Vahiguru ji ka Khalsa, Vahiguru ji ki Fatih!

Warm and heartfelt Vaisakhi greetings from all of us at the Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI)!

Almost five centuries ago, Guru Amardas Sahib established the practice of Sikhs gathering with the Guru twice each year, on Vaisakhi and Divali. Vaisakhi, traditionally a harvest festival, marks and celebrates a significant spiritual revolution in human history. On this day in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib convened a gathering at Anandpur Sahib, bringing forth a new consciousness, a sovereign spirit. Through the nectar of the Guru’s love, the Sikhs merged with the Sovereign, becoming sovereign themselves. They shed old identities and allegiance and stepped into a new way of being—rooted in Sabad, radiating grace and power. They became one with the Guru. In Guru, they became the Guru.

As Bhai Gurdas Singh writes:

ਹਰਿ ਸਚੇ ਤਖਤੁ ਰਚਾਇਆ   ਸਤਿ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਮੇਲਾ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰ   ਵਿਚਿ ਸਿਧਾਂ ਖੇਲਾ ॥
ਗੁਰੂ ਦਾਸ ਮਨਾਈ ਕਾਲਕਾ   ਖੰਡੇ ਕੀ ਵੇਲਾ ॥
ਪੀਓ ਪਾਹੁਲ ਖੰਡਧਾਰ   ਹੋਇ ਜਨਮੁ ਸੁਹੇਲਾ ॥
ਸੰਗਤਿ ਕੀਨੀ ਖਾਲਸਾ   ਮਨਮੁਖੀ ਦੁਹੇਲਾ ॥
ਵਾਹ ਵਾਹ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ   ਆਪੇ ਗੁਰੂ ਚੇਲਾ ॥ ੧ ॥

The 1-Light established the eternal throne and gathered the congregation of truth around it.
Within that vast spiritual field, Guru Nanak Sahib, fearless and without form, moved among the sidhs in sovereign play.
Then Guru Gobind Singh Sahib revealed, even within the darkness of this age, the destined hour of the double-edged sword.
Whoever received the nectar of the double-edged sword made human birth radiant and fulfilled.
In forging the Khalsa through the sangat, he drew forth a community disciplined by the Guru, while those turned toward self-will remained divided and diminished.
Wonderful, wondrous is Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, who stood as both Guru and disciple.

     Bhai Gurdas Singh, Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki Patshahi Dasvin Ki

Guru Gobind Singh Sahib’s revolutionary act of being Guru and then becoming a disciple of his own people echoes an earlier moment in Sikh history, when Guru Nanak Sahib bows before the future Guru Angad Sahib. This single luminous act embodies command and submission, authority and humility.

“Guru Nanak’s disciple Lahina is made Angad, literally, a limb of his own body… The historical succession from Nanak to Angad etched in the tenth Sikh Guru’s memory was eventually reproduced by him: he made the Khalsa a limb of himself on Baisakhi 1699.”

     Professor Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, The Birth of the Khalsa

The sovereignty, grandeur, and grace bestowed upon Guru Angad Sahib were, in turn, vested by Guru Gobind Singh Sahib in the Khalsa Panth—the culmination of more than two centuries of careful preparation by the Gurus who came before him.

The Khalsa was to embody a new mode of being: free from the shackles of discrimination and inequality that continue to mark human societies. This Khalsa was to be wholly dedicated to the vision of the Gurus and remain inseparably connected to IkOankar. As Guru Gobind Singh Sahib explains:

ਜਾਗਤ ਜੋਤਿ ਜਪੈ ਨਿਸ ਬਾਸੁਰ   ਏਕੁ ਬਿਨਾ ਮਨਿ ਨੈਕ ਨ ਆਨੈ ॥
ਪੂਰਨ ਪ੍ਰੇਮ ਪ੍ਰਤੀਤ ਸਜੈ   ਬ੍ਰਤ ਗੋਰ ਮੜ੍ਹੀ ਮਠ ਭੂਲ ਨ ਮਾਨੈ ॥
ਤੀਰਥ ਦਾਨ ਦਇਆ ਤਪ ਸੰਜਮ   ਏਕੁ ਬਿਨਾ ਨਹਿ ਏਕ ਪਛਾਨੈ ॥
ਪੂਰਨ ਜੋਤਿ ਜਗੈ ਘਟ ਮੈ   ਤਬ ਖਾਲਸ ਤਾਹਿ ਨ ਖਾਲਸ ਜਾਨੈ ॥੧॥

One who remains conscious, reciting the 1-Light day and night, and places faith in none but the 1,
Who is adorned with complete love and trust, and does not place belief in rituals of fasting, tombs, shrines, or the worship of the dead.
Who does not seek truth through pilgrimage, acts of charity performed for display, austerities, or disciplines apart from the 1.
In whose heart the Complete Light shines, know that being alone as Khalsa.‍

     Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, 33 Savaiye

This Vaisakhi, let us reflect: how are we striving to embody Guru Gobind Singh Sahib’s vision of the Khalsa? When the Rider of the Blue Steed bowed before the Five, he bowed to the collective future of the Panth. Are we becoming worthy of the trust and devotion entrusted to us by the Gur-Chela (Mentor-Protege), Guru Gobind Singh Sahib? Are we honoring the legacy and responsibility of Vaisakhi 1699?

Let us awaken. Let us respond. Let us become.

With love and gratitude,
The SikhRI Team