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The
Philosophy Behind Creation of the Khalsa
Dr Paramvir Singh*
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, traveled to far off
places to spread the message of God, which was revealed
to him at Sultanpur, a small town in Kapurthala district,
at the end of fifteenth century. He visited Eminabad and
stayed with his disciple Bhai Lalo, a carpenter by profession.
Guru Nanak was at Eminabad when people heard Babar was attacking
the town. They knew the king of Delhi was unable to protect
them and they went to the spellbinders of that time, but
of no avail:
Millions of spellbinders tried to stop the lord Babar,
When reports of his invasion went abroad.
Hindu temples and Muslim sacred spots went up in flames,
And princes cut to pieces with dust were mingled.
No Mughal by such spells was struck blind;
None by their spells was affected.1
Guru Nanak spoke boldly against the brutality of the invader,
influenced him with his words and let the people go scot-free
from his prison. This incident influenced Guru Nanak and
he realized the moral and spiritual degeneration of people:
Far from these is the abode of modesty and righteousness.
Saith Nanak: Falsehood everywhere is pervasive.2
Modesty and honour are nowhere in sight,
Nanak, falsehood prevails everywhere.3
The social, political and religious condition of the society
was pitiable and degenerated at the hands of invaders, rulers
and priestly class. People sought a liberator to save their
dignity and honour. At the moment of this political turmoil,
Guru Nanak came forward to save the masses from the brutalities
and injustice of the ruling and priestly classes. The religious
leaders are supposed to guide the people on the righteous
path to strengthen the moral and religious spirit. Qazi,
a Muslim Judge, interpreted according to the Islamic law;
Brahmin was a religious leader of the Hindus who performed
the social ceremonies according to Hindu texts; and Yogis,
persons who practiced Yoga, left the active social way of
life to exercise self-discipline as their goal of life.
Guru Nanak considered that these three bulwarks should guide
the masses on the righteous path of life but that all of
them had run away from their prime duty. He challenged the
people to come forward and sacrifice their life for the
sake of humanity and honour:
Shouldst thou seek to engage in the game of love,
Step into my street with thy head placed on thy palm;
While on to this stepping,
Ungrudgingly sacrifice your head.4
The successor Gurus worked to enlighten the masses on the
path shown by Guru Nanak. To live with dignity and honour,
Guru Arjun, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, sacrificed his
life at the hands of Mughal ruler, Emperor Jahangir. Subsequently
Guru Hargobind, the Sixth Guru of the Sikhs, realized that
to use force against tyranny and oppression of the ruling
class was not wrong. He directed his Sikhs to come at Guru-Darbar
with weapons and horses. Akal Takht, the throne of the Lord,
was built in front of Sri Harmandir Sahib and martial sports
started there. But Guru Hargobind used force in self-defence;
he fought four battles and defeated his enemies every time.
The time passed peacefully during the seventh and the eighth
Gurus. The tension started during the regime of Emperor
Aurangzeb who tried forcible conversion of Hindus to Islam.
Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, came forward
to save the dignity of the masses. He sacrificed his life
to save the spirit of religion and religious freedom for
one and all. After Guru Tegh Bahadur, the successor Guru
of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, tried to restore peace.
He declared the use of force as the last resort, against
the brutalities of the ruling class. He fought many battles
and came out victorious. The reason behind his triumphs
was that he had created a spirit of self-sacrifice, without
any selfish motive, for the righteous cause among his followers.
The untrained followers of the Guru fought against the disciplined
forces of the enemies. To enlighten this spirit of sacrifice
for the righteous cause forever, the Guru created the Khalsa.
Guru Gobind Singh gave a new turn to the Sikh society by
giving shape to the already existing theories, and emphasized
that Sikhs should adopt these in their practical life. The
new name or shape given by Guru Gobind Singh to the Sikh
sangat was creation of the Khalsa order. The Khalsa in itself
was made a model for spiritual and temporal purity and perfection.
Creation of Khalsa by the Guru was for the purpose of establishing
an order of righteous people who could fight against evil
and could maintain peace and justice.
There were some more reasons for the creation of Khalsa.
Mughals established their rule in India and, as a state
policy they tried to propagate Islam in this country. The
“Muslim rulers and their administrators, from highest
to the lowest, thought it their foremost duty to propagate
Islam and convert Hindus to Islam even at the point of sword.
Hindus were denied the liberty of conscience, expression
and worship.”5 Guru Gobind Singh in order to uproot
the tyrant rulers did not hesitate to use force. However
the sword of the Guru was the shield of the meek. This was
used in self-defence and to establish values in the society
as, in the views of Hari Ram Gupta, “only few and
rare persons can attain martyrdom who have to be the witness
of the ideals of what they live for and remain prepared
to die for them. However when ruthless rulers slaughter
masses they may not be called martyrs. These innocent masses
required to be protected. The natural consequence is militarization
of the people and giving them training in self-defence.”6
The people, who sacrificed their lives for the righteous
cause, are called martyrs. Guru Tegh Bahadur sacrificed
his life to protect the religious freedom of the Hindus
and achieved the status of martyrdom but that made “no
effect on the tyrant rulers. Guru Gobind Singh, therefore,
set himself against tyranny, injustice and intolerance and
raised his sword against evil doers in an organized manner.”7
The medieval period of Indian history is full of religious
dogmatism, hypocrisy, inequality and ritualism. The saints
and bhaktas of that time spoke boldly against these malpractices.
Sikh Gurus worked to liberate the masses from such superstitions
and compiled the hymns of the great saints into the Guru
Granth Sahib to create one powerful medium against hypocrites.
Guru Gobind Singh created Khalsa on March 30, 1699, the
first day of Baisakh month, and administered amrit to them.
This event is important in the history of the Sikhs. The
Guru demolished the barriers of caste, colour, creed and
geographical areas when he bestowed his grace upon Daya
Ram, a Khatri of Lahore, Dharam Das, a Jat (farmer) of Delhi,
Mohkam Chand, a washerman of Dwarka, Himmat Rai, a water
carrier at Jagannath, and Sahib Chand, a barber of Bidar.
The Khalsa was created out of the so-called lowly and downtrodden
people of that time. But after conversion, these people
were considered as the enlightened ones. The “Khalsa
was inspired by a sense of divine mission to right the wrongs
of the world; and in the discharge of his duties, no fear
of earthly power was to stand in his way.”8
Khalsa was not only a militant body; it was an organization
of pure ones to fight against the social inequalities and
social conflicts of the masses. Their main object was to
restore the religious, social and political values in the
society. Guru Gobind Singh organized Khalsa for victory
upon all types of evils. Under the leadership of Guru Gobind
Singh, Khalsa fought many battles and achieved success.
The purpose of his battles was not to have “territorial
expansion or assertion of political suzerainty, but for
preservation of human values and religious liberty (dharamyudh).
Moreover the true soldier does not pursue or torture the
enemy. He is generous in the treatment of his enemies and
war-prisoners.”9 Khalsa as a militant body is always
ready to stand against those who had been cruelly persecuting
the masses.
In all the battles, Guru Gobind Singh treated both Hindus
and Muslims alike. His volunteer, Bhai Kanhaiya used to
supply water to the wounded without any distinction of friend
or foe. This was an impact of Guru’s moral teaching
upon his Sikhs to treat everyone as the children of one
Supreme God. Treating all as equal in war, the Khalsa refutes
the theory of everything is fair in war. Guru fought the
battles not for personal reasons but to restore peace and
a sense of equality among the masses. He was “verily
a prophet of the people sixty years before Rousseau wrote
his Social Contract and over 150 years before Marx formulated
his manifesto. Guru Gobind Singh gave the most illuminating
reasons for turning against the proud and privileged classes
and espousing for the cause of the down-trodden, the cursed,
the enslaved, who for centuries had no place in religion,
no social freedom and no worthy place in society.”10
Guru Gobind Singh created Khalsa and defined his qualities
in one of his writings. In his view, the true Khalsa is
one “whose mind dwells night and day on the Ever-effulgent
Light and who gives not a moment’s thought to other
but the One, Who wears Perfect Love, with Faith, and believes
not even mistakenly in fasting, tombs, crematoriums, and
hermitages; nor he undertakes pilgrimages, nor customary
charities, nor a set code of self-discipline, and believes
in the One alone and not another. And when God’s Light
illumines perfectly in his heart, then is he known a Khalsa,
purest of the pure.”11 The Khalsa with these qualities
and characteristics crossed all the boundaries of caste,
colour, creed and geographical areas. Guru Gobind Singh
declared that all his victories were due to the help of
the Khalsa.
The purpose of Guru Nanak was to establish righteous conduct,
righteous rule and righteous way to reach God. He enlightened
this spirit in the form of a gurmukh, an ideal man in society,
further transformed to brahmgiani at the time of Guru Arjun
and arose to be Khalsa in the hands of Guru Gobind Singh.
This was a continuous and gradual process to transform the
society to fight for dignity and freedom of conscience.
References
1. Guru Granth Sahib, pp 417-18
2. Ibid, p 471
3. Ibid, p 722
4. Ibid, p 1412
5. Kapur Singh, Contribution of Guru Nanak, p 17
6. Hari Ram Gupta and Jagjit Singh, Militarization and Creation
of the Khalsa Holy Order in The Sikh Review, May 1988, p
11
7. Gurdev Singh Deol, Social and Political Philosophy of
Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, p 100
8. Teja Singh and Ganda Singh, A Short History of the Sikhs,
p 67
9. Gobind Singh Mansukhani and Dharamjit Singh, Guru Gobind
Singh - Cosmic Hero, p 27
10. Trilochan Singh, The Creative Genius of Guru Gobind
Singh in The Sikh Review, August 1967, p 53
11. Dasam Granth, Thirty-Three Swaiyyas, English rendering
by Dr Gopal Singh in Thus Spake the Tenth Master, p 131
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©Copyright Institute of Sikh Studies,
2007, All rights reserved.
