On April 13, 1699 Guru Gobind Singh performed the first Amrit ceremony, and created the Order of the Khalsa. To describe the Amrit ceremony in the English language, Sikhs have adopted the word baptism. Not only is this word borrowed from a foreign language but it also has strong religious connotation from a faith other than Sikh. Every religion always uses their own vocabulary. Why do Sikhs not insist on using their own terminology, which overtime will be included in every dictionary? After all, what does the English word “baptism” mean to Sikhs today? And quite importantly, what does it mean to non-Sikhs, especially Christians to see the word “baptism” used in reference to Sikhism? As Sikhs, we all know the story of the creation of the Khalsa. We know what was taught. We know what is expected of each and every one of us. However, there are some fine points that need to be explored. Clearly when desorbing Amrit as baptism, it is not a matter of faith. The problem seems to be strictly, one of language.
The Oxford dictionary defines baptism as: “Religious rite of immersing person in, or sprinkling with, water in sign of purification & of admission to the Church, generally accompanied by name giving”
Baptism is an English word used to describe a Sacrament in the Christian family of religions. Though Sikhism may have some things in common with these great religions, Baptism is certainly not one of them. Many people from the subcontinent of India have long held great admiration and respect for all things British. Perhaps the adoption of English words was considered prestigious. Perhaps also Mac Antilife, who was the first serious translator of Sikh history into English, was at a loss for an appropriate word to use for the Amrit Ceremony, in his writings. The fact is that in translation we must seek not the convenient word, but the one that most closely, conveys the meaning. In this case there is no acceptable translation, so we should stay with AMRIT-SANCHAR as the only proper way to describe our own religious rite.
Use of the word baptism raises many questions which need be answered. For instance
Article extracted from this publication >> April 8, 1994
