ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>M&#298R&#298-P&#298R&#298</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="M*R*,P*R*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279M&#298R&#298-P&#298R&#298, compound of two words, both of Perso-Arabic origin, adapted into the Sikh tradition to connote the close relationship within it between the temporal and the spiritual. The term represents for the Sikhs a basic principle which has influenced their religious and political thought and governed their societal structure and behaviour. The word <i>m&#299r&#299</i>, derived from Persian <i>m&#299r</i>, itself a contraction of the Arabic <i>am&#299r</i> (lit. commander, governor, lord, prince), signifies temporal power, and <i>p&#299r&#299</i>, from Persian <i>p&#299r</i> (lit. old man, saint, spiritual guide, head of a religious order) stands for spiritual authority. The origin of the concept of <i>m&#299r&#299-p&#299r&#299</i> is usually associated with Gur&#363 Hargobind (1595-1644) who, unlike his five predecessors, adopted a princely style right from the time of his installation in 1606 as the sixth Gur&#363 or prophet-mentor of the Sikhs, when as part of the investiture he wore on his person two swords, one representing <i>m&#299r&#299</i> or political command of the community and the other <i>p&#299r&#299</i>, its spiritual headship. For this reason, he is known as <i>m&#299ri p&#299r&#299 d&#257 m&#257lik</i>, master of piety as well as of power. This correlation between the spiritual and the mundane had in fact been conceptualized in the teachings of the founder of the faith, Gur&#363 N&#257nak (1469-1539) himself. God is posited by Gur&#363 N&#257nak as the Ultimate Reality. He is the creator, the ultimate ground of all that exists. The man of Gur&#363 N&#257nak being the creation of God, partakes of His Own Light. How does man fulfil himself in this world&#8212which, again, is posited as a reality? Not by withdrawal or renunciation, but, as says Gur&#363 N&#257nak in a hymn in the measure R&#257mkal&#299, by &#8220battling in the open field with one's mind perfectly in control and with one's heart poised in love all the time&#8221 (GG, 931). Participation was made the rule. Thus worldly structures&#8212the family, the social and economic systems &#8212 were brought within the religious domain. Along with the transcendental vision, concern with existential reality was part of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's intuition. His sacred verse reveals an acute awareness of the ills and errors of contemporary society. Equally telling was his opposition to oppressive State structures. He frankly censured the high-handedness of the kings and the injustices and inequalities which permeated the system. The community that grew from Gur&#363 N&#257nak's message had a distinct social entity and, under the succeeding Gur&#363s, it became consolidated into a distinct political entity with features not dissimilar to those of a political state : for instance, its geographical division into <i>mañj&#299s</i> or dioceses each under a <i>masand</i> or the Gur&#363's representative, new towns founded and developed both as religious and commercial centres, and an independent revenue administration for collection of tithes. The Gur&#363 began to be addressed by the devotees as <i>sachch&#257 p&#257tsh&#257h</i> (true king). Bards Balva&#7751&#7693 and Satt&#257, contemporaries of Gur&#363 Arjan (1563-1606), sing in their hymn preserved in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib the praise of Gur&#363 N&#257nak in kingly terminology. "He constructed the castle of truth on firm foundation, established his kingdom and had the (royal) umbrella unfurled over Lahi&#7751&#257's (Gur&#363 A&#7749gad's) head" (GG, 966). The execution in 1606, of Gur&#363 Arjan, N&#257nak V, under the orders of Emperor Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r, marked the Mu<u>gh</u>al authority's response to a growing religious order asserting the principles of freedom of conscience and human justice. The event led to Gur&#363 Arjan's young successor Gur&#363 Hargobind, N&#257nak VI, formally to adopt the emblems of authority. In front of the holy Harimandar he constructed the Ak&#257l <i>Ta<u>kh</u>t</i>, throne (ta<u>kh</u>t) of the Timeless One (<i>ak&#257l</i>). Here he went through the investiture ceremony for which he put on a warrior's accoutrement with two swords symbolizing assumption of the spiritual office as well as the control of secular affairs for the conduct of which he specifically used this new seat. He also raised an armed force and asked his followers to bring him presents of horses and weapons. This was a practical measure undertaken for the defence of the nascent community's right of freedom of faith and worship against the discriminatory religious policy of the State. To go by the tradition preserved in <i>Sikh&#257&#7749 d&#299 Bhagat M&#257l&#257</i> ascribed to Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh and in <i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i>, Gur&#363 Arjan himself had encouraged the military training of his son, Hargobind, and other Sikhs. By founding the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t and introducing soldierly style, Gur&#363 Hargobind institutionalized the concept of M&#299ri and P&#299r&#299. His successors continued to function as temporal as well as spiritual heads of the community although there were no open clashes with the State power as had occurred during his time. Gur&#363 Har R&#257i, N&#257nak VII, tried to help the liberal prince D&#257r&#257 Shukoh against his fanatic younger brother, Aura&#7749gz&#299b. To checkmate Emperor Aura&#7749gz&#299b's policies of religious monolithism, Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur toured extensively in the countryside exhorting the populace to shed fear and stand up boldly to face oppression. He himself set an example by choosing to give away his life to uphold human freedom and dignity.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The blending of M&#299r&#299 and P&#299r&#299 was consummated by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh in the creation of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Panth, a republican set-up, sovereign both religiously and politically. Ending personal Gur&#363ship before he died, he bestowed the stewardship of the community on the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 functioning under the guidance of the Divine Word, Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, in perpetuity. The popular slogan, "The <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 shall (ultimately) rule and none shall defy," is attributed to him; so are the aphorisms, "Without state power <i>dharma</i> cannot flourish (and) without <i>dharma</i> all (social fabric) gets crushed and trampled upon;" and "No one gifts away power to another; whosoever gets it gets it by his own strength."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Combination of M&#299r&#299 and P&#299r&#299 does not envisage a theocratic system of government. Among the Sikhs, there is no priestly hierarchy. Secondly, as is evidenced by the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 rule in practice, first briefly under Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur and later under the Sikh <i>misls</i> and Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, the form of government established was religiously neutral. Religion representing P&#299r&#299 did provide moral guidance to the State representing M&#299r&#299, and the State provided protection and support equally to the followers of different faiths. Along with the liberation of the individual soul, the Sikh faith seeks the betterment of the human state as a whole by upholding the values of freedom of belief and freedom from the oppressive authority, of man over man. Religious faith is the keeper of human conscience and the moral arbiter for guiding and regulating the exercise of political authority which must defend and ensure freedom of thought, expression and worship. This juxtaposition of the moral and secular obligations of man is the central point of the Sikh doctrine of M&#299r&#299-P&#299r&#299.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>Sabad&#257rth Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> Gurd&#257s, Bh&#257&#299, <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>. Amritsar, 1962<BR> <li class="C1"> Man&#299 Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Sikh&#257&#7749 d&#299 Bhagat M&#257l&#257</i>. Amritsar, 1955<BR> <li class="C1"> Sohan Kav&#299, <i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Macauliffe, M.A., <i>The Sikh Religion</i>. Oxford, 1909<BR> <li class="C1"> Banerjee, Indubhusan, <i>Evolution of the Khalsa</i>. Calcutta, 1936<BR> <li class="C1"> Sher Singh, <i>The Philosophy of Sikhism</i>. Lahore, 1944<BR> <li class="C1"> Teja Singh, <i>Sikhism : Its Ideals and Institutions</i>. Bombay, 1937<BR> <li class="C1"> Kapur Singh, <i>Par&#257&#347arapra&#347na or the Baisakhi of Guru Gobind Singh</i>.Jalandhar, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> McLeod, W.H., <i>The Evolution of the Sikh Community</i>. Delhi, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Nripinder Singh, <i>The Sikh Moral Tradition</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>