Dr. Ganda Singh

The Raj Karega Khalsa couplet is at times misunderstood and misconducted. Its words are clear. There is no ambiguity about what they mean. It says:

Raj Karega Khalsa, Aki Rahe No Koe, Khwar Hoe Sabh Milenge, Bache Sarn Jo Hoe, which means:

The Khalsa shall rule, no hostile refractory shall exist. Frustrated, they shall all submit, and those who come in for shelter shall be protected.

The Origin

Just as all other historical allusions in the prayer refer to past history, so does the couplet refer to the days of the later Mughals, Bahadur Shah to Shah Alam IT. It was evidently composed and first sung by the Khalsa during the days of Banda Singh Bahadur (171016) who was the first Sikh political leader to declare the independence of his people in the Punjab. Bahadur Shah, the son and successor of Aurangzeb, not only declared the Sikhs to be rebels, but also issued edicts to all his faujadars(military commanders) on December 10, 1710, “to kill” the disciples of Nanak (the Sikhs) wherever they were found” “Nanak prastan ra har ia kih bayaband dagatl rasanand”. According to this order, they were to be wiped out of existence wholesale. No trace of them was to be left in their own land, their birthplace the land of their ancestors. This was a tyranny of the worst type. And no self-respecting son of the land, much less the Sikh, could stand it, however great and numerous were the odds pitched against him. The Singh of Guru Gobind Singh were not frightened by these edicts. They had been cast in a different mold and had received the baptism of the double edged sword (Khande de Pahul). They knew the land was theirs and it was their right to live there. They had only to assert this right.

Tyranny has no long life, all tyrants perish under the ‘weight of their own sins. It was only the question of time and the Sikhs would come to their own. And they proved to be right. The raj of the Khalsa was established and they successfully broke the first sod in the ultimate conquest and independence of the Punjab. It was then when they were persecuted and done to death for aspiring to raj karo (rule) in their homeland that, to keep up their spirits, with their minds strengthened by faith and emboldened by constant prayer, the Sikhs sang this couplet: Raj Karega Khalsa, Aki Rahe Na Koe.

Price of Independence

It is true that Sikhs had to suffer very heavily and had to make innumerable sacrifices for over a half a century. But they knew their cause was right and success would ultimately be theirs. Throughout this period of waiting they sang this couplet praying for the fulfillment of their aspirations. And which they had become independent, they sang it in commemoration of their success and as a reminder of their promise to those who sought it.

Revival of Sikh Aspirations

With the coming of the British to the Punjab the Sikh aspirations for Swaraj were once again revived and with it the justification of the recitation of the couplet.

 

 

 

Loyalists Twist the Meaning

The dread of the (foreigners) suggested to some of the loyalists, afraid of being listed as rebels, a comprise in giving to the word “Khalsa” an alternate meaning as “pure”. They wished to convey to the new rulers that the “Khalsa” had them no political ambitions or aspirations to rule in the country and that the couplet appended to their prayer only meant that the “pure” shall rule.

It is not correct, particularly in the context of this couplet, to translate the word “Khalsa” as “pure”. The word for pure is Khalis . Derived of course, from Khalis. Khalsa is in fact, a technical term which in the days of Muhammadan administration meant inalienable lands or revenues directly looked after or administered by the government or the king. Guru Gobind Singh applied this word specifically to those of the Sikhs whom he had baptized as Singhs, the lions. To them he gave the name of Khalsa “his own.” The term, wrote H.H. Wilson in 1855 in his Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms, has been of late familiar as the collective denomination of the Sikh government and people.”

The recitation of the raj Karega Khalsa has provided to the Sikh people with a source of inspiration and strength in their social and political undertakings in the past and shall always act as an incentive for them in the service of the country.

The Raj Karega Khalsais a part of the past aspirations of the Sikhs and traditions to serve their brethren and its recitation reminds them of their duties and responsibilities not only towards their own people but also towards the entire mankind.

The Raj Karega Khalsa couplet is a permanent and an inseparable part in the Sikh prayer and should be recited as such on all occasions of prayer by all Sikhs and Sikh congregations wherever they might be, and in all Gurdwaras historical or others.

Article extracted from this publication >>  May 5, 1989