Re: Answers to Purpose of HAIR, nails do not compare! + Fund rasing ideas!!!
Posted by Daljit S Sidhu on Tuesday, 9/22/1998 4:16 PM MDT

On Sunday 20th September, Sukh Singh Ji advanced our knowledge by telling us inter alia: <<"there is no difference what so ever ,having long unshorn hair or a shaved head on person's religious life,meditation,health and thinking.">> <<"in gurbani kesh has no special value attached to be more meditatvie and healthy than the shaved head">> I've been away for a while but on my return I see that this thread is still going so I think I'll contribute my tuppenyw'th for all the difference it'll make. Here goes: Firstly to clarify my own views on the importance of Kesh in Sikhism, I believe that they are inextricably linked (as are many other things I hasten to add) to Guru Nanak's pivotal statement right at the outset of Japji i.e. "Kiv Sachiara Hoyai ? Kiv Kurai Tutai Paal? HUKAM razai chalana Nanak likhia Naal". In other words I believe they are part of God's Hukam. Now at first glance the quotations provided by Sukh Singh Ji may seem to give a lie to this in that they seem to say that keeping unshorn hair has nothing to do with Hukam, but closer inspection of each of the quotations shows that Sukh Singh's thesis does not hold water. Let's examine the quotations given : 1. "KABIRA EK SEON PREET KAR AAN DUBIDA JAAY BHAWAYN LAMBAY kes KAR BHAWAYN GHARAR MUNAAY." 2. "kes jalay jesay ghas ka pula haad jalay jasay lakri ka chula" 3. "jay paeeay tirath nathyan,dadan jal vasi jay mileeay bhasam lagayan,khar kheh palasy JAY MILEEAY VAAL(kes)VADHAYAN jar bohar palasy" Careful examination reveals that in quotations 1 and 3 the verb attached to the keeping or otherwise of hair is ACTIVE e.g. Quotation 1 "Bhavain Lambey Kesh KAR, Bhavain Garar Munday" the phrase used is "Lambey Kesh KAR" not "Lambey Kesh RAKH" the PASSIVE verb. Qutation 3 The phrase used is "VAAL VADHAYAN" ACTIVE not "VAAL RAKHYAN" PASSIVE In other words what Baghat Kabir Ji and Bhai Gurdas Ji are warning against is belief in practices common in India at the time (and even today) that ARTIFICIALLY growing one's hair to great lengths or alternatively ARTIFICIALLY shortening it, and more to the point doing this alone, was the way to find God. A Sikh does neither of these. He leaves his hair as given by God. In Quotation 2 Bhagat Kabir Ji is merely making the point that the whole of the physical body is worthless once the spirit departs. However if we are to follow Sukh Singh's logic then we may as well remove the bones (haad) from our bodies since they have no function in bringing us closer to our creator. I would contend that when one looks at Gurbani in detail and takes a holistic view, one sees that when, on the rare occasion, the physical appearance of a person is described, unshorn Kesh are ASSUMED. i.e. having unshorn Kesh is seen to the natural state of being. Examples Mere Ram, Har Jan Ke Houn Bal Jayee KESAN ka kar Chavar Dholawa, Charan Door Mukh Lai. (SGGS 749) It would be extremely difficult to form a Chavar (Fan/Whisk) from kesh if they were shorn. Se DARIAN sachian jo Gur Charni Lagan. Here even the Manmukh is seen to have a Dari (beard) but only the Dari of a Gurmukh is sachi if it is laid at the feet of the Guru. Mukh Sache Sach DARIAN Farida KES Pale, DARI Pali, MUSHAN Bhi Palian (O Farid, your Kes have turned white, your beard has turned white, your moustache has turned white) In Maru Sohile Mahala 5, Guru Arjan Dev Ji whilst painting the picture of a true moslem says Sabat Surat Distar sira (let your unspoilt/whole appearance be the turban on your head) 'Sabat' meaning whole Gur Ke Charan KES Sang Jharai (SGGS p387) (I dusted the feet of my guru with my hair) KESAN Ka Kar Beejna Sant Chaur Dholawo (SGGS p745) (Making a fan of my hair, I have it as a whisk over the saint.) KES Sang Daas Pag Jharo, Ehai Manorath Mor (That I dust the feet of his servants with my hair, this is my wish) Guru Nanak even imagines God to have unshorn and long hair when he paints a picture of what God's physical appearance might be in Raag Wadhans Chant "Tere Banke Loin Dant Risala, Sohine Nak jin Lambere WALA" (Wala meaning Kesh) Bhagat Namdev complements this image of God in his own shabad where he says: Khoob teri PAGARI, Meethe tere Boll (Beautiful is your turban, sweet are your words) i.e in all the above Guru Ji take it as read that the natural state is one of unshorn hair. Not artificially lengthened, not artificially shortened, but left just as given to us by God. However, As Preet Mohan Singh Ji has mentioned in his posting, Guru Ji does say time and again this is not the ONLY thing that is required but is a small part of Gods will we are required to follow. This is applied to many other things which may be construed as the only thing required for meeting God e.g. Bathing again from Sukh Singh's posting: "jay paeeay tirath nathyan,dadan jal vasi" and "Jay Gat Jal Ke Majan Hovai, Nit Nit Mendak Navai" i.e. if God is to be found by bathing ALONE, then the frog bathes all the time. But does this mean that we stop bathing? Of course not because elsewhere Guru Ji says: "Kar ISHNAN Simar Prabh Apna, Man Tan Bhai Aroga" (Bathe and meditate upon your Lord and your Body and Soul will be freed of disease) and "Gur Satgur Ka Jo Sikh Akhavai, So Balke Uth Har Naam Dhiaway Udam Kare Bhalke Parbhati, ISHNAN Kare Amritsar Navay" In conclusion I would like to return to a more recent posting of Suk Singh Ji's. Sukh Singh Ji asks for a lot of authentication from participants on the Net, and is very particular in the sources he will accept as carrying any authority on the subject of Sikhism. I wonder therefore what authentication he asked for in regard to the Kes he saw preserved under glass at Goindwal Sahib as to whether they really did belong to our beloved Guru Amar Das Ji. Given that Guru Amar Das Ji did not become Guru until the age of 72 I find it odd that the main colour of the hair was brown and not grey or white !! Or was this something that Sukh Singh was less rigorous in accepting since it accorded with his belief system ? I leave the last word on the subject of Kes to Bhai Nand Lal Ji Nishan Sikhi een Panj Haraf Kaaf Hargaz Na Bashad een Panj Muaaf Kara, Kardo, Kach, Kanga Bidan Bina Kesh Hech Ast Zumla Nishan (These are the five symbols of Sikhi under no circumstances will they be forgiven Kara, Kardo (Kirpan), Kach and Kanga Without Kes the others are meaningless) Your brother Daljit Singh

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