Editing Altruism (section)

===Sikhism===
Altruism is essential to the [[Sikhism|Sikh]] religion. The central faith in Sikhism is that the greatest deed anyone can do is to imbibe and live the godly qualities such as love, affection, sacrifice, patience, harmony, and truthfulness. {{transliteration|sa|[[Sevā]]}}, or [[selfless service]] to the community for its own sake, is an important concept in Sikhism.<ref name="DictofSikhism">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/APopularDictionaryOfSikhism |title=A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism |publisher=Curzon Press|author1=Cole, W. Owen |author2=Sambhi, Piara Singh |pages=[https://archive.org/details/APopularDictionaryOfSikhism/page/n46 38]–39, 84 |date=1990|access-date=2 December 2018}}</ref>

The fifth [[Guru]], [[Guru Arjan|Guru Arjun]], sacrificed his life to uphold "22 carats of pure truth, the greatest gift to humanity", according to the [[Guru Granth Sahib]]. The ninth Guru, [[Tegh Bahadur]], sacrificed his life to protect weak and defenseless people against atrocity.

In the late seventeenth century, [[Guru Gobind Singh]] (the tenth Guru in Sikhism), was at war with the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] rulers to protect the people of different faiths when a fellow Sikh, [[Bhai Kanhaiya]], attended the troops of the enemy.<ref name="GobindSingh">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofthesikh025030mbp/page/n7 |title=A History of the Sikhs |publisher=Oxford University Press|first= Joseph Davey|last= Cunningham |date=1918 |page=ix |access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref> He gave water to both friends and foes who were wounded on the battlefield. Some of the enemy began to fight again and some Sikh warriors were annoyed by Bhai Kanhaiya as he was helping their enemy. Sikh soldiers brought Bhai Kanhaiya before Guru Gobind Singh, and complained of his action that they considered counterproductive to their struggle on the battlefield. "What were you doing, and why?" asked the Guru. "I was giving water to the wounded because I saw your face in all of them", replied Bhai Kanhaiya. The Guru responded, "Then you should also give them ointment to heal their wounds. You were practicing what you were coached in the house of the Guru."

Under the tutelage of the Guru, Bhai Kanhaiya subsequently founded a volunteer corps for altruism, which is still engaged today in doing good to others and in training new recruits for this service.<ref>{{cite book| first = O. P.|last= Ralhan| title = The great gurus of the Sikhs| year = 1997| publisher = Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd.| location = New Delhi| isbn = 978-81-7488-479-4| page = 253 }}</ref>