1 A great offering to
2 the goddess.
3 Legend regarding
4 her appearance.
5 The sacrifice of a
6 disciple at the altar.
7 The deity blesses the
8 Guru and his sect,
9 The inauguration of
10 the Pdhal ceremony.
11 The disciples are
12 dezlared to be Khdlsd,
13 or pura,
14 262 HISTORY OF ‘THE PANEL,
15 the austere rite. A large bonfire was prepared and kept burning for months.
16 Hundreds of maunds of ghi, raw sugar and molasses were consumed on this
17 altar, which was not allowed to die down day or night, and when, in course of
18 time, the preparation was pronounced complete, Govind was invited to
19 undergo the horrible trial. Itis stated that the terrible goddess appeared to
20 the astonished gaze’ of her worshipper, and that the Guru was terror stricken
21 at the awful sight; he, however, presented his sword to'her as a token of homage.
22 The deity left a mark on the handle and disappeared. The Pandit said
23 it was a propitious omen, and declared that thenceforward the Guru's panth,
24 or tribe, would predominate, conquer the country, and become the masters of
25 the land. He added, however, that the rite had remained incomplete, owing
26 to the fear of the Guru at the appearance of the goddess, and that the
27 defect could be remedied only by his sacrificing one of his sons at the
28 Devi’s feet. Govind had four sons, Zujar Singh, Ajit Singh, Fatah Singh,
29 and Zorawar Singh. He sent for his mother Gujri, and asked her to spare
30 one of hig sons, that he might sacrifice him as an offering to the deity.
31 Gujri flatly refused. The Guru was now thoroughly bewildered and knew
32 not how to proceed with the burntoffering. Upon this the Pandit declared
33 that the head of one of his followers might be offered as a substitute. Five*
34 disciples sprang forward and offered to lay down their lives for the Guru’s
35 sake. One of them was immediately decapitated and his head thrown
36 into the burning fire. The ceremony was now complete in every respect, and
37 the Kanshi Pandit was laden with presents’ and dismissed. The deity,
38 according to the legend, appeared in armed-state and said: “Go; thy sect
39 will prosper in the world.”
40 It was, according to the Sikh accounts, on the occasion of the voluntary
41 offerings of the five chosen disciples, previously mentioned, for self-sacrifice,
42 that the initiation ceremony known as the Péhal, or Sikh making, was inaugu-
43 rated by Guru Govind Singh. It was no invention of the Guru, but was a
44 renovation of the old Sikh rite which’had long ceased to be observed. They
45 were taken into a room, and, having performed the ablutions, were seated one
46 after the other. He then announced to them that, as they had proved them-
47 selves to be the true disciples of their Guru, he would bestow on them the
48 Péhal of the true religion. He then poured .water into a vessel, and mixing
49 refined sugar with it, stirred it with the double-edged dagger or the sacrificial
50 sword, rendered sacred by the touch of the goddess Devi. As he was perform-
51 ing the ceremony, his wife by chance passed with some confectionary of five
52 different kinds in her hands. This was hailed as a propitious omen, as the
53 accidental visit of a woman was considered ‘to be asign that the Sikh nation
54 would live and multiply like the leaves of trees. The Guru then recited
55 some verses and made the surviving four disciples, and another faithful
56 disciple, drink some of the syrup. Part of it was poured on their heads and
57 the rest sprinkled on ‘their body. Then, patting them with his hand, he
58 cried in a loud voice : “ Repeat the Khdlsd of the Wah Guru ! Victory to the
59 holy Wah Guru.” The faithful disciples were then hailed as “Singhs,” or
60 lions, and declared to be the Khdlsd, or purified and unalloyed. He then had
61 himself inaugurated by the Péhal in the same way and exclaimed :—
62 “ Khalsé Guru se aur Guru Khalsé se hoe:
63 Lk dusre ké tébidar hoe” —
64 meaning, that “the Khdlsé arose from the Guru and the Guru from
65 * The names of these five have been carefully preserved, though tie name of thepaor vicuuk
66 whose head was offered to Naind Devi is not mentione They are Dh i 5
67 ne ad wa : t P r . arm Singh, Suki
68 Singh, Dia Singh, Himmat Singh, and Makhan Siugh. All eeparta anes on this poiaty ad
69 Sri Satguru] agit SHG Ni SENASRP Shee fis horribly Law sa esttice aOR ered com