A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.

CHAP. iI SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND

71

of faith in the general body of the Khalsa.1 All, he said, 1675-1708.
must become as one; the lowest were equal with the All menare
highest; caste must be forgotten; they must accept the equal.
Pahul' or initiation from him,2 and the four races must Idolatry to
be coneat as one out of one vessel. The Turks must be destroyed, temned,
and the graves of those called saints neglected. The ways and
Muhammaof the Hindus must be abandoned, their temples viewed danism
as holy and their rivers looked upon as sacred; the Brah- destroyed.
man's thread must be broken; by means of the Khalsa
alone could salvation be attained. They must surrender
themselves wholly to their faith and to him their guide.
Their words must be 'Kritnash, Kulnash, Dharmnash,
Karmnash,' the forsaking of occupation and family, of
belief and ceremonies. ' Do thus,' said Gobind, 'and the
world is yours.' 3 Many Brahman and Kshattriya followers
murmured, but the contemned races rejoiced; they reminded Gobind of their devotion and services, and asked
that they also should be allowed to bathe in the sacred pool,
and offer up prayers in the temple of Amritsar. The murmurings of the twice-born increased, and many took their
departure, but Gobind exclaimed that the lowly should be
raised, and that hereafter the despised should dwell next
to himself.4 Gobind then poured water into a vessel and
as distinguished from the lands of tributaries and feudal followers.
Khalsa can thus be held either to denote the kingdom of Gobind, or
that the Sikhs are the chosen people.
1 This assurance is given in the Rehet Nameh, or Rule of Life of
Gobind, which, however, is not included in the Granth. In the same
composition he says, or is held to have said, that the believer who
wishes to see the Guru shall behold him in the Khalsa.
Those who object to such similitudes, or to such struggles of the
mind after precision, should remember that Abelard likened the
Trinity to a syllogism with its three terms; and that Wallis, with
admitted orthodoxy, compared the Godhead to a mathematical cube
with its three dimensions. (Bayle's Dictionary, art. ' Abelard '.)
2 Pahul (pronounced nearly as Fowl), meansliterally a gate, a door,
and thence initiation. The word may have the same origin as the
Greek rr'k5X.
3 The text gives the substance and usually the very words of the
numerous accounts to the same purport. (Cf. also Malcolm, Sketch,
pp. 148, 151.)
4 Churhas, or men of the Sweeper caste, brought away the remains
of Tegh Bahadur from Delhi, as has been mentioned (ante, p. 66, note).
Many of that despised, but not oppressed race, have adopted the