Seva

The word has two older senses: attending on someone and worshipping. In older Indian society the first was associated with the humblest castes, and the second with Brahmin priests. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism argues that in Sikh usage the two meanings merge. Since God dwells in creation, serving people is a way of serving God.

Scripture presents it as a request as much as a duty. Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji prays on ang 518 to fan the sangat, carry its water and grind its corn. Bhai Gurdas, in Var 27, calls hands and feet that do no service cursed.[EoS]

Sikh tradition speaks of three kinds of seva. Tan is service with the body, such as cooking and cleaning. Man is service with the mind, giving one's skills and sharing others' pain. Dhan is service with wealth.

Service with the body is given the highest place, and it is asked of every Sikh. The Sikh Rehat Maryada lists simple forms: sweeping the gurdwara floor, serving water to the sangat, fanning it, working in the langar and dusting visitors' shoes. It says these are organised in gurdwaras partly as training. Service in the langar is meant to help remove ideas of high and low.

Gifts are meant to lose their personal character. Offerings and daswandh went into common funds, which avoids the giver's pride and the receiver's shame.[EoS][Src]

The Encyclopaedia lists the qualities of true seva: no desire for reward, no deceit, humility, a pure intention and a loss of self. It treats seva as a way to dissolve haumai, and sees it as the alternative to renouncing the world.

Bhai Jetha, who became Sri Guru Ram Das Ji, is remembered for serving in Sri Guru Amar Das Ji's langar, fetching wood and drawing water. A related practice is kar seva, voluntary labour on building work or the cleaning of a sacred pool.[EoS][EoS][EoS]