The above passages will convey an idea of that impression which Gúrú Góvind gave his followers of his divine mission. I shall shortly enumerate those alterations he made in the usages of the Sikhs, whom it was his object to render, through the means of religious enthusiasm, a warlike race.
Though Gúrú Góvind was brought up in the religion of Nánac, he appears, from having been educated among the Hindú priests of Mathura, to have been deeply tainted with their superstitious belief; and he was, perhaps, induced by considerations of policy, to lean still more strongly to their prejudices, in order to induce them to become converts to that religious military community, by means of which it was his object to destroy the Muhammedan power.
The principal of the religious institutions of Gúrú Góvind, is that of the Páhal,—the ceremony by which a convert is initiated into the tribe of Sikhs; or, more properly speaking, that of Singhs. The meaning of this institution is to make the convert a member of the Khálsa, or Sikh commonwealth, which he can only become by assenting to certain observances; the devoting himself to arms for the defence of the commonwealth, and the destruction of its enemies; the wearing his hair, and putting on a blue dress[112].
The mode in which Gúrú Góvind first initiated his converts, is described by a Sikh writer; and, as I believe it is nearly the same as that now observed, I shall shortly state it as he has described it. Gúrú Góvind, he says, after his arrival at Mák'haval, initiated five converts, and gave them instructions how to initiate others. The mode is as follows. The convert is told that he must allow his hair to grow. He must clothe himself from head to foot in blue clothes. He is then presented with the five weapons: a sword, a firelock, a bow and arrow, and a pike[113]. One of those who initiate him then says, "The Gúrú is thy holy teacher, and thou art his Sikh or disciple." Some sugar and water is put into a cup, and stirred round with a steel knife, or dagger, and some of the first chapters of the Adí-Grant'h, and the first chapters of the Dasama Pádsháh ká Grant'h, are read; and those who perform the initiation exclaim, Wá! Gúrúji ká Khálsa! Wá! Gúrúji kí Fateh! (Success to the state of the Gúrú! Victory attend the Gúrú!) After this exclamation has been repeated five times, they say, "This sherbet is nectar. It is the water of life; drink it." The disciple obeys; and some sherbet, prepared in a similar manner, is sprinkled over his head and beard. After these ceremonies, the disciple is asked if he consents to be of the faith of Gúrú Góvind. He answers, "I do consent." He is then told, "If you do, you must abandon all intercourse, and neither eat, drink, nor sit in company with men of five sects which I shall name. The first, the Mína D'hirmal; who, though of the race of Nánac, were tempted by avarice to give poison to Arjun; and, though they did not succeed, they ought to be expelled from society. The second are the Musandiá; a sect who call themselves Gúrús, or priests, and endeavour to introduce heterodox doctrines[114]. The third, Rám Ráyí, the descendants of Rám Ráy, whose intrigues were the great cause of the destruction of the holy ruler, Tégh Singh. The fourth are the Kud i-már, or destroyers[115] of their own daughters. Fifth, the Bhadaní, who shave the hair of their head and beards." The disciple, after this warning against intercourse with sectaries, or rather schismatics, is instructed in some general precepts, the observance of which regard the welfare of the community into which he has entered. He is told to be gentle and polite to all with whom he converses, to endeavour to attain wisdom, and to emulate the persuasive eloquence of Bábá Nánac. He is particularly enjoined, whenever he approaches any of the Sikh temples, to do it with reverence and respect, and to go to Amritsar, to pay his devotions to the Khálsa, or state; the interests of which he is directed, on all occasions, to consider paramount to his own. He is instructed to labour to increase the prosperity of the town of Amritsar; and told, that at every place of worship which he visits he will be conducted in the right path by the Gúrú (Gúrú Góvind). He is instructed to believe, that it is the duty of all those who belong to the Khálsa, or commonwealth of the Sikhs, neither to lament the sacrifice of property, nor of life, in support of each other; and he is directed to read the Adí-Grant'h and Dasama Pádsháh ká Grant'h, every morning and every evening. Whatever he has received from God, he is told it is his duty to share with others. And after the disciple has heard and understood all these and similar precepts, he is declared to be duly initiated.
Gúrú Góvind Singh, agreeably to this Sikh author, after initiating the first five disciples in the mode above stated, ordered the principal persons among them[116] to initiate him exactly on similar occasions, which he did. The author from whom the above account is taken, states, that when Góvind was at the point of death, he exclaimed, "Wherever five Sikhs are assembled, there I also shall be present!" and, in consequence of this expression, five Sikhs are the number necessary to make a Singh, or convert. By the religious institutions of Gúrú Góvind, proselytes are admitted from all tribes and casts in the universe. The initiation may take place at any time of life, but the children of the Singhs all go through this rite at a very early age.
The leading tenet of Gúrú Góvind's religious institutions, which obliges his followers to devote themselves to arms, is stated, in one of the chapters of the Dasama Pádsháh ká Grant'h, or book of the tenth king, written in praise of Dúrga B'havání, the goddess of courage: "Dúrga," Gúrú Góvind says, "appeared to me when I was asleep, arrayed in all her glory. The goddess put into my hand the hilt of a bright scimitar, which she had before held in her own. 'The country of the Muhammedans,' said the goddess, 'shall be conquered by thee, and numbers of that race shall be slain.' After I had heard this, I exclaimed, 'This steel shall be the guard to me and my followers, because, in its lustre, the splendour of thy countenance, O goddess! is always reflected[117].'"
The Dasama Pádsháh ká Grant'h of Gúrú Góvind appears, from the extracts which I have seen of it, to abound in fine passages. Its author has borrowed largely from the Sástras of the Brahméns, and the Korán. He praises Nánac as a holy saint, accepted of God; and grounds his faith, like that of his predecessors, upon the adoration of one God; whose power and attributes he however describes by so many Sanscrit names, and with such constant allusions to the Hindú mythology, that it appears often difficult to separate his purer belief from their gross idolatry. He, however, rejects all worship of images, on an opinion taken from one of the ancient Védas, which declares, "that to worship an idol made of wood, earth, or stone, is as foolish as it is impious; for God alone is deserving of adoration."