Heera Singh

Student Id-20185072

Conception and Development of Sangat (Holy Fellowship) in

Sikhism
Introduction
In gurbani, the ‘utterances of the Gurus’, the ultimate power is in unity with
God, individual and society, therefore in Guru Granth Sahib there is no division
of the individual life span {four-ashrama}, and society {varna-system} as it exists
in Hinduism. The God, individual and society are in harmony according to Guru
Granth Sahib, to manifest it physically Guru Nanak established ‘Sangat (holy
fellowship)’, the sangat in Sikhism first established by Guru Nanak during his
journeys {udasis}. so sangat has its doctrinal aspect in Guru Granth Sahib and
intuitional aspect in Sikh history. More precisely in a practical sense company
or association, especially the congregation of a gurdwara or the local Sikh
community. Often the word ‘Sadh Sangat’ or ‘satsangat’ is used, notably in the
Guru Granth Sahib. ‘Holy congregation’ of ‘society of the saints’ are commonly-
found translations of it. Sikhism is a religion that attaches considerable
importance to the community; there is no such thing as an ascetic Sikh who has
decided to forsake the sangat in pursuit of personal salvation. The Gurus
frequently spoke of their dependence upon the Sangat1.
The conception of Sangat (Holy Fellowship) in Guru Granth Sahib
Sangat consists of an important aspect of spiritual life, in the spiritual progress
the four ways are usually considered important, these are knowledge, Yoga,
Karma {action} and Bhakti, form four these bhakti is connected to sangat, in the
bhakti marga {way}, sangat is important. Therefore, the notion of sangat was
existing in Indian spiritual traditions but in Sikhism, it is different fundamentally
from Bhakti tradition.
In the way of Bhakti, maya{illusion} consider an obstacle that makes the
spiritual progress difficult, therefore sangat plays an important role to save the
seeker from the defilements. Sangat means the company of true,
compassionate, and ideal individuals who are anyway are on the path of
spirituality. In Guru Granth Sahib there are many words for sangat like Sad Jan,

1
W.Owen Cole and Piara Singh, A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism, pp 74.
Hari Jan, Sat sangat etc. According to Guru Granth Sahib sangat is transforming
that radically transform the bad one to good one. According to Guru Nanak Sahib
In the uplifting society, one is uplifted.
He chases after virtue and washes off his sins.
{Guru Granth Sahib, Page 414}

Therefore, sangat is the group of the individuals who are free from their
delights through spiritual way, present in the front of Guru Granth Sahib.
According to janamsakhi Bhai Bala, Guru Nanak Said individual who don’t go for
sangat their life is useless, the life is given for to do virtues things, sangat and
recitation of Nam2. So sangat is essential for spiritual progress and to struggle
with worldly defilements, it makes individual pure and helps to overcome all
types of hate. Guru Arjun says
I have totally forgotten my jealousy of others since I found the Saadh sangat, the
Company of Holy.
No one is my enemy, and no one is a stranger.
I get along with everyone.
{Guru Granth Sahib, Page 1299}

Sangat is a common point in Guru Granth Sahib, it has multiple dimension of it,
for instance, according to Bhagat Kabir
Kabeer, associate with the Holy people, who will take you to Nirvaanaa in the end.
Do not associate with the faithless cynics: they would bring you to ruin.
{Guru Granth Sahib, Page 1369}

Historical Development of Sangat (Holy Fellowship)

So sangat in Guru Granth Sahib lacks with division in time, it based on
revelation, in the other words its collaboration of human and revelation on earth
in an organized way. Therefore, the notion of sangat is against every type of
discrimination in the terms of color-ethnicity, caste, gender, and economy, it
based on shared world brotherhood.
Janamsakhi tradition tells us how Guru Nanak established sangat during his
travelers, according to Tirloachan Singh, Guru Nanak established the first sangat

2
Bhai Veer Singh{ed.}, Puratan Janam Sakhi, pp 45.
at Tulamba when he met Bhai Sajjan during his first travel to Punjab. Guru Nanak
transformed Bhai Sajjan’s life, so Bhai Sajjan builds a dharamsala at his home.
The dharamsala, the institutional forerunner and conceptual complement to the
gurdwara, is inseparable from the sangat. At the time of Guru Nanak ,Sikhs
gathered together in dharamsala to sing kirtan and to listen to the Guru. The
dharamsala is where the sangat gathered, but more importantly, dharamsala is
the sangat itself. The true Guru (Vahiguru) is present in the dharamsala and thus
in the sangat. The true Guru is present whenever the sangat assembles.
Therefore, the true Guru is known in sangat3.
After this Guru Nanak established sangat at Pakpattan at the home of Diwan
Chawali. During his first travel Guru Nanak established sangat in the form of
dharamsala at many places like Kurkushter, Majnu Da Tilla {Banaras},
Gorakhmata {Banaras}, Nalanda and Rajgriha {Patna}, Malda {Patna}, Bohemian
{Bengal}, Kamrup{Bengal}, Kolkata {Benga}, Jagannath Puri {Odisha}. After that
Guru Nanak went to South direction, and he established sangat at Jaffna {Sri
Lanka}, Shivnab {East Sri Lanka}. Returning from South to Punjab Guru Nanak
established sangat at Kanyakumari {Tamilnadu}, Singari {Karnataka}, Udupi
{Karnataka}, Bidar Nanak Jheera {Karnataka}, Bikaner {Rajasthan}. In Second
travel of Guru Nanak, Bhai Dunni Chand established a dharamsala in Lahore4.
Bhai Gurdas’s var/ ode eleven mentioned names of Sikhs and sangat in various
places. At the end of the life Guru Nanak settled in Kartarpur and established
dharmsala, For Nanak, the dharamsala was the earth (dharti) created by hukam.
Kartarpur, the City of the Creator, was conceived as a place of justice where the
divine will (hukam) is carried out. For Nanak, the true Guru was saccha padshah,
the true sovereign, whose hukam supersedes all temporal authority. Thus, the
sangat assembled as dharamsala in Kartarpur symbolized the establishment of
divine sovereignty on earth5. According to Teja Singh Guru Nanak established
around 137 sangat is during his lifetime6. The janamsakhi literature describes
the earlier tradition of sangat.
Guru Nanak’s sangat also called as ‘Nanak Panthis’, during the Guru Nanak’s
time sangat was mostly devoted to kirtan (singing hymns) and path (reciting
hymns), and discourses (katha charcha). Sangat was non-discriminatory, all
people were welcome from any caste, region, profession. The main purpose of
3
Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech {ed.} The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies, pp 397.
4
Tirlochan Singh, Jivan Chiratar Guru Nanak Dev,pp 87-100.
5
Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech {ed.} The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies, pp 399.
6
Surjit Singh Gandhi, History of Sikh Gurus, pp 17.
the Sangat was to develop the idea of reciting the Nam, encouraging honest
earning, sharing.
During the time of Guru Angad, sangat developed in more organized form,
history notes the daily recitation of Guru Nanak ‘s Hymns in Khadur Sahib. The
idea of langar (community kitchen), (community kitchen), (community kitchen),
developed more in the organized sense to strengthen to sangat.
Guru Amardas established twenty-two manjis or ‘seats’ , the main purposes
were the manjis unites the Sikh sangat, A word with two meanings when used
in a Sikh context. The first, and present-day one, is the name given to the seat
on which the Guru Granth Sahib is placed, respectfully known as the manji sahib.
This is usually a stool or string-bed rather like a small charpoy; in fact, the word
‘manji’ is the Punjabi word for charpoy. It is also called a singhasan. The
significance of a manji lies in its use as the seat of a person in authority, other
people sitting on the ground. This leads to its second meaning. To meet the
needs of a geographically expanding Panth, Guru Amar Das divided it into
twenty-two groups or manjis each under a sangatia responsible to himself. Their
main duties were to preach, make decisions on minor matters concerning the
affairs of the community, convey instructions from the Guru, and collect the
daswandh (tithe)7. Lists of manjidars include the Pathan Allah Jan Khan a Muslim
and women. The twenty-two manjis were spread across India.
Guru Ramdas established masnad/seat tradition, according to Bhai Khan Singh
Nabha, masnad means who relates to masnad {gaddi/seat} their job was
including to collect money from Sikhs, preaching, and give the information to
Guru the contemporary situation of Sikhs. At this time, Sikhs also stare to
celebrate festivals, it indicates the aesthetics aspect of sangat.
Guru Arjun, established Harmandar Sahib/Darbar Sahib, Amritsar as the
central place to Sikh sangat, and also complete the composition of Adi Granth
as a central scripture of Sikh sangat. During this period the masand tradition
gains more organized sense, Bhai Gurdas mentioned the importance of masnad
tradition.
Guru Hargobind, introduce the concept of miri/ spiritual and piri/temporal,
miripiri (the obligation to act politically and justly as an aspect of religious
practice). Miri in the sense of established to the political aspect of Sikh sangat,
therefore, he established Akal Takhat. Guru Hargobind also established four

7
W.Owen Cole and Piara Singh, A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism, pp 53.
dhuan means ‘smoke’, in udasi tradition for the establishments of sangats. After
the names of four Sikhs who established sangat all across the India, below are t
names of four dhuan with place where they established sangat.
1. Baba Almast {Bengal: Dhakka, Bihar, Odisha, Gaya, Utter Pradesh:
Prayagraj, Kashi, Lakhnau Pepsu: Langowal, village Dirba, Nabha,
Baluchistan, and Kabul}
2. Baba Ballu Hasna {Pepsu, West Punjab, Amritsar, Sind, Bihar, Odisha}
3. Baba Govinda {East Punjab: Firozpur, Moga, Damdama Sahib}
4. Baba Phool {East Punjab: Hoshiarpur, Amritsar}8
Guru Hargobind also sent Bhai Bidhi Chand to Bengal and Bhai Gurdas to Kabul
for establishing sangat.
Guru Har Rai ,developed six Bakhshishis for the further development of
sangat, Bakhshish was the title given to Sikhs for the authority to establish
sangat. This system of bakhshishes, or the practices of sending respected and
learned Sikhs to places across the subcontinent to engage in discourse with
other learned spiritual masters as well as spread knowledge of the Sikh Gurus’
teachings9. Below are the names of the six Bakhshish with the names of the
region where they established sangat.
1. Bhagat Bhagwan Bakhshish {Pepsu, west Punjab, Sind, Utter Pradesh,
Bihar}
2. Suthre Sahi Bakhshish {East Punjab, Sind, West Punjab, Afganistan}
3. Sangat Sahib Bakhshish {East Punjab, West Punjab, Sind, Utter Pradesh,
Bihar}
4. Bhai Mehan Bakhshish {{East Punjab, West Punjab, Sind, Utter Pradesh,
Bihar, South India, Afganistan}
5. Bakhitmaliye Bakhshish {West Punjab, Sind and Utter Pradesh}
6. Jeetmaliye Bakhshish {South India}10
During the time of Guru Harkrishan, Bhai Gharia and Bhai Binda established
sangat in Kabul.
Guru Tegh Bahadur traveled from Kartarpur to South India, He went to
Kurkushter, Haridwar, Garh Mukteshwar, Mathura, Agra, Prayagraj, Banaras,

8
Joginder singh, Sikh Sampradavan Gyan- Shastari Paripekh, pp 141.
9
Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, Sikhism, pp 183.
10
Ibid. pp 142-145.
Gaya and settled in Patna, eventually, Patna became the center of Sikh sangat
this time. Guru Tegh Bahadur also strengthens masnad tradition.
During the time of Guru Gobind Singh, the masnad tradition corrupted so the
Guru stopped it, Guru Gobind Singh gave the title Khalsa to the sangat as he
held the ceremony of kahnde di paul.
So, in the above-given account, it is very clear sangat in Sikhism not bound to
any specific region, it lacks any specific central place of it as compare to Semitic
religions{Jerusalem and Ka’ba} and Hinduism {Banaras}. According to Bhai
Gurdas it has universal form when he states “ ghari ghari baba gaviai vajni tal
mridngu rababa” {accompaniment of mradrig {drum} and rabab {stringed
instrument} the praises {of Baba Nanak} are sung}11.
The Universality of Sangat (Holy Fellowship) and Punjabi Feudalism
The interpretation of sangat’s universality limited by mainly by two factors.
First, after the martyrdom of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, Punjabi feudal
mentality intermingled with Sikh faith and it took the main scene. According to
Satbir Singh trances of the feudal mentality of Punjabis intermingled with Sikh
religiously consequently it limits the universal view of Sikhism and Sikhs indulged
in superstitions, unknowable devotionality consequently it emerges trends of
ego-based wars, patriarchy, materiality, hatred. Therefore, in this period sangat
institution lacked doctrinal fundamental and models from the Sikh history, it
turned under linear time12.
Sangat confronted a great obstacle in the way of its universal implication in the
Singh Saba movement. The reform attitude of the Singh Sabha movement
worked as a limiting factor of Sangat on the other hand, this attitude was
necessary for the movement to reform needs. The culture of Sikhism from the
period to Ranjit Singh's time was facing threats from Punjabi feudalism and
tribalism, which was inspired by the medieval kingship. In this time Sikhism faced
many challenges form British imperialism. It not only disturbs traditional
interpretations od Sikhism but also challenged its epistemological and cultural
settings. So, in need to preserve the identity status of Sikhism, the reform
movement initiated and it adopted new methods to receive interpret scripture
and built new socio-political organizations. In this process, the whole
interpretation of Sikhism was harmonized under the influence of the colonial

11
Vaaran Bhai Gurdas, var 24,Pauri 4.
12
Satbir Singh, Sada Itihas, pp 295-298.
paradigm. Therefore, the traditional meaning begins to defined with reason and
science.
In the shadow of this tradition, Sikhism left its unique experience and became a
part of those who were protecting themselves from the crisis of maintaining
social existence. A comparative study of religion provides the parameter of
reason to these groups for evaluating history. By doing this although, they
preserved their social existence in contemporary time it became a big hurdle in
the future on the way of the universal experience of Sikhs. The organization of
sangat has also faced this problem.
 Bibliography

• Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, Sikhism, Springer, New York, 2017

• Bhai Veer Singh{ed.}, Puratan Janam Sakhi, Bhai Veer Singh Sahit Sadan, New Delhi, 2000
• Joginder Singh, Sikh Sampradavan Gyan- Shastari Paripekh, Sapatrishi Publications,
Chandigarh,2019
• Owen Cole and Piara Singh, A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism, Curzon Press, London,1990
• Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech {ed.} The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies, Oxford
University Press, United Kingdom, 2014
• Sahib Singh, Japuji Sateek, Singh Brothers, Amritsar, 1971
• Tirlochan Singh, Jivan Chiratar Guru Nanak Dev, Singh Brothers, Amritsar, 2001
• Surjit Singh Gandhi, History of Sikh Gurus, Gurdas Kapur & Sons, 1978
• Satbir Singh, Sada Itihas, New Book Company, Jalandhar,2000
• Vaaran Bhai Gurdas, Singh Brothers, Amritsar, 2005