Living
in Consonance with Guru's Tenets (Gurmat Rehni)
A Sikh's living,
earning livelihood, thinking and conduct should accord with the Guru's
tenets. The Guru's tenets are:
a. Worship should be rendered only to the One
Timeless Being and to no god or goddess.
b. Regarding the ten Gurus, the Guru Granth Sahib
and the ten Gurus' word alone as saviours and holy objects of
veneration.
c. Regarding ten Gurus as the effulgence of one
light and one single entity.
d. Sikh don't believe in caste system,
untouchabililty , Jantar Mantar Tantar (Magic spells) omens,
horoscopic dispositions , Shradh, Ancestor worship, Pind,
Patal,Fasting,Tilak, Janju, Tulsi, Malla, Gor, Math, Marhi, Idolatery,
Not owning up or regarding as hallowed any place other than the
Guru's place- such, for instance, as sacred sports or places of
pilgrimage of other faiths.
Not believing in or according any authority to Muslim seers,
Brahmins' holiness, soothsayers, clairvoyants, oracles, promise of an
offering on the fulfilment of a wish, offering of sweet loaves or rice
pudding at graves on fulfillment of wishes, the Vedas, the Shastras,
the Gayatri, the Gita, the Quaran, the Bible, etc. However, the study
of the books of other faiths for general self-education is admissible.
e. The Khalsa should maintain its
distinctiveness among the professors of different religions of the
world, but should not hurt the sentiments of any person professing
another religion.
f. A Sikh should pray to God before launching off
any task.
g. Learning Gurmukhi (Punjabi in Gurmukhi script))
is essential for a Sikh. He should pursue other studies also.
h. It is a Sikh's duty to get his children educated
in Sikhism.
i. A Sikh should, in no way, harbour any antipathy
to the hair of the head with which his child is born. He should not
temper with the hair with which the child is horn. He should add the
suffix "Singh" to the name of his son &
"Kaur" to the name of his daughter. A Sikh
should keep the hair of his sons and daughters intact.
j. A Sikh must not take hemp (cannabis), opium,
liquor, tobacco, in short, any intoxicant. His only routine intake
should be food.
k. Piercing of nose or ears for wearing ornaments in
forbidden for Sikh men and women.
l. A Sikh should not kill his daughter; nor should
he maintain any relationship with "daughter-killer."
m. The true Sikh of the Guru shall make an honest
living by lawful work.
n. A Sikh shall regard a poor person's mouth as the
Guru's cash offerings box.
o. A Sikh shall not steal, form dubious associations
or engage in gambling.
p. He who regards another man's daughter as his own
daughter, regards another man's wife as his mother, has coition with
his own wife alone, he alone is a truly disciplined Sikh of the Guru.
A Sikh woman shall likewise keep within the confines of conjugal
rectitude.
q. A Sikh shall observe the Sikh rules of conduct
and conventions from his birth right upto the end of his life.
r. A Sikh, when he meets another Sikh, should greet
him with "Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh"
(Rendered into English:The Khalsa is Waheguru's; victory tools His !).
This is ordained for Sikh men and women both.
s. It is not proper for a Sikh woman to wear veil or
keep her face hidden by veil or cover.
t. For a Sikh, there is no restriction or
requirement as to dress except that he must wear Kachhehra (A drawer
type fastened by a fitted string round the waist, very often worn as
an underwear.) and turban. A Sikh woman may or may not tie turban.