Preliminary:
If one pursues the path of perfection than it is only natural for one to periodically introspect, what is the greatest virtue? For Aurelius it is conformity to the natural Whole-the divine expression of what is in lieu of what we believe- for Aristotle it is Eudaimonia or good sought for good’s sake rather than for any other; for Lewis it is love and so forth. There is no singular concurrence on what is ultimately the greatest virtue. For a Muslim it is belief in Muhammad and the expansion of a Sharia based Caliphate; for a Hindu it is the proliferation of Vedism and renunciation in human society; for a Christian it is belief in Christ and the extrapolation of the latter. Put candidly, the worlds of faith and philosophy are unable to affect rapprochement on what might be the greatest virtue.
Gurmat:
What then of Sikhi? What is the Sikh approach to virtue and how does it interact with the faith’s praxis and, more importantly, what is the greatest virtue in Sikhi? Guru Nanak makes it prescient in the Japji that virtue is derived rather than inherited. Virtue stems from the Creator and none other.
ਅਮੁਲ ਗੁਣ ਅਮੁਲ ਵਾਪਾਰ ॥
“Countless virtues and countless (the Maker’s) works.”
-Guru Granth, 5.
The path to perfection is essentially derived from the need to live life purposefully and virtue is the fundamental constituent for achieving this goal. The Creator furnished Creation and within Creation the Creator’s Hukam or writ seminally operates as a framework or parameter. Within this parameter reside humans who are bequeathed free will (collective or otherwise) to reap the fruits of their endeavors in tandem with Hukam. The perfect life is one lived in synchronization with Hukam; where one’s interaction with Hukam is decided by the cultivation of the virtues prevalent in Creation. This is not to say that the Creator is alienated from Creation but rather has established foundational tenets through which humankind can interact with their Maker. The first and foremost part of this process is the cultivation of and imbibing of virtue. What is the greatest virtue in Sikhi? Gurbani provides a picturesque description of how to acquire this virtue:
ਹਉ ਗੋਸਾਈ ਦਾ ਪਹਿਲਵਾਨੜਾ ॥ ਮੈ ਗੁਰ ਮਿਲਿ ਉਚ ਦੁਮਾਲੜਾ ॥ ਸਭ ਹੋਈ ਛਿੰਝ ਇਕਠੀਆ ਦਯੁ ਬੈਠਾ ਵੇਖੈ ਆਪਿ ਜੀਉ ॥੧੭॥ ਵਾਤ ਵਜਨਿ ਟੰਮਕ ਭੇਰੀਆ ॥ ਮਲ ਲਥੇ ਲੈਦੇ ਫੇਰੀਆ ॥ ਨਿਹਤੇ ਪੰਜਿ ਜੁਆਨ ਮੈ ਗੁਰ ਥਾਪੀ ਦਿਤੀ ਕੰਡਿ ਜੀਉ ॥੧੮॥ ਸਭ ਇਕਠੇ ਹੋਇ ਆਇਆ ॥ ਘਰਿ ਜਾਸਨਿ ਵਾਟ ਵਟਾਇਆ ॥ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਲਾਹਾ ਲੈ ਗਏ ਮਨਮੁਖ ਚਲੇ ਮੂਲੁ ਗਵਾਇ ਜੀਉ ॥੧੯॥ ਤੂੰ ਵਰਨਾ ਚਿਹਨਾ ਬਾਹਰਾ ॥ ਹਰਿ ਦਿਸਹਿ ਹਾਜਰੁ ਜਾਹਰਾ ॥ ਸੁਣਿ ਸੁਣਿ ਤੁਝੈ ਧਿਆਇਦੇ ਤੇਰੇ ਭਗਤ ਰਤੇ ਗੁਣਤਾਸੁ ਜੀਉ ॥੨੦॥ ਮੈ ਜੁਗਿ ਜੁਗਿ ਦਯੈ ਸੇਵੜੀ ॥ ਗੁਰਿ ਕਟੀ ਮਿਹਡੀ ਜੇਵੜੀ ॥ ਹਉ ਬਾਹੁੜਿ ਛਿੰਝ ਨ ਨਚਊ ਨਾਨਕ ਅਉਸਰੁ ਲਧਾ ਭਾਲਿ ਜੀਉ ॥੨੧॥੨॥੨੯॥
“I am my Maker’s wrestler. My Guru (the truth) has tied a dumalla (war turban) upon my head as a sign of honor. The spectators have congregated in the wrestling pit to witness my spectacles as well as my Maker. The bells chime; the drums roar and the trumpets blare aloud. The wrestlers assemble and encircle me. The Guru pats me on my back and I enter the fray. I render my five challengers obsolete and throw them to the ground. Spectators and wrestlers alike have gathered in the arena but now take different routes out. The Gurmukhs win their bets and the Manmukhs lose…”
-Guru Granth, 74.
The dumalla is a sign of conspicuity. It was derived from the headgear utilized by Guru Nanak onwards to preserve the Sikhs’ hair and keep them tied up. The spectators in question are fellow humans while the wrestling pit is a metaphor for the world. The entire match is figurative for living life itself. By embodying the truth, the dumalla adorning wrestler accepts the conditions of life and mercilessly battles the five foes both externally and internally. These are: Hubris, Lust, Resentment, Obsession and Fear. The dumalla is also emblematic of tightness (to preserve the warrior’s hair and prevent them from being grasped by the opponent and/or blinding their retainer), a virtue which made it the favorite of Sikh warriors. The militaristic undertones conveyed by this symbolism reflect that the battle of life is not assured and the warrior Gurmukh is forewarned that while the pay-off will be immense; failure will be by one’s own hands.
Payoff:
So what is the payoff here? What does the Sikh Gurmukh reap in turn for victory in this otherwise perennial battle? Liberty from the five foes allows one to confront life head-on and comprehending its origins and operation within Hukam. This is a profoundly immersive state in which self-introspection reaches immeasurable heights. As a result, the Sikh starts musing on the inevitability of death.
ਨ ਦੇਵ ਦਾਨਵਾ ਨਰਾ ॥ ਨ ਸਿਧ ਸਾਧਿਕਾ ਧਰਾ ॥ ਅਸਤਿ ਏਕ ਦਿਗਰਿ ਕੁਈ ॥ ਏਕ ਤੁਈ ਏਕ ਤੁਈ ॥੨॥
“The Gods and Demons (born from within human minds) will perish and neither will great Ascetics and Renunciates outlive the world. All of them are perishable and will die. Only you, the infinite Creator, will remain; only you will remain.”
-Guru Granth, 143.
These musings evolve into understandings until ultimately the self awakens and accepts,
ਮਰਣੁ ਲਿਖਾਇ ਮੰਡਲ ਮਹਿ ਆਏ ॥
“With our deaths assured first we come into this world.”
-Guru Granth, 685.
This verse does not invoke some determined destiny in the sense that the fates arbitrarily cut the threads of a Being’s life. Rather,
ਆਇਆ ਮਰਣੁ ਧੁਰਾਹੁ ਹਉਮੈ ਰੋਈਐ ॥ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਇ ਅਸਥਿਰੁ ਹੋਈਐ ॥੧॥
“Death is a part of the coming of life but those blinded by their obsessions weep at its site. But the Gurmukhs comprehend the divine wisdom and remain unaffected by what is natural.”
-Guru Granth, 369.
Death is an aspect of life. Life ultimately can be divided into two divisions. The physical life and the essential life. Gurbani describes the physical life thus,
ਇਹੁ ਸਰੀਰੁ ਜਜਰੀ ਹੈ ਇਸ ਨੋ ਜਰੁ ਪਹੁਚੈ ਆਏ ॥
“This body is made to be perishable and overtaken by old age.”
-Guru Granth, 584.
Death is an inevitability but is also multifaceted. Death before its natural oncoming is either dealt out by accident; by tyranny or in pursuit of defense and justice. While it is indeed wrong to kill; to kill in defense is altogether another matter. Death in its natural stage arrives as a successor to infirmity and old age. In the Sikh Gurmukh’s mind all aspects of death meld into one great realization:
“I am Born to Die.”
Realization:
One might argue that such a cynical realization nullifies any passion for life. In Sikhi, contrastingly, it provides an unabridged zeal for living a virtuous life.
ਪਹਿਲਾ ਮਰਣੁ ਕਬੂਲਿ ਜੀਵਣ ਕੀ ਛਡਿ ਆਸ ॥ ਹੋਹੁ ਸਭਨਾ ਕੀ ਰੇਣੁਕਾ ਤਉ ਆਉ ਹਮਾਰੈ ਪਾਸਿ ॥੧॥
“First accept the eventuality of death and then relinquish your own desire to live. Then when you become the dust of another’s feet come approach us.”
-Guru Granth, 1102.
The acceptance of death’s eventuality entails that we battle the five foes which would have us live life imperfectly. To reach this stage one needs to imbibe the utmost humility (the classic aphorism-dust of another’s feet) and realize that the unfettered mind is the mind controlled by the five vices. Once these vices are annihilated, the mind realizes that its earlier way of life was imperfect and only with the removal of the five can it now transverse onto perfectness. The eventuality of death forever fuels the Sikh Gurmukh onwards in their journey of perfection. Death is the imperative which allows one to live life and live it as if each day might be their last.
Perfectness:
Death, the great unknown, is mankind’s greatest fear. The inability of human cognition to fathom what transpires behind the corporeal realm has rendered it prone to incredulity and superstition regards death. Countless hollow religions have sprung up with ludicrous theories of some tangible life after dying. None have ever evinced their standpoint. Rather, one would expect that the relinquishment of the tangible body will also furnish a picture of some intangible next life. Where the soul having shed its physicality is not thrown into some realm which-ironically-is defined in terms of the same physicality it discards. All these considerations weigh down on the individual and paralyze them; preventing the self-furtherance necessary to live a purposeful life.
The ultimate rescue here, then, becomes acceptance. Accept death and its enigmas. The continuity of life in the great beyond cannot be defined in corporeal terms ergo the absence of such descriptions in the Guru Granth. The Sikh is one who accepts this fact and prevents the fear of death from deadening their will to live perfectly. They comprehend that the acceptance of death is a virtue in itself and the ultimate virtue from which all other virtues emanate. The Creator, after all, has created and established the primacy of death in human life. In emulation of the latter, the Sikh too is to embrace death and march onwards with life.
Death:
Dr. Suzanne Akbari enumerates in her lectures on the classic text the Iliad that a fundamental distinction defines the difference between human mortality and the Gods’ immortality. In the scope of global mythology, the Gods cannot die for a cause because they are not affected by death. Immortality renders their existence somewhat futile. They have nothing, no eventuality or healthy fear of that eventuality, to propel them onwards to achieve something to define their existence which solely rests on the fact that they are immortal. Contrast this with mortals. They retain a fear of being forgotten upon death and hence war to be remembered in times after they are long gone. Their entry into posterity can only be ensured through the seal of death. This is the sole route to immortality. It is for this reason Gurbani proclaims,
ਮਰਣੁ ਨ ਮੰਦਾ ਲੋਕਾ ਆਖੀਐ ਜੇ ਕੋਈ ਮਰਿ ਜਾਣੈ ॥੨॥
ਮਰਣੁ ਮੁਣਸਾ ਸੂਰਿਆ ਹਕੁ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਹੋਇ ਮਰਨਿ ਪਰਵਾਣੋ ॥
“If the masses were enlightened they would not vilify death as an evil. True death is the prerogative of valorous heroes; such deaths are appealing to their Maker.”
-Guru Granth, 579.
What of the Creator then? Does the Creator suffer from the same dilemma as the fictional Gods? Gurbani expounds that the Creator is forever involved in Creation and does not suffer from the innate vagaries of the make-believe deities. This is why the Creator explicates that mankind is to become like their Maker. Free from the fear of death as it is only the ordained relinquishment of corporeal existence. The essential life-the incorporeal existence-continues thereafter. There is however a caveat here. The very existence of humankind is hinged on the factor that individuals battle with their own base natures; subdue them and become perfect as a result. This is Sikhi’s expectation of all its adherents. Such individuals who triumph over themselves are known as the Khalsa.
The Garden of Thorns:
But an awakened and enlightened Khalsa is not tolerated by a world gone astray. Only a few ever ascend to such heights of spirituality and when they do they are set upon by the ignorant masses. The Khalsa exists in the state of Karamkhand or proactivity on both the corporeal and non-corporeal planes. Guru Nanak describes this state thus:
ਕਰਮ ਖੰਡ ਕੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਜੋਰੁ ॥
ਤਿਥੈ ਹੋਰੁ ਨ ਕੋਈ ਹੋਰੁ ॥
ਤਿਥੈ ਜੋਧ ਮਹਾਬਲ ਸੂਰ ॥
“Within the state of proactivity permeate the teachings of force. None else reside there but great and valorous warriors.”
-Guru Granth, 8.
They who accept death do not shrink from utilizing legitimate force when necessary. Such Gurmukhs prove dangerous to the power structures of their day because they respect the law not because they fear it. They respect the law because they do not fear it. This paradox hinges on the fact that the Gurmukh does not concede any inch to the law other than what is justifiably required to exist in a civil society. However when the laws are weaponized to become agents of persecution the Khalsa is the first to be targeted because of its inability to fear death. After all, when this greatest of fears is negated then how can anyone be victimized? It is then that the Sikh Gurmukhs battle to protect their beliefs and themselves and do not refrain from laying down their lives if need be as long as the fruits of victory are eventually reaped as a result of their spilt blood.
The Greatest Virtue:
The greatest virtue is to accept death. The greatest sign of this virtue is to accept that you are born to die. The greatest achievements can be had if one allows this salient fact to influence their lives. Immortality through a place in posterity can be had by refusing to concede ground in the face of tyranny and making the ultimate sacrifice when need be. Those who master this art of life usually have a conviction in all they do. When attempts were made to coerce the younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh into accepting Islam or expressing fealty to the Hindu warlords of the Mughal empire, they refused. Their “no” was uttered from a place of strength. It signified two things:
(a) The verbal refusal will be followed by a violent reinforcement if the children are pushed past their limits and given the opportunity to fight in the open.
(b) If the children are denied this opportunity and summarily executed this same “no” would become emblematic of their unbending stance against imposition and tyranny.
Either way, the incumbent incendiaries shot themselves in the foot by executing the children. Their “no” was derived from a place of power which was rooted in their acceptance of death. This was their greatest virtue from which stemmed the principles which rendered their lives inspirational for ensuing generations of Sikhs. When we accept the eventuality of death we become virtuous; we become perfect and above all we become autonomous of others. To embrace death in all its originality is the apex of human virtue. Then our “no” firmly becomes a “no” and vice versa.