Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2Eliot, Charles
Religion
Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2
Eliot, Charles
Asia -- Religion; Buddhism; Hinduism
Arjun attracted the unfavourable attention of Akbar's successor,
Jehangir,[676] and was cast into prison where he died. The Sikhs took
up arms and henceforth regarded themselves as the enemies of the
government, but their strength was wasted by internal dissensions. The
ninth Guru, Teg-Bahadur, was executed by Aurungzeb. Desire to avenge
this martyrdom and the strenuous character of the tenth Guru, Govind
Singh (1675-1708), completed the transformation of the Sikhs into a
church militant devoted to a holy war.
Though the most aggressive and uncompromising features of Sikhism are
due to the innovations of Govind, he was so far from being a
theological bigot that he worshipped Durgâ and was even said to have
offered human sacrifices. But the aim of all his ordinances was to
make his followers an independent body of fighting men. They were to
return the salutation of no Hindu and to put to death every
Mohammedan. The community was called Khalsa:[677] within it there was
perfect equality: every man was to carry a sword and wear long hair
but short trousers. Converts, or recruits, came chiefly from the
fighting tribes of the Jats, but in theory admission was free. The
initiatory ceremony, which resembled baptism, was performed with sugar
and water stirred with a sword, and the neophyte vowed not to worship
idols, to bow to none except a Sikh Guru, and never to turn his back
on the enemy. To give these institutions better religious sanction,
Govind composed a supplement to the Granth, called Daśama Pâdshâh ka
Granth or book of the tenth prince. It consists of four parts, all in
verse, and is said to inculcate war as persistently as Nânak had
inculcated meekness and peace. To give his institutions greater
permanence and prevent future alterations Govind refused to appoint
any human successor and bade the Sikhs consider the Granth as their
Guru. "Whatsoever ye shall ask of it, it will show you" he said, and
in obedience to his command the book is still invested with a kind of
personality and known as Granth Sahib.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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