Dharam Yudh, Social Justice and Martyrdom

Overview

Recall questions on dharam yudh and its conditions, social justice and halemi raj, shahidi and the martyrdoms of Guru Arjun and Guru Tegh Bahadur, eighteenth-century martyrs, Fenech on martyrdom, and Cole and Sambhi.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   To what extent is Sikhism a pacifist tradition?

   Model answer

   Not straightforwardly. Sikhs teach that the primary battle is against the failings within, and the reform campaigns of the 1920s were deliberately non-violent, but the tradition also holds that force may rightly be used to defend the oppressed once other means have failed, and Sikhs have a long military history.

2. 2

   What is dharam yudh?

   Model answer

   War fought in defence of righteousness. Sikhs use the term for armed resistance undertaken as a duty when justice, freedom of conscience or the defenceless are under attack, as distinct from war for territory, revenge or gain.

3. 3

   Outline the conditions Sikhs attach to dharam yudh.

   Model answer

   It must be a last resort after other means are exhausted; the cause must be just and the intention free of hatred and of any desire for conquest; the least force needed should be used; non-combatants, places of worship and those who surrender or flee must not be harmed; there must be no plunder and no forced conversion; and prisoners are to be treated humanely. Sikhs draw these largely from Guru Gobind Singh's letter to the Mughal emperor and from the conduct required of the Khalsa.

4. 4

   Which story is used to illustrate right conduct in war?

   Model answer

   Bhai Kanhaiya, who gave water to the wounded of both sides and, when reported to Guru Gobind Singh, is said to have answered that he saw no enemy on the field. The Guru approved and told him to take ointment as well, and Sikhs use the story to show that the enmity is with the injustice and not with persons.

5. 5

   How do Sikhs connect social justice to their beliefs about Waheguru?

   Model answer

   From the oneness of Waheguru they draw the equal standing of every person, so caste, the exclusion of women and the humiliation of the poor count as religious offences rather than social inconveniences. The daily ardas closes with a petition for the welfare of all humanity, not for Sikhs alone.

6. 6

   Explain what Sikhs mean by halemi raj.

   Model answer

   Guru Arjun described a just order in which nobody oppresses another and none is made to suffer, and halemi raj is the term Sikhs use for it. It is cited as evidence that the tradition holds a vision of a just society and not merely a rule of private conduct, and it is regularly invoked in Sikh arguments about social justice.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.