Five Thieves

Some Sikhs regard the number five as special because of its presence in earlier Indian mythology and philosophy. Examples include the five rivers of the Punjab; the five faces of Shiva; the five aggregates of human personality (panca-skandha) and five moral precepts (pancasila) analyzed by the Buddha; the five vows of Jainism (pancavrates); the five fires (pancagni) and five koshas (sheaths or wrappers) investing the self (pancakosah) spoken of by the Upanisads; the five abstentions (yamas) and five observations (niyamas) of Yoga; the five senses; the five gross and subtle elements (panca mahabhuta or panca tattva); the Panj Pyare (the five loved ones); and even the Five Ks in Sikhism.

Despite the commonness of the number five, Sikh theology attaches no significance to the number itself. On the contrary, the Sikh teachings forbid the belief in superstition, and advise that the one who seeks the path to God must believe only in the naam (that is, God). Thus, a belief that the number five is significant, according to the Sikh theology, would be to become ensnared by the five evils themselves (specifically attachment – an inability to seek the truth because of one's belief in illusory constructs).

The early Vedic literature bears no direct reference to the concept of 'five thieves'; the terms moha, kama, krodha and aham do occur in the Vedic texts, but they are not explicitly enumerated as a series of "thieves". However, each of these is separately condemned in various sections of The Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. We observe that ascetic sages of both the Vedic and non-Vedic tradition propounded the philosophy of renunciation and the methods of sense-control. In the Bhagvad Gita, the control of one's senses, as well as being imperturbable in the face of kama, moha, krodha and aham, are among the marked traits of the Shresta Vyakti (the Perfect Man) and Yogi (Knower). Many of the Upanisads display an awareness of the evils like raga or passion, avidya or nescience, moha or delusion, and ahankara or egoity. These thieves are also mentioned and condemned in some of the post-Buddhistic Upanisads such as the Prasna, Svetasvatara, Aitareya, Isa and Mundaka. The last-named text refers to 'the sages whose defilements have been destroyed' (ksinadosah), although it does not enumerate the 'defilements'.

Long before these later Upanisads, also, leaders of sramanic philosophers had expounded soteriological techniques in which eradication of all evils and imperfections was considered sine qua non for ultimate release. It is in the teachings of Kapilamuni, Parsvanatha, Sakyamuni and Mahavira that one finds a detailed discussion of the nature and function of kama, krodha, lobha, moha and ahankara and many other kindred vices.

The old Pali texts contain three lists of evils and factors which obstruct meditation and moral perfection. The list of five 'hindrances' (nivaranas) consists of sensuous desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and sceptical doubt. These hindrances blind man's mental vision and make concentration difficult. The list of ten 'fetters' (sanyojanas), which bind beings to sansara, comprises the following: belief in a permanent individuality, sceptical doubt, belief in the efficacy of mere moral observances and rituals, sensual passion, ill will, desire for existence in the material world, desire for existence in the immaterial world, conceit, restlessness and nescience.

There is no philosophical or theological explication of the five thieves, collectively or individually, in Sikh Scripture, but man is repeatedly warned against them. They have been called diseases or maladies which afflict human beings with disastrous effects. In at least five instances there is a list in the Sikh Guru Granth Sahib which consists of the following: kam, krodh, lobh, moh and abhiman or ahankar. At one place instead of moh and abhiman we have "mad" and "ninda". Here the word "mad" may be interpreted in the sense of 'intoxication born of egoity'. The word ninda means slander. In two of the seven instances cited here the members of the evil pentad are called 'five thieves' (panj-chor). In a hymn by Kabir the list has trishna (craving), kam, krodh, mad and matsar as the five evils. The word trishna (Skt. trsna) means craving or desire, while the word matsar means jealousy. Often the five evils are referred to as 'the five' (panj) or 'all the five' (sare panj). At places the five organs of sense (jnanendriyas) are also often referred to as "the five".

One, two, three or four of the five cardinal thieves are repeatedly mentioned almost throughout the body of the Sikh canon. The triad kam, krodh and lobh finds as frequent a mention as the triad kam, krodh and ahankar or moh, lobh and ahankar. Among the five evils the one that is condemned more than the others is ahankar. When only two of the five are mentioned, the pair consists either of kam and krodh, or of moh and "guman", or of lobh and moh; when a group of four out of the five evils is cited, it usually consists of the first four, kam, krodh, lobh and moh. Since the Sikh canon is a composite text containing the religious poetry not only of the Gurus but also of several saints and Sufis from various regions, synonyms, occasionally from different languages, occur. Thus lobh is also called lalach; man is called garab (Sanskrit garva) and guman; moh is also called bharam (Skt. bhrama). A word of most frequent occurrence is haumai. It is perhaps derived from aham, 'I' or egoity, the essential element of ego; hankar, ahankar are its semantic cognates. The word man is employed in a double sense; sometimes it is clearly used in the sense of 'honour' or 'respect'. In most cases, however, it is synonymous with "abhiman".

Although it is permissible to identify haumai with ahankar, the fact that haumai is not included in the evil pentad and yet comes in for the strongest censure in the Scripture would lead to the conclusion that it is regarded as a major evil in addition to those forming the pentad. It may be added that haumai or egoity, self-centredness, the personality system, the belief in one's individual existence, is the basis of all the other evils. From this standpoint, ahankar may be reckoned as an offshoot of haumai. The assertion or affirmation of 'I' runs counter to the affirmation of 'Thou'; the consciousness of 'self existence' or 'one's own existence' (sva-bhava or atma-bhava) is diametrically opposed to the consciousness of God's existence. In a system in which the sole reality of God (ik onkar) is the first principle, there can be no room for the reality of an individual existence or one's own existence apart from, or along with, the existence of God. To say that God alone is the reality means that there is no other reality that belongs to someone else, and that there is no someone else who can claim an independent reality of their own. The truth is that there is no truth in haumai.

Nevertheless, this unreal reality, this false truth apparently exists. It is unreal and false from the standpoint of God who is the only absolute Reality; it is real and true from the standpoint of the fettered creatures coursing in sansar (the world). These creatures have assumed a reality of their own; every fettered being is seemingly convinced of its own existence; this conviction flourishes in its ignorance of God's reality. There can be no such thing as co-existence of God and not-God; Reality and falsity cannot co-exist as cannot light and darkness. Therefore, where there is awareness of God's reality there is absence of one's own reality, and vice versa; where there is awareness of one's own existence or haumai, there is absence of the awareness of God's existence. The Scripture says: "Haumai jai ta kant samai – "God is realized only when one eradicates egoity" (GG, 750); literally, "(one) merges into (one's) Lord only when (her/his) egoity has disappeared".

The five evils, lust, wrath, greed, attachment and egoity, flourish on the soil of the belief in one's individualized existence. By destroying the doctrine of one's own existence or the belief in one's individual reality, the sages (sant, sadh) cancel in one stroke, as it were, the entire catalogue of evils. Desire, anger, avarice, infatuation, egoism, passion, jealousy, hypocrisy, pride, deception, falsehood, violence, doubt, and nescience and other forms of depravity listed in the Guru Granth Sahib do not affect they who have overcome themselves and found their essence in God's reality. Liberation (mukti) means the extinction of all the evils headed by haumai.

The Sikh canon also points to the way of extinguishing evils of all kinds. It is acknowledged that the five evils afflict all beings in sansar and that it is difficult to control them. Yet the possibility of conquering them is not ruled out in the theological framework of Sikhism; the moral training of a Sikh is in fact directed towards controlling the senses and eradicating the evils. The seeker of liberation has first to liberate themself of the yoke of the pentad. No headway can be made towards God-realization without discarding the cardinal evils. Kabir says, "He alone cherishes the Lord's feet who is rid of desire, wrath, greed and attachment" – "kamu krodhu lobhu mohu bibarjit haripadu chinai soi" (GG, 1123).

Loving devotion (bhagti, bhakti) to God is, according to Sikhism, the way to ultimate release. One can love God only when one has annihilated self-love; this means that the devotee must be humble and surrender themself fully unto God. The Gurus stress the necessity of taking refuge in God. To this end, one must first renounce pride (man). Constant awareness of God (simran) is the panacea for all ills. Devotion to God eradicates the evils in an instant and purifies the body (GG, 245). The destruction of evils may be viewed both as a cause and consequence of the practice of nam simran. Awareness of God's presence comes only when lust, wrath, avarice, attachment and egoity have departed from the devotee; when the devotee lives in constant awareness of God, the evils touch them not. Such a person is unaffected by pleasure and pain, for they have freed themself from evils such as lobh, moh and abhiman. Guru Tegh Bahadur describes such a sage as one liberated while still alive and calls them an image of God on earth (GG, I426-27).

Another way of overcoming haomai and other evils is to keep the company of the saints (sant) or Sadh Sangat (holy congregation) who both radiate virtuous qualities. One kills lust, wrath, greed and other depravities of the evil age (kali-kales) by taking refuge in the sangat, the holy fellowship. It is by discarding the most powerful of evils, egoity, that one can get admission to this sacred society. Egoity ceases as one takes to the company of the holy (GG, 271). A third method of overcoming the evils is to submit oneself to the instruction of the spiritual preceptor (guru). Those who would overcome the five evils must follow their teaching. The wisdom obtained from the preceptor is like a swift sword (kharagu karara) which cuts through confusion, infatuation, avarice and egoity (GG, 1087). One celebrates God's virtues through the favour of the sage (sant prasadi) and destroys lust, anger and insanity born of egoism (unmad). In Guru Nanak's Sidh Gosti it is stated that without the preceptor one's efforts bear no fruit. The importance of living up to the instruction of the holy preceptor can be judged from the concept of the 'Guru-oriented person' (gurmukh) so central to the Sikh moral system. A gurmukh is one who has turned their face towards the Guru, that is to say, a person who by practising what the Guru teaches has freed themself from the depravities and lives in the Divine presence. They achieve this position by conquering the evils under the guidance of the Guru and ever remains in tune with the Supreme Reality.

The existence of Five thieves could possibly be linked out of interdependence on each other. Philosophical implication of the matrix portrays the observational decrease in one thief upon willfully controlling the other, or vice versa

• Ahankar
• Kam
• Krodh
• Lobh
• Moh
• Seven Deadly Sins
• Five hindrances (in Buddhism)

• Jodh Singh, Bhai, Gurmati Nirnaya. Lahore, 1932
• Sher Singh, The Philosophy of Sikhism. Lahore, 1944
• Nirbhai Singh, Philosophy of Sikhism. Delhi, 1990
• Nripinder Singh, The Sikh Moral Tradition. Delhi, 1990
• Teja Singh Essays in Sikhism. Lahore, 1941
• Wazir Singh, Philosophy of Sikh Religion. Delhi, 1981
• Avtar Singh, Ethics of the Sikhs. Patiala, 1970

Above adapted from article By L. M. Joshi

• Concepts In Sikhism – Edited by Dr. Surinder Singh Sodhi