The Concept of Matrimony in Sikhism
The state of matrimony in Sikhism extends beyond a mere social alliance sealed by a civil marriage contract. Marriage is considered to be a spiritual union between the couple and the divine. Anand Karaj, the Sikh wedding ceremony, fuses the light of the separate souls of the bride and the groom into one illuminated essence. Amar Das, the third guru, expressed such a transformation in a hymn that he composed about the meaning of husband and wife. The phonetic English spellings of the original Gurmukhi words are given here.
Dhan pir eh na aakhee-an behan ek-thae hoe||
Wife and husband are not called so simply because they come and sit together as one.
Ek jot du-e moortee dhan pir kehee-ai soe||3||
When a single light illumines their two bodies, then only can wife and husband be called one.||3|| SGGS||788
