Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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cumulative result of all the three limiting factors was to help maintain
the social status quo and entrench social reaction in the form of the
caste order. All purposeful revolutionary movement towards human
liberty and equality was either discounted or barred.
2. The Sikh World-view *
The Sikh movement deliberately built up a society outside the
caste society. It was also the only people’s movement of Indian origin
which strove to capture political power for humanistic ends and
objectives. In the context of the Indian tradition referred to above,
both these developments could not be fortuitous. A great conscious
and sustained effort was needed to go against and overcome the
hardened traditional trends and rigidly fixed social alignments. This
needed a new and original ideology, a clear-cut direction, a committed
organization and a determined leadership. Here, we shall briefly state
the rationale of the Sikh thesis, which, in its logical execution, required
of the Sikh movement a complete reversal of the traditional trends.
Before stating the Sikh view of life, we should like to make one
point clear. Many of the misinterpretations of the Sikh thesis and the
Sikh movement are, in no small measure, due to the Sikh Gurus having
used old Indian religious idiom and terminology for the expression of
their gospel. In the Indian tradition, all spheres of life, whether social,
political or economic, had, in one form or the other, religious
implication or connotation. Even ordinary rules of human behaviour
and hygiene conceived and expressed in religious idiom. In this background,
the urge for social and political and political change could
properly be understood and appreciated by the people only through
the language of religion. It is not at all suggested that the Sikh Gurus
used religion as a mask to cover their social aims. For them, the tackling
of all problems of life was an integral part of their religion itself. It
has to be emphasised that, in Sikhism, the entire field of life was
contemplated, covered and moulded by religious precepts. As such