Sewa

What sewa means

The Panjabi word sewa (ਸੇਵਾ) is usually translated as “selfless service”. In the Sikh tradition, it is service given freely to anyone who needs it, whatever their faith, background or status, with no reward in mind.

What makes sewa different from ordinary charity is the attitude behind it. Sewa is not a favour done for someone less fortunate. It is understood as a privilege for the person who serves: a way of setting aside one’s own ego and recognising the same divine light in everyone. Washing dishes, cleaning shoes, or sweeping a floor counts as fully as giving money, and often more so, because it asks for humility.

Three ways to serve

Sikhs often describe sewa in three forms:

• Tan (body): giving your time and physical effort, such as cooking, cleaning, carrying, building or helping at an event.
• Man (mind): giving your skills, knowledge and attention, such as teaching, advising, listening, organising.
• Dhan (wealth): giving from what you have earned. Many Sikhs set aside a share of their income, traditionally a tenth, known as dasvandh, for the community and those in need.

Sewa sits alongside the other everyday principles of Sikh life: remembering God (naam japna), earning an honest living (kirat karni), and sharing what you have (vand chhakna).

Langar: sewa you can see

The best-known example of sewa is langar, the free community kitchen found in every gurdwara. Anyone who walks in is fed, without being asked who they are. Traditionally everyone sits together on the floor in rows, so that no one is placed above anyone else.

The tradition goes back to Guru Nanak Dev Ji. A well-known story tells how, as a young man, he was given money by his father to make a good business deal, and spent it instead on feeding a group of hungry holy men, calling it the only “true bargain”. Later Gurus built langar into the heart of every Sikh place of worship. The cooking, serving and washing up are done almost entirely by volunteers: that is sewa.

Bhai Ghanaiya and the water carrier

A story often told to explain sewa comes from the time of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. During a battle, a Sikh named Bhai Ghanaiya went across the field carrying water to the wounded, and gave it to injured soldiers on both sides. When other Sikhs complained that he was helping the enemy, the Guru asked him why. He answered that he saw no friend or enemy, only the same light of God in every face. The Guru praised him and gave him ointment so that he could dress wounds too.

The story is still used today to explain that sewa has no sides. Help goes to whoever needs it.

Sewa today

Sewa is not confined to the gurdwara. Sikh volunteers across the world run food banks and free kitchens, respond to floods and earthquakes, clean parks and rivers, donate blood, visit the sick and support new arrivals. During emergencies, gurdwaras have often become places where anyone can get a hot meal. The tradition is the same as it was five centuries ago: see a need, and meet it quietly.

Sewa at our club

Much of what the Panjabi Sports and Social Club does is sewa in practice. Our volunteers pick up litter and look after Meadowgate Park, hold an annual blood donation camp with Canadian Blood Services, collect clothes and shoes for families who need them, and help newcomers find their feet in London. Every hour they give is recorded in our volunteer clock, not for praise, but so that students and newcomers can earn certificates and references for the time they serve.

You do not need to be Sikh, or Panjabi, to join in. Sewa is open to everyone.

This page is a short introduction written by the Panjabi Sports and Social Club, London, Ontario, for our community and neighbours. It is a summary rather than a scholarly account; readers who want to learn more are welcome to visit a local gurdwara, where the sangat will be glad to explain.