ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>TANKHAHN&#256M&#256</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 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">&#65279<i>TAN<u>KH</u>AHN&#256M&#256</i>, by Bh&#257&#299 Nand L&#257l, is a Sikh penal code laying down punishments and fines for those guilty of religious misconduct. <i>Tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i>, a Persian word, actually means salary, reward or profit, and <i>n&#257m&#257</i>, also Persian denoting an epistle, a code or a catalogue. In Sikh usage, however, <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> stands for the opposite of its original meaning and juxtaposed with <i>n&#257m&#257</i> it means a religious penal code. Any Sikh, particularly one who received the <i>p&#257hul</i> (nectar of the double-edged sword) for initiation into the fold of the Brotherhood of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, committing a breach of <i>rahit</i> (stipulated conduct) and guilty of <i>kurahit</i> (misconduct) is subject to be punished. One who is so punished is called <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i>. It is traditionally held that the term <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> meaning fine for a religious lapse or infringement was first used in the lifetime of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh who was once laid under a penal levy by his own Sikhs for saluting with his arrow the tomb of the saint D&#257d&#363 (worship of sepulchre or cemetery being taboo according to the Gur&#363's injunction). Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh willingly submitted to the verdict of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bh&#257&#299 Nand L&#257l was a devotee of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh and a scholar of Persian in which language he wrote poetry of rare refinement. Answering his questions once, the Gur&#363 defined acts worthy of a Sikh and those not worthy of him. Bh&#257&#299 Nand L&#257l is said to have recorded the former in his <i>Rahitn&#257m&#257</i> and the latter in his <i>Tan<u>kh</u>&#257hn&#257m&#257</i>. For him who becomes liable to punishment, he uses the word <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299</i>, not <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the <i>Tan<u>kh</u>&#257hn&#257m&#257</i> itself a positive and idealistic pattern of living has been charted too. A true <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 must, for instance, lead a life of <i>n&#257m</i> (meditation on the Name, <i>d&#257n</i> (charity) and <i>isn&#257n</i> (purification).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He should overcome the five lusts and be above superstition, pride and adultery; and he should be constantly absorbed in <i>n&#257m</i>; he should protect the weak and the needy, advance against the tyrannical and be armed always to fight evil (verses 27-31). Negatively, a Sikh who does not join the company of the holy, does not bow to the sacred word being recited and does not treat with equality the poorer members in the fellowship invites retribution (verses 3-5). So will a Sikh, who, when distributing <i>ka&#7771&#257h pras&#257d</i>, communion food, resorts to greed or distributes unevenly or casts a wanton eye upon the womenfolk (verses 6,10); who bows to the Turks, tyrannical rulers, or dishonours the arms by touching them with his feet; a Sikh who is rash, who gives away his daughter or sister in matrimony for money (verse 11); who carries not his sword and who by deception robs a wayfarer or a guest of his belongings (verse 12); who does not contribute <i>dasvandh</i>, the prescribed one-tenth of one's income, to the community's funds and who earns his livelihood by falsehood (verse 14); who indulges in backbiting and does not keep his word (verse 16); who eats kosher meat dressed in the Muslim way (verse 17); and he who goes about with his head uncovered or eats or distributes food with his head uncovered (verse 24). Verses 7-8 describe the method of preparing <i>ka&#7771&#257h pras&#257d</i>. In verses 32 to 36, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh tells Bh&#257&#299 Nand L&#257l that the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 who inflicts not pain on the masses shall be supreme and rule over the land; after defeating and vanquishing the Turks, the community shall bear all the symbols of royalty; the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 shall ride horse and keep hawks; all rebels shall be subdued ; there shall be perfect equality between man and man which will be the victory of the Supreme Lord, the Timeless Being, who alone will remain when all else perishes.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>Bh&#257&#299 Nand L&#257l Granth&#257val&#299</i>. Malacca (Malaya), 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Padam, Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Rahitn&#257me</i>. Patiala, 1974<BR> <li class="C1"> Nripinder Si&#7749gh, <i>The Sikh Moral Tradition</i>, Delhi,1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">T&#257ran Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>