#Ranjit-Singh | [Instagram: @ranjitsingh.ma](https://www.instagram.com/ranjitsingh.ma/) | [Substack: @ranjitsinghma](https://substack.com/@ranjitsinghma) | <br> <div align=center><b> ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ਮੇਰੋ ਰੂਪ ਹੈ ਖ਼ਾਸ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center><b> ਖ਼ਾਲਸੇ ਮਹਿ ਹੌ ਕਰੌ ਨਿਵਾਸ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center> Khalsa is my (Guru Gobind Singh’s) true form, </div> <div align=center> Within the Khalsa I abide </div> <div align=center><small> Khalsa Mehima, Sarbloh Bani </small></div> --- ![58aAsset [email protected]](https://codahosted.io/docs/-P8VwHSBHL/blobs/bl-Q8D24ldRqB/373efdc0359ec02c1355b1c144ea92a4ed43e603f6f231f269d91585d845af5ab3b5d86b5ac585708b3b143c39a53500c6230fe1cf7eb0de40d54a6dea38259abc7ea29d96d0847fa4620e0fcf85dbc82ac17e25a4bc8aa69fbabac322fc8b28063af7a3) --- Upon his departure for Sachkhand, Guru Gobind Singh bestowed Gurgaddi (Guruship) to two entities: 1. **The Shabad Guru Granth Sahib** – the Gyaan (wisdom) of the Guru 2. **The Guru Khalsa Panth** – representing the Roop (embodiment) of the Guru If the Granth is the mind, the Panth is the body. In this way authority was vested into the Khalsa, so long as they maintained Rehit (code of conduct) and adopted a GurMat (a Guru influenced way of thinking). --- <div align=center><b> ਆਪਨਪੌ ਸ਼੍ਰੀ ਖਾਲਸਹਿ ਸੌਪਾਂ, ਦ੍ਵਤਯਿ ਰੂਪ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥਾ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center> I have entrusted the Khalsa with my status, and the second form of the True Guru is the Granth.   </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਬੋਲਨ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਸਬਦ ਸੰਭਾਖਨ, ਨਾਮ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਕੀਰਤਨਿ ਸੰਥਾ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center> The speech of the Guru is: the recitation of the Shabad, remembrance of the Name, the singing of Divine Keertan, or the study of Gurbani. </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਗੁਨਾਨੁਵਾਦ ਪੁਨਿ ਸਿਫਤਿ ਸਲਾਹਨਿ, ਊਠਤੁ ਬੈਠਤੁ ਸੈਨ ਕਰੰਥਾ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center> One should contemplate on the Divine's virtues and then praise and sing about them whether standing, sitting or sleeping. </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਪਾਵਨ ਪੰਥ ਖਾਲਸਹਿ ਪ੍ਰਗਟਯੋ, ਚਾਰ ਵਰਨ ਆਸ੍ਰਮ ਸੁਭ ਪੰਥਾ ॥੧॥ </b></div> <div align=center> The pure Khalsa came into being, the true path included all castes and life stages. </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਇਨ ਕੇ ਦਰਸ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਕੋ ਦਰਸਨ, ਬੋਲਨ ਗੁਰੂ ਸਬਦੁ ਗੁਰੁ ਗ੍ਰੰਥਾ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center> Having the Khalsa's Darshan is the Darshan of the True Guru, the speech of the Guru are the words within the Guru Granth. </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਦ੍ਵਾਦਸਿ ਰੂਪ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਏ ਕਹਿਯਤਿ, ਦ੍ਵਾਦਸਿ ਭਾਨੁ ਪ੍ਰਗਟ ਹਰਿ ਸੰਤਾ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center> The True Guru is said to have 12 forms, just like Hari's Saint is as bright as the 12 suns. [Note: Each month the Suraj is thought to ascend on a different chariot to travel through a different route in the sky]. </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਪ੍ਰਤਯਖ ਕਲਾ ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਧਣੀਛੈ, ਗ੍ਰੰਥਿ ਪੰਥ ਖਾਲਸ ਵਰਤੰਤਾ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center> The absolute power of Parbrahm is manifesting within the Granth and Panth Khalsa. </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਦਾਸ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਫਤਹ ਸਤਿਗੁਰੂ ਕੀ, ਖਾਸ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਗੁਰੁ ਰੂਪ ਬਦੰਤਾ ॥੨॥ਦੁਪਦ ੧॥ </b></div> <div align=center> The Servant Gobind claims victory to the True Guru, which is importantly proclaimed as the Granth and Panth. </div> <br> <div align=center><small> — Sri Sarbloh Granth </small></div> Translation from [manglacharan.com](https://www.manglacharan.com/post/guru-panth-and-guru-granth-sri-sarbloh-guru-granth-sahib) --- Any subsequent “leader” was a servant of the Khalsa, and not the other way around. In Shaheed Rattan Singh Bhangu’s Prachin Panth Prakash, this mentality was exemplified clearly and humourously in a Sakhi where Banda Singh had received gifts from Guru Gobind Singh: --- <div align=center><b> ਬੰਦੇ ਗੁਰ ਖੰਡਾ ਦਯੋ ਲਯੋ ਉਨੈਂ ਗਲ ਪਾਇ । </b></div> <div align=center><b> ਖਾਲਸੋ ਦੇਖ ਸੁ ਵਿਟਰਿਓ ਤਿਨ ਖੰਡੋ ਲਯੋ ਛਿਨਾਇ ।੧੧। </b></div> <div align=center> The Guru then handed over his double-edged dagger to the Banda Singh, Which he accepted and wore around his person as an armour. </div> <div align=center> Feeling enraged at the loss of their legitimate right of being Guru’s heirs, The Khalsa Singhs stripped Banda Singh of Guru’s armour. (11) </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਤਬ ਫਰਯਾਦ ਉਨ ਗੁਰ ਪਹਿ ਕਰੀ । ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਹਸ ਹਸ ਚਿਤ ਬਿਚਰੀ। </b></div> <div align=center><b> ਚੀਜ ਆਪਨੀ ਇਨ੍ਹੈਂ ਸੰਭਾਰੀ । ਭਯੋ ਖਾਲਸੋ ਅਬ ਕਲ ਧਾਰੀ ।੧੨। </b></div> <div align=center> As stripped Banda Singh complained to the Guru (about the Singh’s act), The Guru went into peels of laughter with immense joy. </div> <div align=center> The Guru remarked that with Singh’s forcible possession of their legitimate right, His mission of empowering the Khalsa Panth has been fulfilled. (12) </div> <br> <div align=center><small> — Sri Prachin Panth Prakash, Episode 29 </small></div> --- Anyone who takes on a position to lead the Khalsa is doing so as a tool _of_ the Khalsa. No one can give an order to the Khalsa, they can only make a suggestion. It is up to the Khalsa to decide whether to accept or not. This applied even to Guru Gobind Singh himself. There is the example above of the Khalsa defying the gift given to Banda Singh, but there is also the Hukam that the Guru Khalsa gave to Guru Gobind Singh during the Battle of Chamkaur to escape, go rebuild strength and keep the movement alive. Another notable example is Guru Gobind Singh’s visit to Dadu Dwara in Naraina, Rajasthan. Upon arrival, he paid obeisance the Samadhi (tomb) of a Dadupanthi saint, saluting his arrow toward it. The accompanying Khalsa Sikhs objected, reprimanding the Guru for he had himself prohibited bowing before such memorials and engaging in idolatrous practices. They demanded that he now he must pay a fine (_Tankhah_). Pleased with their vigilance, he accepted the fine they imposed on him for this breach of discipline, the funds put towards the Langar. It was later revealed that the whole ordeal was a test by Guru Gobind Singh for the Guru Khalsa. Such Sakhiyan reveal the ambition Guru Gobind Singh had for his Khalsa to truly elevate it to the highest possible sovereingn status. To equalise them to his own position of Guru itself. This wasn’t merely a symbolic gesture; it was a structural transformation of authority. Guru Gobind Singh wasn’t just empowering the Khalsa with blessings, he was transferring institutional power, embedding within them the divine agency to govern, to decide, and to uphold Dharam without dependency on a single figurehead. --- <div align=center><b> ਹਮ ਪਤਿਸ਼ਾਹੀ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਦਈ ਹੰਨੈ ਹੰਨੈ ਲਾਇ । </b></div> <div align=center><b> ਜਹਿਂ ਜਹਿਂ ਬਹੈਂ ਜਮੀਨ ਮਲ ਤਹਿਂ ਤਹਿਂ ਤਖਤ ਬਨਾਇਂ ।੩੯। </b></div> <br> <div align=center> Satguru had conferred sovereignty on the Khalsa Panth, As well as on each individual Singh of that fraternity. Wherever a Singh sets his foot and settles on earth, He establishes his own self-reliant/autonomous sovereignty (Takht). </div> <br> <div align=center><small> — Sri Prachin Panth Prakash, Epidode 90 </small></div> --- This shared status of each individual member of the Khalsa is also the basis upon which the Misl system first arose. It was a genius way the early Khalsa reconciled that each one of them had equal status, but also needed a way to establish effective hierarchies to achieve particular, political goals. In theory, each Khalsa had the freedom to leave a Misl and apply to join another, or even start their own, thus maintaining each individual’s freedom of choice... to a degree. In practice, it wasn’t perfect, of course. But that’s exactly why _Azadism_, the world’s first Sikhi-based political-economic philosophy, has advocated for a _Modernised Misl System._ Through this it aims to identify the core principles the early Sikh intellegenstia wrestled with and tried to apply practically to achieve successes, which led them to the Misl solution. Whilst also learning from its pitfalls and strenghts to offer tweaks and adjustments for a modern attempt at re-orginising the Khalsa into a Misl system once again to achieve success as competent service providers for security and justice. This is covered in more detail in the _Dharam Yudh Pipeline White Paper,_ and will be further explored in an upcoming publication looking into how Misls can be embedded as a viable form of governance for a modern _Khalsa Raaj_. However, for now, it is important to emphasise a core point: there must be recognition and respect for the mandate from Guru Gobind Singh to the Guru Khalsa that this brotherhood has been elevated in status. Anyone who does is recognised as a _Khalsapanthi_. Each individual member of the Khalsa is not the Guru in and of themselves, the same way how our non-dual philosophy of _Ik Onkaar_ does not mean that any one human is exclusively God while others are not (as this would be self-contradicting). Instead, collectively, they form a part of the whole. Each member of the Khalsa is an equal, so long as they maintain Rehit, adopt GurMat, and uphold the purpose of the Khalsa. In my view, it is the duty, or _Dharam_, of every member of the Guru Khalsa to engage in _Dharam Yudh_ (righteous war, and this does not have to be restricted to physical means), to advance the cause of Khalsa Raaj_._ The implications of this in terms of how we govern ourselves is a topic, like the Sikh intelligentsia of old, we today must also wrestle with and apply to our practical reality to achieve results. --- <div align=center><b> ਵਹੀ ਵਰਤਾਰੋ ਭੁਜੰਗਨ ਵਰਤਾਯੋ । ਆਪਸ ਗੁਰ ਚੇਲਾ ਕਹਿਵਾਯੋ । </b></div> <div align=center> After being initiated by the five initiated ones in the same manner, He (Guru Gobind Singh) came to be known as Teacher-disciple rolled into one (“Aape Gur-Chela”). </div> <br> <div align=center><b> ਯਹੀ ਆਦ ਹੁਤ ਆਯੋ ਵਰਤਾਰਾ । ਜਿਮ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰ ਅੰਗਦ ਧਾਰਾ ।੨੧। </b></div> <div align=center> This has been the tradition from the very beginning, As Guru Nanak had also accepted Guru Angad as his Guru. (21) </div> <br> <div align=center><small> — Sri Prachin Panth Prakash, Epidode 15 </small></div> --- It was not mere theatrics when Guru Gobind knelt down to receive Khande Di Pahul from the Guru Khalsa on Vaisakhi. He truly meant what he was showing, that the Khalsa is now equal in status. The same way how he adminstered Pahul to the Khalsa, the Khalsa adminstered it to him. Whilst we may understand the Khalsa expression as just one way of practising Sikhi, it is a way sanctioned and launched by the human manifestation of the Guru itself and it is the one way that was given the Gurgaddi. By becoming Khalsa, you become the Guru. This is the ultimate apotheosis and a gift given by Guru Gobind Singh to anyone who is willing to put in the effort to follow a Rehit, adopt the mentality and engage in Dharam Yudh. Guru Sahib is not some unobtainable ideal to be put on a pedestal and worshipped like an idol. The whole point of Sikhi is to reach the exact same status as the Guru, to recognise that you are a part of God, separate from it. This is not blasphemy, this is the gift the Guru gives! --- <div align=center><b> ਸੋ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਦੂਰਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਤੂੰ ਹੈ ॥ </b></div> <div align=center> God is not far way, God is YOU! </div> <br> <div align=center><small> — Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 353 </small></div> --- So it is incredibly frustrating watching those who wear the _Bana_ of Singhs then act like complete sheep and shut off their free-thinking ability for others. The Khalsa has been given such a royal status, yet we still act like beggars? Not only do we already have a leader (the Guru), that leader passed his leadership to the Khalsa. Many will follow every other teaching except this one because people are confused and distracted by their attachment to intermediaries and middle men. I am by no means saying these offshoots, “Sant babai”, Jathedars etc have no value, many indeed do. _But as guidance, not gospel._