In Sikhism, a woman is not considered an evil who leads man astray. Nor is she regarded as an obstacle in the realization of the Spiritual ideals. Sikhism is a house holder’s religion for man and woman alike. The Sikh Gurus honored the institution of marriage and strongly denounced asceticism. They castigated those yogis who left their houses and lived on the generosity of the common people. The yogis took pride in being celibates but inwardly they were in fact craving for sexual indulgence said Guru Nanak, “In his hands is the begging bowl and he wears a patched coat like a mendicant’s but within him is immense craving. And though he abandons his own wife, he’s attached to another’s, lured by sex desire.” The Sikh Gurus condemned the hypocrisy that characterized yogis. In their view, there is nothing unclean about the normal sex life. All the Sikh Gurus were married men, except the eighth Sikh Guru who died very young. They also led a normal life of a householder and regarded the sex desire as a natural phenomenon.
In Sikhism, spiritual freedom is to be secured not by the unnatural suppression of human desires but by their judicious organization. In other words, Sikhism is for temperate gratification of bodily desires. It deprecates animality in man and approves the institution of marriage as the practical and natural artifice for taming and controlling the biological instincts. The Sikh religion does not make any virtue of sexual abstinence as Hinduism does and vowed celibacy is not upheld as any more virtuous than normal living. According to Sikh teachings, truce abstinence or renunciation is a mental attitude of detachment; emphasis is laid on the practice of ascetic virtues without any person having to renounce the family and the society. What Is stressed again and again in the Sikh scripture is self-restraint and self-control. Guru Nanak observed in this context. “The pepper and salt if treated with ghee dissolveth not in water, so do the Lord’s devotees abide in the midst of maya and yet remain detached.
The householder’s life is an essential element of social life and social structure. The life of the house holder is a life of service and austerity. It is in fact the performance of social duties that make a home a true home. A Sikh by leading a householder’s life becomes sharer of the riches of life put he at the same time never loses sight of the ultimate reality. A Sikh is ordained to be an “ascetic within and secular without.” He is asked to conduct himself in the worldly surroundings like a lotus in muddy water. Man and woman are equal companions in life. Their role is complementary and not competitive. A married woman performs a very useful role in society through maintaining sexual discipline and establishing a morally healthy society. She is an embodiment of virtue and fortitude and not a force that seduces man to evil. She must be respected because man and all his social life would be incomplete without her.
In Sikhism, man and woman are regarded as complements to each other; one is incomplete without the other. Woman is considered ardhangni that is the other half of man. The basis of man-woman relationship is true love, nothing else. Marriage is considered essential but marriage is not regarded as a contract subject to dissolution at will, It is an unbreakable spiritual union. The basis of marriage is not simply a physical union, but an everlasting true love, According to Guru Amar Das, “Bride and groom are not they who pose as one whole; bride and groom are they who are two bodies with one soul,” Marriage aims at the fusion of two souls into one. It is a means by which the two souls attain spiritual growth. Marriage is thus a loving comradeship between a man and a woman who seek to live creatively in partnership to gain the four objects of life: dharma, artha, kama and moksha. Its main purpose is the enrichment of the personality of husband and wife in a way that each may supplement the life of other and both may together achieve completeness. Marriage is also a means by which a person gains self-fulfillment It becomes workable only on the basis of mutual trust, understanding and fidelity. Sikhism upholds monogamous ideal of marriage.
Giving his views on chastity, Guru Gobind Singh said, “As I grew up, my Guru instructed me thus: O son, as long as you live, keep up the vow (of chastity). Let not thought of other woman cross even thy dreams. And let the wedded spouse be the exclusive objective of thy ever increasing love.” Sikhs are required by their religion to be loyal to their spouses. In Sikhism, even celibacy has been redefined in terms of chastity. According to Bhai Gurdas, a celibate is one who is married to one wife only and treats all other women as sisters and daughters Sikhism condemns adultery in unequivocal terms.
All the Sikhs who accept baptism by the sword are forbidden to (i) smoke tobacco or take liquor, (ii) eat meat killed by ritual slaughter, (iii) cut hair, and (iv) commit adultery, It is obligatory for Sikhs to desist from the evil of adultery, No one is spared, not even the king. Sikhism directs its followers to be sincere to their wives, and look at all other women as if they were their mothers and sisters.
Sikhism commends married life as it enables a person to fulfill his obligations to the society at large more effectively, Production gets augmented where there is trusting companionship, shared work and interests, tolerance and understanding between man and woman, Sikhism regards it a vital social and national service to work hard, to serve and rear a family. Sikhism
Activity But procreative activity must not proceed unchecked, The symbol Kachh signifies continence and is indicative of the Sikh’s manly control over his appetite even as he commits himself to the procreative world. And the same thing is applicable in case of women too. In modern parlance, it may be said to imply having children by choice and not by chance, and thereby promoting family welfare.
This whole approach illustrates life-affirming character of Sikhism which calls for judicious organization of life in a way that man is fulfilled. The householder’s life provides a means whereby an individual advances on the moral plane and finally reaches a stage where he develops chastity of mind and body and identifies himself with the well-being of the whole universe. The householder’s life paves the way for the realization of the spiritual goal. One obtains salvation while living with one’s family. Since both man and woman are co-partners in this life, both command equal respect.
In sum, Sikhism fully recognizes the useful role played by woman. She is not an evil or a seductress, but the mother of mankind. Guru Nanak’s was the first voice raised against discrimination perpetuated on the mute and submissive woman, Sikhism endeavored to create elements of a fresh and vigorous life by giving due recognition to the constructive and important role played by her in the society. In so far as the scriptural value system of the Sikh is concerned, woman is accorded equal religious, social, economic and political rights. She has full freedom to worship and read scriptures or work in fields and factories or participate in legislatures, No field is barred to her, Sikhism encourages education of girls which will enable them to adopt rational modes of thought and use their faculties to the maximum advantage of society. Since the Sikh scriptural value system accords reasonable equality to women in all walks of life, it does not allow any waste of precious human resources. It paves way for full utilization of woman power potential, thereby aiding the process of economic growth.
However, when the operative value system of the Sikhs is scanned, there are many deviations. In spite of the exhortations by the Sikh Gurus, woman remains less than equal to man in the Sikh society. When confronted with the stark realities of life the reemerges a different picture. Sikhs are apart and ‘parcel of the Indian society which is comprised of more than four-fifths of Hindus their exact proportion during the four censuses beginning 1951 being 84.9%, 83.5%, 82.7%, and 82.6%. Respectively As against this, Sikhs constitute only a small segment of the total population of the country, representing 1.74% in 1951 and 1,79%, 1.89%, and 20% in the three subsequent Censuses, Sikhs are governed by the Hindu Personal Law. Further, there is close social interaction between the Hindus and Sikhs. As a consequence, Sikh women too have come to acquire certain disabilities which traditionally characterized the Hindu society. To this category belong such sex prejudices as preference for a male child. Similarly, Sikhs are as well disposed to sex pre-selection techniques as are Hindus. Female infanticide too was not an unknown evil among them, particularly among some sections of Jat Sikhs, until recently a hangover from the traditional Hindu society. The dowry system is still prevalent among the Sikhs, both in India and abroad, However instances of self-immolation of widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands have been more or less non-existent among them. The same holds for bride burning cases. But the practice of polygamy a transplant from the Hindu society survived all scriptural exhortations to the contrary. If a Sikh couple did not have a male, or any, offspring, the husband was free to marry another woman without inviting any social disapproval. On the other hand, if the husband had any infirmity, this did not raise any eyebrow.
Social conscience was easy in matters relating to women and double standards, one for man and another for woman, come to be accepted without any qualms. Male chauvinism was a dominant feature of the Hindu society in the past and is there even now though its intensity has somewhat diminished, It enveloped Sikh society too, though in a rather subdued form since it did not have not sanction of their religion, Socially, a Sikh woman has never been on an equal footing with man though in her case the difference has somewhat decreased because of the issuance of religious injunctions.
There is always a gap between the doctrine and the reality, This shows up in the operative part of the Sikh value system also. The right of Sikh woman to equality with man was foreclosed by. the Hindu society out of which she grew and it has been a long and arduous process for the forces of religion to give her this right. She is still a lesser person ~ subject to the dictates of the male members of her family on all crucial matter though her lot is comparatively better than that of women belonging to other major Indian religions. It needs to be added here that many Sikh women see a silver lining in the social reform campaign launched recently by the militant youth in Punjab against the dowry system, ostentatious celebration of marriages, and screening of films showing nudity and improperly clade female bodies, notwithstanding the objectionable means being employed to implement it. Sex determination tests are also being given the goby as a part of the movement which encompasses elimination of many other harmful activities such as smoking and taking alcohol.
One of the important determinants of woman’s status as also of population growth is the rate of fertility Religion is one of the important factors that shape the thought, altitudes and behavior of the people which in tum affects fertility. The important factors that affect the level and pattern of fertility in a society are firstly rules and customs concerning obligation to marry and the age at which marriage takes place: secondly, the mores and customs governing martial behavior, and, thirdly, health and mortality conditions. As noted above, Sikhism: promotes methodical control of life and sexual mores through rational reflection and self-discipline thereby encouraging family “welfare measures. In so far as marriage is concerned it is almost universal.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 31, 1992
