The Sikh Rehat Maryada
The Sikh Rehat Maryada is the code of conduct issued by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. It grew out of older manuals and a long consultation in the twentieth century.[EoS][EoS][Src][EoS][EoS][EoS]
Before the code
Rehat means a way of living, and maryada means accepted limits or custom. The Gurus left rules on conduct scattered through scripture and letters, but no single code. After 1699, writers produced rahitnamas, manuals attributed to figures such as Bhai Nand Lal, Bhai Daya Singh and Bhai Chaupa Singh. Prem Sumarag, an anonymous work of the eighteenth century, is a longer guide of the same kind.
In the Singh Sabha period, new manuals appeared with very different approaches. Khalsa Rahit Prakash was adopted at Damdama Sahib in 1905. Avtar Singh Vahiria's Khalsa Dharam Shastra of 1894 kept many older Brahmanical customs. Gurmat Prakash Bhag Sanskar, from the Chief Khalsa Diwan, followed in 1915.[EoS][EoS]
How the code was made
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee set up a sub-committee of 28 members on 15 March 1927. Professor Teja Singh of Khalsa College, Amritsar, prepared a draft, which the Gurdwara Gazette printed in April 1931 for public comment. The sub-committee met at the Akal Takht in October 1931 and January 1932. The text was then sent to further Sikh bodies, and it received final approval on 3 February 1945.
An English version by Kulraj Singh is dated 31 August 1994. He states in his preface that he divided the text afresh into six sections, with thirteen chapters and twenty-seven articles.[EoS][Src]
What it says
The code defines a Sikh as someone who has faith in the One Immortal Being, the ten Gurus, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Gurus' Bani and teachings, and the amrit of the tenth Guru, and who follows no other religion. Sikh life has two sides, personal and Panthic.
The personal side covers daily prayer, life according to the Gurus' teaching and seva. It sets out the text of Ardas, conduct in the gurdwara, kirtan, hukam, readings of scripture, kara prashad, and ceremonies at birth, marriage and death. It lists many practices a Sikh should reject, including caste, horoscopes, ritual fasting, idol worship and veneration of graves.
The Panthic side covers the Guru Panth, the amrit ceremony, penance for a breach of discipline, resolutions called gurmatas and appeals to the Akal Takht. Penance, called tankhah, is set by five Sikhs chosen by the local sangat, and takes the form of some service, preferably with the hands.[Src][EoS][EoS]
Where sources disagree
- Date of the code
The Encyclopaedia's entry on the Rahit Maryada gives final approval on 3 February 1945. Its entry on the rahitnamas cites an edition published at Amritsar in 1950. The two dates may refer to approval and to a later printing, but this has not been confirmed.[EoS][EoS]
- Scope of its authority
The English preface calls the code the final word in its field, and asks that it take precedence over sectional preferences. Groups described on the page on Sikh orders keep some practices of their own. Nihangs, for example, recite additional compositions and hold other customs described in the Encyclopaedia. The Rehat Maryada itself records one open difference, on reading the Ragmala.[Src][EoS][EoS]
Cite this page
"The Sikh Rehat Maryada". Sikh History: lives of the Gurus. https://sikh-history.co.uk/beliefs/rehat-maryada/