Ham Hindu Nahin, by Bhai Kahn Singh, lit. "We, i.e. Sikhs, are not Hindus," is a clear-cut declaration of Sikh identity registered by a Sikh scholar and intellectual towards the close of the nineteenth century. The statement constitutes the basic dictum of the book which appeared under this challenging title

SIKLIGAR SIKHS constitute that section of lohars or ironsmiths who once specialized in the craft of making and polishing weapons. Sikligar is derived from Persian saqi, lit. polishing, furnishing, making bright (a sword), the term saqlgar meaning a polisher of swords. In medieval India, Sikligars were in great demand for

ISHVAR from Sanskrit Isvara isa = ruler, master, ord+vara = environing, enclosing, ie. the allpervasive Lord) is one of the several names used in Indian philosophy for God, the Ultimate Reality, also known as Brahman. There is however a subtle conceptual difference between Isvara and Brahman as interpreted by

SINGAPORE SIKH MISSIONARY TRACT SOCIETY, renamed Sikh Missionary Tract Society, Malaya, in 1941 and Sikh Missionary Society, Malaya, in 1946, when it was reactivated after having remained dormant during (lie war in the East, was registered on 9 March 1940, with its offices at 175, Queen Street, Singapore. The

KAM (Skt. kdmd), meaning desire, longing, concupiscence, sensuality or lasciviousness, is counted among the five cardinal sins or sinful propensities. In common usage, the term stands for passion for sexual pleasure and it is in this sense that it is considered an evil in Sikhism. In Brahrnanical literature kdm

TEJA SINGH, PROFESSOR (1894-1958), teacher, scholar and translator of the Sikh sacred texts, was born Tej Ram on 2 June 1894 at the village of Adiala in Rawalpindi district, now in Pakistan. His father`s name was Bhalakar Singh. At the age of three, Tej Ram was sent to the village

KARMA, THE DOCTRINE OF, closely connected with the theory of rebirth and transmigration, is basic to the religious traditions of Indian origin such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The term karam, as it is spelt in Punjabi and as it occurs in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, has

VAIRAG, usually bairagor sometimes virag`in Punjabi, is derived from Sanskrit vairagya meaning "change or loss of colour, growing pale ; disgust, aversion, distaste for or loathing of ; freedom from all worldly desire, indifference to worldly objects or to life ; asceticism," or analysed as vi (prefix denoting disunion, separation,

AHANKAR (hankar as it is commonly pronounced in Punjabi) is a compound of Sanskrit aham (I) and kar (\'maker\') and means I-maker, i.e. what individuates the person as I. It stands for egotism, egoism, self conceit, self centredness, vanity or simply pride. Other synonyms used in the sacred texts of

KHALSA DHARAM SHASTAR, the Sikh manual of conduct enunciating Sikhs` social and religious duties was prepared under the patronage of Sodhi Ram Narain Singh, a scion of the Sodhi family of Sri Anandpur Sahib and was published at Sri Gurmat Press, Amritsar, in the year Nanakshahl 445 (AD 1914).

WOMEN IN SIKHISM. Women who had many equal privileges with the menfolk in Vedic India were reduced to a position of utter subordination during the time of the lawgivers. In the codes and institutes laid down in the dharmasastras they were given the status of sudras. They were declared

AKAL MURATI, a composite term comprising akal (non temporal) and murati (image or form), occurring in the Mul Mantra, the root formula or fundamental creed of the Sikh faith as recorded at the beginning of the Japu, composition with which the Guru Granth Sahib opens, literally means `timeless image`. Elsewhere,