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Summary of Question:	Hunting! Right Or Wrong?
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Monday, 3/05/2001 10:26 AM MST

Waheguru!

The question is, why did Guru Gobind Singh Ji have to go hunting? Isn't killing an animal against the Sikh conduct?
Guruji is my role model. He has always lead his Sikhs by example. So is it OK for me to hunt as well? I'd love to pick up that sport. Is it right or wrong for me to take up hunting as a sport?
p.s. If u could back it up with Gurbani then everythings justified! TQ
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REPLY
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Greetings in the Name of God, the light of every soul and in the Name of Guru, the light of every Sikh. Thank you for writing and sharing your comments and question about hunting. Since I cannot give you an eyewitness account of whether or why Guru Gobind Singh hunted, I offer my observations about this practice from this life. First, I am vegetarian and have been for over 30 years. I am American and since becoming vegetarian, I have been very blessed to always have beautiful and healthy food to nourish my physical body. I have also had occasion to speak to Native Americans who have shared their perspective about the practice of hunting with me. When I first learned about how they viewed hunting I was truly surprised to find how very sacred and spiritual this practice is for them. They have very sacred prayers and ceremonies they follow during a hunt in reverence to the spirit of the animal they kill, and they actually ask permission of the spirit of the animal to take its body for their sustenance, and must
get the animal's permission to do so, before they take its life. They consider it a necessity to gratefully and respectfully use all of the parts of the body of the animal they hunt. Their practices are so very different from the American 'sport' of hunting - so vile and cruel, so disrespectful of the animals and of our earth. After learning about the Native American hunting beliefs and practices, I developed a great respect for these sacred hunters' way of life, even though hunting is certainly not a practice I follow - and by the Grace of God I have not needed to hunt animals for my food. However during Guru Gobind Singh's time I do not know what the circumstances were. I know they did not have the leisure of living the peaceful agricultural way of life. And I am certain that if it was necessary to hunt for food for their sustenance, that Guruji was absolutely in tune with the spirit of the animals he hunted. Following a vegetarian diet is highly desirable and preferable, but I have come to accept that when
necessary, hunting can be done as a sacred and spiritual act. Only you can decide whether hunting is right and necessary for you. May God and Guru bless you and give you guidance throughout your life. Humbly yours, S.S. Gurumeet Kaur Khalsa