Tempo:
CHAP. Ill
SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND
dread appearance.
63
The goddess touched it in token of 1675-1708.
acceptance, and a divine weapon, an axe of iron, was seen amid the flames. The sign was declared to ba propitious, but fear had rendered the sacrifice incomplete, and Gobind must die himself, or devote to death one dear to him, to ensure the triumph of his faitn. The Guru smiled sadly; he said he had yet much to accomplish in this world, and that his father's spirit was still unappeased. He looked towards his children,
but maternal affection withdrew them: tvv'-enty-five disciples then sprang forward and declared their readiness to perish; one was gladdened by being chosen,
and the fates were satisfied.^ Gobind is next represented to have again assem- The prinbled his followers, and made known to them the great cipies inobjects of his mission. A new faith had been declared, cuicated by and henceforth the 'Khalsa'-, the saved or liberated,- *^°^',"^' should alone prevail. God must be worshipped in ^^^ truthfulness and sincerity, but no material resemblance ^^'^ forms must degrade the Omnipotent; the Lord could only be 00/^3' o^e beheld by the eye of faith in the general body of the Khalsa.'^ All, he said, must become as one; the lowest au men are were equal with the highest; caste must be forgotten; equal, they must accept the 'Pahul' or initiation from him,'* ^"^"^^^^^^f^^^ be contemand the four races must eat as one out of one vessel ned, and The Turks must be destroyed, and the graves of those called saints neglected. The ways of the Hindus must 1 This legend is given with several variations, and one may be seen in Malcolm (Sketch, p. 53, note) and another in Macgregor's History of the Sikhs (i. 71). Perhaps the true origin of the myth is to be found in Gobind's reputed vision during sleep of the great goddess. (Malcolm, p. 187.) The occurrence is placed in the year a.d. 1696. (Malcolm, Sketch, p. 86.) 2 Khalsa, or Khalisa, is of Arabic derivation, and has such original or secondary meanings as pure, special, free, &c. It is commonly used in India to denote the immediate territories of any chief or state as distinguished from the lands of tributaries and feudal followers. Khalsa can thus be held either to denote the kingdom of Gobind, or that the Sikhs are the chosen people. This assurance is given in the Rehet Nameh, or Rule of Life of Gobind, which, however, is not included in the Granth. In the same composition he says, or is held to have said, that •"'
the believer the Khalsa.
who wishes to see the Guru shall behold him in
Those who object to such similitudes, or to such struggles of
t^ mind after precision, should remember that Abelard
likened the Trinity to a syllogism with its three terms; and that Wallis, with admitted orthodoxy, compared the Godhead to a mathematical cube with its three dimensions. (Bayle's Dictionary, art. 'Abelard'.) 4
gate,
same
Pahul (pronounced nearly as Fowl), means literally a a door, and thence initiation. The word may have the origin as the Greek word.
SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND
dread appearance.
63
The goddess touched it in token of 1675-1708.
acceptance, and a divine weapon, an axe of iron, was seen amid the flames. The sign was declared to ba propitious, but fear had rendered the sacrifice incomplete, and Gobind must die himself, or devote to death one dear to him, to ensure the triumph of his faitn. The Guru smiled sadly; he said he had yet much to accomplish in this world, and that his father's spirit was still unappeased. He looked towards his children,
but maternal affection withdrew them: tvv'-enty-five disciples then sprang forward and declared their readiness to perish; one was gladdened by being chosen,
and the fates were satisfied.^ Gobind is next represented to have again assem- The prinbled his followers, and made known to them the great cipies inobjects of his mission. A new faith had been declared, cuicated by and henceforth the 'Khalsa'-, the saved or liberated,- *^°^',"^' should alone prevail. God must be worshipped in ^^^ truthfulness and sincerity, but no material resemblance ^^'^ forms must degrade the Omnipotent; the Lord could only be 00/^3' o^e beheld by the eye of faith in the general body of the Khalsa.'^ All, he said, must become as one; the lowest au men are were equal with the highest; caste must be forgotten; equal, they must accept the 'Pahul' or initiation from him,'* ^"^"^^^^^^f^^^ be contemand the four races must eat as one out of one vessel ned, and The Turks must be destroyed, and the graves of those called saints neglected. The ways of the Hindus must 1 This legend is given with several variations, and one may be seen in Malcolm (Sketch, p. 53, note) and another in Macgregor's History of the Sikhs (i. 71). Perhaps the true origin of the myth is to be found in Gobind's reputed vision during sleep of the great goddess. (Malcolm, p. 187.) The occurrence is placed in the year a.d. 1696. (Malcolm, Sketch, p. 86.) 2 Khalsa, or Khalisa, is of Arabic derivation, and has such original or secondary meanings as pure, special, free, &c. It is commonly used in India to denote the immediate territories of any chief or state as distinguished from the lands of tributaries and feudal followers. Khalsa can thus be held either to denote the kingdom of Gobind, or that the Sikhs are the chosen people. This assurance is given in the Rehet Nameh, or Rule of Life of Gobind, which, however, is not included in the Granth. In the same composition he says, or is held to have said, that •"'
the believer the Khalsa.
who wishes to see the Guru shall behold him in
Those who object to such similitudes, or to such struggles of
t^ mind after precision, should remember that Abelard
likened the Trinity to a syllogism with its three terms; and that Wallis, with admitted orthodoxy, compared the Godhead to a mathematical cube with its three dimensions. (Bayle's Dictionary, art. 'Abelard'.) 4
gate,
same
Pahul (pronounced nearly as Fowl), means literally a a door, and thence initiation. The word may have the origin as the Greek word.
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