In this article, we are going to enlighten the readers on how the newest religion, ‘Sikhi’ commonly known as ‘Sikhism’ has evolved depending on the need of the times. What made the ‘panth’ of Baba Nanak (a saintly soul), follow the path of a soldier which led to a large number of Sikhs still playing major roles in the Indian army. Firstly, we will learn about the core mantra of Sikhism: The Mool Mantra.

“Ik Oankar, Satnam, Karta purakh , Nirbhao, Nirvair, Akal murat, Ajuni, Saibhang , Gurparsad.”

I know that I don’t stand a chance at understanding, let alone explaining the words of Guru Nanak, But , here I will try to simplify this holy mantra on the basis of what I have learnt till now from my mother and a lot of religious people. Note that here, the word ‘God’ does not signify the supreme human leader of any faith. For Sikhs, God is the energy that keeps the world going “The Akaal purakh”.

• Ik Oankar : God (Akal Purakh) is one.
• Satnam : His name is true
• Karta purakh : He is the doer of everything.
• Nirbhao : He does not fear anything.
• Nirvair : He has no enemy or rival.
• Akal murat : He is an “Eternal being” . i.e. Time has no effect on him. He was and will always be present.
• Ajuni : He does not belong to any ‘joon’ (Species).
• Saibhang : He is self existent( Beyond birth and death).
• Gurparsad : One can know him only with the blessings and teachings of a Guru (teacher).

This is the foundation on which the Sikhism is standing still. I hope that by now, you are a little bit aware about the fact that Sikhism does only believe in one power that is present amongst all of us and by proper knowledge and skills, we can all get access to it. Now , as according to the mool mantra, we learn everything only from our Guru. To do so, we have to understand the basic ideology of our Gurus. 

1. Guru Nanak dev ji: One-ness of God.

He was the first Guru and the founder of Sikhism. He was born on April 15th , 1469. His parents were Mehta Kallu ji and Mata Tripta ji. He had an older sister , Bibi Nanki ji. Baba Nanak was born with a thought process that was way advanced from his time. There are so many inspiring incidents that happened in his life that if I start telling them all, even a book would not be enough to cover them . So, here I am narrating some of the incidents that altered the future generations:

• During a time when caste equality was not even a thought, He fought for equal rights at an age as young as 9 years. Despite of being born in a KHATRI house hold, He refused to wear the JANEYU. He argued that, if I deserve to wear it , then why not my other fellow mates do, who apparently belonged to lower classes.
• At the age of twenty, Mehta kallu ji gave Rs. 20/- to Guru Nanak and told him to go and do some trade( Sauda). Baba Nanak, as a pure soul he was, used that money to feed some hungry sadus. On hearing this, his father was so filled with anger that he even slapped him. But he never knew that those 20 rupees were an investment towards humanity. An investment, whose interest is still feeding a large number of hungry souls. It was a true trade, ‘The Sacha Sauda’.
• Traveling is Life: By the year 1500, Baba Nanak had met Bhai Mardana ji and using his skills of ‘Rabab’ (a musical instrument) they both used to enlighten the public in nearby areas to stand for their rights and taught them the difference between belief and blind faith. Now, it was time to spread the word to a wider audience. To do so, it was necessary to travel. In the year 1500, Baba Nanak, along with Bhai Mardana started his first Udasi (Trip). He travelled from sultanpur to talwandi to inform his parents and wife about his decision to travel. He went on four Udasis (trips) in all and spread his knowledge to as many parts of world as possible. He travelled for twenty years covering the regions from India, Nepal,china, Pakistan and Afganistan to the countries of UAE.

He taught us about the need to fight for our rights. He taught us about the sciences , he taught us that no human God had the power to run this world. And most importantly he never wanted to confine sikhi (his teachings) to stay confined within the borders of a Nation.

2. Shri Guru Angad Dev ji – Importance of education.

• While Guru Nanak dev ji taught about the one-ness of God, Our second Guru, wanted to put emphasis on education. He was so far sighted that he recognized the need of education decades before it actually started reflecting in the day to day lives of the people.
• From being a follower of a Hindu Goddess, to being a follower of Baba Nanak and then becoming the second guru of Sikhs, He knew the importance that education had.
• Also, he knew that , to make the future generations understand the thoughts of their Guru, it was needed to have a written language that was difficult to alter by the others. So, he provided the script of Punjabi (which was only a verbal language back then) . He named that script “The Gurmukhi”.

3. Shri Guru Amardas ji – Importance of an administration and women’s rights.

• Guru Amardas ji was a firm believer of Sikhism. He was 73 years old when he got the throne of the third Guru of Sikhism. He was the one that made it mandatory to have langar before entering the darbar to meet the Guru even till date. He told us to follow the rule “Pehle Pangat paachhe sangat”. Which means, to sit in a row irrespective of castes, religion, race, gender and eat the langar before entering the Gurdwara and joining the ‘sangat’. Even the Mughal ruler Akbar had to follow this rule.
• Guru Amardas ji also Faught against the sati pratha and argued that the death of her husband is not the fault of a woman and she does not deserved to be punished for that. Also, he launched an administrative structure for Sikhism and made Goindwal sahib the center of all the religious affairs.  

4. Shri Guru Ramdas ji: Representative of selfless service.

• The fourth Guru, Guru Ramdas ji was the son-in-law of Guru Amardas ji. He was the preacher of selfless service “Seva”. He developed the ‘Amritsar’ the sarovar (water body) of Gurudwara Harmandir sahib (The Golden temple), which was open to all. He himself carried the soil for the sarovar on his head. And introduced the concept of Kaar sewa: The act of participating in the construction process selflessly. Even the Mughals and the Maratha rulers were influenced by his thoughts.

5. Guru Arjan dev ji: The first human sacrifice of Sikhism.

• By the time of the fifth Guru, the Mughals had gained a lot of power in India. At the time of Guru Arjan Dev ji, Jahangir was the emperor of Mughal empire . As, the Sikhism grew, he became, more and more afraid for his own throne. Also, Guru Arjan dev ji was the second son of Guru Ramdas ji, the elder son was Pirithi chand. Commonly known as ‘Prithiya’. He did not had the qualities a Guru should have, therefore, he did not get to become the next Guru. That’s what made him furious . Also, there was a person named Chandu, who wanted the Guru’s son (Guru Hargobind ji) to marry his daughter. But, the Guru refused his proposal. So, all these people along with Birbal, the adviser of Jahangir, decided to execute the guru or make him convert to their faith.
• They captured the guru and held him captive for days and made him undergo the worst forms of tortures. The Guru was sat down on a big hot plate and hot sand was poured on his body . This torture continued for five days and he was constantly being asked to convert to islam and save himself. But, he refused to give up and kept reciting the word of Guru Nanak. At last, his body was thrown in the River Ravi from where he joined the eternal being, ‘The Akal purakh’.
• Guru Arjan dev ji also built the building of harmandir sahib . He made the muslim saint : Sai mia mir ji lay the founding stones of the building which has four gates which represented that the place was open for people of all faiths.Also, he compiled the aad Granth which contained the teachings of all the first five gurus and many more nonsikh saints like Kabir ji, Farid ji and Ravidas ji.

Now, we have seen that how the first five Gurus were Saints and taught us about the acts of public service and sacrifices. But,as we can see , the oppression of the people in power had started , it became necessary for us to gain control and learn to use weapons in our defence .

6. Guru Hargobind ji: THE FIRST SAINT SOLDIER.

Guru Hargobind ji was the son of Guru Arjan dev ji. After the sacrifice of his father, he exactly got the message which his father wanted to teach to all the Sikhs. He knew that now, it was high time that the Sikhs learn to defend themselves and be able to fight as an army.

• He was Seven foot tall and a man of great built. He himself carried two swords: one named ‘miri’ which signified the soldier in him, and the other named ‘Piri’ which was the symbol of the saintly spirit he still had. He fought Four wars and won them all. But he never used the sword of Piri.
•  He was also captured by Jahangir along with 52 other kings. But, with the help of his skills, he managed to get out and also freed the others. The day he came back is known as the ‘Bandhi Chhor diwas’.

7. Guru Har Rai Ji: The importance of nature.

Guru Har Rai ji was the grandson of Guru Hargobind ji. He is still known for his love for plants. He encouraged the Sikhs to love the nature and plant more and more trees.

8. Guru Harkrishan ji : Wisdom and care.

Guru Harkrishan ji (son of guru Har rai ji )was five years old when he became the eighth guru of Sikhs. He is known for his wisdom. At so young age, he used to recite and preach the words of gurus.

• On an invitation from Aurangzeb, the contemporary Mughal emperor, He came to delhi and stayed at the house of Raja Jai singh. This place is now known as Gurudwara Banglasahib. He made the emperor wait outside the place because he understood his intentions.
• Also,when he reached delhi, a deadly disease was spread amongst the people. He served the patients and helped to heal them which resulted in him himself getting infected and later leaving the world.
• His last words were ‘ Baba Bakale’ which meant the next guru is in Bakala.

9. Guru Tegh Bahadur ji: Human rights.

• After the death of the eight Guru, many people, in the greed of becoming the ninth guru, started claiming falsely that they were given the position. But, later on , after Makkhan shah lubhana discovered that Guru Tegh Bahadur ji (Son of Guru Hargobind ji) was the next Guru, everything was settled for a while.
• After a few years, The emperor Aurangzeb was forcefully converting the hindus to islam. They were given two choices, either to convert or to die. After all the rulers refused to help, the Kashmiri pandits, who were true to their faith, came to Guru Tegh Bahadur. On listening to their problems, the Guru said that they needed a representative to fight for them. Listening to this, 9 year old Guru Gobind Rai ji said that there could be no better representative for them other than the contemporary Guru. After this, the Guru told the pandits to convey the message to the emperor, that in order to convert them, he had to convince the Guru to convert too. If he managed to do so, they will happily give up their faith. If not, he had to let them live peacefully.
• The Guru along with three of his Sikhs was captured by the emperor and they forced to undergo numerous tortures. But, this was not enough to break them . When the emperor asked that why he is protecting the pandits even when he himself does not believe in their faith, the Guru replied that he would do the same if the roles were reversed and of the ,muslims were being oppressed by the hindus. He believed that every person should have the freedom to choose what they believe in. That’s why he is also called as “HIND KI CHADAR – GURU TEGH BAHADUR”.
•  After this the three Sikhs (Bhai Mati das, Bhai Sati das and Bhai Dyala ji) were killed after which the Guru was beheaded too. This incident took place in Delhi’s Chandni chowk.

10. Guru Gobind Singh ji: Fearlessness and purity.

• After the ninth Guru sacrificed his life, his son Guru Gobind Rai, became the tenth guru. He was a warrior with a mind of a soldier. He was the one who founded the khalsa(pure) panth by providing the amrit to the panj payras(five beloved) and after that himself taking the amrit from them. The panj pyaras were the Sikhs who promised to sacrifice their lives for the good of people.
• He discarded all the surnames and castes and provided a single surname “singh”(lions) to all sikh boys and “kaur” (princess) to all girls. He himself became Guru Gobind Singh .Thus, ending the caste discrimination once and for all.
• The growing number of people joining the khalsa panth, made the emperor Aurangzeb afraid for his power. He tried a lot to kill the guru but failed to do so. He then made his army led by wazir khan surround the fourt of Anandpur sahib making the sikh army deprived of basic resources. After six months of continuous efforts, both the armies were fed up and wanted a conclusion. Now , Wazir khan along with the hindu rulers whose armies were attacking the Sikhs came up with a fake promise letter in which the Mughals swore on the sacred Quran and the hindus Swore on the cow (‘Gau mata’) that if the Guru and his Sikhs left the fort, they are free to go anywhere they wish to.
• Even though the Guru did not believe them, but , because the public wanted to do so, he agreed and along with his family and Sikhs he left.
• Heavy rain struck the banks of the river sirsa which they were supposed to cross. At midnight, in the already difficult weather conditions, the Sikhs were attacked from the back by the army of wazir khan. This lead to separation of the guru’s family. Which inturn lead to the death of the first two Sahibzadas(sons) of the guru in a war at chamkaur sahib and the younger two sons and mother being killed by the cruelty of wazir khan. Many religious scriptures were also destroyed.
• Even after all this the guru did not lose hope and believed in the Akal purakh. He did not stop fighting for the good of people even though he had to sleep on thorns and pebbles in forests. The one who deserved to be a king, was living a life so harsh. He sacrificed everything he had, just for us. He even said that : “IN PUTRAN KE SEES PAR, VAAR DIYE SUTT CHAAR, CHAAR MUE TOH KYA BHAYA , JEEWAT KAI HZAAR” meaning that although he had sacrificed all the four of his sons for us, he still has thousands of sons and daughters of khalsa that will be his successors. Now, its up to us if we really want to be the sons and daughters of him or we want to disrespect his sacrifice.
•  He knew by then that no other human Guru can handle the wide and vast khalsa panth. Remembering the incidents of Bakala, he knew that people will now be greedy of the throne more than ever. Therefore , he announced the next guru to be shri Guru granth sahib ji (The aad granth complied by shri Guru arjan dev ji along with the saloks of the ninth guru added in it).

Therefore, Guru Granth sahib ji became the eternal Guru of Sikhs. 

With a lot of things being said I want to tell that many of the Hindus and Muslims played very important roles in Sikhism. If you think that No Muslim was good, just go search for the people like Sai Mia Mir ji, Ghani Khan, Nabi Khan, and even the one that gave the art of music to Sikhs Bhai Mardanaji was also born in a Muslim family. If you think the same about Hindus, I request you to go read about bhai Moti Mehra, Bhai lakkhi shah, Bhai jaita, deewan Toddar mal. There are many more examples. All I want to say is that no religion teaches cruelty. It’s the people who carry hatred in their hearts. Not the religion.

Neither a true Hindu Nor a true Muslim would ever oppress anyone. The one who is true to one religion will never force anyone to believe in what he believes to be true.

Also, there are a lot of people who deserve recognition for their contribution towards Sikhism. Some of them are Baba Buddha ji, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, all the gurus k Mahal (wives of the Gurus), Chaar Sahibzade, Panj Pyare, and many more. All of them cannot be covered in a single article. So, I would request you all to go and search for their contributions towards the country and the religion.

Of course, how can we forget about the battle of mukatsar sahib where 40 Sikhs fought and won against an army of 100000. A Sikh is indeed equal to 1.5 lakh men (as stated by Guru Gobind Singh Ji).

Conclusion

As we can all see here from the stories of our ten Gurus and Sikhs, we can conclude that being a saint at heart and a soldier at mind is what will keep us alive. To be able to live, we have to not only preach our thoughts but also protect them. The weapon that Sikhs carry (KIRPAN) is there for self-defence and never to oppress anyone. Remember that 

“A SIKH’S KIRPAN IS ALWAYS RAISED FOR KIRPA (help), AND NEVER FOR ZULM (oppression).

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