KAR BHET
From Persian kar (lit. work, labour, occupation) and Hindi bhent (lit. meeting, offering), Kar Bhet denotes a voluntary offering made by a devotee to the Guru. It has been a common practice, especially in India, for individuals going to make obeisance to a saint, teacher, deity, or king to carry with them some bhent or offering. The bhent, as distinguished from legal or customary taxes or tithes, could be in the form of cash, jewelry, a quantity of grain, or some other farm produce. If one had nothing better to offer, one could present a flower, a petal, or a green leaf.
The term Kar Bhet, which gained currency in early Sikhism, signified offerings made by Sikhs to the Guru. A typical connotation was that Kar Bhet must come from earnings made by honest labor or work (kar). Guru Nanak had extolled kirat, synonymous with kar or ghal (hard physical labor or industry). Unlike bhent, which once offered became the property of the personage to whom it was given, Kar Bhet was meant to be spent on works of service, such as Guru ka Langar (the free community kitchen), the digging of wells and tanks, and the construction of dharamsalas or places of worship.
Sikhs brought offerings to the Guru directly or made these over to masands, leaders appointed by the Guru in different parts. The masands carried the collections to the Guru when they led sangats to his presence or otherwise visited him. The system remained in vogue until the time of Guru Gobind Singh, who, after receiving complaints of malpractice, discontinued it and instructed the sangats or local fellowships of devotees to organize collection of Kar Bhet and its remittance to the Guru through hundis (equivalent to modern bank drafts).
Today, offerings, mostly in cash, are laid in front of the Guru Granth Sahib by devotees as they go to the gurudwaras to pay homage and perform religious devotions. The word in common use now is dasvandh, or one-tenth of one’s income, which every Sikh is expected to contribute in the name of the Guru to the common funds of the community. It is relevant to compare Kar Bhet to Kar Seva, another uniquely Sikh practice of offering free voluntary labor for works such as the de-silting of sarovars (sacred tanks) and building or rebuilding gurudwaras.
References:
- Kahn Singh, Bhai, Gurmat Martand. Amritsar, 1962
- Padam, Piara Singh, Rahitname. Patiala, 1971
