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The Turban and the Sikh Scriptures
Dr. M. S. Rahi
In the world scenario, the turban had become a recognized symbol of
honour, respect, status and dignity much before Guru Nanak, the
founder of Sikhism, appeared on the worldly scene in the 15th
century.The political and social situation in India was chaotic.
Afghan invaders had made the life of the natives of Hindustan a
miserable one. No honour was left for them as they were prohibited
from riding horses and wearing turbans on their heads. The purpose
was humiliation and insult in their daily life. All this pained Guru
Nanak and he was unable to adjust to the life all around; as he was
born rebel against religious bigotry, unjustified indignity of the
people and unwarranted violations of basic human rights. He did not
hesitate to lodge a protest –
Itai Mar Pai Kurlane, Te Ki Dard Na Aya || SGGS-360 –
[Humanity was cruelly thrashed, did you feel no remorse?], with God
against the inhumanity of Mughal invader, Babar. It was outright
insult
and cruelty to the creation of God. Guru Nanak found it hard to
reconcile with such treatment of human beings against the norms of
civilization. He had some other visions of life. It is, perhaps,
honorable and respectful living, on which Guru Nanak laid the
foundation of his new creed i.e. Sikhism. He exhorted the enslaved
and spineless people in the words:
Jay Jivian Pat Lathi Jaye,
Sab Haram Jeta Kuchh Khaye ||
SGGS- 142 –
[To live without self respect is to eat in shame]. He invited those
people to join him in his new creed, who had the guts and courage to
face all the odds of life, even death for the sake of honorable
living.
 Shameless people without human dignity had no place in his
company.
Jay Tuje Prem Khedan Ka Chao,
Sirr Dhar Tali Gali Mori Aao ||
(SGGS-
1042) –
[If you love to play the game of love come with readiness to
sacrifice your life], were the words of his open invitation to join
the glorious adventure of life. Donning the turban, a musical
* # 58, Lawyers Chamber, Pb. & Hry High Court, Chandigarh, Mobile:
09814017142, 0172-2748448 instrument – Rabab – in the hands of his
muslim companion, he set out to sing His message in the four corners
of the world. The dignity in all spheres of life – dress, language
and conduct – was the corner stone of his teachings. Internal
evidence from Sri Guru Granth is sufficient to prove that Guru Nanak
never lived without turban – the symbol of divine dignity.
Bhagat Namdev (1270–1318 A.D.)had envisioned God with a turban onhis
head. His hymn as recorded in Guru Granth Sahib reveals this fact:
Khoob Teri Pagri, Meethe Tere Bol,
Dwarka Nagri Kahe Ke Mughal,
Naam Ke Swami Meer Mukand ||
SGGS 727 –
[Handsome Thy turban. How can there be a Mughal in the city of
Dwarka. Though art the Lord of name, the sovereign of all and the
giver of salvation].
Guru Nanak, the world teacher, was in the image of God, Whose
praises he sang through out his life. It is not possible to imagine
Guru
Nanak without the turban. Guru Nanak perfectly understood the
psychology of slave people and condemned such people who in order to
please foreign rulers abandon their language, dress and heritage;
there cannot be any great ingratitude than to forget one’s heritage.
Guru Nanak’s Bani depicts the position of such people :
Aad Purkh Kho Alahu Kahiye Shekha Aai Bari||
Dewal Devtian Kar Laga Aisi Kirat Chali||
Kuja Bang Nivaj Musla Nir Roop Banwari ||
Ghar Ghar Miya Sabhna Jiyan Boli AvarTumhari ||
SGGS-1191-
[The Primal Lord is called Allah. The turn of the Muslim divines has
come. Tax is levied on the temples of gods. Such a practice has come
into vogue. The ablution pots, calls to prayers and prayer-carpets
are seen everywhere and the Lord appear in blue form. In every house
all the persons call Mian, your language O’men has become
different]. The turban is the most important piece of the Sikh’s
heritage. Another
reference in Sri Guru Granth Sahib testifies this fact:
Kaia Kirdar Aurat Jakina ||
Rang Tamashe Maan Hakina||
Napak Pak Kar hadoor hadisha ||
Sabat surat Distar Sira ||
SGGS 1084.
[Make good deeds thy body and faith thy bride. Revel thou in the
true
Lords’ love and entertainment. Make pure that is impure. Deem thou
in the True Lords’ presence, thy counsel.Let the complete body be
the turban on thy head].
That is why all the Sikh Gurus donned the turban in th e most
majestic
manner. Looking at the turban of Guru Hargobind his Dhadi poets
Nathmal and Abdula, sang,
Do Talwara Badian Ik Meeri Di ||
Ik Peeri Di, Ik Rakhi Kare Wajiri Di
…. Pag Teri, Ki Jahangir Di ||
Similarly, reference are found to the turban in the hymn of Baba
Farid
Shiekh (1173-1265 A.D.) :
Farida Main Bholawa Pag Da Mat Meli Ho Jay||
Gahle rooh Na Jani Sirr Vi Mitti Khaye|| – SGGS 1379.
[Farid, I am
worried about my turban lest it
should be soiled, however my
thoughtless soul is unaware that dust
will eat my head too]
Bhagat Kabir (1440 – 1518) also
refers to the turban:
Je Sirr Rach Rach Bandat Paag,
SGGS 1376.
Showing the importance
of the turban. Bhagat Ravi Das
brings about the importance of the
turban from another angle :
Banke
Bal Paag Sirr tere –
SGGS 659.
The turban is the gift of Guru and
also identity of the Sikhs, Bhai
Gurdas whose writings are said to be
the key to the Bani contained in Sri
Guru Granth Sahib, refers what kind
of tragic situation can be created by
innocuous removal of turban. He
writes:
Thande Khoo Nayke Pag Bisar Aya
Sirr Nange||
Ghar Wich Ranna Kamlian Thosi Liti
Dekh Khuthange||
Var32:19.
[A man after taking bath on a well
came bareheaded to the house without
turban, when ladies of the house
saw him in that condition, they started
weeping as some relative has
died].
No doubt, all the Sikh Gurus
donned the turban but Sri Guru
Gobind Singh, the tenth and the last
Guru of the Sikhs, in 1699 AD at the
time of creation of the Khalsa, made
it an inseparable part of the Sikhs’personality, and ordained that the
Sikhs should make their turban
beautiful (Datar Sajoni). After
bestowing amirt on the Panj Piare
and partaking amrit from them, the
final seal and stamp was put on the
personality of the Khalsa, when
Guru Gobind Singh said :
Khalsa mero roop hai khaas, Khalse
meh hou karon niwas….
Khalsa mero Satgur pura, Khalsa
mero sajan sura…..
Khalsa Akal Purakh ki fauj, Pragteo
Khalsa Parmatm ki mauj.
Jab lag Khalsa rahe naira,Tab lag tej
dion main saara.
Jab eh gahe bipran ki reet, Main
na
karon en ki parteet ||
(Sarb Loh)
(Khalsa is my real personification.
I live in the Khalsa. Khalsa is my true Satguru. Khalsa is my bravefriend…… Khalsa is the army of the
Almighty. Khalsa took birth as per
the wishes of the Almighty. As long
as Khalsa would remain distinctive
(naira), till then, I shall give him all
the glory. When the Khalsa would
disown its principles, then I shall not
bother for them).
Therefore, after such an assertion
of Guru regarding the looks of
Khalsa (the Sikhs): Can it be said that
the turban is not an essential and
inseparable part of a Sikhs’ personality,
only because it is not one of the
five (K’s) Kakars? Such an argument
would obviously be illogical if not
absurd, in the face of the fact that
Guru wanted the Sikhs to be Nirala
(distinctive) through their looks and
conduct. The turban was one of the
modes thought about by the Guru.The turban, therefore, remains one of
the most distinctive and all encompassing
article of Sikh faith. Perhaps, no person on earth can
imagine Guru Gobind Singh without
a turban and so his true Sikh, as
Guru had given a new concept of
(beloved follower) and it was rightly
said :
Wah Wah Guru Gobind Singh Aape Gur Chela ||
[Guru is a great of the great as he
himself is a guru and himself a chela
(follower)].
The Guru gave this new concept
for the advancement of human race
by creating a casteless society of
equals,where turban was a symbol of
honour, equality, fraternity, dignity
and freedom. Nothing like that had
earlier happened anywhere in the
world and unique history was created;
which though is yet to become the
basis of worldwide multicultural civilization,surpassing language and
cultural limitations and recognizing
all humanity as one —-
Manas Ki Jaat Sab Eko Pehchanbo
|| [Recognize all humanity as one] —
- as Guru Gobind Singh had
proclaimed.
(Sarb Loh)
When the other people simply used
to tie the turban, the Sikhs were supposed
to make it beautifully. It was
laid down in the Code of Conduct
(Rehatnama) as mentioned by the
Bhai Nand Lal, a distinguished poet
of Guru Gobind Singh that –
Kanga Dono Waqt Kar||
Pag Chun
Kar Bandhi
and
Nagan Hoye Bahar Phire ||
Nagan
Sis Jo Khaye ||
Nagan Parshad Jo Batri ||
Tan
Khayi Baddo Kahaye ||.
(Kulli and Goa by Bhai Nand Lal,
page 180,)
[A Sikh should comb his hair
twice in a day and should make his
turban carefully and A Sikh who
roams bareheaded and eats bareheaded,
he deserved to be punished
and declared a Tankhaia].
Similarly, are the injunctions in
the Rehatnamas of Bhai Desa
Singh, Bhai Chopa Singh, Bhai
Daya Singh and Rehatnam published
by the S.G.P.C. on the basis of
those Code of Conduct
(Rehatnamas). The Sikhs have been
ordained not to remove their turban
 when going out of their house. The
religious literature of the Sikhs is
full of references to the turban, its
importance for them and what use
they should make of it in various
situations of life. Such was the
importance given to the turban by
Sri Guru Gobind Singh that he used
to hold competitions of tying beautiful
and majestic turban at Paonta
Sahib. Now a Gurdwara Dastar
Asthan stands at that place.In view of such an important place
of turban in Sikhism, it cannot be
termed only as a cultural symbol of
the Sikhs, because culture is always
embedded in materialism, environmental
factors and the power structure
of society; when religion is deep
rooted in the inner consciousness of
the people, affecting their whole life.
Without any doubt, the turban and
its symbolism is inseparably woven
in the whole gamut of the Sikh’s way
of life—-from birth to death—- determining
their distinctive identity.
Even for Michael Foucault, a
renowned modern French philosopher
and historian, “the true historical
sense confirms our existence
among countless lost events, without
landmark or a point of reference.”
This is what Sikhism had preached
in a much broader historical sense
The turban in the same sense
confirms and openly demonstrates
historical connectivity of the Sikhs and their identity. The Gurbani
makes it clear when Guru Arjun Dev
says that his double turban is a sign
of victory.
Hau Gosain Da Pehalwanra, Main
Gur mil uch Dhumadla ||
Sab Hoi Shin Ikathian, Daju Betha
Vekhe Aap Jiyo ||
SGGS 74.
[I am the petty wrestler of the
World Lord. Having met the Guru, I
have put on a tall plumbed turban.All the assemblage to witness
wrestling is gathered and the merciful
Master Himself is seated to
behold it].
Without any doubt, the turban of
the Sikhs is rooted in Guru Granth
Sahib and its teachings. The Sikh
against his will should not be separated
from the turban in his life as
that would be his spiritual death.
Any force or law to do the same
would be against the law of life and
nature. And it would not be permissible
at the present stage of civilization.
The principle of freedom of conscience,which is protected in the
Constitutions of the all ations,
would be violated. Perhaps, that is
why the most precious thing considered
in life is Freedom, and not the
Riches. So is the turban to the Sikhs
—- the symbol of honour and dignity
—— the lasting distinctive affiliation
with their Guru; where the personality
of a Sikh is judged from his
Guftar, Raftar, Te Dastar i.e. from his
language, speed and turban. That is
why the Guru at many places in
Gurbani has indicated that Akal
Purakh (Almighty) accepts His bhagats
by bestowing honour of Saropa
(short turban) upon them:
Pehar Sirrpao Sewak Jan Mele,
Nanak pargat pahare ||
SGGS page
631.
[The Lord dressed me with the rob
of honour ,blended me his attending
slave, with himself and Nanak
became renowned in the world].
Therefore, such intimate is the
relationship of Guru, the Sikh and
the Turban, which does not deserve
to be disturbed by the worldly powers.
Hence, the Sikhs are supposed
to live and die with their turbans.
The Sikhs cannot have any other
option but to defend their turban in
the whole religio-historical context
because it is universally known fact
of history that the people who cannot
defend old historical positions
will never conquer new big ones.
They would be written off history
and thrown into its dustbin.
However the present generation of
the Sikhs have to prove that their
history is otherwise.
15 November, 2006
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