Authenticity of Kartarpuri Bir - Global Sikh Studies

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causes, but also prescribed that it was both the duty and the
responsibility of the religious man and the society he was
creating to resist aggression and brutality. 46 It was this society
which was later developed by the other Gurus. And it was the
Sikh society of the time of Guru Arjan that Dr. Gupta calls a
state within a state. And it was the sixth Guru who despite the
contrary advice of even the most respectable Sikhs like Bhai
Buddha, created an armed force and the institution of Akal
Takhat the socio-political centre of the Sikhs with a distinct
flag for purpose. And again, it was Guru Hargobind who in
reply to a question by Sant Ram Dass of Maharashtra explained
that Guru Nanak had given up mammon and not the world,
and that his sword was for the protection of the weak and
destruction of the tyrant. 47 The important point we need to
stress is that a religious system that proceeds with the basic
experience of God as Love must, as a compulsive consequence,
also accept the total responsibilities of relieving all kinds of
sufferings of man and, for that end, even enter the political
field, and have resort to the use of force. We shall further
amplify this issue about the necessity of the use of force while
drawing our conclusion.
Conclusion
From the above discussion a number of conclusions
follow. The first is that there is a basic Reality different from
the empirical reality of cause and effect we are aware of, and
that it operates in history. The socond is that it is perceived by
a person of higher consciousness and, thus, supplies him with
authentic knowledge and direction. The third is that the Sikh
Gurus perceive that Reality to be basically Love. This
perception about God is Love is entirely different from the
religious experience of other Indian religions in which the logic
of that experience prescribes the goal of either merger in the
Reality or a passive and blissful link with it as an end in itself.
But, in the case of the Sikh Gurus,