Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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Upananya ceremony, they were not re-born into Aryan-hood. They
were re-born because, by being baptised, they shed off all stigmas
attached to them or their status by the caste society. Not only that;
there became a clear distinction between Singhs and Sikhs. Those
Sikhs who did not become Singhs, i.e. did not join the Khalsa, came
to be know as Sahejdhari Sikhs. This term is meaningful. These
Sahejdharis were in a way in the evolutionary process of becoming
Singhs. They had accepted the main ideology of Sikhism, but were for
some reason or other not ready to follow it to its logical end.
At the time of the creation of the Khalsa, there was a rift on
ideological grounds all along the line in the Sikh ranks. Some people
expressed their inability to forego traditional usages and customs. But
this cleavage did not sever the life-line of the movement from its
source of recruitment. The Sahejdhari Sikhs served as a buffer to
absorb the shock which the creation of the Khalsa was bound to cause
to the caste society. Also, by being baptised at the hands of the Sudras
(Panj Pyaras), the Guru had symbolically made them his Guru. This
was unthinkable for the caste ideology and the caste society. Many
Sikhs drawn from the higher castes dissociated themselves from the
movement, ‘Khatris and Brahmins remained aloof.’ 37 This second
cleavage shows clearly that the creation of the Khalsa meant a
complete break with the caste society. Those who could not go whole
hog with the anti-caste drive of the movement parted company or
remained as Sahejdhari Sikhs.
7. Leadership
The leadership of a movement has always an important bearing
in determining the direction of the movement. The way the question
of the leadership of the Khalsa was tackled is a demonstration that
Guru Gobind Singh wanted to preserve the plebian character of the
movement.
Writing about the significance of the initiation (baptism)
ceremony of the Khalsa, Gokal Chand Narang state : ‘Of the five
who offered their heads, one was a Khatri, all the rest being so-called
Sudras. But the Guru called them Panj Pyaras, or the Beloved five,
and baptised them after the manner he had introduced for initiation
into the brotherhood. He enjoined the same duties upon them, gave