The Astounding Respect For Kes (Hair)

On the 16th of July, 1991, Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji had bypass surgery done in the city of Adelaide, in Australia, regarding which some facts have been given in many news papers. At 71 years, Satguruji agreed to have the operation performed only if all HIS conditions were met. The major conditions were that when the operation was to be performed, the chest hair surrounding the area would not be shaved and during the operation, the Dastar (Turban) must by all means remain, covering His Holiness’s Kes. Other religious conditions were very serious, such as no blood transfusion would be allowed and the Kachera (Traditional Underpants) shall not be taken off. During the operation, no alcoholic anesthesia could be used and neither could disinfectant with such contents be applied on the wound. Setting such stringent conditions, the top surgeons throughout the world were approached. All the top surgeons including those in India gave the answer that they could not operate under such strict rules. During that time a reply came from Dr. Ras of the Royal Edward hospital in Australia who had agreed to perform the operation while following the rules to the fullest. The operation was successfully performed on the 16th of July. Many newspapers in Australia including “Telegraph”, “Mirror”, “The News”, approached Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji and requested to know the answer to the question that was HE not worried about the operation because the survival chance had been greatly reduced due to the strict rules that were set in place? To this His Holiness Enlightened them saying “Guru De Sikh Nu Aapni Jaan Nalo Asool Vadhayray Piaray Hunday Hann”[“For A Guru’s Sikh, The Rules Are Much More Important Than Life.”]. For such a Great Personality, to risk HIS Life in order to not disrespect the Kes, in this day and age, is truly an astonishing deed that will be forever inscribed in History.

-From the March, 1998 issue of ‘Preet Larhi’ published by Gurbaksh Singh ‘Preet Larhi’(Yahoo Namdhari Group)