ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PATIT</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="PATIT"> <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">&#65279PATIT, an adjective formed from <i>patan</i> meaning fall, decline or degradation, with its roots in Sanskrit <i>pat</i> which means, variously, "to fall, sink, descend; to fall in the moral sense; to lose caste, rank or position," usually denotes one who is morally fallen, wicked, degraded or outcaste. It is slightly different from the English word &#8216apostate', which usually stands for one who abandons his religion for another &#8212 voluntarily or under compulsion. A <i>patit</i> is one who commits a religious misdemeanour or transgression, yet does not forsake his professed faith. He may seek redemption and may be readmitted to the communion after due penitence.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the sacred literature of the Sikhs as well as of the Hindus, the word is normally used in the general sense of fallen or sinner as opposed to pure or virtuous. It often appears in composite terms such as <i>patit-p&#257van</i> and <i>patit-udh&#257ran</i> (purifier or redeemer of the sinner) used as attributes of God and Gur&#363. Its use as a technical term in Sikh theology appears to have come into vogue after the creation of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 and the appearance of various codes of conduct prescribed for the Sikhs in the form of <i>rahitn&#257m&#257s</i> during the eighteenth century. Even the <i>rahitn&#257m&#257s</i> describe transgressor of the code of conduct as <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i> (one liable to penalty) and not <i>patit</i>. Bh&#257&#299 Santokh Si&#7749gh (1787-1843) the poet-historian, appears to be the first to use <i>patit</i> in the sense in which it is now understood among the Sikhs. In <i>ritu</i> 3, <i>a&#7749s&#363</i> 51 of his magnum opus, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>, the poet relates a story, based on an anecdote from an earlier work, <i>Gur Ratan M&#257l</i> (<i>Sau S&#257kh&#299</i>), of a Sikh lady shaken in her faith under the influence of a Muslim woman, who is subsequently reclaimed. She is described as saying : <i>Ba<u>kh</u>sh lehu ham tumar&#299 sharan&#299; patitin p&#257vanat&#257 bidhi barn&#299</i> (we seek refuge with you [0 Guru:]. pardon us and tell us the way to purify <i>patits</i>). The Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 movement of the last quarter of the nineteenth century had reclamation of the <i>patit</i> Sikhs as one of its major objectives. Shuddh&#299 Sabh&#257, an offshoot of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, established in 1893, had as its sole purpose the reconversion of apostates, and reclamation of <i>patits</i>. By a <i>patit</i> was meant a Hindu or Sikh, man or woman, who had abandoned his/her traditional religious faith under Muslim or Christian influence. Also, an initiated Sikh who committed a major <i>kurahit</i> or breach of religious discipline, became a <i>patit</i>, while for minor breaches of the Sikh code, one only became a <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#257&#299</i> or one liable to penalty or punishment whose misdemeanour could be condoned by <i>sa&#7749gat</i> or holy fellowship after an apology, repentantly and humbly tendered, and/or a punishment, usually in the form of (fine) and/or <i>sev&#257</i> (voluntary service) and extra recitation daily of one or more routine prayers. <i>Sikh Rahit Mary&#257d&#257</i> approved by Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee in 1954 after prolonged deliberations, retains the above rules without specifically defining the term <i>patit</i>. Its legal definition as inserted in the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257 Act, 1925, through the amending Act XI of 1944 runs as below:</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Patit means a person who being a Keshdh&#257r&#299 Sikh trims or shaves his beard or <i>keshas</i> or who after taking <i>amrit</i> commits any one or more of the four <i>kurahits</i>."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Delhi Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257s Act, 1971, contains similar definition except a reference to kesh&#257dh&#257r&#299 because unlike Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257s Act, 1925, it defines only kesh&#257dh&#257r&#299s, and not <i>sahajdh&#257r&#299s</i>, as Sikhs. It states :</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Patit" means a Sikh who trims or shaves his beard or hair (<i>keshas</i>) or who after taking <i>amrit</i> commits any one or more of the four <i>kurahits</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; According to old <i>rahitn&#257m&#257s</i>, as well as the <i>Sikh Rahit Mary&#257d&#257</i>, the four (major) <i>kurahits</i> are (a) trimming or shaving of hair, (2) eating <i>ku&#7789&#7789h&#257</i> or <i>hal&#257l</i> meat, i.e. flesh of bird or animal slaughtered in the Muslim's way; (S)sexual contact with a woman or man other than one's own wife or husband; and (4) the use of tobacco in any form.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Being a <i>patit</i> entails several religious, social and even legal disabilities. For example, besides being a religious offence punishable by <i>sa&#7749gat</i>, being a <i>patit</i> is a social stigma; a <i>patit</i> cannot have his <i>ard&#257s</i> said at any of the five <i>ta<u>kh</u>ts</i>; and a <i>patit</i> cannot be elected to the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. The <i>Sikh Rahit Mary&#257d&#257</i> advises Sikhs not to associate generally with <i>patit</i>. Especially, co-dining with a <i>patit</i> would make a Sikh <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i>. A <i>patit</i> who fails to appear before the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> when summoned, or who refuses to accept its verdict could invite punishment leading to his excommunication from Sikh society. The power of excommunication however vests only in the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t at Amritsar, the highest seat of religious authority, and is exercised in exceptional cases involving eminent persons and <i>Panthic</i> honour. Of course, the sanction behind such punishment and disabilities is purely religious, moral and social pressure, except in cases falling under the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257s Act.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>&#346abad&#257rth Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1964<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Sikh Rahit Mary&#257d&#257</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Santokh Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>. Amritsar, 1927-35<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Sikh Gurdwaras Act</i>, 1925<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Act</i>, 1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Nripinder Singh, <i>The Sikh Moral Tradition</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Avtar Singh, <i>Ethics of the Sikhs</i>. Patiala, 1970<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">W. Owen Cole<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>