"The Gurus were so trusted and held in such high estimation that religious people frequently thought it their duty to vow to them their lives, their children, and their property. Several Sikhs used, on the birth of daughters, to register oaths that they would only bestow them on the Guru or his relations. Girls so dedicated were always styled 'mothers' by the Sikhs, and none might marry them except those to whom they were vowed. This, to a large extent, will explain the polygamy of some of the Gurus."

Warfare.—The teaching as to warfare appears only in the Granth of the Tenth Guru—that is in the hymns of Gobind Singh. But we have seen that martial tendencies were not altogether foreign to the Sikhs before that time. Nānak's simple view of life, his teaching as to health of body, and the special purity of his sect, had all paved the way for what was afterwards a political development. There was no sudden change in doctrine as the Sikhs began to take up arms. Gobind Singh quite naturally grafted his praise

of the sword and his promises of rewards for valour on to the quietistic doctrines of Nānak. Singhs were forbidden to smite anyone mercilessly, and never to attack without due cause. The defence of religion should always be the motive. The new names for God—All-steel, All-death, Great-steel, Great-death, and so on—were used in conjunction with the sacred word Wāhguru. The theology remained the same, with the following picturesque variation in the account of creation.

"God having just fashioned the Sword uttered a Word, from whence issued Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv."

The position of the Guru, also, assumed somewhat greater significance under the influence of Gobind Singh.

Summary of the Sikh Religion.—In Mr. Macauliffe's standard work on the Sikh religion, he gives the following comprehensive summary of its doctrine:

"It prohibits idolatry, hypocrisy, caste exclusiveness, the con-cremation of widows, the immurement of women, the use of wine and other intoxicants, tobacco-smoking, infanticide, slander, pilgrimages to the sacred rivers and tanks of the Hindus, and it inculcates loyalty, gratitude for all favours received, philanthropy, justice, impartiality, truth, honesty, and all the moral and domestic virtues known to the holiest citizens of any country."

Bhāi Gur Dās—a contemporary of Guru Arjan—made an analysis of the Sikh religion, which is interesting as showing how it impressed the people of the day. He points out the state of spiritual darkness at the time of Nānak, and continues: