Contribution of Guru Amar Das towards the development of Sikhism

Dr. I.B. Banerjee writes, “Guru Angad had, no doubt, done something to give the Sikhs an individuality of their own, but it was under Amar Das that the difference between a Sikh and an orthodox Hindu became more pronounced.”

Guru Nanak, after his enlightenment, strove hard to convey his message to as large a number of people as possible. For this purpose he first took long and arduous journeys not only within India but also abroad, and had converted a good number of people as his followers. But Nanak had laid stress, more or less, on the fundamentals of his teachings, leaving the details to take care of themselves. In fact, he had made no direct innovations, particularly so far as social usages were concerned and there was nothing much that could distinguish the followers of Nanak from the general Hindu mass.

The founder of the Sikh religion, being conscious of the incomplete nature of his work, had taken the necessary precaution of nominating one of his most trusted followers, Lehna, a house-holder, to the guruship as Guru Angad.

The supreme need of the moment was to clothe Guru’s message with some distinctive emblems which  might give it an individuality of its own. As such, Guru Angad being well-aware of his responsibility having ascended the guruship adopted a number of measures for the organizational development of Sikhism.

Guru Angad introduced or popularized the Gurumukhi script among the Sikhs.  This script reminded the Sikhs of their duty towards their Guru, and “constantly kept alive in their minds the consciousness that they were something distinct from the common mass of Hinduism.” It also gave a severe blow to the monopolistic language of Sanskrit and the priestly classes. On the whole, it gave a definite language for the scriptures of Sikhism, when later on Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth. Secondly, Guru Angad collected the verses of  Guru Nanak and added to them the verses of his own. Thus it avoided the verses from being forgotten or inter-mixed and also provided a barrier against the wrong-preachers in the name of Nanak. The institution of Langar was elaborated by Guru Angad by the joint efforts and sacrifices of the Sikhs. The Langar system played an important part to differentiate the Sikhs from the orthodox Hindus. It gave a severe blow to the caste-system. It served as a great bond of union among the Sikhs. Moreover, Guru Angad kept his Sikhs aloof from the Udasism of Baba Sri Chand, which was becoming a great danger to Sikhism. Guru Angad declared that Sikhism had no place for ascetics, but was wholly a religion for the house-holders. Due to this separation, the Sikhs got something of a social character in addition to the religious ties that held them together.

Thus Guru Angad had succeeded in giving a sort of local habitation and a name to the mission of Nanak. Besides the Guru, whose position as the sole and supreme religious leader was in itself a great source of unity and solidarity, the Sikhs had now the Guru’s hymns inscribed in their own Gurumukhi and the Langar maintained by their joint efforts and sacrifices. They could now claim an individuality of their own, however imperfect as yet it might have been.

But the danger of the absorption of the followers of Nanak still lingered on because there was nothing as yet which could distinguish the Sikhs as a distinct social community from that of the Hindus. As the followers of Sikhism still performed their social ceremonies connected with marriage, death etc. in the traditional Hindu way with the aid of the priestly classes, they continued to visit the places of pilgrimage of the Hindus as well.

Guru Amar Das immediately after his pontification realized the danger in which Sikhism stood and adopted the following distinctive measures to keep up their separate identity :

In 1552 AD, the work for the construction of a Baoli in Goindwal started. The Sikhs joined enthusiastically in the work of construction and after seven years, the task was accomplished. The Baoli was provided with 84 steps and Guru Amar Das said, “Whosoever should attentively and reverently repeat the Japji at every step, should escape from wandering in the wombs of 84 lakhs of living creatures.” In this way, Goindwal was raised to the status of a place of pilgrimage.Now the Sikhs felt no necessity to visit the pilgrim places of the Hindus. This measure of Guru Amar Das differentiate the Sikhs from the common Hindus.

Guru Angad had started the process of the compilation of the hymns, but the task could not be accomplished before his death. Guru Amar Das carried on this work with great enthusiasm and compiled the verses of Guru Nanak and Guru Angad. Sant Ram, the son of Baba Mohan (Guru Amar Das’ son), compiled 907 verses of his grand-father. Guru Amar Das ordered the compiler of the verses of the Gurus to “make a careful collection of the Gurus’ hymns and give them to the Sikhs in God’s name.” This measure of Guru Amar Das completely differentiated the Sikhs from the Hindus as the Sikhs got their own holy hymns and now felt no need to recite the Hindu scriptures.

The elaboration of the Langar institution under Guru Amar Das was another factor differing the Sikhs from Hinduism. The Langar was open to all. According to Macauliffe, “All who came to visit him were fed to repletion. None departed disappointed. What he daily received was daily spent and nothing was saved for the morrow.” The Guru even obliged all visitors and Sikhs to partake of food from the Langar before seeing him. In the Hindu society, people of high castes hated those of the lower castes. They were socially boycotted being considered as untouchables. But this institution knew no caste distinction and clarified that the Sikhs were different from the Hindus.

The institution of Manji was also an important factor which worked in differing the Sikhs from the Hindus. Guru Amar Das divided his spiritual empire into 22 units known as the Manjis. The head of each Manji was called Manjidar. Each Manji was sub-divided into Piris under the Piridars. This division was seen only in Sikhism and the Sikhs came into direct contact of the Guru through these Manjidars. These Manjidars acted as a binding the Guru and the Sikhs. They gave the message of the Guru to the Sikhs and collected donations from them, which were deposited with the Guru for the development activities. The Sikhs found themselves in contact with their Guru through these Manjidars. The Manjidars suppressed the importance of the priestly classes among the Sikhs as they were appointed by the Guru himself.

Guru Amar Das also undertook certain reformative tasks in the social field. There were many evils in the Hindu society; but people did not regard them as evils. However, to act upon them was considered   as performing a religious ceremony. The condition of women in the society was very deplorable. One such evil was the practice of Sati, i.e. the burning of widows at the funeral pyre of their husbands. But Guru Amar Das condemned this practice and prohibited his Sikhs to adopt it. In one of his verses he observed-

                “Women are burnt in the fire with their husbands,

                    If they appreciate their husbands they undergo sufficient pain by their death,

                    O Nanak! if they appreciate not their husbands, why should they be burnt?”

Not only did he condemn the Sati system, but also favoured widow remarriage and took several steps to popularize it. He also ordered the Sikh women to avoid the Purdah system as he considered the Purdah as an obstacle in the physical, mental and spiritual development of the women.

Guru Amar Das also criticized the use of intoxicants and ordered his Sikhs to abstain altogether from them. He told his Sikhs not to drink that false wine “by which man forgeteth God and receiveth punishment at His court.”

Guru Amar Das also directed his Sikhs to celebrate the festivals in different modes. The Sikhs were to celebrate only these festivals-- Baisakhi, Diwali and Maghi. On these auspicious occasions, the Sikhs were to reach Goindwal and then celebrate these fesivals at the direction of their Guru.

The performance of the ceremonies of birth, marriage and death also differed a Sikh from a Hindu. The Lavan composed by Bhai Jetha, the son-in-law of Guru Amar Das, on his marriage began to be recited on the marriage occasions by the Sikhs. Similarly, Guru Amar Das composed the Anand Geet (Song of Joy) of 38 Pauris, on the birth of his grandson, Sidh jogi. Since then this song is recited by the Sikhs on occasions of rejoicings. It was enjoined upon the Sikhs that the Guru’s words be recited while celebrating the marriages of their relatives. In the Sadd hymns, Guru Amar Das narrates to his Sikhs neither to call the Pandit nor to read the ‘Garuda Purana’ while performing the death ceremonies of their relatives. In this way, the Sikhs started to differ from Hinduism.

Dr. I.B. Banerjee feels that two parallel developments can be traced in Sikhism. On the one hand, the work begun by Guru Angad was earnestly continued and new religious ties were added one after another. On the other, there was a gradual drifting away from the orthodox Hindu society and attempts were made through innovations to bring into existence a new brotherhood, social as well as religious, self-sufficient and independent. Dr. G.C. Narang also states that from the outset Sikhism stood distinguished from other reform movements by its reconciliation with secular life.

Under the auspices of Guru Amar Das, the name of the infant Church spread far and wide, rudiments of a separate organisation were given to the Sikhs, and new forms and practices were introduced to supersede the old and bind the newly converts more closely together. Hence Dr. I.B. Banerjee rightly observes, “Guru Angad had, no doubt, done something to give the Sikhs an individuality of their own; but it was under Amar Das that the difference between a Hindu and a Sikh became more pronounced.”