Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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loves all men, the lowest and the down-trodden. According to the
Sikh Gurus, religious moral and spiritual activity covers the totality
of life of the individual as well as of the society. For, life is one whole
and cannot be arbitrarily split up into separate religious, social or
political spheres. Nor can it be ignored or left to take care of itself.
For them, religion has to meet all the problems and challenges thrown
up by life. Each and every activity of man is either God-oriented or
self-oriented, viz., it is either for the uplift of man and his society or it
is destructive. There cannot be a neutral position. Inaction and sloth
are sins.
As a consequence of their unitary view, the Sikh Gurus gave the
Sikh movement a two-pronged direction. The first was an emphasis
on changing the value-patterns of the individual and that of the society.
This was to bring about, what has come to be called in modern parlance,
a cultural revolution. The second line was to change the inequitable
social, religious and political set-ups. Both these processes were of
one piece and for one overall purpose. They were complimentary to
each other. None could be complete by itself. All social systems have
to be run by men, and in the last analysis, their worth is determined by
the character of the people who manage them. And, it is imperative
that social, political and economic systems should be just, because
these determine the development of the human personality.
1. Social Orientation
Sikhism, as did the Radical Bhaktas, condemned all those values
on which the caste system was based. Some of the relevant hymns
are given in appendix D. Here, we shall limit ourselves to those aspects
of the value-system which distinguished the Sikh movement from the
ideology of the Radical Bhaktas, as also from that of the earlier Indian
tradition
a) Social Service
The Indian religious tradition laid almost exclusive emphasis
on meditational, ascetic or Yogic practices as the means of attaining
salvation or spiritual bliss. Social service was rarely made an
obligatory part of religious practice. All moral life remained confined
within the framework of the caste system, because complete
allegiance to the social structure was a part of one’s religious