Assignment-1

on Sikhism

submitted by:
Sneha Sindhi 10mba052 Monali patil 10MBA097

Submitted to:
Ms. Sehnaz immam

Who and What is a Sikh?

The word 'Sikh' in the Punjabi language means 'disciple', Sikhs are the disciples of God who follow the writings and teachings of the Ten Sikh Gurus. The wisdom of these teachings in Sri Guru Granth Sahib are practical and universal in their appeal to all mankind. "I observe neither Hindu fasting nor the ritual of the Muslim Ramadan month; Him I serve who at the last shall save. The Lord of universe of the Hindus, Gosain and Allah to me are one; From Hindus and Muslims have I broken free. I perform neither Kaaba pilgrimage nor at bathing spots worship; One sole Lord I serve, and no other. I perform neither the Hindu worship nor the Muslim prayer; To the Sole Formless Lord in my heart I bow. We neither are Hindus nor Muslims; Our body and life belong to the One Supreme Being who alone is both Ram and Allah for us." (Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Granth Sahib, Raga Bhairon pg. 1136) "Any human being who faithfully believes in: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
(v)

One Immortal Being, Ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh, The Guru Granth Sahib, The utterances and teachings of the ten Gurus and, the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru, and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion is a Sikh." (Rehat Maryada, Sikh Code of Conduct)

About 2% of India's population are Sikhs. Even so, the Sikhs, because of their unique appearance sometimes stand for India. Traditionally the men keep their hair and do not shave their beard or moustache. They gather their head hair in a turban. Sikhism is comparatively a new religion in India. This religion was established by Guru Nanak. Nanak was born into a Hindu family in 1469 in the Punjab region. Since childhood he loved to travel, learn and preach humanity. Guru Nanak developed a new religion and it also included beliefs from the two dominant religions in the Punjab region, Hinduism and Islam. In Islam the belief in the existence of one

invisible God and in Hinduism the belief in Karma and reincarnation, meaning your actions in this life will decide your fate in the next incarnation. The creators of Sikhism tried to abolish some of the Indian customs such as the caste system and Sati - burning of the widow. In Sikhism everyone has equal rights irrespective of caste, creed, colour, race, sex or religion. Sikhism rejects pilgrimage, fasting, superstitions and other such rituals. A Sikh place of worship is called Gurdwara. Sikhism does not support pilgrimage to holy sites because according to Sikhism, God is everywhere and not in any certain place. But Sikhism has a few important sites, of which, the Hari Mandir, also known as the 'Golden Temple' in Amritsar in Punjab is the most important site and is considered the holiest shrine of Sikhism. One of the distinct features of Sikhism is the common kitchen called Langar. In every Gurdwara there is a Langar. Every Sikh is supposed to contribute in preparing the meals in the free kitchen. The meals are served to all and are eaten sitting on the floor and this is to emphasis the point that all are equals. Sikhism does not believe in holding fasts for body is God's present to human being and therefore humans must foster, maintain and preserve it in good sound condition, unless fasting is done to foster the human body like healthy diets. Guru Nanak who established Sikhism was its first Guru. After him there were nine more Gurus who were the highest religious authority. The last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, proclaimed that after him the Guru of the Sikhs would be the holy book of Sikhism, Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurumukhi script. It includes the writings of the Sikh Gurus and the writings of Hindu and Muslims saints. Guru Gobind Singh is also the Guru behind the unique appearance of Sikh men. During Guru Gobind's term as the Guru of the Sikhs and also before him, the ruling empire of Punjab region was the Moghul Empire. The Moghuls were Muslims. Some of the Moghul emperors, like Aurangazeb were fanatic Muslims who harassed the non- Muslims, including the Sikhs. In order to stop their persecutions, Guru Gobind decided to make his followers, the Sikhs, a community of fighters. He changed his surname to Singh, which means lion. His followers also changed their surname to Singh. Since then a ceremony of baptizing was established among the Sikhs in which the boys were given the title Singh and the girls were titled Kaur meaning princess. In those days "Singh" as a surname was very popular among a famous warrior caste of north India, the Rajputs. Some of the first Sikhs were also Rajputs. The emphasis on militant tradition and community service in Sikhism continues even today and many Sikhs serve in the Indian army or police. The Sikhs also have a reputation as experts in steering, from cars to airplanes. They were among the first communities in India who dared to drive vehicles specially lorries. India being a vast country needed drivers who could also travel at nights. But many Indians believed in superstitions like ghosts and haunted places, while the Sikhs rejected these kinds of beliefs and therefore traveled at nights, since then their reputation as steering masters of India.

Major Principles of Sikhism

Believe in only One Almighty God. Salvation can only be attained by meditating on God. All human races are equal. Women have equal status and equal rights. Keep diet simple and vegetarian. Not to cut hair.
Not to believe in superstitions.

Beliefs of Sikhism

There is only One God. He is the same God for all people of all religions.

The soul goes through cycles of births and deaths before it reaches the human form. The goal of our life is to lead an exemplary existence so that one may merge with God. Sikhs should remember God at all times and practice living a virtuous and truthful life while maintaining a balance between their spiritual obligations and temporal obligations.

The true path to achieving salvation and merging with God does not require renunciation of the world or celibacy, but living the life of a householder, earning a honest living and avoiding worldly temptations and sins.

Sikhism condemns blind rituals such as fasting, visiting places of pilgrimage, superstitions, worship of the dead, idol worship etc.

Sikhism preaches that people of different races, religions, or sex are all equal in the eyes of God. It teaches the full equality of men and women. Women can participate in any religious function or perform any Sikh ceremony or lead the congregation in prayer.

Sikh Religious Philosophy

There is only one God, he is the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer.
"You are the Creator, O Lord, the Unknowable. You created the Universe of diverse kinds, colours and qualities. You know your own Creation. All this is your Play." (Guru Nanak, Var Majh) "The Formless Supreme Being abides in the Realm of Eternity. Over His creation He casts His glance of grace. In that Realm are contained all the continents and the universes, Exceeding in number all count. Of creation worlds upon worlds abide therein; All obedient to His will; He watches over them in bliss, And has each constantly in mind." (Guru Nanak, Japji)

God cannot take human form.

"He neither has father, nor mother, nor sons nor brothers." (Guru Nanak, Maru) "Burnt be the mouth that asserts, the Lord takes birth. He is neither born nor dies; neither enters birth nor departs. All pervasive is Nanaks Lord." (Guru Arjan Dev, Raga Bhairon)

The five cardinal vices are; Kam (lust), Krodh (anger), Lobh (greed), Moh (worldly attachment) and Ahankar (pride). If one can overcome these, they will achieve salvation.
"Five thieves who live within this body are lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego. They rob us of ambrosia, but the egocentrics do not understand it and no one listens to their cries" (Guru Amar Das, Sorath) "I am in the Refuge of the Lord; Bless me, O Lord with your Grace, so that the lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego may be destroyed" (Guru Arjan Dev, Gauri Sukhmani)

Narm Marg; emphasizes daily devotion to the remembrance of God.

"Meditation of the Lord is the highest of the deeds, through which myriads obtain release, through which the thirst (of desires) is quenched, through which one becomes all knowing, through which the fear of death goes away, through which all the desires are fulfilled, through

which the dirt of the mind is cleansed and the Nectar of the Name of God is absorbed in the mind" (Guru Nanak, Gauri Sukhmani)

The Sikh Holy Book (Guru Granth Sahib) is the perpetual Guru, there is no place in Sikhism for a living Guru today.
"The bani is the preceptor and the preceptor is the bani, All the nectars are present in the bani: If the faithful follows the bani of the preceptor, The preceptor himself helps him in the realisation of his ideal." (Guru Ram Das, Nat)

Sikhism rejects all distinctions of caste, creed, race or sex.

"All are created from the seed of God. There is the same clay in the whole world, the potter (God) makes many kinds of pots." (Guru Amar Das, Bhairo) "Recognise the light (of God) and do not ask for the caste, There is no caste in the next world." (Guru Nanak, Asa)

Religious Festivals :A Sikh can worship at any time of the day or night but the expected prayer times are before sunrise and sunset and prior to going to bed at night. Generally a Sikh meditates ('Simran') on the Name of God by reciting His Name (the Magnifi cent Lord, Waheguru) even while working. Each year there are a number of Sikh festivals, called Gurpurbs, i.e. associated with the birth and death anniversaries of the Gurus. These include: The birthdays of the ten Sikh Gurus. The birthdays of Guru Nanak Dev Ji (first Guru) and Guru Gobind Singh Ji (tenth Guru) and the martyrdom days of the 5th and the 9th gurus are particularly significant. On these occasions Sikhs practise the 'Akhand Path' the continuous (48 hrs) reading of the Granth Sahib. The celebration of the five Sikhs baptized by the tenth Guru Gobind Singh. This is known as advent day of Khalsa, ('Baisakhi'). This is also a special day that signifies the start of wheat harvesting season and marks the Sikh New Years Day.

Sikh people
Worldwide, Sikhs number more than 23 million, but more than 90% of Sikhs live in the Indian state of Punjab, where they are close to 65% of the population. Large communities of Sikhs live in the neighbouring states, and large communities of Sikhs can be found across India. However, Sikhs are only about 2% of the Indian population. Migration beginning from the 19th century led to the creation of significant communities in Canada (Brampton & Malton, Ontario; Surrey, British Columbia), the United Kingdom, the Middle East, East Africa, Southeast Asia and more recently, the United States, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Sikh population by each Indian state :# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 State Andaman & Nicobar Islands Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chandigarh Chhattisgarh Dadra & Nagar Haveli Daman & Diu Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Lakshadweep Madhya Pradesh Maharastra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Pondicherry Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Total 1,587 30,998 1,865 22,519 20,780 145,175 69,621 123 145 555,602 970 45,587 1,170,662 72,355 207,154 83,358 15,326 2,762 6 150,772 215,337 1,653 3,110 326 1,152 17,492 108 14,592,387 818,420 1,176 9,545 Males 873 17,264 1,475 13,508 11,057 76,000 36,662 96 92 288,675 590 24,987 618,558 38,118 114,524 45,348 8,811 1,611 6 80,122 117,736 1,091 1,810 251 774 9,448 70 7,692,776 432,534 1,061 5,515 Females 714 13,734 390 9,011 9,723 69,175 32,959 27 53 266,927 380 20,600 552,104 34,237 92,630 38,010 6,515 1,151 0 70,650 97,601 562 1,300 75 378 8,044 38 6,899,611 385,886 115 4,030

# 32 33 34 35

State Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttaranchal West Bengal

Total 1,182 678,059 212,025 66,391

Males 1,074 361,320 111,723 36,738

Females 108 316,739 100,302 29,653

Impact of Sikhism on Indian Society

Two factors helped the growth of nationalism in India: birth of the Khalsa in the late seventeenth century and the influence of Western system of education introduced by the English during forties of nineteenth century. Both have their distinct contribution to the transformation of India society. Sikhism released the soul of people from superstitions. Once the human mind becomes free it endeavors to break all shackles of social domination, political discrimination and economic exploitation. The new order in fact marked the growth of nationalism in India. For the first time people forget their castes, felt a sense of brotherhood, realized their obligation towards society, repelled the external aggression and forged themselves into a disciplined society. Upto then who-so-ever had invaded India from north-west trampled this land easily, ransacked religious places, dishonoured women and humiliated her people. But after birth of the Khalsa the tide turned its course. Not only the foreign aggression was beaten back, but the Indians reestablished their supremacy upto Peshawar. Sikh soldiers became proverbial for bravery and self-restraint. People in the Punjab enjoyed religious equality, political stability and economic security under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1799-1839) for the first time after centuries of foreign domination. Natural calamities and political upheavals have failed to demoralize people of Punjab. No scar of the holocaust of partition is visible anywhere. Though more than four million people got uprooted in 1947 and a greater part of fertile lands fell to the share of West Pakistan, yet in a brief period of twenty years, Punjab again became the granary of India by 1966. No dislocated person took to begging. There is no field of national activity in which Punjab may not be in the vanguard.

It was people of Punjab who kept the head of India high during the Indo-Pak conflict of 1965. Every Punjabi child, woman and man proved true to the Sikh tradition: He who chooses the path of Love must be ready to walk through death. (Guru Arjun Dev)