Vaisakhi, how Sikhs became the Khalsa

It’s the 1400s in India. In North India, in the now state of Punjab a boy is born to a Hindu family. As he grows his parents quickly learn he is no ordinary child. He refuses custom they are all used to. He talks about God a lot. He preaches a better way of life, and at a young age is very intelligent. His name was Nanak. He gathered a following as the years went by. He taught various beliefs such as respecting everyone regardless of their religion. He made claims like “there is no Muslim, there is no Hindu in the eyes of God”. He said the practise of sati, where a widowed wife would sacrifice herself on her husbands funeral pyre was wrong. He said we should live life according to three principles: Naam japna, remember His name, Wand ke chhakna, share what you have and kirat karna, live a good life. He was making both Hindu and Muslim priests and rulers question their ethics, their practices and their way of life. Not because it wasn’t good enough, but because they were not being true to their religion. This was the beginning of Sikhi, and he became known as Guru Nanak Dev ji.

Another seven Guru’s were selected in the coming years and generations: Guru Angad Dev ji, Guru Amar Das ji, Guru Ram Das ji, Guru Arjan Dev ji, Guru Har Gobind ji, Guru Har Rai ji and Guru Har Krishan ji. Each played an important part in developing the teachings of Nanak and building the ethos of what it means to be Sikh. It is said the light of Nanak was passed on to each Guru, and often in teachings and the scripture, we hear it as the teaching of Nanak which means both his teachings but also that of any of the Gurus who came after him.

The ninth in line was Guru Tegh Bahadur ji. He went to the aid of persecuted Hindu priests and came up against the Muslim ruler, Aurangzeb. Guru ji asked the prisoners to be released, and Aurangzeb made clear this would only happen if they all converted to Islam. They refused, and he beheaded Guru Tegh Bahadur ji publicly. Word of this reached his ten year old son, Gobind Rai, who was shocked that no Sikh who was there stood up to what was happening.

Gobind Rai went on to become the tenth Guru. He wanted to create an identity for Sikhs that set them apart from all other religions. He wanted to give Sikhs something firm and strong to believe in. He wanted them to be what he called Sant Sipahi, Soldier Saints – fiercely strong and disciplined but equally religious and faithful to God. Gobind Rai himself modelled what he wanted his Sikhs to be. He spoke several languages, was a poet, learned many forms of martial art, was a skilled warrior and strategist, knew scriptures by heart, could debate with learned priests and scholars and was married and had four children, all boys.

It was this time of year in the year 1699, the time of year when the harvest happens. Vaisakhi is this celebration of harvest and is one where he knew he could gain the attention of a large congregation. He sent out word that he wanted all Sikhs to come and join him at a gathering. He stood in front of the crowd, and called out to them asking who amongst them is willing to offer their head to him in the name of God? One man stood and followed Guru ji into a tent. Gobind Rai emerged from the tent with a bloodied sword. He called out again asking the same. Again one man rose. No one understood what was happening or why he was doing this. Three more times Guru Gobind Rai asked for the head of his followers, and each time only one man rose.

After the fifth, he emerged from the tent with all five men newly clothed. They were his Panj Pyare, the Five Beloved Ones. They offered their head to God because of their faith and belief. He adorned them with an identity commonly referred to as the Five K’s – Kanga, a comb, Kesh, long unshorn hair, Kirpan, a sword, Kacchera, undergarments and Kara, a steel bangle. He explained to the Sadh Sangat, holy congregation, that these five were now Khalsa. Khalsa was how Sikhs would be defined, and he gave them a greeting – Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh, The Khalsa belongs to God, Victory belongs to God.

He went further and said Sikhs will have an identity. They were to lose their given last names and replace them solely with Singh, Lion, for a man, and Kaur, Princess, for a woman. They could only be given these titles after they were baptised by the Panj Pyare, and Guru Gobind Rai then did something completely unprecedented. He asked the Panj Pyare to baptise him so he could become a Singh, from whence he became known as Guru Gobind Singh ji.

On this day, Vaisakhi was give a new meaning to Sikhs. It was the day they were given a firm identity known as the Khalsa. Guru Nanak Dev ji’s teachings were core to this. Guru Gobind Singh ji confirmed this. And after him, he said there would be no more human worthy of being a Guru. The scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib ji had the teachings of Nanak and in here all answers could be found. The Panj Pyare were made a collective from whom advice was to be sought and through whom decisions about Sikhs were to be made.

I hope this has been a useful post, and personally it has been a very affirming post to write.

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh.