterate Hindu prejudices, proclaimed
social equality among all the members of the Sikh com-
munity.
Nor was this all. He devised other plans for uniting his fol-
lowers into a distinct people. They were to add the name Sinh
(' lion') to their other names. They were to be distinguished
by long hair, they were always to carry a sword—in token
of engaging in perpetual warfare with the Musalmans—to
refrain from smoking tobacco, and to wear short trowsers,
instead of the ordinary Dhoti. They were to be called
Khalsa, or the peculiar property of the Guru, and were to be
admitted to discipleship by a kind of baptismal rite called
Pahul—that is to say, sugar was dissolved in water, conse-
crated by the repetition of certain texts taken from the
Granth, and stirred with a two-edged sword. Then part of
this decoction — euphemistically styled nectar—was ad-
ministered to each new disciple, and the rest sprinkled on the
head, mouth, eyes, and other parts of his body, while he
was made to take an oath not to mix with certain ex-
communicated persons, not to worship idols, not to bow to
any person whatever, except a Sikh Guru, and never to turn
his back on a foe.
Govind even composed a second bible (Granth), which was
added as a supplement to the first, and called the book of
the tenth Guru. The precepts of Nanak and his successors,
which had been compiled by Arjun, were too full of passages