Just last month, Sikhs all over the world celebrated Sri Guru Gobind Singh’s birthday. Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji achieved many important things for Sikhs The most important of which is the creation of the Khalsa I would like to talk about the creation of the Khalsa as my first point. Formy second point, I would like to talk about Sikh Identity today, and the importance of preserving that identity, especially kesh, or uncut hair. First let me tell you a little bit about our tenth Guru.
Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji was named as Gobind Rai at the time of his birth in Patna in East India in 1666. As a child he was an avid learner. He learned Sanskrit, Hindi, Persian, Gurmukhi, Arabic, and history from prominent teachers. All his teachers were said to be amazed at his zeal for knowledge. Guru Ji was also an accomplished poet, and a prolific writer. Along with being intellectually strong, he was also strong physically, and was trained in the martial arts. As a teen he would go hunting in the jungles around Anandpur, refining his skills
As most of you know, Guru Ji spent most of his life defending the weak and fighting battles against the tyranny of the Mughal Empire. I won’t dwell into his fighting career, but would like to mention that he fought his first battle at the tender age of 16, and was victorious. Also, it should be known that Guru Ji never fired the first shot! He was always on the defensive side, never shedding unnecessary blood. He was concerned with repelling the Mughal tyranny, and not in territorial gains.
The sacrifices Guru Ji made were awe spring. At the age of nine, he volunteered his father to sacrifice his life for the Hindu religion. Later all four of his sons sacrificed their lives to uphold the Sikh religion.
Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji had many accomplishments, the most prominent being the creation of the Khalsa Panth. Guru Gobind Singh Ji created the Khalsa on March 30, in 1699. I’m sure most of you have heard of the sakhi in which he baptizes the five beloved ones, or Panj Pyare. After baptizing them with Amrit he asked them to baptize him, symbolizing that he was to be on an equal level with the Khalsa Panth, By this simple act of giving the power of the Khalsa Panth to the people and not to a divine king or leader he created the first true democracy, something we credit to the West. So as well as being a saint- soldier he was also an incredible social revolutionary far ahead of his time.
By proclaiming us Singhs and Kaurs he gave the Khalsa the social ideals of equality and brotherhood. There was to be no distinction of birth, caste, class, color, and sex. He thus enunciated ninety years earlier the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity which formed the basis of the French Revolution. Guru Ji’s teachings have universal relevance. His teachings are followed by the Sikhs, but it turns out that his principles were incorporated in the U.S. Constitution 80 years later. 250 years ago he denounced tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, and stated that all men and women were created equal. This far thinking is only being accepted by society now.
Hari Ram Gupta in his book History of the Sikhs says ‘The creation of the Khalsa was an epoch making event in the religious and political history of the country. It marked the beginning of a new people in India destined to play the role of hero against all oppression and tyranny.’ Hari Ram Gupta couldn’t have been more correct. We were a new religion with a duty to defend the weak.
During the ceremony, Guru Ji also gave us five gifts of his love. These cannot be considered as simply “practical” gifts. They were given to us by our Guru, our beloved, the man who had sacrificed his father and his family in his love for us. Who are we to renounce these gifts”? They are gifts from the heart, and require no questioning. They were kesh, kara, kacchera, kanga, and kirpan. These 5 kakars are the foundation of the Sikh identity.
When we talk about the 5 k’s the most prominent one of the five is the kesh. It is an outward symbol, that today almost definitely identifies you as a Sikh. In today’s world this notion
Jasvinder Singh Khaira
of Sikh Identity, is becoming very important as we are quickly losing this most visible part of our identity Without kesh we are often, and unfortunately mislabeled as Hindus, or just Indians. By wearing a turban and keeping uncut hair you are distinguishing yourself as a member of the Sikh community, no matter where you are.
There have been many theories and ideas speculated on why we should keep kesh. Perhaps he wanted it as a uniform for all Sikhs to show their unity’? Perhaps he wanted it as a military uniform to be used on the battlefield’? However, Guru Gobind Singh Ji never offered any explanation himself. So why should we question his words. We should simply accept them as truth and not try to justify them by looking for practical applications. Also, we must consider kesh to not only be Guru Ji’s gift but God’s gift as well. God has given us long hair and we cannot and definitely should not question Him. When we say Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, we are saying. The Khalsa is Yours, O lord, So does the Victory belong to you. If we truly believe in God, we must follow His will. And we must follow it unquestioningly.
Parents, I would like to leave you with something to think about. Imagine, 40 years from now. Your children and grandchildren are visiting museums and seeing pictures of handsome turbaned Sikhs, and saying “Look that is a picture of a Sikh, the tribe that lived in this country once upon a time.” Is this the future our Guru’s and our ancestor’s fought for? Is this the future you want? In the last 360 hundred years Sikhs have faced extermination at the hands of the Mughal rulers and the Indian Government. The major factor that has reclaimed the Sikh religion has been the Sikhs adherence to their identity through their kesh. The future is in your hands, parents. Bring your children up as True Sikhs, or the Sikh religion will crumble.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 31, 1995
