INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

devotion to God, humans will gradually transform their interior, develop moral
qualities and achieve a state of purity, which is Khalsa or the state of a “complete”
Sikh. The Khande di pahul ceremony initiates this process of change which will result
in good merits for the future (See answer 6). Expressions such as “Guru ji said that
Amritdharis will be on my list” or “Amrit is like a passport to salvation”, mirror a
common belief that the adoption of an Amritdhari identity implies beliefs in divine
protection in this life and spiritual gains, even liberation, hereafter.
To achieve the new state of purity which the Khande di pahul ceremony instigates,
a disciplinary life-style which controls social life and the human body is considered
necessary. When clarifying interpretations of an Amritdhari identity my respondents
frequently recurred to the importance of complying with the rules given at
the time of initiation. In addition to the four taboos (char kurahit) of dishonouring the
hair, eating halal meat slaughtered in the Muslim way, 360 cohabiting with a person
other than one's spouse, and using tobacco or other intoxicants, Amritdharis should
particularly control the consumptions of edible and drinkable things and be careful
with activities that involve contact with the bodily fluids of others. As a general rule,
they should not eat food that has been “tasted” (jutha) or prepared in a kitchen of
people other than Amritdhari Sikhs. In everyday life this does not pose any major
problem since a couple or a family usually undergo the Khande di pahul ceremony
together and observe the same rules of conduct. If a single family member chooses to
adopt an Amritdhari identity alone he or she is likely to set up a separate kitchen
within the household. It is expected from both husband and wife to be initiated since
the conjugal and sexual life is considered to affect the state of purity of one and another.
A young Amritdhari man in Varanasi told me that his amrit was “broken” after
he married an Amritdhari girl because she had plucked her eyebrows before the wedding
ceremony and thereby violated the rule of keeping the hair unshorn. Her “sin”
of dishonoring hair was transferred to him when they exchanged fluids in the sexual
act, and consequently both of them decided to take the compulsory punishment of
transgression (tankhah) for apostates or the “fallen” (patit) in order to be re-initiated. 361
The assumption underlying this decision presumes that the amrit distributed in the
Khalsa rite purifies and transforms the bio-moral composition of individuals which is
to be guarded by protecting the body from edibles and bodily fluids that transmit
pollution or vices.
Far from all Sikhs, however, are Amritdharis or hold the Khalsa norm desirable.
In the structured interviews, eight men and women clearly stated that they had no
interest in taking amrit, while seven respondents could be termed Sahajdhari Sikhs at
divine name but embodies the name as a substance within his own body by drinking the nectar
(see Bhai Vir Singh 1999 (1926): 39 ‒ 43).
360
This taboo is generally interpreted as vegetarianism.
361
The punishment is aimed to create humility and submission in the apostate and may be of
different types depending upon the act of violation. Normally the transgressor will be required
to perform social service (seva) for a selected period time and give monetary donations to a
gurdwara or poor people.
184
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008