Tankhah - Penance

Tankhah means to pay wages in the sense of a fine or penalty.

In Sikhism tankhah refers to the penance for breaking an oath made at the time of the Amrit initiation ceremony.

Initiates vow to:

• Keep four cardinal commandments of the Khalsa code of conduct and refrain from:
  1. Cutting hair.
  2. Smoking.
  3. Eating sacrificial meat.
  4. Adultery.
• Wear the five articles of faith:
  1. Kachhera - Underwear.
  2. Kanga - Comb.
  3. Kara - Bangle.
  4. Kes - Uncut hair.
  5. Kirpan - Ceremonial short sword.
• Read or recite Nitnem, the required set of five daily prayers:
  1. Japji Sahib
  2. Jap Sahib
  3. Tev Prasaad Swaye
  4. Rehras
  5. Kirtan Sohila
Any initiated Sikh who purposely breaks any of the four major mandates of the code of conduct is guilty of misconduct, considered to be patit, or a transgressor, and faces boycott by the congregation of Khalsa initiates. Other such offenses include:
• Failure to comply with:
  • Wearing required articles of faith.
  • Reviewing the daily required prayers.
• Use of intoxicants:
  • Marijuana.
  • Spirits and liquor.
  • Cocaine or stimulants.
  • Opiates or other narcotics.
• Keeping company with anyone:
  • Who smokes.
  • Opposed to the Khalsa community.
  • Guilty of infanticide or gender selective abortion.
• Being involved with ceremonial proceedings which go against the Gurus' teachings.
• Eating or drinking after the un-initiated, or one guilty of misconduct.
• Selling or trading a son or daughter into marriage for profit.
• Coloring the beard.

In order to be reinstated the offender has to pesh and appear for confession and chastisement before the Panj Pyara, the five administrators of Amrit. The repentant Sikh is assigned tankhah, a penance considered to be a remedy for the condition of the soul diseased by egoism. Until the completion of the tankhah, the repentant offender is known as Tankhahya, one who is performing tankhah, and remains in a kind of limbo, until the obligation is met.