Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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how this Sikh revolutionary mission was consecrated. It was God’s
own mission.
2. Wahi Guru Ji Ka Khalsa
Wahe Guru ji ka Khalsa
Wahe Guru ji ki Fateh
It means, “The Khalsa belongs to God, and so does Victory
belong to Him’. When Guru Gobind Singh conferred leadership on
the Khalsa, he ended his address with this expression. It became a
motto of the Khalsa. It is repeated on all occasions and ceremony,
and as a form of dailly greetings among the Singhs. Guru Nanak had
told Daulat Khan Lodhi that he recognised no other authority than
that of God. Guru Arjan had declared, I am a worshipper of the
Immortal God… There is no monarch save Him.’ Guru Gobind Singh
said in his hymn: ‘Since I have embraced Thy feet, I have paid regard
to none besides.’ 5 The same lesson was impressed on the mind of the
Khalsa by the repeated expression of the above motto. The Khalsa
owed allegiance to God and to none-else. In its social implications, it
meant loyalty only to the Khalsa mission which had been sanctified
by God himself. Forster narrates a personal experience. Once he
travelled in the company of a Sikh horseman for some days. His
answer, when 6 I asked him very respectfully in whose service he was
retained, seemed strikingly characteristic of what I conceive to be the
disposition of the Nation. He said, in a tone of voice and with a
countenance which glowed and was keenly animated by the warm
spirit of liberty and independence, that he disclaimed no earthly Master,
and he was the servant only of his Prophet.’ 6 This is a glimpse of the
Khalsa spirit as it had survived even in the post-revolutionary period.
This motto also generated a spirit of everlasting optimism and humilityoptimism
because the revolutionary cause, being God’s cause, was
bound to succeed sooner or later; and humility because all victory was
God’s Victory and by His Grace. It involved no credit for the
participant.