Historical Beginnings

Historical Beginnings: Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh

by Joy Barrow

Woman wearing shalwar kameez

WHO IS A SIKH?

When many people think of Sikhs they have an image of a turbaned man and a woman wearing the Punjabi shalwar kameez. Whilst this may be true of most Sikhs, a visitor to a gurdwara will see that, whilst the women will predominantly be wearing shalwar kameez - which is traditional Punjabi dress and not specifically religious - some young people may be wearing western dress, whilst, among the men, some may have cut hair whilst others will have uncut hair and wear a turban. Furthermore some women wear turbans under their chunni, or scarf. It is therefore important to avoid having a stereotypical image of Sikh appearance.

The Rahit Maryada, or Sikh Code of Conduct, defines a Sikh as:

Any person whose faith is in one God, the Ten Gurus and their teaching, and the Adi Granth. In addition, he or she must believe in the necessity and importance of amrit (initiation) and must not adhere to any other religion. Sikhism is concerned with individual life and corporate life as a member of the Sikh community'

During the course of this book writers will be considering different parts of this definition, for example Owen Cole writes about the Sikh scriptures and the gurdwara, Eleanor Nesbitt writes about Amrit, and there is a personal testimony of its importance that Paramjit Kaur Bamrah wrote 'while the amrit was still dripping from her hair', and a variety of Sikhs reflect on how their faith affects their daily lives.

Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak

On the first day after his return Guru Nanak sat in silence. On the next day he said: 'There is nether Hindu nor Mussalman (Muslim), therefore whose path shall I follow? I shall follow God's path. God is neither Hindu nor Mussalman and the path which I follow is God's'. By this Guru Nanak was not denigrating either the Hindu or the Muslim faith, but he was saying that a person can not reach God by the mindless repetition of set actions and words. Guru Nanak believed that it was only the extent to which religious practices involved inner reality, or 'interiorising' to use an expression of Professor W.H. McLeod, that they were valid and that if inner reality was present it obviated the necessity of outward manifestation.

For about the next thirty years Guru Nanak traveled around, teaching people by both his whons and words to practice nam, dan, isnan and seva. The Janam Sakhis record that wherever he went dharamsalas were established to enable Sikh religious discipline to be practised. It was through the institution of the dharamsala that Guru Nanak introduced the twin concepts of the sangat, or community of believers meeting together for congregational worship, and pangat, or eating together. On his joumeys Guru Nanak was accompanied by a Musliin, Mardana.

In about 1520 Guru Nanak settled in Kartarpur where he established a community of people who were united by their obedience to the teaching of Guru Nanak. The Kartarpur community had two characteristics. First was living the life of a householder, compared with Hindus who regarded family life as one of the stages of life through which a person passed before they lived the holy life of an ascetic. Guru Nanak showed people that they could achieve mukti (spiritual liberation), bu nam simran (meditating on God's name), while living a family life: "as a lotus flower lives on the water but not in it, so a person who wishes to obtain mukti should live in the world but not get lost in its pleasures". The second characteristic of the Kartarpur community, was the importance of the hymns of Guru Nanak. This was because they were seen to be God's Word. Both before breakfast, in the afternoon and in the evening kirta.n took place