Fundamentalism and the Sikh Religious Tradition by T.N. Madan

In short, students of the Bani of Guru Granth and of Guru Nanak, know that
ideologically what the later nine Gurus did, was nothing beyond implementing the thesis
laid down by Guru Nanak. It will not be possible for us to discuss in detail the close and
logical development of Guru Nanak's mission by each subsequent Guru, but a few salient
steps of continuity are briefly indicated. As stated above, and, as a comparison of Guru
Nanak's thesis with other whole-life religions will show, the religio-empirical
development of Guru Nanak's system was inevitably to lead to the organisation of the
Khalsa or the society of committed Sikhs, by the Tenth Master. Guru Nanak's choice of
his successor, to the exclusion of his own son who was of an ascetic bent of mind, clearly
stresses the essential implications of his miri-piri system that combined the spiritual and
the empirical lives of man. The second and the third Gurus emphasized the separate
characters of the mission and the Sikh Society, and specifically excluded recluses from
the Sikh fold. The Third Guru created for religious and secular purposes as many centres
of religious administration, as the number of provinces in the Moghal Empire of the day.
The work of the first four Gurus was specifically two- fold. First, it was to motivate the
Sikhs with new ideas of religion, values and social morality, that were at complete
variance with the tradition in the country that had existed during the earlier 3000 years.
The task was so colossal, and the conditioning of the people in new values had to be so
radical, that it took about a hundred years for the Gurus to make the society not only to
accept the new way of life, but also to live it, and be prepared to sacrifice their all for the
new ideals.
The revolutionary character of Guru Nanak's system was so great that the Naths
were perplexed, and accused the Guru of trying to distort the religious values of the
Indian tradition by being a house-holder. The same surprise was expressed by Sant Ram
Das of Maharashtra, when he questioned Guru Hargobind as to how he, who was
successor to the seat of Guru Nanak, was wearing arms and riding a horse. The reply of
the Guru was clear and cryptic, "Guru Nanak had given up mammon, but not the world","
and that his sword was for the protection of the weak, and destruction of the tyrant. In
fact, he conveyed that he was, as God's instrument, doing the same thing as the role of
God in the destruction of the evildoers Guru Nanak had described in his hymns. The
second step the first three successors took, was lo create Centres of worship, organisation
and assemblage. The Fourth Guru's creation of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar, and also the
town for normal trade and secular activities, which ultimately became the capital of the
Sikh Society, is a significant landmark in the above direction. The role of the Fifth Guru
is extremely important. In his time not only the religious Centre of Amritsar was
finalised, but also a similar religious Centre and town were established at Tarn Taran. But
the more important facts are three. Sikhs had grown into a distinct socio-political society
with important secular wings. The Guru started the system of Daswandh, which was an
alter- native system of revenue, used both for religious and secular purposes of the
community. In addition, the Guru and the Sikhs took to trade in the import of horses,
which was normally a business conducted by members of the martial classes. The proof
of the Sikhs having developed into a religio-political organisation, is evident from the
fact that, while the emperors of the day are normally not worried about quietist saints or
societies, the Sikh Society clearly aroused the suspicions of the Moghal Administration,
as is evident from the autobiography of the Emperor Jehangir. He not only took notice of
this political development and ordered the execution of the Fifth Guru, so as to stop the