Tempo:
— CHAP. Ill
SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND
65
Gobind then poured water into a vessel and stirred it 1675-1708. with the sacrificial axe, or with the sword rendered divine by the touch of the goddess. His wife passed by, as it were by chance, bearing confections of five kinds: he hailed the omen as propitious, for the coming of woman denoted an offspring to the Khalsa numerous as the leaves of the forest. He mingled the The Pahul sugars with the water, and then sprinkled a portion of or initiafive faithful disciples, a Brahman, a Kshattriya. tion of the rect of He hailed them as 'Singhs', and Singhs declared them to be the Khalsa. He himself received from them the Tahul' of his faith, and became Gobind Singh, saying, that hereafter, whenever five Sikhs should be assembled together, there he also would be it .upon
and three Sudras.
present.^
Gobind thus abolished social distinctions,- and took The visible
away from his followers each ancient solace of super- distinct, ons
of Sikhs or
but he felt that he must engage the heart as Singhs. well as satisfy the reason, and that he must give the Sikhs some common bonds of union which should remind the weak of their new life, and add fervour to stition;
In allusion to the design of inspiring the Hindus with a new Gobind is reported to have said that he 'would teach the sparrow to strike the eagle.' (See Malcolm, Sketch, p. 74, where it is used with reference to Aurangzeb, but the saying is attributed to Gobind under various circumstances by different life,
authors.) 1 The Brahman novitiate is stated to have been an inhabitant of the Deccan, and the Kshattriya of the Punjab; one Sudra, a Jhinwar (Kahar), was of Jaganath, the second, a Jat, was of Hastinapur, and the third, a Chhimba or cloth printer, was of Dwarka in Gujrat. For the declaration about five Sikhs forming a congregation, or about the assembly of five men ensuring the presence or the grace of the Guru, cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 186. [Five is also the number of the necessary attributes of the true follower of Gobind Singh, viz. Kes, Khanda, Kangha, Kara, Kach long hair, dagger, comb, bangle, breeches. Ed.] Gobind had originally the cognomen, or titular name, of 'Rai', one in common use among Hindus, and largely adopted under the variation of 'Rao' by the military Marathas; but on declaring the comprehensive nature of his reform, the Guru adopted for himself and followers the distinctive appellation of 'Singh', meaning literally a lion,. and metaphorically a champion or warrior. It is the most common of the distinctive names in use among Rajputs, and it is now the invariable termination of every proper name among the disciples of Gobind. It is sometimes used alone, as Khan is used among the Muhammadans, to denote pre-eminence. Thus Sikh chiefs would talk of Ranjit Singh, as ordinary Sikhs will talk of their own immediate leaders, as the 'Singh Sahib', almost equivalent to 'Sir King', or 'Sir Knight', in English. Strangers likewise often address any Sikh respectfully as 'Singhji'.
—
-
See Appendix X.
SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND
65
Gobind then poured water into a vessel and stirred it 1675-1708. with the sacrificial axe, or with the sword rendered divine by the touch of the goddess. His wife passed by, as it were by chance, bearing confections of five kinds: he hailed the omen as propitious, for the coming of woman denoted an offspring to the Khalsa numerous as the leaves of the forest. He mingled the The Pahul sugars with the water, and then sprinkled a portion of or initiafive faithful disciples, a Brahman, a Kshattriya. tion of the rect of He hailed them as 'Singhs', and Singhs declared them to be the Khalsa. He himself received from them the Tahul' of his faith, and became Gobind Singh, saying, that hereafter, whenever five Sikhs should be assembled together, there he also would be it .upon
and three Sudras.
present.^
Gobind thus abolished social distinctions,- and took The visible
away from his followers each ancient solace of super- distinct, ons
of Sikhs or
but he felt that he must engage the heart as Singhs. well as satisfy the reason, and that he must give the Sikhs some common bonds of union which should remind the weak of their new life, and add fervour to stition;
In allusion to the design of inspiring the Hindus with a new Gobind is reported to have said that he 'would teach the sparrow to strike the eagle.' (See Malcolm, Sketch, p. 74, where it is used with reference to Aurangzeb, but the saying is attributed to Gobind under various circumstances by different life,
authors.) 1 The Brahman novitiate is stated to have been an inhabitant of the Deccan, and the Kshattriya of the Punjab; one Sudra, a Jhinwar (Kahar), was of Jaganath, the second, a Jat, was of Hastinapur, and the third, a Chhimba or cloth printer, was of Dwarka in Gujrat. For the declaration about five Sikhs forming a congregation, or about the assembly of five men ensuring the presence or the grace of the Guru, cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 186. [Five is also the number of the necessary attributes of the true follower of Gobind Singh, viz. Kes, Khanda, Kangha, Kara, Kach long hair, dagger, comb, bangle, breeches. Ed.] Gobind had originally the cognomen, or titular name, of 'Rai', one in common use among Hindus, and largely adopted under the variation of 'Rao' by the military Marathas; but on declaring the comprehensive nature of his reform, the Guru adopted for himself and followers the distinctive appellation of 'Singh', meaning literally a lion,. and metaphorically a champion or warrior. It is the most common of the distinctive names in use among Rajputs, and it is now the invariable termination of every proper name among the disciples of Gobind. It is sometimes used alone, as Khan is used among the Muhammadans, to denote pre-eminence. Thus Sikh chiefs would talk of Ranjit Singh, as ordinary Sikhs will talk of their own immediate leaders, as the 'Singh Sahib', almost equivalent to 'Sir King', or 'Sir Knight', in English. Strangers likewise often address any Sikh respectfully as 'Singhji'.
—
-
See Appendix X.
©
2026
Lehal.net