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Arsh Kataria

2013-02-0503.

Asma Aftab (Sec:8)

25 February, 2010

History of Sikhism

“Sikhism is a way of life and philosophy well ahead of its time. It preaches a

message of devotion and remembrance of God at all times, practice truthful living,

equality of mankind, social justice and denounces superstitions and blind rituals This is

the vision and promise of the Sikh way of life”

(qtd.in bloggersbuzz.blogspot )

“No one is my enemy

No one is my foreigner

With all I am at piece

God within us renders us

Incapable of hate and prejudice”

(Guru Nanak Dev ji)

The Sikh religion today has a following of over 30 million people worldwide. It

was originated with Guru Nanak (1469-1538) who was born in the village of Talwandi,

now called Nankana Sahib. From his early childhood he made his way to the sacred

teachings and respected everyone who had a deep love for God. His teachings are

revealed in the "Siri Guru Granth Sahib." (Sikh holy scripture) (sikhnet.com) .This holy
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book contains the work of ten Gurus together with Muslim writings. Guru Nanak was the

strict follower of monotheism. He spread the message of “ek onkar” which means there is

but one God.

Each and every occasion of his life demonstrated that Nanak’s soul was connected

to the love of his creator. When he was at the age of thirteen, he was due to be invested

with the traditional Hindu thread which was supposed as the sign of protection. But Guru

Nanak rejected this idea and said that he would remind his heart the true name of God as

protection. He sang these words: “Let mercy be the cotton, contentment the thread,

continence the knot and truth the twist” (“Sikhism”, 4). One day Nanak disappeared after

going down to the river. His family members thought that he had drowned but everyone

was amazed when he reappeared after three days. There was a major change in his act.

He was spiritually transformed. He left all his possessions. He uttered these memorable

words: “There is no Hindu no Muslim” (“Sikhism”, 5) when asked by a Muslim to

explain this he said: “Let God’s grace be the mosque, and devotion the prayer mat .Let

the Qur’an be good conduct” (“Sikhism”, 5)

Guru Nanak spent the last days of his life in Kartarpur. Here he introduced the

concept of common kitchen , referred as Langar in Sikhism, for the poor and needy. After

appointing Bhai Lehna (his devoted follower) as new Sikh Guru, he met with his demise

on 22 September 1539 at the age of seventy.

Guru Angad Dev previously called as Bhai Lehna carried forward the principles

of Guru Nanak and was instated as second Nanak. His immense love for the Sikhism

impressed the saints of that time. He introduced a new alphabet known as Gurmukhi

script by modifying the Punjabi script. He wrote sixty three sloks (stanzas) which are
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included in Guru Granth Sahib. He collected the facts about Guru Nanak from Bhai Bala,

a companion of Guru Nanak, and wrote the first Biography of Guru Nanak which is now

called as Sakhi.

Guru Amar Das became the third Guru of Sikhism. It is said that before becoming

a Sikh, Amar Das was a profound religious person and spent most of his time performing

religious activities. One day when he heard the hymns of Guru Nanak, he was so

captivated by these mystical Shabads (hymns) that he immediately decided to be the

follower of Sikhism. Soon he became involved in the service of humanity and extending

the Guru Nanak’s mission. He was strictly against the poor practices such as Sati and

protected the rights of women in their social life.

The most famous Sikh pilgrimage center, Siri Harmander Sahib (Golden temple)

in Amritsar, was made by Guru Ram Das Sahib. (Fifth Guru) The foundation stone of

this place was laid by Mian Mir of Lahore. Additionally, “he was the author of Laava, the

hymns of the Marriage Rites “(“Guru Ram Das”.Freebase.com)

The youngest son of Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan Dev was appointed as the fifth

Guru of Sikhs. He was an aspiring personality and was called as “Sacha Patshah” (True

king) by his followers. For the followers of Sikhism, he did a great work of compiling the

rymns of first four Gurus and many other Muslims and Hindu Saints. The collection was

called to be as Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Granth Sahib is the Universal to all mankind.

Writings of 15 Bhagats are compiled in Guru Granth Sahib. All of them belong to

different religions, castes and backgrounds. Guru Arjan himself contributed about 2000

verses for it and installed it in Siri Harmandar Sahib.

Guru Har Gobind Singh and Guru Har Rai Sahib were the sixth and seventh Guru

of Sikhism respectively. At the age of thirty one, Guru Har Rai Sahib nominated his

younger son Sri Har Kirshan as the next Guru of Sikhism who was only five years old at

that time. It is said that Guru Har Kirshan cured number of people just by touching their

hands. Tenth Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib paying tribute to Guru Harkrishan Sahib

stated in "Var Sri Bhagoti Ji Ki"... "Let us think of the holy Harkrishan, Whose sight

dispels all sorrows." (“Ten gurus”, spgc.net)

Guru Tegh Bahadur (Ninth Guru) composed Salok Mahala 9 (a verse) which is

included in the Guru Granth Sahib at its end. His son Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth

Guru. This was the period when Sikh nation was transformed into a particular defensive

body called Khalsa Panth.

In his last hours he ordered the whole Sikh nation to consider the Guru Granth

Sahib as the last, living and eternal Guru. Today Sikh nation try to look for the answer to

the questions:"Who am I, and what am I here for?”(Introduction to Sikhism) from the

sacred teachings of their beloved Guru, Guru Granth Sahib. A Singh once said, “300 year

before today, there were many kings, who sat in thrones. But where are those kings

today? Fans were waived over their heads. In my lifetime, I have only seen one such king

who was king 300 year ago, and who is still king today. That king is Guru Granth Sahib.

Do we listen to what he says to us? Respect him as such. Learn what he is telling us”

(Bhai Parminder Singh)

Work cited page

"Sikhism's Golden Temple Welcomes All Religions." Web log post. It's A Small World

. NASA graphic, 4 Oct. 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2010

. <http://thebloggersbuzz.blogspot.com/2009/10/sikhisms-golden-temple-

welcomes-all.html>.

Guru Ram Das." Freebase. 9 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.

<http://www.freebase.com/view/en/guru_ram_das>.

Geoff, Teece. Sikhism-religion in focus. U.s: Smart apple media, 2003. Ser. 2. Google.

Web. 21 Feb. 2010.

<http://books.google.com.pk/books?

id=kJO1WIABhPQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sikhism&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&

f=false>.

Introduction to Sikhism." Sikhnet. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.

<http://www.sikhnet.com/pages/introduction-sikhism>.

"Ten gurus." SPGC. Shiromani Gurdawara parbandak committee. Web. 21 Feb. 2010.

<http://www.sgpc.net/gurus/guruharkrishan.asp>.
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