Golden Research Thought
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The Institution of Sangat: A Sikh Model of Civil Society
Arvinder
Singh
Head Department
of Political Science
Ramgarhia
College, Phagwara (Punjab)
Email:
asbhalla@rediffmail.com
Abstract
Guru Nanak and
his successor Sikh Gurus established the institution of Sangat with view to
provide a platform to society for collective salvation and cooperative endeavor
to restructure the obsolete socio-religious traditions and institutions. The Sangat
sow the seeds of civil society in an age when mankind was sharply fragmented on
the basis of caste, creed, race, color etc. Sangat educate, motivate and train
an individual to live truthfully and to seek the merger with Infinite Reality
(God). Sangat transforms the vision and way of life of human beings and enable
them to be saint- soldier and seeker of Ultimate Truth in the companionship of
realized and divinely inspired souls.
Introductory
Background
In the 15th
century, at the advent of Sikhism in Indian Sub-Continent, the Medieval Indian
society was passing through critical phase. Religious disharmony among the
followers of Aryan and Semitic religious traditions, social discriminations,
and racial arrogance of political ruling class and exploitation of marginalized
strata of society together created social wretchedness and discontentment among
all sections of society. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, tried to
reinvigorate the dying spirit of poor masses. The Indian social system was in a
state of dissolution. Man recognized no social bond of unity with one another.
No one thought of protecting and promoting the common weal beyond one’s own
interest. The result was that a potentially powerful people were powerless to
resist tyranny and secure for themselves their ordinary needs. Conditions have
not very much improved to-day. The Guru aimed at the regeneration of society by
kindling in the hearts of Hindus and Muslims alike the spirit of truth and its
fruit––a feeling of brotherhood and a complete disregard of forms which divided
brother from brother. He held up to ridicule practices which were no more
tenable and old institutions which were no longer helpful.[1]
Guru Nanak was not content to
merely state his doctrines. He knew that, in the background of long Indian
tradition, these would be forgotten, unless he could create a motivated and
wel1- knit society, wedded to his principles and willing to fight for them.
With this idea in mind he had been organizing Sangats, wherever he went.[2] That
infused a social spirit and formed an attempt at communal living apart from
group moksha, (deliverance from birth and death) instead of emphasis on
individualism and individual moksha in Hinduism. It also provided the
people a platform to exchange views on common problems, and generate a feeling
of communal and national consciousness at a time when sense of nationalism was
absent among the populace.[3]
Meaning
and Significance of Sangat in Sikhism
Sangat
means being together a congregation. The Sangat
is of central importance in the Sikh faith, the assembly of believers being the
venue where the divine name (q.v.) is remembered by the singing of Kirtan
(q.v.). The terms ‘satsang’ (the company of truth) or ‘sadhsang’ (the company o
the pious) are also used.[4] In Sikh context it means congregation. A Sikh is supposed to join Sangat for worships
much as possible. During the times of Guru Sahib Sangats had been established in various parts of the sub continent.
Sangat also means all the Sikhs in a
particular area (it is a synonym for the Sikh community) whereas Sarbat Khalsa
(the Sikh commonwealth) means the representatives of all the sections of the
whole of the Sikh nation. In religious context Sangat means the company of holy noble people. A Sikh must try to
spend his maximum possible time in the Sangat (Company) of saintly people Sadh Sangat
too is used for such a company. In Sikhism, mediation in solitude or by
becoming an ascetic is of no importance. A Sikh should sing hymns in the praise
of the Almighty together with the other members of Sangat.[5]
Bhagti, love
and the state of liberation are found through association with the sadhs.
Contrary to the general impression Guru Nanak refers to the Sikh congregation.
The terms used are sant-sabha, Sangat,
Sant Sangat, Sikh sabha, gur-Sangat, and sadh-sabha and sachchi Sangat. This Sangat is associated with the Guru the
shabad and the Name. The sadh and sant appear to be equated with sevak and
Sikh. Thus the reference clearly is to the Sikh congregation in which the Guru
is present.[6]
Bhagat Kabir
said, “As is the company it associates with, so is the fruit it eats”.[7] Guru Nanak said, “With good
association, the man becomes good”.[8]
Guru Nanak also said, “In the
sublime association man's state and why of life become sublime and he swims
across the terrible world ocean”.[9]
Bhagat Ravi Das said, “Without the society of saints, Lord's love wells up not
and, without love, Thy service cannot be performed”.[10]
Guru Ram Das said, “Fie on the life and accursed the hope of living of those
who have not sought the society and protection of the Sat Guru”. [11]
Guru Amar Das said, “They who serve not the True Guru and ponder not over
Gurbani, obtain not Divine knoweldge in their hearts and are as dead in the
world. They go round in eighty-four lakhs of existences and are ruined in death
and birth”.[12] Guru Amar Das also said,
“Without the society of the righteous, all the men remain like beasts and
animals”.[13]
Guru Arjan Dev
said, “Join and meet together, my brethren, dispel duality and imbibe love for
your Lord”.[14] Guru Arjan Dev furthermore said, “As far as it is
in thy power, O dear, associate thou not with the mammon-worshipper”.[15]
Bhagat Kabir said, “Thou mingles not with the saint's society ever and art
engrossed in false pursuits. Thou wander like a dog, a swine and a crow. Thou
shalt soon arise and depart”.[16]
Bhagat Kabir also said, “Kabir, associate thou not with the infidel and flee
far away from him”.[17]
Guru Amar Das said, “They sit in evil society, ever suffer sorrow and earn
nothing but pain”.[18]
Guru Arjan Dev said, “He associates not with the saint's congregation and
suffers pain in many existences”.[19]
Guru Ram Das said, “Consecrated is thy service of the True Guru The one who is
pure he performs this service. They who have deceit, wickedness and falsehood
in their mind, those lepers the True Lord Himself separates away. The True
Sikhs sit by the side of the Guru and serve him. The false ones find no place
even through search. They to whom the words of the Satguru are not agreeable
accursed are their countenances and condemned by God they wander about”.[20]
Guru Arjan Dev
said, “By searching and, I have heard this news that without the society of
saints, none does swim across”.[21]
Guru Arjan Dev also said, “In the society of Saints, the mortal becomes pure
and the noose of death is cut”.[22]
To Guru Arjan Dev, “The body and mind of
those who have the companionship of saints bloom with the Pervading God. They,
who are without the society of the pious persons, dwell all alone. Their pain
never departs and they fall under the clutches of the death's minister”.[23]
To him, “By meeting saint’s society acute becomes my understanding”.[24]
Guru Ram Das said, “Associating with the saints' society, the filth of evil
mindedness is all eradicated and the mortal is blessed with sublime
understanding”.[25] Guru Arjan Dev said, “In
the Saint's society, contemplate over God and wash off the filth of thine many
births”.[26]
Guru Ram Das said, “He, who remembers God obtains all the comforts. We should
daily go, sit and associate with the society of the pious persons”.[27]
A Sikh's living is an
integrated whole of spiritual, intellectual, social, and political activity,
which aims at a progressive movement on all planes of man-kind towards God-head
to be achieved not by Renunciation but in Sangat (Society), participation in
life.[28] Sikhs in Sadh Sangat (holy company) controlling the
kam (lust), krodh (anger), ahankar (ego), decimate their greed and
infatuation. In the holy congregation, truth, contentment, compassion, dharma,
wealth, power all is subsumed.[29] Sikh is exhorted again and again to keep
himself in constant touch with the Sangat. It keeps the inspiration fresh; it helps in
overthrowing the recurring influence of Maya and egoism, and finally,
it leads to collective attunement of the individual and
the community with Universal Spirit and the Universal Mind.[30]
Sangat as a Model of Sikh Civil Society
It is a continual process from Guru
Nanak, the First Guru, to Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth and the last Guru in
physical form. It took almost two hundred and forty years to transform the
whole psyche of man on Indian land, and only then was the Sangat converted
into the Khalsa. Khalsa is the brahm-giani or the gurmukh of Sri
Guru Granth Sahib.[31] Whereas
a true Sikh is a member of an ideal society he is also a member of an ideal
company. This ideal company may be called Sadh Sangat, the company of the
saints or the company of the good. An ideal company may be called a miniature
ideal society. But the word society has a much wider significance. A company is
a small group working within that society. This group may be quite at variance
is morals and manners than the rest of the groups in the same society.[32]
The Sadh-Sangat was truly a
revolutionary institution. It established one of the fundamentals of the social
milieu of the sixteenth century when it removed from among those constituting
the Sadh-Sangat all the distinctions of caste, creed, sex, and race. All were
considered equal.[33]
The Sangat acquired more and more functions as the range of interests of the
Sikh movement widened, and gradually attained a status even superior to that of
the Guru himself. An important doctrine of Sikhism affirmed that there was no
essential difference between the Guru and the true Sikh. The Sangat being an
assembly of true Sikhs was assigned even a higher position – a fact which was
aptly described in the statement that the Sangat
was twenty one measures as compared with the twenty measures of the Guru.[34]
Sikhs prize comradeship
and company with others, and the fellowship of the Sangat is of primary
importance in their religious practice. The tradition of an active and fruitful
involvement with the community comes from Nanak himself, and Sikhs see
community participation as an essential part of their faith. According to a
popular Sikh saying, “One disciple is a single Sikh, two form a holy
association, but where there are five present, there is the Ultimate Reality
Itself.”[35]
The ‘Sat Sangat’ as envisaged
in Sikhism is constituted of the social group of the good persons who sit
together and reflect on the various problems along with the performance of the
spiritual function of worship. In these groups the self learns to associates
itself with the larger social groups and thus relieves the stress on the
individually of the self which might accrue from the egoistic approach to
worship. This may also help the person in overcoming social conflicts which may
arise when persons are not willing to identify each other as spiritually
related, devoid of artificial distinctions of caste or class.[36]
The new spirit of unity
leads to a definite break with the past, and this break becomes very pronounced
in the case of Sikhs because the Guru’s message is diametrically opposed to the
caste ideology and the surrounding caste society. The intimacy of the new
religious experience makes for intimacy of the new fellowship. The solidarity
of the new fellowship and break with the past combine to grow into a lasting association,
binding itself to the pursuit of a definite new way of life and welding its
members into a strongly knit community. Originally, the Sangats were
like tiny specks dispersed in the matrix of the caste society.[37]
The Sangat played
an important role in the evolution of the Sikh community. The institution of the Sangat
united the Sikhs in a particular locality or region into a broad
brotherhood or fraternity. People belonging to different strata of society could
not in those days ordinarily meet on the same plane. Social inequality in
Indian society had existed for ages and had become an integral part of it. The
Sikh Sangats aimed at leveling these invidious distinctions and
establishing the equality and brotherhood of mankind. So, the institution was a
melting pot for the high and low.[38]
Spiritually
the Sangats helped the Sikhs in
maturing their beliefs according to the instructions of the Guru. Socially,
they provided opportunity to the people of all castes and creeds, high and low,
rich and poor to meet and sit together as equals. And politically, the Sangats developed among the Sikhs strong
democratic tradition later practiced by the Sikhs earnestly during the
eighteenth century. These Sangats
gave the Sikhs the basic elements of their political organization.[39]
Sat Sangat is also the collective decision
making body of the Sikhs. These decisions arrived at through mutual discussions
and deliberation and approved by the congregation, are called gurmatas. The decision making is done in
the light of the teaching of Gurbani, and the seal of the Guru’s sanction is
affixed on the decision after ‘waq’
(Guru Verdict) has been taken; After that the decision becomes binding on
everybody. Thus sanction of the Guru provides strength and unity in social
action.[40]
The ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ or the whole
people, met once at the Akal Takht in Amritsar, the highest seat of Panthic authority,
on the occasion of Diwali or Baisakhi, and felt that they were one. All
questions, affecting the welfare of the community, were referred to the Sangat?
Which would decide them in the form of resolutions called Gurmatas. A Gurmatas duly
passed was supposed to have received the sanction of the Guru, and any attempt
made afterwards to contravene it was taken as a sacrilegious act.[41] The
Gurmatas started in the Sangat.
A Mata is an ‘opinion’ or
‘resolution’. In the Khalsa Concept, when an opinion is placed before the
congregation of Sikhs (Sangat) in the presence of the Guru Granth Ji,
and some decision/common consent is arrived at after dispassionate and unbiased
discussions and deliberations and is confirmed by formal ardas and hukm
of Guru, it is considered Final and binding on all as it is from the Guru
himself. This now becomes known as a Gurmata.[42]
In the gradual process Sangat began to perform quasi-judicial
role for the members of Sikh community. Sangat is expected to uplift the
masses in spiritual terms on the one hand and on the other side it is also
assigned the task to penalize those who deviate from the eternal message of
Sikh Gurus or disobey or violate the Sikh ethical code of conduct. In
Sikhism, the guilty person is
expected to present before Sangat and it is up to Sangat to
decide his case in accordance with the Sikh religious doctrines, teachings of
Sri Guru Granth Sahib and Sikh ethical code. Tankhah or
the penalty imposed is the verdict or the decision of the local Sangat or
congregation after due deliberation and considering the explanation of the
offender. The
procedure may be set in motion by any Sikh in the form of a complaint against
the offender. Some of the lapses include taking of dowry, use of intoxicants,
associating with anti-Sikh cults, or some violation of the Sikh Code of Discipline.
The Sangat may accept the offender’s apology and/or impose admonition,
penitence, some sort of sewa (service) like cleaning the shoes, serving
in the langar or reading of some sacred compositions, or the entire Guru
Granth Sahib, and/or a fine. After the offender has carried out the
penitence/punishment, he has to appear before the Sangat again, and then
Ardas is offered which restores the penitent to his Sikh status.[43]
In Sikhism, the institution of Sangat had emerged and developed as a
model of Sikh civil society. Sikh Gurus assigned predominant role to society in
relation to state. It is well established fact that the law of the land can
bring the desired changes only in external behavior of an individual by the use
of force. Despite the plentiful laws, rules and regulations the exploitation of
poor, weaker and deprived masses have not been eradicated. State does not cater
the spiritual needs of human beings. Sikh conception civil society on the other
side is non territorial state and group of holy men and women which governs the
external behavior of an individual as well as moulds his behavior pattern and
mind set without using the coercive force through the motivation, training,
persuasion and guidance in the light of eternal teachings of Sikh Gurus. For Sikh Gurus, Sangat is a training school for Sikhs to
carry out the Divine mission.
In Sangats, Sikhs meditate the True Name of the Lord, get rid of
narrow mindedness, develop cosmopolitan outlook, and learn to share with
others, get ready to fight collectively against any injustice, discrimination
and tyranny. Sikh in Sangat believes in cooperative efforts
to reform the society and minimize the dependence on state for removal of
social injustice, political oppression and economic exploitation. Sangat, in
fact, cultivate higher standards of morality in society and create a
saint-soldier who is committed to take care of both spiritual and temporal
needs of human beings.
Conclusion
From above discussion it can be
concluded that Sangat play a dynamic
and multifaceted role in the socio-spiritual development of an individual. Sangat play a role of precursor of
modern notion of civil society in the darkest phase of the medieval history of
India. Sangat
abolish the parochial considerations and broaden the vision of follower of
righteous path to the extent that he becomes an embodiment of Godly attributes
and able to reorganize the prevailing socio-economic and political structures
on the basis of principles of liberty, equality and fraternity.
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[10] . Ibid.,
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[12] . Ibid.,
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[21] . Ibid.,
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[23] . Ibid.,
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[24] . Ibid.,
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[25] . Ibid.,
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