According to Gurbani, Sikhi and Sardari i.e. the Sikh Way of Life and preeminence go hand in hand. They are so inseparably interlinked that a Sikh is invariably called a Sardar. Whereas Kes, Unshorn hair is the insignia of Sikhism, dastar or turban is the symbol of honor. Together they continue the identity of a Sikh. This according to the Sikh Scriptures is the Divine Gift. Guru Gobind Singh has simply made it a compulsory code of Sikh observance, to take care of the Divine Gift and keep it safe in all circumstances.

The ultimate objective of a person, as laid down in JupJi, is to become a Sachiara, i.e. Righteous, which means to be pure in mindand true to the Creator. It is the experience of God within, so that you remain in a state of complete concordance and harmony with His Order of things. The basic discipline is to abide by the Divine Will, willingly and voluntarily. The entire creation is functioning under the direction of the Divine Order, which remains supreme and inviolable.

Man is required to submit himself to this order, so that one is in tune with His Order of things, and in no case should go astray from it. Any diviation from this harmony is a violation of the Sikh Code of Conduct. Such a violation of the harmony of His Order will generate selfish and delinquent tendencies, which spoil the rhythm of man's individual as well as social life. When one loses equipoise, restraint and self control, there is total disregard of all social values and one is given to reckless personal and selfish interests, throwing overboard all principles of moral behavior and equitable justice. One develops egoistic tendencies, defiant of faith, and may turn to be a tyrant. Kes - the unshorn hairis the symbol of restraint, equipoise and self control, a step towards obedience to His Will, and being in tune with the harmony of His Order of things and, therefore, basic to Sikhism.

Man is born with the Grace of God. Along with the life breath (prana), he is endowed with the body and hair. Human body, life breath and haircame togetherin this word, so that the combination of all these three is basic [o human form. Hairkeep growing so long as there is life in the body, in accordance with the Divine Will. You cannot break this natural process. So you have to maintain this trinity, i.e. you are not to meddle with this arrangement, if you stick to the principle of abiding by His Will, which is the basic principle of Sikhism. This is what is stressed in the Sikh prayer - "let my hair, breath and Sikhism go together" (sikhi kesan swasan nal nibhay).

Human body, with life breath and hair is Divine Gift. To cut or dye hair will imply not only undermining the Divine Gift, but also a violation of the Sikh principle of abiding by the Will of God. In fact the practice of cutting or shaving the hair and dyeing them tantamounts to a perpetual war against God. Hair keep on growing again inspite of the wide practice of cutting and dyeing them. The fashion os shaving the eye brows, dyeing the beard and threading of the body hair fall in the same category of the long definace of the order of your Creator and still claim to be True to Him - a Righteous person -sachiara.

Stubborn insistence is a big delinquency, particularly if it is in defiance of the Divine Will, which is uniformly obeyed by the entire creation without any exception. Life long definance of this Inevitable Eternal is the height of delinquency, which in its own turn, forms the basis of all evil. Gurbani says - Dishonest is he, who meddles with the God given appearance. Dishonesty is a great evil.

What is, after all, the purpose behind getting the hair cut or dyeing them? It is simply a ploy to hide your age. Does it not amount to cheating, which in itself is delinquency? When you try to impose the self on the Divine, it is going astray from His Way and is known asMunmut. This is why ego is generated, which forms the foundation of an edifice of falsehood or illusion. This illusive edifice of the self forms a big obstacle in realizing the Truth. Guru Nanak says in JupJi Sahib - "How then to become true to the Creator, and how to demolish the wall of illusion? Through obedience to His Ordinance and Will."

Submission to the Will of God is the only way. There is a famous saying in Punjabi - where ultimately one has to lose inspite of short lived victory, it is better to quit. So when natural hair keep on growing, inspite of repeatedly cutting and dyeing them, why not quit that defiance as a sign of practical wisdom?

Human body, in Sikhism, is regarded not only as a Divine Gift, but also as the abode of God Himself. "Har mandar eh sarir hai. " It is not for man either to defile or tamper with it in any way. Just as cutting or dyeing the hair is considered a definance of the Divine Order, tampering with it is considered equally evil. Western religions, especially Islam and Judaism require circumcission for men, i.e. the removal of the foreskin of the penis as their religious code. Christians have stopped the practice since the time of Saint Paul. Such a practice obviously cannot have Divine sanction. Bhagat Kabir says that if circumcission were so necessary religiously, then men would have been born without the foreskin. Does it not amount to finding fault with the Divinely ordained appearance of the human body? Moreover since such a religious edict cannot be applied to women, how can they become religious? The disparity between men and womenwill violate the law of equality. Gurbani says - "Maintenance of complete natural form leads to Divine honor." (SGGS - p 1083-84)

Even piercing of the ears and nose to wear ornaments is defilement of human body. The ring in the nose is a mark of slavery, as also are the earrings. Gurmat (Guru's way) does not accept any form of slavery. So it out rightly condemns the associated symbols. Earrings worn by yogis after piercing through the ears, as religious observance has been decried by the Sikh Gurus.

However any deformity or disability due to an accident, is accepted as part of the Divine Will.

Gurbani says that man dominates the rest of the creation as a lord: "All other forms of life are at thy service. The entire earth is thy domain." (SGGS p 337) .

This dominance of humans over all other forms of creation has to be based upon gentleness, contentment, self control and equipoise, so that one is in tune with the Divine Harmony. The unsatiable hunger of man may lead to over- exploitation and even exhaustion of resources. This may disturb the working harmony of nature. Thus the dominance of man is subject to acceptance of the overlordship of the Divine Order. Guru Nanak says - "know that in all eternity the holy Lord is the Righteous Ruler. In the Court Divine he is reckoned a Lord who to His Ordinance is obedient. (SGGS: p 142)

Thus a Sikh draws his dignity and eminence, or Sardari, from being in obedience to the Lord Creator alone, Who is the only True Ruler. All the so-called worldly rulers are in His ultimate obedience, so that their claim to dominance or rule is false. Bhagat Kabir says: "No king is as great as God. These monarchslasting four days, make false ostentations." (SGGS: p 856)

Therefore, allegiance to these worldly monarchs is simply slavery. Sikhism does not accept this slavery. It is to be noted that atthe time of the Delhi Darbarheld in 1911 in honor of King George V, Sant Attar Singh of Mastuana, did not alight from his elephant to salute the King, but recited the above verse with an assertive voice.

All the titles and honors bestowed by the worldly rulers are proportionate to the servitude of the honored, the more the servitude the greater is the recognition in the form of bigger honor. Such recognition, however, is lost with the change of the ruler, is borne out by history. The allegiance has to be rededicated to the new rulers, who may appoint new lords. These rulers considered their subjects - especially the public in general - as slaves, and were made to bare their heads, or wear caps as head dress, in token of their being subjects. This was particularly noticeable during the Islamic rulein India. In the west it is customary to salute a superior by removing the hat, bowing the head and stretching the hands, which indicates servitude and offer of the head and hands.

Along with other symbols of servitude, all this practice has been discarded in Sikhism. Accepting only the Divine Lordship, a Sikh neither bares his head nor wears a cap, but always wears a turban, as a symbol of Sardari, honor, in token of being always in obedience of the Divine Will. The Sikh code says - "Wearing of a cap by a Sikh earns him the SIN of dying and being reborn as a lepar."

To accept the kingdom of the Divine alone is Sikhi (The Sikh Way) and Sardari (Chieftainship) remains attached with it as no other authority is recognized. It may be concluded that every Sikh child receives the initiation of abiding by the Divine Will and thus a bom Sikh and also a Sardar, irrespective of his socialstatus and profession. He believes that the Lord has provided for everybody and has Himself engaged everyone in His service, according to His Will. So the work is accepted as a part of Divine Service, unmindful of the work being high or low. So there is no question of any one being superior or inferior, as all of them are ultimately in His service. He does not suffer from any discontentment, servitude or discomfiture, and as such remains in a state of equipoise. His Sardari or Chieftainship has no bearing on worldly values. He has an unshakable faith in the Lord. "Whatever Thou does, that dispensation to me is acceptable." (SGGS : p 667)

A Sikh with his strong faith in his creator, neither begs nor is given to servitude or slavery. With an independent conscience he always holds his head high. He is an upright and self respecting chieftain depicted by his turban. He does not bow or bare his head for showing respect and honor to high officials, as is done in the west. He is always with the turban on his head as an insignia of his independent conscience and always keeps his hair and beard un-shorn, signifying his complete dedication to the Divine Will. Together they constitute the expression of the Sikh motto : Complete natural form and turban on the head. - "Sabat Surat Dastar Sira " , representing Sikhi and Sardari. It is the inseparable combination of both, that form the insignia of Sikh Faith and Sikh Identity. We cannot afford to lose this testmonial provided by the Guru. The insignia, by virtue of its value, is respected and honored by one and all.

Posted by: Prithvi Pal Singh