Castes in Sikhism: Dichotomy between Belief and Practice[1]

I.     Introduction

Castes are social divisions based on breed or family lineage that were evolved in ancient Indian-subcontinent through the sanction from Hindu scriptures and maintained by Brahmins elites. The Indian Sikhs inherited their practice of the caste system from old Hindu traditions. Fundamentally, castes are neither Sikh in nature nor they are logical for our time. Thus their practice is expected to perish in coming generations of the Sikh communities with the influence of Western education and inculcation of the true Sikh values. In contrast to castes, Sects, factions or cults are denominational divisions based on diversity in interpretation and practice of theology, beliefs or history. They are evolved and perpetuated for preservation of the traits of fundamentalism in any religion. They gather strength as long as one group threatens identity of the other. Their spread among the Sikhs is on the rise and their end is not in the sight in the near future.

II.    Caste in Indian Society

Although elements of caste are present in some form in most societies, the elaborate caste systems are mostly developed in India alone. From time to time, in Europe there existed well‑marked status‑groups within a society, distinguished from one another by rights and disabilities, separated from one another by restrictions on inter‑marriage. For example, an old law of the Anglo‑Saxons laid down that none was to seek in marriage a mate outside one's class. However, caste exclusiveness assumed special significance only in Indian Subcontinent. There, religious injunctions were used to implement the caste system, which gave special powers to some casts and took away many basic rights from others. Further, it developed into an organic structure that covered the whole society. In other countries, elements of social exclusiveness remained in a limited form, or even degenerated with time, so as to affect only a limited part of society, leaving the main body of the people untouched.  For instance, other societies did not permit any elaborate caste ideology or any human agency, which could harness the functioning of the different caste elements towards their own purpose. In India, the Brahmin caste was consciously committed and devoted to the preservation of primarily its own 'caste‑status'. The propose may seem at a time as a direction towards essentially a slavery of the lower castes. Towards that end, economic status of some castes was lowered and political power was made subservient to the Brahmin priesthood. The preservation of the caste order, based on 'caste‑status', became the overriding compulsion of the caste society to such an extent that all socio‑religious values and trends were either engulfed in the caste ideology, or so distorted as to blunt their practice.

The caste ideology, the society based exclusively on the caste ideology, and Brahmanism, are three main factors responsible for consolidating the castes into the social system of India. They are the pillars on which the palace of caste system is built and maintained. The same three systems pose great danger to the survival of distinct Sikh identity; it is evident from the discussion that follows.

The caste ideology consist of a fundamental assumption that human beings are not born equal, but they are born to be unequal.  Some of them are as unlike human as are animals. Further, because the unfairness and unsoundness of human inequality are so difficult to support, strong religious sanction were engineered to enforce them.  Hindu dharma was made into the Varna Ashrama Dharma and its scriptures were successfully employed to support and reinforce the caste system. The hymns in the Rig Veda regarding the caste distinctions were made into divine ordinance sanctioning the origin of the four castes. Gita sanctified hereditary functionalism; and Lord Krishna claimed himself to be the author of castes. These sanctions glorified the caste ideology in India as altogether different from any ordinary combination of social prejudices such as we meet in other societies. They elevated social exclusiveness and hierarchy to the level of a religious principle.  Promoters of the caste system have been so powerful that not a single line was permitted in some Hindu scriptures to specifically condemn the Varna Ashrama Dharma. This scriptural sanction of the Varna Ashrama Dharma and the castes, succeeded in consolidating the castes and their hold on Indian society. Such consolidation is antithesis to basic Sikh teachings. These teachings considered all humans as equals.

mwns kI jwiq sbY eykY pihcwn bo [3]

  Consider the caste of all human beings as one and the same.

Besides, scriptural sanctions to the differences by birth, the Hindu religion brought with it theology of pollution and various taboos associated with pollution. They derived theology of untouchables out of those principles. It meant that certain social conducts would pollute an individual physically and, the individuals thus polluted would become untouchable.  The taboos about pollution played the biggest role in extending the range of the caste system to expand it in day to day life. The idea of pollution was associated even with natural and inescapable phenomena such that childbirth and menstrual period of women undermined their social position. The peasants were downgraded because the act of ploughing the land involved the killing of worms and this act would down caste those who were assigned this profession. Thus, the farming, cleaning and janitorial serves, services related to funeral, tanning, leather work, etc comprised services which Hinduism had come to consider ritually impure and thus lowest.  Further, the lowest caste strata were considered to be absolutely degrading and contaminating. 

Through the caste system a social order was evolved in which the Brahminical power was made absolute.  The inviolability of all sacred law of Vedas and other Hindu scriptures were employed to implement this social order. As a result, the concept of Hindu dharma came to be very closely interwoven with the social order of Brahmanism, as the caste became a part and parcel of the religiously sanctioned social order. The Brahmins named the Hindu law books as Dharam Shastras. It required that to be religious a Hindu must execute the ritualistic duties; hence the duties of the caste of his birth were essential to practice his dharma. It is only through caste that one could belong to the Hindu community.  The Brahmins were a high caste and were the all‑time standing kingpin of the caste system; they were both its ideologues and the social focal point around which the system revolved. Practically all of the orthodox literature is the work of, or inspired by, the Brahmin caste, and the Brahmins were its sole interpreters. Further, the Brahmins came to occupy the high position in Hindu society because they made caste essentially a social rank, and the social rank of the castes was determined with reference to the Brahmins. It is very clear that, for a Sikh, to practice the caste system would be paramount to following the religious edicts of Brahmins. That was exactly what the Guru rejected so vehemently.

mWdlu byid is bwjxo Gxo DVIAY joie ] nwnk nwmu smwil qU bIjau Avru n koie ] AGGS, M 1, P 1091. 

Most of the people are paying heed only to the bugle of ‘karam kaand’ sounded by scriptures such as Vedas.  Says Guru Nanak, you should accept the path of Naam as nothing else is as exquisite.

kbIr ijh mwrig pMifq gey pwCY prI bhIr ] iek AvGt GwtI rwm kI iqh ciV rihE kbIr ] AGGS, Kabeer, P 1373.

Crowds of people are following the path that is laid down by the Brahamin scholars. However, the path to the Divine that was taught to Kabir is very different

qin cMdnu msqik pwqI ] ird AMqir kr ql kwqI ] Tg idsit bgw ilv lwgw ] dyiK  bYsno pRwn muK Bwgw ] 1 ] kil Bgvq bMd icrWmM ] k®¨r idsit rqw inis bwdM ] 1 ] rhwau ]  inqpRiq iesnwnu srIrM ] duie DoqI krm muiK KIrM ] irdY CurI sMiDAwnI ] pr drbu ihrn kI  bwnI ] 2 ] isl pUjis ck® gxysM ] inis jwgis Bgiq pRvysM ] pg nwcis icqu AkrmM ]  ey lµpt nwc ADrmM ] 3 ] imRg Awsxu qulsI mwlw ] kr aUjl iqlku kpwlw ] irdY kUVu  kMiT rudRwKM ] ry lµpt ik®snu ABwKM ] 4 ] ijin Awqm qqu n cIin@Aw ] sB Pokt Drm AbIinAw] AGGS,  Baini, P 1351.  

O’ Brahamin, you rub your body with sandalwood oil, and place basil leaves on your forehead. But you hold a knife in the hand of your heart. You look like a deceit; pretending to meditate, you pose like a crane. You try to look like a poise sage, but the breath of others’ life escapes through your mouth.   You may pray for hours to God the Beautiful. But your gaze is evil, and your nights are wasted in conflict. You perform daily cleansing rituals, wear extra length loincloths, perform religious rituals and drink cleansing ritualistic milk.  But in your heart, you have a drawn sword. You routinely steal the property of others.  You worship the stone idol, and paint ceremonial marks of Ganesha. You remain awake throughout the night, pretending to worship God. You dance, but your consciousness is filled with evil. O lewd and depraved man, this is such an unrighteous dance.  You sit on a deerskin, and chant on your rosary. You put the sacred mark, the tilak, on your forehead. You wear the rosary beads of Shiva around your neck, but your heart is filled with falsehood. O lewd and depraved man, you do not chant God’s Name.  Whoever does not realize the essence of the soul, all his religious actions are hollow and false. Says Bainee, meditate as a God oriented. Without the True Guru, you shall not find the Way.

The Brahmins laid down the codes and rules of the society they founded based upon the caste ideology. The adherence to these rules and usage was entrusted to the local caste councils (Panchayats), who knew the locality members intimately. The caste society lived on the principle of social inequality and hierarchy. The lower the caste in the social scale, the stronger its combination and the more efficient its organization.  In other words, the lower castes were more prone to tighten their own caste shackles. Further, the ideology of caste hierarchy and social exclusiveness is interwoven with every fiber of the social texture of the Indian society. Every Hindu citizen is not only entangled by several tentacles of the caste ideology, but is fastened to other similarly bound individuals within a sub‑caste to form a rigid horizontal social network. In fact, the caste binding is the most predominant, if not the only, social bonds that unite the members of a sub‑caste even today. On top of it, this horizontal social net‑work of each sub‑caste is tied vertically, layer upon layer, both ideologically (as the ritual, the ethical code, and the penal code are all hierarchically graded) and organizationally, to other similarly constituted higher and lower sub‑castes. All of this made the caste system synonymous with the Hindu society. It is here that the Sikhs and many other reform movements must be alarmed regarding its practice. It should be realized that the caste society would have no relevance in the west unless we implant it here as a baggage from India. The elimination of the caste system would be more than bringing a revolution in India. There, it would be as difficult as opposing some fundamental rules of psychology as love and bonding between the close relatives or respect for parenthood. The caste system could not be reformed without reforming the caste society and the basic fiber of a mentality. This perspective is important to appreciate the social significance of the Sikh movement of reform in 15^th and 16^th centuries in Indian subcontinent.

III.  Evil Effects of Caste on Sikh Society

A.        Strengthens hold of other religions on Sikh society

The caste system is the one most important factor that straps Sikhs and other reform movements to the fundamentals of Brahamanism. There are many elements to this strapping that have capacity to destroy any reform movement and Sikhs are no exception. Max Weber writes, "Once established, the assimilative power of Hinduism is so great that it tends even to integrate social forms considered beyond its religious borders. The religious movements of expressly anti ‑Brahminical and anti‑caste character that were contrary to one of the fundamentals of Hinduism, have been in all essentially returned to the caste order. Unless the sect is able to abolish the caste system altogether, instead of simply tearing away some of its members, it becomes, from the stand point of the caste system, a quasi‑guest folk, a kind of confessional guest community in an ambiguous position in the prevailing Hindu Order."[4]

Let us examine some of the salient elements of the caste ideology in the light of relating it to the Sikh communities. These elements include, caste hierarchy and inequality based upon family lineage, scriptures that sanctions caste ideology and inequality; Hindu Varna Ashram dharma including caste ritualism, caste customs and traditions; caste connubial and communal restrictions; the taboos of polluting professions and un-touchability; the theory of karma that justifies caste, and many more. Sikhism sanctions none of them. It would be difficult to call oneself Sikh if one subscribed to any one of those elements. However, all of the elements are being imposed on Sikh society by their neighbors as well as by the inertia that is exhibited by many of our elders. It imposes ever-increasing difficulty in removing the shackles of the caste society. We know well that any association with human inequality particularly that is caste based, or social exclusiveness that is based upon birth, is not Sikh like. Guru Gobind Singh is believed to have said that as long as his Sikhs would continue to follow the life-style prescribed by Brahmins, he would not come to their helm. Whereas the Sikh society promotes social equality, their efforts would be a castle in sand in view of the caste practices that are imposed upon them. In contradiction to the Sikh principles, the caste system binds down each member of a sub caste, not by one or two, but by several ideological and social chains that are made in Hindu society but are forbidden in Sikhism. Thus, to accept any element of the caste system is to perpetuate a strong hold of Hindu Varna Ashram dharma on the Sikh society.

We are well familiar with the example of other countries and societies where it needed tremendous efforts to erase or weaken social evils even when they were operating as a single factor. Some examples may include, color prejudices in U.S.A. or Europe, social taboos in Burma and Japan, or endogamy in classless societies. Similarly, by implementing the amplification power of many different elements of the caste ideology, the practices imported from back home made it equally difficult to remove this evil from the Sikh society in the West. Thus, the Sikhs in North America will have a terrible time to get rid of this powerful evil if they continue to carry their Indian baggage with them and pass it on to their generations.

The lesson of Indian history should be an eye opener for Sikhs in grasping the social significance of the caste system on Sikh survival.  The contaminative power of the caste system has been very tough there for many centuries. It had not spared even the foreign religions such as Islam and Christianity. Their adherents, in-spite of their best efforts to resist assimilation in the caste society, were unsuccessful. They reached India fully prepared not to assimilate and they opposed any assimilation. They made many anti‑caste struggles in India, but all of them failed and were assimilated.  In addition, there were many reformist Saints and prophets within India and within Hinduism, who espoused the cause of uprooting the caste system from Indian society. Despite all of their sincere and numerous anti‑caste innovations, their movements and reforms ended up to be as mere sects of Hinduism, or as mere appendages of the caste society. Examples are Lingayats, Chaitanyites, Arya Smaj, Jains, or many radical holy men like Namdev, Kabir, and other Saints.  None of their adherents, except those who escaped to the house of Nanak, continued to be counted as distinctly non‑Hindu like the Muslims, Christians or Sikhs. It was because these anti‑caste protests were not allowed to develop into social movements, which could work persistently over a period to establish their social identity separate from the caste society. We hope that the same will not happen with Sikhs, but it could, if we failed to understand the gravity of this situation.

B.                 Baggage of Third World History on Future

As has been explained earlier that the caste practices and caste ideology are distinctly third world practices. They would not survive in the western world and will not be tolerated by any emancipated society anywhere. To continue to adhere to those practices is clearly paramount to not been able to get rid of the baggage from the third world history. As members of the proud Sikh community we should be embarrassed to continue to protect and promote this practice.  What is emphasized is that the greatest hurdle of the social framework of the caste system, i.e. the caste society, still is alive in some quarters of the Sikh nation. The anti‑caste movements of the Sikh would survive only if they divorced themselves from the caste society. Our Founders did not establish Sikh society so that any one group could triumph over another. It was established so that the people as a whole could triumph. Sikh teachings carry within itself an understanding and commitment to the notion that when the greater good of all is not served, then the good of the few will not last. We admit failure to provide leadership in spreading our mission of equality if we let the adherence to the caste distinction to continue to perpetuate in any activity of our personal or community life.  

C.        Moral Failure in Implementing Equality

Contrary to the practices that our Gurus promoted, there are elements among us who would not resist the social pressure of the ancient evils in our society in removing the evil of the caste system from amongst us. . At times our leaders showed great cowardice when opportunity presented itself to lead the society. A case in point is that of the shudi movement of Arya Smaj in Punjab. In many villages of Punjab, the Sikhs born in homes of low caste individuals were not allowed equal access to the village well or even places of worship. They could not gain this basic human right even when they took Pahul of Khanda, which demands for destruction of all castes or recognition of any significance based upon family genealogy. The youth protested but their protests were of no avail. The Ary Smaj movement among the Hindus determined to take advantage of this helplessness on the part of Sikh leaders situation and began to convert the Sikh populace in exchange for granting them equality and social acceptance.  The Smaj was succeeding in its efforts. There were public conversions of the Sikh boys along with Christian youth to Hindusim as reformed socially by the Arya Smaj. [5]  The spread of Singh Sabha movement was partly a response to this grave situation. Only a brave movement like Singh Sabha succeeded to halt the mass conversion.

D.        Division in Community

The adherence to the caste system gradually begins to instill and solidify divisions in any society. It takes over the social behavior of every member of the caste sub group. It interferes with all the relations and events of life, and with what precedes and follows life. It renders any adherent blind to his/her relationship with members of the other caste. An ex‑communicated person is almost dead to his group. With the disobedience of the caste group, one loses not only every relation and friend, but sometimes even spouse and children, who prefer to abandon the rebel rather than take wrath of other members in making their life miserable. More recently, the caste considerations have crept up in the management of our community affairs. May it be management of our religious institutions, or foundation of our social groups, caste considerations are being brought in the picture. They succeeded in arousing emotions on both sides resulting in exhibition of destructive energies. Some Gurdwaras are even named after caste labels. Further, it is not uncommon that caste adherence is an important element in electing managing committees of our institutions at many places. Thus, we paying a high cost in terms of community moral and the demoralization that it creates among youth on account of the evil of the caste practices.

E.        Social Evil and Crimes

As described earlier the caste system is essentially a racial system, which labels people on account of their birth. His often leads to destructive hatred and crime again life and property. Our life and property will not be safe if we do not get rid of our old time practices of the caste system. In USA more than half of the crimes committed are racially motivated. These crimes are against people, vandalism and property destruction, murders, destruction of religious property, and intimidation. In 1997, of the 10,255 crime victims, 80 percent were people and the remainder businesses, religious organizations or other targets. Nearly 60 percent of the victims were targeted because of their race, and many for their social class based upon their family lineage. There were 1,586 victims of religious prejudice, 65 percent involved crimes against property. We experienced crimes of extreme nature within our community on many occasions that are often traced to caste prejudices.

F.         Antagonism of Youth towards their Religious Inheritance

We have great concern about the future of our youth in the Western society. At the time of tercentenary celebration of the Khalsa Panth the Sikh youth are undergoing a major transition. Our objective is to promote this transition towards a renaissance but it can result into catastrophe if we did not know the pulse of the time and the forces of change being thrust upon us. Upheaval of placement into the western cultures, western education and technology, affluence, gender revolution, and the media are all shaping Sikh youth experiences. The novelty of these experiences is stressful in many ways. However, the stress may become back breaking when it is combined with the pressures from within. From this I mean the un-Sikh like social values that are being imposed on them and those are jolting their lives. Youth are indeed rebelling against their elders. For example, they rebel against parents’ intelligence for spouse selection. In reality, they are afraid, not of parents’ help in spouse hunting, but rather they are fearful and suspicious towards social boundaries that parents are feared to place on them. The caste system is one such boundary, so are many of other values that have their origin in the practice of caste or the rank of family lineage in society. As a result, many of the Sikh youth are distancing themselves from their major institutions and they are beginning to challenge our social values. They are first questioning and then distancing themselves from the cultural narratives by which they are being required to understand themselves. Our cultural institutions mostly from distance in time and space are placing many of the cultural narratives on them. Let us stop this practice and turn to our real roots in the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib. 

Many youth are religiously alert but still feel that their institutions are spiritually and theologically impoverished. Not that they see any doctrinal or moral objection, rather, the baggage of ethnicity is beginning to seem irrelevant to them. They find that their institutions are unable to ditch the cultural baggage from back home. Particularly when they are told so in their youth camps and conferences, and they read about it elsewhere, that removal of the old cultural and social baggage was so much dear to their Gurus. The practice of caste and elaborate the caste system practiced in the community is one such baggage that we must leave behind when we enter the new century.

IV.   Sikh Response To Caste System

A.        Guru Granth’s Condemnation of Divisions Based on Family Inheritance

1.         Guru Granth taunted any division of human society on the basis of birth or societal custom.

grB vws mih kulu nhI jwqI ] bRhm ibMdu qy sB auqpwqI ] AGGS, Kabeer, P 324.

In the dwelling of the womb, there is no ancestry or social rank. All have originated from the Seed of God.

AY jI nw hm auqm nIc n miDm hir srxwgiq hir ky log ] AGGS, M 1, P 504.

 O Dear One, I am not high or low or in the middle. I am the Lord's slave, and I seek the Lord's Sanctuary.

nw ko piVAw pMifqu bInw nw ko mUrKu  mMdw ] bMdI AMdir isPiq krwey qw kau khIAY bMdw ] AGGS, M 1, P 360. 

One should not be classified as literate, clergy, learned or wise; nor one is basically ignorant or evil. A good human being is the one, in the bondage of the Lord, praises the Lord.

kbIr dunIAw ky doKy mUAw cwlq kul kI kwin ] qb kulu iks kw lwjsI jb ly Drih mswin ] AGGS, Kabeer, P. 1373. 

Says Kabeer, the mortal kills him/herself for sake of following the customs of family lineage. Whose family is dishonored, when one is placed on the funeral pyre?

2.         Guru Nanak condemned caste ideology and called it as the wisdom of the perverse.

PkV jwqI PkVu nwau ] sBnw jIAw iekw Cwau ] Awphu jy ko Blw khwey ] nwnk qw pru jwpY jw piq lyKY pwey ] AGGS, M 1, P 83.

Pride in caste status is unfounded, so is the pride in personal glory on account of caste. The One Lord gives shade to all beings. Says Nanak, you may call yourself noble, but, this will only be recognized when your nobility is approved in God's Account.

The Sikh theologian of the highest repute, Bhai Gurdas, echoed the Guru’s view on those who exhibit so much aggression based on their adherence to a particular caste or social division.as:

vrnw vrn n BwvnI kir KudI KhMdy] jMgl AMdir sINh duie blvMiq bukMdy] hwQI hiQAweI krin mqvwly huie AVI AVMdy] rwj BUp rwjy vfy ml dys lVMdy] mulk AMdir pwiqswh duie jwie jMg juVMdy] hayumY kir hMkwr lK ml ml Gulµdy] guru isK poih n sknI swDu sMig vsMdy ] (Bhai Gurdas , Var 38, Pauri 6)

Various ethnic groups do not like each other and quarrel among themselves while expressing their ego, like they are two lions in a jungle whom roar mightily at each other. They are also like those intoxicated elephants, which stubbornly fight each other. The mighty kings capture large territories and fight with each other. Two emperors in a country will go to war with each other. Guided and controlled by ego numerous wrestlers wrestle with one another. This ego does not touch those who seek the Truth in the company of the Holy.

3.         Guru Granth rejected scriptures supporting Caste system.

The Sikh Gurus also rejected the Hindu scriptures that were responsible for providing the religious support the caste system and ideology. Further, since Guru Gobind Singh establish the Guru Granth as the eternal Guru of the Sikhs, Sikhs have never owned any other scripture. Varna Ashrama dharma was integral part of the Hindu dharma, but Guru Nanak rejected it and made dharma socially more relevant by blending the four castes into one.

byd kqyb isimRiq siB swsq ien@ piVAw mukiq n hoeI ] eyku AKru jo gurmuiK jwpY iqs kI inrml soeI ] KqRI bRwhmx sUd vYs aupdysu chu vrnw kau swJw ] gurmuiK nwmu jpY auDrY so kil mih Git Git nwnk mwJw ] AGGS, M 5, P 747. 

There are Vedas, the Bible, the Simritees and the Shaastras, but their recitation will not bring liberation. One who, as Guru oriented, chants the One Word, acquires a spotlessly pure character? The scriptural teaching should be the same for all four castes - the Kh'shaatriyas, Brahmins, Soodras and Vaishyas.  One, who as Guru oriented chants the Naam of the Lord, is saved. In this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, O Nanak, God is permeating the hearts of each and every being.

bRwhmxu KqRI sUd vYs cwir vrn cwir AwsRm hih jo hir iDAwvY so prDwnu ] AGGS, M 3, P 861.

There are promoted four castes: Brahmin, Kh'shaatriya, Soodra and Vaishya, and there are considered four stages of life. These classifications have no validity because one, who meditates on the Lord, is the most distinguished and renowned.

4.         The Guru also rejected the ideology of pollution and the taboos attached to it.

sBo sUqku Brmu hY dUjY lgY jwie ] jÍmxu mrxw hukmu hY BwxY AwvY jwie ] Kwxw pIxw pivqRu hY idqonu irjku sÍbwih ] nwnk ijn@I gurmuiK buiJAw iqn@w sUqku nwih ] AGGS, M 1, P 472.

All impurities which cause pollution come from doubt and attachment to duality. Birth and death are subject to the Command of the Lord's Will; through His Will we come and go. Eating and drinking are pure, since the Lord gives nourishment to all. O Nanak, the Guru oriented, who understand the Lord, are not stained by any impurity.

jykir sUqku mÍnIAY sB qY sUqku hoie ] gohy AqY lkVI AÍdir kIVw hoie ] jyqy dwxy AÍn ky jIAw bwJu n koie ] pihlw pwxI jIau hY ijqu hirAw sBu koie ] sUqku ikau kir rKIAY sUqku pvY rsoie ] nwnk sUqku eyv n auqrY igAwnu auqwry Doie ]1] AGGS, M 1, P 472. 

If one accepts the concept of impurity and pollution, then there would be impurity everywhere. In cow-dung and wood there are worms. As many as are the grains of corn, none is without life. First, there is life in the water, by which the water, by which everything else is made green, makes everything else green. Would you also consider them impure and polluted? It touches our own kitchen. O Nanak, the real impurity cannot be removed in this way; it is washed away only by spiritual wisdom.

jil hY sUqku Qil hY sUqku sUqk Epiq hoeI ] jnmy sUqku mUey Puin sUqku sUqk prj ibgoeI ]1] khu ry pÍfIAw kaun pvIqw ] AYsw igAwnu jphu myry mIqw ]1] rhwau ] nYnhu sUqku bYnhu sUqku sUqku sRvnI hoeI ] aUTq bYTq sUqku lwgY sUqku prY rsoeI ]2] Pwsn kI ibiD sBu koaU jwnY CUtn kI ieku koeI ] kih kbIr rwmu irdY ibcwrY sUqku iqnY n hoeI ]  AGGS, Kabir, P 331. 

There is pollution in the water, and pollution on the land; whatever is born is polluted. There is pollution in birth, and more pollution in death; all beings are subverted by pollution.  Tell me, O Pandit, O religious scholar: who is clean or pure? Meditate on such spiritual wisdom, O my friend. There is pollution in the eyes, and pollution in speech; there is pollution in the ears as well. Standing up and sitting down, one is polluted; one's kitchen is polluted as well. Everyone knows how to be caught, but hardly anyone knows how to escape. Says Kabeer, those who meditate on the Lord within their hearts, are not polluted.

mn kw sUqku loBu hY ijhvw sUqku kUVu ] AKI sUqku vyKxw pr iqRA pr Dn rUpu ] kÍnI sUqku kÍin pY lwieqbwrI Kwih ] nwnk hÍsw AwdmI bDy jm puir jwih ]2] AGGS, M 1, P 472.

The impurity of the mind is greed, and the impurity of the tongue is falsehood. The impurity of the eyes is to gaze upon the beauty of another man's wife, and his wealth. The impurity of the ears is to listen to the slander of others. O Nanak, the mortal's soul goes, bound and gagged to the city of Death.

mn kw sUqku dUjw Bwau ] Brmy BUly Awvau jwau ]1] mnmuiK sUqku kbih n jwie ] ijcru sbid n BIjY hir kY nwie ]1] rhwau ] sBo sUqku jyqw mohu Awkwru ] mir mir jÍmY vwro vwr ]2] sUqku Agin pauxY pwxI mwih ] sUqku Bojnu jyqw ikCu Kwih ]3] sUqik krm n pUjw hoie ] nwim rqy mnu inrmlu hoie ]4] siqguru syivAY sUqku jwie ] mrY n jnmY kwlu n Kwie ]5] AGGS, M 3, P 229.

The real pollution is that of the mind’s love of duality. Deluded and misled by doubt, people come and go in reincarnation. The pollution of the self-orientation will never go away, as long as they do not dwell on the Word, and the Name of the Lord. All the created beings are contaminated by emotional attachment; they die and are reborn, only to die over and over again. If one follows the Brahaminic logic, fire, air and water are polluted. The food, which is eaten, is polluted. Actually, the actions of those who do not worship the Lord are polluted. The polluted mind becomes immaculate when attuned to the Naam, the Name of the Lord.  Serving the True Guru, pollution is eradicated, and then, one does not suffer death and rebirth, or get devoured by death.

5.         Guru Granth does not support priestly class

The Guru ended any priestly class or its role anywhere in Sikh society. Even, if some Sikhs claim themselves to be Brahmin, they do not claim to belong or constitute a priestly class. It is a well-known fact that the Sikhs have no hereditary class or caste. By eliminating the Brahminical influence in the Panth, the Sikh society eliminated the human kingpin of the caste system from within its ranks. Our Gurus ridiculed the claims of Brahmins on their superiority based on birth.

jO qUM bRwhmxu bRhmxI jwieAw ] qau Awn bwt kwhy nhI AwieAw ]2] qum kq bRwhmx hm kq sUd ] hm kq lohU qum kq dUD ]3] khu kbIr jo bRhmu bIcwrY ] so bRwhmxu khIAqu hY hmwrY ] AGGS, Kabeer, P 324.

If you are indeed a Brahmin by birth, then why were you born even of a Brahmin mother; why didn't you come by some other way which was not so polluting (giving birth was considered a polluting act by the caste society)? How is it that you are a Brahmin, and I am of a low social status? Am I formed of blood, and you are made of milk?  Says Kabeer, one who contemplates God, is said to be a Brahmin among us.

According to guru Granth, the deciding factor on the status of any one is one’s deeds and relationship to spiritual consciousness. Social divisions particularly based upon family lineage or birth are reactionary and deserve discarding.

jwqI dY ikAw hiQ scu prKIAY ] mhurw hovY hiQ mrIAY cKIAY ] AGGS, M 1, P. 142. 

What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measured within. Pride in one's status is like poison-holding it in your hand and eating it, you are sure to perish.

jwxhu joiq n pUChu jwqI AwgY jwiq n hy ] AGGS, M1, P 349.

Recognize the Divine Light within all, and do not consider caste, social class or status as factors; there are no classes or castes in the world hereafter.

B.                 Sikh Gurus Rejected Caste and Family Genealogy as significant

1.         Gurus discard family lineage in favor of merits in selecting successors.

Sikh theologian, Bhai Gurdas, narrates the history of Guru’s progeny in concluding that Gurus’ children often did not gather any wisdom in spite of their blood relationship with the Guru.

bwl jqI hY isrIcMdu bwbwxw dyhurw bxwieAw]  lKmIdwshu DrmcMd poqw huie kY Awpu gxwieAw] mMjI dwsu bhwilAw dwqw isDwsx isiK AwieAw] mohx kmlw hoieAw caubwrw mohrI mnwieAw] mIxw hoAw iprQIAw kir kir qoMFk brlu clwieAw] mhwdyau AhMmyau kir kir bymuKu puqW BaukwieAw] cMdn vwsu n vws bohwieAw ]Bhai Gurdas, Vaar 26, Pauri 33.

Sirichand (elder son of Guru Nanak) was celibate since childhood who had constructed the monument ( in memory) of Guru Nanak. Dhararm chand son of Lakshmi Das (second son of Guru Nanak) also made displays of his egotism. Guru Angad's one son Dasu tried to sit on the seat of Guruship; the second son Datu also prepared to sit in the siddh posture. Both the sons of Guru Angad Dev were pretenders Guru and during the time of third Guru Amar Das they tried their best to seek the devotees of the House of the Guru. Mohan (son of Guru Amar Das) got afflicted with funny ideas and Mohari (the second son) began to live in a lofty house to attract attention. People began to serve them. Prithi Chand (son of Guru Ram Das) came out as dissembling scoundrel and using his cunning nature spread his mental sickness all round claiming himself to be the Guru’s successor. Mahadev (another son of Guru Ram Das) was egotist who was also led astray by ideation of Guruship. In reality they all turned out to be like bamboo who though lived near sandalwood (Guru), yet does not become fragrant through this association.

Thus the Gurus bypassed their children in favor of their followers to bestow upon them the honor of Guruship to carry on with the mission of the Guru. Bhai Gurdas describes this very important tradition of the house of the Guru as below.

 bwbwxI pIVI clI gur cyly prcw prcwieAw] guru AMgdu guru AMgu qy guru cylw cylw guru BwieAw] Amrdwsu gur AMgdhu siqguru qy siqgurU sdwieAw] guru Amrhu guru rwmdwsu gur syvw guru hoie smwieAw]  rwmdwshu Arjxu gurU AMimRq ibRiK AMimRq Plu lwieAw]  hir goivMdu guru Arjnhu Awid purK Awdysu krwieAw]  suJY suJ n lukY lukwieAw ] Bhai Gurdas, Vaar 26, Pauri 7.

The line of Baba Nanak was founded based on the merits determined by assessment of commitment for the Guru exhibited by disciples. Guru Angad came to be the lineage of Guru Nanak when this disciple became admirer of Guru and the Guru of the disciple. In progression of this lineage Amar Das emerged from Guru Angad who designated Amar Das as the next Guru.  From Guru Amar Das emerged Guru Ram Das who through his service to the Guru immersed in the Guru himself. From Guru Ram Das emerged Guru Arjan Dev as if from the ambrosial tree was produced ambrosia. Then from Guru Arjan Dev was born Guru Hargobind who also preached and spread the message of the primal Lord. The sun is ever perceptible; no one (including the opposing family lineage) could conceal it.

2.         Guru Gobind Singh abolished Caste and Family genealogy in Order of the Khalsa.

When Guru Gobind Singh founded the Order of the Khalsa, he laid foundation of a society free of the caste system. He asked for ending of this evil from the Indian sub-continent. Thus, the Khalsa was made as the final break with the caste society keeping it outside the caste society and use it as a base for attacking the caste system around. For joining the Khalsa brotherhood, one had to take five solemn vows of Dharam Nash, Kul Nash, Karam Nash, Bharam Nash and Krit Nash, which cut at the roots of the cardinal principles of the caste system.[6] The news writer of the region who was present at this occasion area sent to the Mogul Emperor a report of the Guru's pronouncement at the time of the creation of the Khalsa (1699). He included the following as the most important pronouncement of the Guru. "Let men of the four castes receive my baptism, eat out of one pot, and feel no disgust or contempt for one another. Let the members of my community vow to kill their past religious affiliations, family lineage, affiliations to rituals, and divisions based on profession.” [7]  This is also corroborated by the near‑contemporary of the Guru, Koer Singh (1751), who records that the Guru "blended the four castes into one", had rejected both the Hindu and Muslim religions and funded a new noble Khalsa, wherein Sudra, Vaishya, Khatri and Brahmin eat together."[8]

C.        Sikh Institutions as Contradiction to Caste System

First of all Sikh congregations right from the time of their inception were composed of people from all walks of life. They included members of all castes and social classification. Then, the institution of langar or community kitchen was made a part of the congregation as a proactive move to welcome people from all castes to sit together to eat. Eating separately was the greatest taboo that the caste society had established in Indian society. It was considered most difficult to break by any reformer. The Sikh society has the singular honor of succeeding in placing people of all caste and social distinctions side by side and to sit together to eat. In addition, true to the Sikh tradition, they were served from the same pots.

V.    The Sikhs in contemporary period

The Sikh practices of a caste less society by and large continued to be practiced and is perpetuated to date. At the national level of the Sikh society, there is no discrimination against members drawn from any caste. Sikhs from the so-called outcastes have been the clergy and priests of the Sikhs’ central institutions including Golden Temple, Amritsar, the most sacred place to the Sikhs. Similarly, they have been the high officials of Sikh organizations, such as Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Shiromani Akali Dal, Chief Khalsa Diwan, and All India Sikh Students’ Federation. They are members of the management committees of local organizations and congregations.

 There should not be any denial that the some caste system is practiced in Sikh villages today. However, Sikh leaders or clergy does not sanction that practice. Its practice is essentially an influence of their Hindu neighbors. We find remnants of the social hierarchy operating among the Sikhs, as it does, more or less on similar lines, in Muslim villages. Presently, there are many reform movements among the Sikhs at work to get rid of this age-old practice. Singh Sabha is one such movement. Nirankari (real and not the imposters) movement is another successful example. All India Sikh Students’ Federation, since the day of its coming to existence, asked its members to discard their allegiance to any caste or family lineage. It asked its members and officials to remove their last name that identified them as belonging to any caste or family lineage. The author of this paper is one such example. I discontinued the use of my family name consistent with the instructions of this organization that I was an official of.    

VI.   Conclusion

I am going to ask this question of the readers and the audience at the conference on Sikh Renaissance. Are Sikh communities in the West truly inspired to understand and cher­ish the principles by which we are called to live? Those principles include: all human beings are created equal and deserve the same rights and op­portunities. The responsibility of our generation is to take a lead in making that creed a living truth for us and for the entire world in the next century.  This responsibility is more important than making claims and pronouncements; even conferences of most fascist societies claimed equality for their citizens. The purpose of my presentation is to educate ourselves not to preserve the caste system but to discard it. To come to understand the concept and its implications on our future will be of help. Let our resources of zeal and intelligence fuel our actions. Your birth in the new world of the west ushered you into a caste-less society in the last few decades while your kith in India are still suffering from the cancer of the caste system. In practicing discrimination of caste and sects, they are retreating from Guru’s teachings of caste-less society. I regret to say, that even after migrating to a more advanced society such as USA, many of them still continue to cling to their ancestral practices from home. You are being asked today, as you were asked over three hundred years ago, to decide for yourselves and your children and what it is worth to you to believe in Guru’s teachings. The great issue that confronts us, as it confronted every generation to some degree, is this. Is our life and society to be ruled by what the Guru taught us, and, what is for all of us, or will the social customs of our parents and relatives from back home in fact become our religion? The answer is very clear. Religious identity must be rooted in doctrinal heritage as outlined in the Guru Granth Sahib, rather than in inherited form of family faith, two of which may or may not be identical. Old boundaries that separated us into denominations or castes may be once relevant theologically or socially. But in view of the new world, they must be faded to broad horizons and to deepen our pursuit of spiritual experience across traditions, rituals, or ethnicity. Labels are not important, as Guru put it; it is the behavior and the heart that counts.

 Regarding our efforts to root out the caste practices let me conclude by quoting a Sikh historian of great repute, late Dr. Ganda Singh. His letter to Sikh Review[9] is quoted below.

“It is a very happy sign indeed that a strong voice against the curse of caste-ism has come to be raised. It seems to have risen from the inner depths yearning for the social unity and compactness of the nation. The disease of separateness is so deep‑rooted in the land that it has not only adversely affected the Muslims and Christians, but has also spread in a worst form among the Sikhs, who were expected to uproot it altogether. Guru Nanak had condemned caste-ism as phakkar or nonsense. To abolish all caste and sectarian differences, Guru Gobind Singh had given to his followers the common surname of Singh, and desired them to recognize the entire mankind as one caste ‑ manas ki jat sabh ekai pahchanbo. But the baneful influence of Brahmanism in this respect is so strong in the country that caste-ism is also penetrating into the reformist sections of the Sikhs, the Singh Sabhaites, the Akalis, the Chief Khalsa Diwanists and the members of the S.G.P.C., and other Sikh institutions. Their so‑called intelligentsias are, perhaps, the worst offenders in this respect. At times, they are not only adding the caste, the sub‑caste and other sectional tails to their names, but are also dropping the Guru‑given common surnames of Singh and Kaur, with the result that from their names it becomes impossible to distinguish between males and females, e.g., Kartar Cheema, Prem Barar, Satnam Sidhu, etc. Not only this. Some of the religio‑political leaders have, of late, started using the names of their villages and towns, without the word "of 'or wala, as their surnames, as Jathedar Raipur, Sardar BaJwara, Bhai Pandori, Sant Sanhewal, etc., etc. The whole thing sounds so odd that not un-often these are subject of ridicule. There is no denying the fact that the adding of tails after the surname of Singh is not only against the teachings of the Gurus, but is also injurious to the spirit of oneness among the Sikhs. I, therefore, appeal to the Sikh leaders and to the religio‑political Sikh institutions in all earnestness to take active practical steps to eradicate this dreadful disease of caste-ism and separateness as early as possible.”