The big idea: Shortly before he died, Guru Gobind Singh gave Sikhs two instructions that between them structure the whole tradition:
consult the Guru Granth Sahib for all spiritual matters, and consult the Khalsa for temporal ones.
Spiritual and temporal, split by the tenth Guru — and the temporal half has two readings.
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The SGPC detail is examinable: The guide names it, places it in Amritsar, says it controls all gurdwaras in Punjab and surrounding states under Indian secular law, and adds that from there they published the Rahit Maryada.
Four facts in one sentence, all citable, and all of them more precise than "Sikhs have a governing body".
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What Sikhism does not have: The guide states it directly: Sikhism has no priesthood or jurists, and the line of human gurus has bequeathed authority to the Guru Granth Sahib.
Compare that with Islam's ulama and schools of law, or with a Christian episcopate, and the difference is structural.
What a granthi is
- One who reads the Guru Granth Sahib
- A role, not an order — and open to anyone, the Rahit Maryada says
- Often employed by a gurdwara, which is an arrangement rather than an ordination
- No sacramental function: nothing depends on who performs it
What a priest would be
- A distinct class, entered by ordination
- Empowered to do what others may not
- Sikhism has none — and this is a teaching, not an accident
- Which is why the granthi is not a Sikh priest by another name
The guide also names sants — holy men and women — among the sources of authority.
Sants are recognised for their spiritual standing rather than appointed to an office, and some lead substantial followings. They are influential and they are not officials, which is the pattern the whole tradition follows.
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Sikhism has nothing like the branch structure of Buddhism or the denominational structure of Christianity. What it has is one panth — the worldwide community — with real internal variation inside it.
One panth with real variation inside it. These are not branches in the Buddhist sense.
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Do not import the wrong model: Writing about "Sikh denominations" or "Sikh sects" imports a shape from Christianity that does not fit.
The accurate sentence is that Sikhs form one panth with variation inside it — amrit-initiated and not, sant traditions, a convert movement — all holding the same Guru Granth Sahib as Guru.
How this is tested. Theme 3 asks about the relationship between doctrine and organizational structure, and about the authority of priests, monks, gurus and jurists. Sikhism has none of the four.
“The Guru Granth Sahib is the only source of authority for Sikhs.” Discuss.
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