Foreword To The Book 'Guru Gobind Singh and Creation of  Khalsa' By  Madanjit Kaur

The egalitarian ideology of progressive social revolution of cosmic nature envisaged by Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism became phenominally manifest in the creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs. The publication of the book Guru Gobind Singh and Creation of Khalsa on the occasion of the Tercentenary Celebrations of the Khalsa will be a benefitting tribute to the great Guru as an act of appreciation of his marvellous contributions to bind various communities in abiding love, harmony, integration and commitment to serve humanity and defend Dharma (righteousness) through the advocacy of his message of unity of God and brotherhood of man. The Guru spelt out the empirical role of the holy man in society as a divinely sanctioned moral responsibility and established the Khalsa commonwealth of saint soldiers (sant sipahi) to protect justice, virtues, human rights, freedom, liberty and the oppressed. The Khalsa had to present a model role to fight against all agencies of socio-political exploitation and to establish rule of law and social dispensation.

Guru Nanak Dev University,                                                            (Dr. H.S. Soch)
Amritsar                                                                        Vice-Chancellor

Preface Of The Book 'Guru Gobind Singh and Creation of  Khalsa' By  Madanjit Kaur

It was in persuance of the completion of Guru Nanak's mission and universal humanistic institutionalisation of the Sikh doctrines that the Tenth Divine Master of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh declared the Creation of the Order of the Khalsa through the sacramental nectar (Amrit) of Khande de pahul at Sri Anandpur Sahib on 30 March, 1699 on the occasion of the Baisakhi Day. The declaration of the Khalsa proved a unique event of world historical significance. The Guru gave Khalsa a distinct identity (five kakaars), the appellation of the "Singh" and a strict code of conduct {Rahit Maryadd) to provide it a strong sense of belonging, dignity and social solidarity of egalitarian and corporate nature which provided a perennial source of vitality for the sustenance of the mobilised militant resistance of the Khalsa in all the exigencies of the time and space in its struggle against the enemy. The Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh attained excellence, equally in times of war and peace. Subsequently, the Khalsa proved ever ready line of warriors to fight for the defence of Nation.

The Khalsa represents an ideal example of a role model of a new world order characterised by integrity, commitment, corporate identity, democratic discipline, humanitarian service, concerns for the welfare of all the humanity and spiritual endeavour. In fact, Guru Gobind Singh wished to create a unique organisation as a temporal vehicle of motor force of dispensation for the establishment of a new republican order in the world history free from all sorts of physical, material, temporal and religious evils; social imbalances; economic disparities; bias and prejudices. The Khalsa was pledged to act as servant of God on this earth to serve humanity with love, compassion and selfless motive. The ideology of the Khalsa has a great universal relevance a normative basis in the present crisis of spiritual, moral and ethical devoid for the emergence of a corporate welfare world society.

Guru Gobind Singh and Creation of Khalsa is a collection of articles by eminent scholars especially prepared by Guru Nanak Dev University to project a documented study of the vital issues related to the life of Guru Gobind Singh and creation of Khalsa. The contributors in this Volume maintain that religion and state rule effect activities in society which depend critically on the social values, practices and ethical norms. The nature of this process exemplify the blending of traditional norms, as the demands of the contemporary historical challenges and social structure provided if there is a creative genius and a chrismatic leader who can translate ideas into practices and abstraction into reality. The result is the emergence of uniquely documented patterns of hypothesis, formulations and presentation of the marvellous story of creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh, the unparalleled hero of the history of mankind. It is hoped that this volume would provide significant information to researchers, scholars and students engaged in the study of Comparative Religion, Indian Culture, Social Sciences, Humanities and History of Human Civilization.

We are thankful to S. Jagjit Singh Walia, Director, Press & Publications and his staff for the printing of this book. We owe thanks to Dr. Gopal Singh Dhillon for the preparation of the index of this volume.

Editor

Table Of Contents Of The Book 'Guru Gobind Singh and Creation of  Khalsa' By  Madanjit Kaur