ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PAÑJ PI&#256RE (lit. the five beloved)</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="PAÑJ,PIRE"> <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">&#65279PAÑJ PI&#256RE (lit. the five beloved), name given to the five Sikhs, Bh&#257&#299 Day&#257 Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299 Dharam Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299 Himmat Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299 Muhkam Si&#7749gh and Bh&#257&#299 S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, who were so designated by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh at the historic <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> at Anandpur S&#257hib on 30-March 1699 and who formed the nucleus of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 as the first batch to receive at his hands <i>Kha&#7751&#7693e d&#299 pah&#363l</i> i.e. rites of the two-edged sword.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In Sikh theology, as in the Indian classical tradition generally, <i>pañj</i> or <i>pañch</i>, the numeral five, has a special significance. Gur&#363 N&#257nak in Japu refers to five kha&#7751&#7693s, i.e. stages or steps in spiritual development, and calls a spiritually awakened person a <i>pañch</i>. The ancient Indian socio-political institution <i>pañch&#257yat</i> meant a council of five elders. Something like an inner council of five existed even in the time of the earlier Gur&#363s : five Sikhs accompanied Gur&#363 Arjan on his last journey to Lahore; the five were each given 100 armed Sikhs to command by his successor, Gur&#363 Hargobind; Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur, set out on his journey to Delhi to court execution attended by five Sikhs.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Until the Bais&#257kh&#299 of AD 1699, Sikh initiation ceremony, <i>charan p&#257hul</i>, comprised the administering of <i>charan&#257mr&#299t</i> or <i>charanodak</i> to the novitiate. As Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, 1.23, records, this was the practice Gur&#363 N&#257nak introduced for the Sikhs. At the ceremony the novitiate quaffed water poured over the foot of the Gur&#363 and vowed to follow the religious and moral injunctions as well as the code of communal conduct laid down. Later, <i>masands</i> or local leaders, specially authorized by the Gur&#363s, also administered <i>charan p&#257hul</i>. According to Kesar Si&#7749gh Chhibbar, <i>Bans&#257v&#257l&#299n&#257m&#257</i>, a modification was introduced in the time of Gur&#363 Hargobind when water, poured over the toe of the right foot of each of the five chosen Sikhs assembled in a <i>dharams&#257l</i>, was received in a bowl and administered to the seekers after <i>ard&#257s</i> or supplicatory prayer.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, who had abolished the institution of <i>masands</i> replaced <i>charan p&#257hul</i> with <i>kha&#7751&#7693e d&#299 p&#257hul</i>. He summoned a special assembly in the Kesga&#7771h Fort at Anandpur on the Bais&#257kh&#299 day of 1756 Bk/ 30 March 1699. After the morning devotions and <i>k&#299rtan</i>, he suddenly stood up, drawn sword in hand, and, to quote Bh&#257&#299 Santokh Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>, spoke: "The entire <i>sa&#7749gat</i> is very dear to me; but is there a devoted Sikh who will give his head to me here and now? A need has arisen at this moment which calls for a head." A hush fell over the assembly. Day&#257 R&#257m, a native of Lahore, arose and offered himself. He walked behind the Gur&#363 to a tent near by. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh returned with his sword dripping blood and demanded another head. This time Dharam D&#257s, a J&#257&#7789 from Hastin&#257pur, emerged from the audience and followed the Gur&#363. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh gave three more calls. Muhkam Chand, a cloth-printer from Dw&#257rak&#257, Himmat, a water-bearer from Jagann&#257th, and S&#257hib Chand, a barber from Bidar, stood up one after another and advanced to offer their heads.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh emerged from the tent "hand in hand with the five;" says Kuir Si&#7749gh, <i>Gurbil&#257s P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 10</i>. The disciples wore saffron-coloured raiment topped over with neatly tied turbans of the same colour. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, similarly dressed, introduced his chosen Sikhs to the audience as Pañj Pi&#257re, the five devoted spirits beloved of the Gur&#363. He then proceeded to perform the ceremony. Filling an iron bowl with clean water, he kept churning it with a <i>kha&#7751&#7693&#257</i>, i.e, double-edged sword, while reciting over it the sacred verses. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's wife M&#257t&#257 J&#299toj&#299, brought sugar crystals which were put into the vessel at the Gur&#363's bidding. Sweetness was thus mingled with the alchemy of iron. <i>Amrit</i>, the Nectar of Immortality , was now ready and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh gave the five Sikhs each five palmsful of it to drink. At the end, all five of them quaffed from the steel bowl the remaining elixir binding themselves in new fraternal ties. Their rebirth into this brotherhood meant the cancellation of their previous family ties, of the occupations which had hitherto determined their place in society, of their beliefs and creeds and of the rituals they had so far observed.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The five Sikhs &#8212 three of them the so-called low-castes, a K&#7779triya and a J&#257&#7789 &#8212 formed the nucleus of the self-abnegating, martial and casteless fellowship of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had brought into being. They were given the surname of Si&#7749gh, meaning lion, and were ever to wear the five emblems of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 <i>kes</i> or unshorn hair and beard; <i>ka&#7749gh&#257</i>, a comb in the <i>kes</i> to keep it tidy as against the recluses who kept it matted in token of their having renounced the world; <i>ka&#7771&#257</i>, a steel bracelet; <i>kachchh</i>, short breeches worn by soldiers; and <i>kirp&#257n</i>, a sword. They were enjoined to succour the helpless and fight the oppressor, to have faith in One God and to consider all human beings equal, irrespective of caste and creed.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The episode of <i>s&#299s-bhe&#7789</i>, i.e. offering of the heads, was recorded by Bh&#257&#299 Kuir Si&#7749gh in his <i>Gurbil&#257s Patshdhil 10</i> (1751) followed by Bh&#257&#299 Sukkh&#257 Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299 Santokh Si&#7749gh, and others. Earlier chronicles such as the <i>Sr&#299 Gur Sobh&#257</i>, and the <i>Bans&#257v&#257l&#299n&#257m&#257</i> do not narrate it in such detail. Ratan Si&#7749gh Bha&#7749g&#363, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>, simply says that "five Sikhs were selected one each from five different castes." From what is known about the lives of those five Sikhs, each of them had received instruction at the hands of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, was a devoted disciple and had been in residence at Anandpur long enough to have been affected by its ambience of faith and sacrifice. It was a coincidence that they belonged to different castes and to different parts of India.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Kha&#7751&#7693e d&#299 P&#257hul</i>, introduced by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh on 30 March 1699, became the established form of initiation for Sikhs for all time to come; so also the institution of the Pañj Pi&#257re. In fact, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had himself initiated by the Pañj Pi&#257re as he had initiated them. Since then this has been the custom. Pañj Pi&#257re, any five initiated Sikhs reputed to be strictly following the rahit, or Sikh discipline, are chosen to administer to the novitiates <i>amrit</i>, i.e. <i>Kha&#7751&#7693e d&#299 P&#257hul</i>. Pañj Pi&#257re are similarly chosen to perform other important ceremonies such as laying the cornerstone of a <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> building or inaugurating <i>k&#257r-sev&#257</i>, i.e. cleansing by voluntary labour of a sacred tank, or leading a religious procession, and to decide issues confronting a local <i>sa&#7749gat</i> or community as a whole. At crucial moments of history, Pañj Pi&#257re have collectively acted as supreme authority, representing the Gur&#363-Panth. During the battle of Chamkaur, it was the last five surviving Sikhs who, constituting themselves into the Council of Five, Pañj Pi&#257re, commanded Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh to leave the fortress and save himself to reassemble the Sikhs. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had abolished the <i>masand</i> system and before he passed away, he also ended the line of living <i>gur&#363s</i>. In the institution of Pañj Pi&#257re, he had created the nucleus of a casteless and democratic continuing society.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Gurd&#257s, Bh&#257&#299, <i>V&#257ra&#7749.</i><BR> <li class="C1"> Jagg&#299, Rattan Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>Ba&#7749s&#257val&#299n&#257m&#257</i>. Chandigarh, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Kuir Si&#7749gh, <i>Gurbil&#257s P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 10</i>. Patiala, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Bha&#7749g&#363, Ratan Si&#7749gh, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>. Amritsar, 1962<BR> <li class="C1"> Santokh Singh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>. Amritsar, 1927-35<BR> <li class="C1"> Bhall&#257, Sar&#363p D&#257s, <i>Mahim&#257 Prak&#257sh</i>.<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299; <i>Panth Prak&#257sh</i>. Patiala,1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Sukh&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Gurbil&#257s Dasv&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i>. Patiala, 1970<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Shamsher Si&#7749gh Ashok<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>