{"id":1571,"date":"2011-09-09T14:43:37","date_gmt":"2011-09-09T14:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/projectconversion\/?p=1571"},"modified":"2011-09-12T14:12:07","modified_gmt":"2011-09-12T14:12:07","slug":"sikh-women-beauty-valor-and-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/projectconversion\/2011\/09\/sikh-women-beauty-valor-and-revolution.html","title":{"rendered":"Sikh Women: Beauty, Valor, and Revolution."},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1499, hundreds of years before the full equality of women was established anywhere else, Guru Nanak said:<\/p>\n

“From woman, man is born;<\/strong><\/span>
\nwithin woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married.<\/strong><\/span>
\nWoman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come.<\/strong><\/span>
\nWhen his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound.<\/strong><\/span>
\nSo why call her bad? From her, kings are born.<\/strong><\/span>
\nFrom woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all.”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

To understand why such a concept as “women’s equality” was such a big deal, we need a little context.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guru Nanak lived in northern India among Hindu religious\/cultural values and Islamic rule by the Moguls.\u00a0Because the Hindu way is quite open with spirituality, various texts speak both\u00a0lowly and highly\u00a0of the woman’s position in society. Despite these differences,\u00a0for the Sikh Guru’s, a few common practices among Hindu’s really got\u00a0under their skin.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
    Sati: the act of a living wife burning herself alive on the funeral pyre of her husband. As with many cultural traditions, it stems from\u00a0a story regarding Hindu gods and goddesses.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Guru Nanak, as well as other Guru’s, abhorred this practice, as seen in this passage of the Guru Granth Sahib:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n

    “By burning oneself, the Beloved Lord is not obtained.<\/strong>
    \nOnly by the actions of destiny does she rise up and burn herself, as a ‘satee’. <\/strong>
    \nImitating what she sees, with her stubborn mind-set, she goes into the fire. <\/strong>
    \nShe does not obtain the Company of her Beloved Lord, and she wanders through countless incarnations<\/strong>.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Other common practices the Guru’s spoke out against and reforms made\u00a0at the time included:<\/span><\/p>\n