**5. Conclusions**

Both the Guru Granth and the *Sikh Rahit Maryada* as extant historical sources allow for contemporary assertions that help us evolve our understanding of and responses to the text and practice. Because the

*Rahit* prescribes conduct based on the teachings of the Guru Granth, Bhai Gurdas di Vaars, and the Banda Bahadur's *hukam-namas*, it directs its instructions to Khalsa Sikhs—those initiated into the *Khalsa Panth* (Fenech 2014). However, because the Guru Granth is accessible to every individual Sikh, they are roused to accept the Guru Granth after the invocation of the *Ardaas* by singing the *Dohra* written by Guru Gobind Singh as the metaphysical embodiment of all the Gurus (*guur Khalsa maneeyeh, pargat guru ki deh*), and those who wish to meet the Divine, must search for it in the Word (*Jo sikh moh milbe chahey, khoj eneh men le*):

*Dohra*

*Guru Khalsa maneeyeh, pargat guru ki deh*

The Guru pure one is to be believed, as the visible body of the Gurus

*Jo sikh moh milbe chahey, khoj eneh men le*

Any Sikh that seeks to meet the divine, must delve into the shabad.

This *dohra* is recorded in the Bhai Prahlad Singh Rahitnama and is attributed to Guru Gobind Singh (https://archive.org/details/RehatnamaBhaiPrahladSingh/page/n1). It is in the Word (*Gurshabad*) that meanings are interpreted and assigned by the individual or by the collective or by those who undertake to translate the texts. Critically important then in this hermeneutic process is the need and opportunity to create and engage in more gender expansive and inclusive discursive spaces, interpretations, and application. Different hermeneutics can help to provide heightened and more nuanced understandings of the role of women and men in organized religion, in the fulsome practice of Sikhi, in the exegesis of sacred texts, etc. Understanding the literary form of the text is an important task for all Sikhs, because the Guru Granth plays such a central role in the lives of all Sikhs. For Sikhi, most commonly, Guru Nanak's *locus classicus*—"*Bhand Jamiye, Bhand Nimiye*" (as part of a larger text in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib at page. 473)— translates into: "from women we are born, from a woman a man is conceived" and provides the basis for a gendered egalitarian understanding, and it is most often used to declare our theoretical acceptance of this principle. We all agree that it is the starting point when we search for the idea of gender equality within the faith; however, it is not the end of the discussion—it is just the start of a hermeneutic opening in our contemporary world.

At the very end, should Nanak's clear text hold for all of us a finite interpretation that requires no further exegesis on the question of equality? Moreover, can we forgive the interpreter's bias on all other parts of the text, knowing full well that it is close to impossible to set aside any bias in the pursuit of creating meaning of a sacred text? Furthermore, how culpable is the reader who "choses between equally valid possibilities based on personal reference. It is the reader who develops criteria for what is universal and what is culturally specific, what is translatable and what is transcultural" (Johnston 1986, p. 35).

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** I declare no conflict of interest as author of this article.
