Money & Wealth in Sikhism

This is the issue around which the modern day life revolves. How to make money ?? How to accumulate wealth ?? And we're so much dipped in earning our livelihoods and paying our bills that we have no time to sit and think which way our life is going. Though religion has a primary role in giving a purpose and a direction to human life, it certainly has laid down some guidelines for its followers about making money and accumulating wealth. Usually, sikhs in general think of having money as a positive thing and simply call it "Babe di kirpa" as it is generally believed that more the money, more is the "kirpa" but once having understood the technicality of Sikhism, this notion gets mirror opposite. Money or wealth are usually referred to as "Maya" in both Sikhism and Hinduism, though "Maya" is a much wider term and in technical terms means something which creates illusion or an illusion itself. So, can we consider wealth as something which creates an illusion ??

Actually, this topic is very well studied and analysed by eminent sociologists like Karl Marx and Max Weber and there are various sociological facts that can be stated in detail to elaborate on this topic but I would prefer to keep things more generalized in order to make the issue interesting and widely discussed.

Though Guru Nanak did teach us about making a truthful living by saying "kirat karo" or "dasaa'n- nauaa'n di kirat karo" but Sikhism is a religion that believes in the "other-worldly asceticism" just like Hinduism and Islam. Though we can also say that Sikhism teaches one to live a truthful life and the way baptized sikhs live is really austere and constrained as they are taught to live a simple life, away from glamour and extravagance, focusing more on the needs of oneself and the family. Ideally, a sikh should be selfless in spending his money and should give priority to the needs of his family and should also give away one-tenth of his earnings (called "Daswandh") for religious cause. "Daswandh" is similar to the concept of "Tithing" in Christianity where the followers (Catholics or Protestants) are instructed to give one-tenth of their earnings for the Church or the Cathedral. Unlike the Eastern philosophies Protestantism believes in "this-worldly asceticism" where protestants are instructed to consider work as worship and live a life of austerity in order to create and accumulate wealth and create the "Kingdom of GOD" on this world through their righteous earnings.

Though Sikhism has the features of both "this-worldly" as well as the "other-worldly" asceticism, there are verses in Gurbani which consider the accumulation of wealth as a sin. On Page 417 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, it is stated that:

ਇਸੁ ਜਰ ਕਾਰਣਿ ਘਣੀ ਵਿਗੁਤੀ ਇਨਿ ਜਰ ਘਣੀ ਖੁਆਈ ॥

ਪਾਪਾ ਬਾਝਹੁ ਹੋਵੈ ਨਾਹੀ ਮੁਇਆ ਸਾਥਿ ਨ ਜਾਈ ॥

For the sake of this wealth, so many were ruined; because of this wealth, so many have been disgraced.

It was not gathered without sin, and it does not go along with the dead.

Hence, we can conclude that the accumulation of wealth somehow carries a negative notion as per the religion. Some eminent sociologists like Marx and Weber did conclude that  the religion of the Indian subcontinent i.e. Hinduism primarily is not fit for the framework of Capitalism hence, India needed some exposure to the protestant ethics of Christianity to open doors for Capitalist economy. And in Sikhism, we have also seen the growing tolerance for Capitalism as there are some highly successful capitalists who have huge fortunes amounting to even hundreds or thousands of crores living within and outside India. And surprisingly, these capitalists having huge fortunes have much more say in the working of religious or political institutions. In sikhism, Gurudwaras or the community centers are the places where religion and politics converge. This indicates that Sikhism is somehow losing its democratic or egalitarian spirit where a common sikh, not having huge fortunes is finding it hard to make his/her voice heard even in the day-to-day panthic affairs.

In order to reflect a real life picture, it is worth mentioning here about the sycophancy and favoritism of the managing committees of the religious shrines for the rich and powerful. Actually, they're more concerned with the monetary offerings at the temples or gurdwaras regardless of the religion being critical of wealth as it can cover-up all the worldly-sins committed in order to accumulate it. In the end, I would say that the need of the hour is to strike the right chord and find a balance in the governance of the holy shrines where everyone has the right to contribute and have a say, regardless the size of his/ her fortune.