Khalsanama

Explore

Khalsa Weapons

The Divine Sword - First Principles of the Khalsa

⁠

By Aspiring Khalsa |

Substack⁠

Instagram⁠

⁠

First Principles noun

the fundamental concepts or assumptions on which a theory or system is based.

Rattan Singh Bhangu’s 100 year history of the Guru Khalsa Panth adheres to one dominant narrative: sovereignty through war. These accounts of the Khalsa’s early years can be eye opening considering the history of the first 5 Gurus clearly doesn’t follow such a narrative. Neither does the writings of the Aad Guru Granth, which is compiled in this time period and contains the inspiration and foundational principles of the Sikh faith. What is the reason then, or the principle driving the Sikh people to become this way?

Bhangu answers this question by describing a remarkable transformation of the Sikh people through the initiation of the Khalsa Panth. A

previous article⁠

, showcasing Guru Gobind Singh’s writing and descriptions of Weaponry as God, introduces how the Guru may have influenced the Khalsa’s psyche. To expand on this, the 10th Guru, and commentators who came within a century of him, establish the Divine Sword as a first principle of the Khalsa. This powerful idea remains at the core of the Khalsa identity for the coming 150 years as they pursue and achieve sovereignty.

Bhangu’s Panth Prakash contains many episodes on the history of Guru Gobind Singh. Within it, he gives important details on Vaisakhi and the first Khande di Pahul ceremony.

⁠

ਪ੍ਰਿਥਮ ਭਗੌਤੀ ਵਾਰ ਜੁ ਪੌੜੀ । ਪੜ੍ਹ ਪ੍ਰਿਥਮੈਂ ਆਪ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਜੌੜੀ ।

First the Guru recited the ballad of Bhagauti. He himself had composed this ballad for the first time.

…

ਤੇਜ ਤੇਜ ਜੋ ਚੰਡੀ ਬਾਣੀ । ਸੋਉ ਪਾਹੁਲ ਕੇ ਮੱਧੈ ਠਾਣੀ ।੯।

This war ballad “Chandi Di Vaar” was very inspiring, and was made mandatory during the Pahul initiation.

— Panth Prakash (1810), Episode 15

⁠

In this episode on Vaisakhi, Bhangu emphasizes the 10th Guru’s invocation of the Goddess. He specifically mentions that the Chandi Di Vaar verses were read. Almost all Sikhs today are familiar with the beginning of this writing as it makes up the first portion of the Ardaas. However, following the lines of “Teg Bahādur simriai…” the ballad of Chandi begins. — Guru Gobind Singh’s constant use of the feminine divine is a separate and equally interesting topic which will be examined in later writing — The first line of the ballad itself is one of the most important written as it sets the first principle of the Khalsa.

⁠

ਖੰਡਾ ਪ੍ਰਥਮਿ ਮਨਾਇਕੈ ਜਿਨ ਸਭ ਸੈਸਾਰ ਉਪਾਇਆ ॥

Khandā prithm manāikai, jin sabh saisār aupāiā.

First the double-edged sword was created, then the entire universe.

⁠

The 10th Guru sets forth the primacy of the Khanda, literally a double-edged sword, as the prime mover of creation. Beyond a literal interpretation, a fundamental axiom is introduced. Guru Gobind Singh posits that power and violence are fundamental and primary forces which guide existence. One may see it as a harsh description, but it is evidently true as all living beings on Earth, plants and animals, take defensive and offensive precautions to ensure survival and flourishing. In fact, many years before Guru Gobind Singh, Bhai Gurdas uses a metaphor of nature in describing the 6th Guru’s militarization of the Sikhs, writing that the Guru placed thorns around a beautiful orchard (Amritsar). (Bhai Gurdas Vaaran, Vaar 26, Pauri 25)

Gobind Singh has given an imposition to the Khalsa: one’s values and principles are only good insofar as they can be protected. This is described in many historical accounts but he also illuminates this concept specifically in the Bachittar Natak (Dasam Granth), affirming that the sword is the creator, and also the “savior of creation.” A related idea is that modern nations are formed on the basis of high ideals, but in the absence of the ability to defend those ideals, they will perish. The 10th Guru has emphasized this and it becomes the very core of Sikh practice in the coming century and a half.

⁠

ਮਤਿ ਗੁਰ ਆਤਮ ਦੇਵ ਦੀ ਖੜਗਿ ਜੋਰਿ ਪਰਾਕੁਇ ਜੀਅ ਦੈ ॥

The Guru implanted the almighty sword of the Teachings to illuminate his soul.

— Aad Guru Granth (Ang 996), speaking about Guru Nanak

⁠

Interestingly, the first mentions of a metaphorical Divine Sword are found in various shabads throughout the Aad Granth. Guru Gobind Singh’s use of the Divine Sword is not only limited to Chandi Di Vaar, but throughout the entire meta narrative and framework of the Dasam Granth, as it possibly builds off such themes from the Aad Guru Granth. The 10th Guru begins almost every one of his compositions (which are stylistically much different / longer in nature than shabads in the Aad Granth) with invocations to the Divine Sword.

⁠

Various examples of the Divine Sword across Sikh Texts:

ਭਗਉਤੀ - Bhagauti (the Divine Sword - feminine)

ਖੜਗ - Kharag (Sword, Sword Wielder - masculine)

ਸਰਬਲੋਹ - Sarbloh (the All Steel - masculine)

+ general invocations to the Divine feminine as the weapon wielder & more

⁠

This choice of structure for the compositions within the Dasam Granth reveal the importance of the Divine Sword for the 10th Guru. For whatever wisdom Kavi Ram, Shyam, Gobind Singh passes onto the Sikhs in such writings, they are reminded of the first principle of the Divine Sword in the introduction to almost every text.

After two centuries of forming the core philosophies of the Sikh faith, the Sikhs are baptized and reborn by the double edged sword, and they are commanded to defend their orchard. The sword being wielded with Nanak-Gobind Singh’s vision, becomes divine, becoming Sri Bhagauti.

The Khalsa’s adherence to this first principle is what leads them to establish righteous rule in the Panjab. Having lost Raj since the mid 19th century, the echoes of the Divine Sword may still call out to the Sikh today.

ਅਕਾਲ ਸਹਾਇ

⁠

Sources:

⁠

Panth Prakash⁠

, Bhangu

⁠

Chandi Di Vaar⁠

, Guru Gobind Singh

⁠

Vaaran⁠

, Bhai Gurdas

Gallery

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.