Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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the village accountant; falsehood is the master of the mint. Lust, his
minister, summoneth and examineth men, and sitteth in judgement on
them. The subjects are blind and without divine knowledge, and satisfy
the judge’s greed with bribes.” 41 “The kings are like leopards, the
courtiers like dogs; For, they awaken those that sleep in God’s peace.
The King’s servants tear (the docile subjects) with their mails; And,
like curs, lick up al the blood that they spill. But hark, where men are
to be judged (at the Lord’s Court); Their noses will be chopped off, for
God will trust them not.” 42
In this context, Guru Hargobind, as will be seen, gave a clear
enunciation of the thesis of Guru Nanak to one saint, Ram Das. He
explained that Guru Nanak had prohibited greed and accumulation
of wealth, but he was not against worldly life or the use of force for
righteous causes and the removal of tyranny. Guru Gobind Singh
made it absolutely clear that all the Gurus were one in spirit, i.e. they
followed one and the same mission, 42a and he calls God as ‘the protector
of the weak’ and ‘the destroyer of the trants’. 43 His mission, he said,
was to eliminate tyranny and to establish the rule of righteousness
and justice. 44 The first coin struck by the Sikhs, within a year of Guru
Gobind Singh’s death, and those issued later, bear the inscription, ‘Guru
Govind had received from Nanak Deg (cauldron to feed the poor),
Teg (sword) and Fateh (victory). 44a The Sikh tradition, from the early
period, that Guru Gobind Singh’s mission was a continuation of that
of Guru Nanak must have been very strong to have found pronounced
expression in this manner. This is another basic departure which
distinguishes the Sikhs gospel from that of the Radical Bhaktas and
the traditional religions. This departure, as will be seen, had far-reaching
consequences towards determining the course of the Sikh movement
and its militant activities.
c) Dharam
Another important innovation made by the Sikh Guru was to
put their own revolutionary content into the ancient idea of dharma.
This concept has been very pliable in the orthodox Indian religious
tradition. It covers a wide range of human activities, including
religious, ritualistic and even minor observances of common daily