Guru Sahib's seva and keshi ishnaan

I was wondering if it's mandatory to do keshi ishnaan to do Guru Sahib's seva (sehajpath/parkash/sukhasan) if you have been to the toilet for #2? Is it okay if you just do pinda ishnaan before doing Guru Sahib's seva given you've already done keshi ishnaan in the morning?

Is it also absolutely mandatory to do nitnem with Guru Sahib if you have parkash at home? Does one person in the family HAVE to do it?

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I was wondering if it's mandatory to do keshi ishnaan to do Guru Sahib's seva (sehajpath/parkash/sukhasan) if you have been to the toilet for #2? Is it okay if you just do pinda ishnaan before doing Guru Sahib's seva given you've already done keshi ishnaan in the morning?

There is no such thing as Pinda Ishnaan that excludes the main part of the Pinda - head. As per the meagre understanding of this Daas, one must do full Keshi Ishnaan if you have slept or gone toilet #2, before doing Guru Sahib's Sewa.

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Is it also absolutely mandatory to do nitnem with Guru Sahib if you have parkash at home? Does one person in the family HAVE to do it?

There is no such condition of doing Nitnem before doing Guru Sahib's Sewa. One can do Nitnem before or after Sewa.

Kulbir Singh

Thanks for the response Bhai Sahib. Do you find yourself doing keshi ishnaan sometimes twice in a day? I can imagine that sometimes even 2-3 times every day.

I don't think this is good for your hair as you will lose the naturally occurring oils which will cause damage to it.

I thought that maybe since one is to do keshi ishnaan once in the morning, even if you got toilet #2 (or sleep), just taking "half" ishnaan without re-washing kesh would be okay. If I do it twice, my kesh will be wet for the entire day.

Veerji,

I have always been taught by Singhs that we shouldn't worry about our physical well-being when we are going to do seva, because we are trying to please our beloved by keeping full sucham and staying within Maryada while doing seva of Maharaaj.... we should sacrifice everything for Guru Sahib's satkaar. Guru Sahib will take care of the rest.

Just keep drirhta that Guru Sahib will help you, and you will find a way to keep satkaar, while still having your kesh hare.

Gursikhs who do Sewa of Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee at home, normally find themselves doing Gurmat Ishnaan (including Kesh) twice a day. Sometimes at the time of Siri Akhand Paath Sahib, Paathi Gursikhs do Ishnaan more than 2 times.

I don't think your hair lose oils just by pouring water. If shampoo is used, then I understand that moisture may be lost but not if you just pour water and besides, most Gursikhs used Saron da Tel or other moisturizing oils to keep their hair moisturized.

Kulbir Singh

One GurSikh from the Jatha stays near my house. They have parkash of Maharaj’s lareedaar saroop at their place. This saroop is 100-150 years old. He asked me to find out why we have 5 rumala sahibs when we do Sukhasan?

Many Shardhavaan Gursikhs use 5 Sukhaasani Rumaalay to do Sukhasan of Guru Sahib. Having said that, the standard is to use 2 Rumaalay, but there is no limit on using more Rumaalay.

Kulbir Singh

I think at Sri Harmandar Sahib 5 Rumalla Sahibs are used?

Regarding Veer Jee's second question: "Is it also absolutely mandatory to do nitnem with Guru Sahib if you have parkash at home? Does one person in the family HAVE to do it?" I think he is asking whether 7 Bani nitnem must be done in Hazoori of Maharaaj Jee, not if before or after prakash? I have seen some Singhs who always do this (will do 7 Banis Nitnem in Maharaaj Jee's darbar), but would like to hear more thoughts.

Umkeo Heo Jee please try and get some Khaddar material at least enough for some Keskis, this is essential for any Gursikh with wet Kesh issues. Please have a read of posts in this thread [gurmatbibek.com] regarding Khaddar material.

Umkeo Heo ji,

I had the chance to speak to an elder rehitvaan bibi ji and this bibi ji put it very simply, I feel it will answer your question.

Bibi ji explained that any ishnaan without washing kesh at any point of the day is not "gurmat ishnaan" and can not be classified as one. Bibi ji explained that whenever doing ishnaan, the ishnaan of kesh is vital. Bibi ji used the example that when doing ishnaan, we cannot choose to leave out any part of our body. When doing ishnaan, we start from the top and work our way to the bottom, starting from kesh then face and all the way down to our toes. We cannot choose to leave out an arm, a foot or a finger. The same way, this Bibi ji said we cannot choose to leave out our kesh because they are part of the body just like any other body part. This makes perfect sense and answers the very point why keshi ishnaan is a must everytime (when required) before doing seva of Guru sahib or in Guru ka langar.

I hope this helps.

Thank you very much to all the Gursikhs who cared to respond to my query. Hopefully I can arrange for some khaddar kapra for dastar.

Another question - at home we don't mix bhog langar with rest of the food. This is primarily because we don't want to go against Sri Akal Takht Sahib's langar hukamnaama. I personally think it would be a blessing if all family members got to eat Guru Sahib's langar in every meal but not everyone is willing to sit on the floor to have parshada. I personally follow the langar hukamnama at home as well - but out of curiosity, does it apply for langar at home as well?

Vaheguroo Ji Ka Khalsa Vaheguroo Ji Ki Fateh

With regard to having to do full Gurmat ishnaan in order to carry out Maharaaj's seva, does Chaur Sahib count also?