ARTICLES - ENGLISH/PUNJABI, HISTORY, International Media Reports, The Sikh Bulletin

Knowing Guru Nanak Sahib Ji

Knowing Guru Nanak Sahib Ji

Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston).  IMG_2743

Eminent Sikh scholar Bhai Gurdas Ji – a contemporary of Guru Arjun Dev ji, and in whose hand the first copy of Granth Sahib as narrated by the fifth Guru was written – describes the coming of Guru Nanak Paatshah in the following verses:

ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਨਾਨਕ ਪ੍ਰਗਟਿਆ ਮਿਟੀ ਧੁੰਧ ਜਗ ਚਾਨਣ ਹੋਆ॥

Satgur Nanak Pargetiya Mitee Dhund Jug Chanan Hoa

ਜਿਉਂ ਕਰ ਸੂਰਜ ਨਿਕਲਿਆ ਤਾਰੇ ਛਪੇ ਅੰਧੇਰ ਪਲੋਆ॥

Jio Kar Suraj Nikelya, Tarey Chupey Andher Paloa.

Bhai ji says the advent of Guru Nanak’s spritituality was like the rising of the morning sun whose rays cut through the mist of dawn and lighted the skies, within which brightness, the mighty stars disappeared together with the darkness within which these stars reigned.

In spiritual terms Bhai ji is saying that Guru Nanak’s spirituality is one of enlightenment. It is an enlightenment that is as bright as the rising sun. It is an enlightenment that cuts through the mist of the existing (even if much bigger and older) spiritualties of ritual and superstition. It is a spirituality that is meant for the entirety of mankind.

Some 400 years later, one of India’s most illuminated minds – Sir Ullama Mohamad Iqbal, PhD (Ludwig, Germany) – the son of a Kashmiri Brahmin who converted to Islam and the author of India’s national song Tarana-e-Hind – writes in his Urdu language book Bang-e-dra regarding the coming of the spirituality of enlightenment as follows:

Butkdaa Fir Baad Mudat Sey Roshan Hua

Nuur-e Ibrahim Se Aazar Kaa Ghar Roshan Hua

Once again, after an age, the Temple became radiant.

Once again, the house of God shone with the glory of God.

Shama-e Huq Se Jo Munavar Hai Ye Voh Mehfil Na Thee

Barshey Rehmat Hue Lekin Zamee Kabil Na Thee.

The enlightenment manifested itself

but the audience was not one which prized illumination – it was blind.

The rain of mercy poured from the heavens,

but the land was not one which cherished rains – it was utterly barren.

Aaah Budkismat Rahey Awaaze Huq Se Bekhabar

Ghafil Aapney Ful Kee Sheereene Sey Hota Hai Sazar.

Poor wretched people – they never did awaken to the call of Truth.

Just like a mighty tree that is dead to the awareness of the sweetness of its own fruit.

Ullama Dr Iqbal’s lament is a painful, but accurate depiction of the Sikh psyche in relation to knowing and understanding Guru Nanak. Put plainly: The Sikh psyche is blind to the enlightenment of Guru Nanak and the Sikh heart is barren to the blessings of Guru Nanak.

Put even more plainly, the Sikh heart and mind is incapable of appreciating Guru Nanak. Put even more plainly – the coming of Guru Nanak is a waste to the people of India. Dr Iqbal captures this waste in the following verse:

Hind Ko Lekin Khyalee Falsafey Pur Naaz Thaa.

But the people of India were content to hold on,

with (false) pride to their empty and imaginary spiritualties.

Powerful words. Equally powerful a slap to the spiritual face of Sikhs of Guru Nanak. Powerful but true. Necessary even.

For how much does the average Sikh know about Guru Nanak? Much of what we know is narrated through some 2,000 odd largely concocted stories that we euphemistically call Sakhis, and are repeated by our clergy – parcharaks, preachers, kirtanias, dhadees as well as our writers and historians. The source of these so called sakhis is NOT the writings of Guru Nanak.

The origin of these sakhis are a variety of books called Janam Sakhis – the oldest being composed in 1733 by Dya Raam (writer) and illustrated with pictures by Alam Chand Raj (painter / artist). This Janam Sakhi – also called the B40 Janam Sakhi, (after its Accession Number assigned by the India Office Library in London) is thus written 264 years AFTER Guru Nanak’s advent.

The most popular Janam Sakhi amongst Sikhs is Bhai Bala’s Janam Sakhi – purportedly narrated by Guru Nanak’s Hindu companion Bala. Bhai Bala is a fictitious character. He did not exist. Guru Nanak’s companion was Mardana. How many Sikhs know of this basic untruth – that their entire story of Guru Nanak is narrated by a non-existent character, and written by an anti-Sikh individual?

Viewed collectively, these Janam Sakhis paint Guru Nanak as: a mystic, a miracle performer, a faith healer, a magician, a purveyor of superstitious beliefs, a practitioner of super-natural powers, a recluse, an ascetic, an unproductive child, a neglecting father, demanding blind faith and so much more.

Snakes come over to shade him as he slept while his cows ate the fields of others. His father slaps him for wasting his hard-earned money. In the wink of an eye he brings back to life fields eaten by his cows. Elsewhere he drowns in a river and comes back to life three days later. He brings dead people back to life, and stops a mountain of a stone hurled at him with his palm, depression engraved in stone. He flies over the mountains to meet Yogis and Sidhs residing there. He orders his son to hang out clothes to dry in the middle of the night and tells his disciple Bhai Lehna to eat a corpse.

This is the Guru Nanak that Sikhs seem to know. The non-existant one, of course.

This is perhaps what Dr Iqbal meant when he said “Hind Ke Lekin Khyalee Falsafey Pur Naaz Thaa”. We wanted to stick to our “khayalee” beliefs and reject Guru Nanak’s real, practical and absolute enlightenment. To make our khyalee beliefs acceptable, we wanted to paint and portray Guru Nanak himself to be a practitioner and purveyor of our wrong beliefs.

So instead of wanting to stand in the divine enlightenment that was Guru Nanak, we pulled the Guru into the shadows of our own “khyalee” darkness. For this is exactly what the authors of much of 2,000 sakhis have succeeded in doing.

At its most basic level, the Janam Sakhis changed Guru Nanak’s birth date from Vesakh 1469 to Kathik 1469. In accordance with the Vedic believers who were complicit in changing the date, Vesakh is the month of celebration fit for events belonging to the upper Brahmin classes, while Kathik is the month fit for the celebration of the lesser castes. In the minds of the Janam Sakhi writers, Guru Nanak’s parkash could not be allowed to sit in Vesakh because he was not a Brahmin. They falsely determined Kathik Dee Puranmashi as the specific day for Guru Nanak’s birthday. In accordance to Vedic beliefs of auspiciousness – this day is the MOST inauspicious.

Sikhs have no such beliefs about auspiciousness or otherwise of man-made constructs, but Sikhs ought to object to the distortion, and REVERT to the reality.

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru knew of Guru Nanak’s birth in Vesakh, which is why he too chose Vesakh 1699 to create the Khalsa. It was supposed to be one complete circle. It was supposed to stamp the completion of Guru Nanak’s Sikhi. When Sikhs celebrate Vesakhi – they would celebrate BOTH – the birth of their FOUNDER Guru Nanak and their OWN birth as Khalsas. Sikhs obviously did so, until the Sakhi writers infiltrated into the Sikh psyche almost in total and changed Guru Nanak’s birth date to Kathik.

Guru Nanak wrote a great deal of banee – all of which is contained within the Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Nine hundred and forty-seven shabds and saloks of his are contained in the Guru Granth Sahib. How many of these shabds have Sikhs read? How many have we understood? How many have we shared with the rest of humanity – for whom Guru Nanak’s spirituality was intended. How many do our ragis, –parcharaks, dadhees and kirtanias preach – without resorting to some half-cooked sakhi to distort its meaning? How many have we attempted to apply his banee in our lives? These 947 shabds are the real Guru Nanak. These 947 shabds are the divine enlightenment of Guru Nanak and the Godly rain of blessings that he brought.

Will we continue to be blind and barren so as to ignore these 947 shabds that tell us of the real Guru Nanak and instead link with what are mostly half baked, half cooked, patently false, semi-false stories called sakhis that are plagiarized/stolen from others – especially from the bigger stars (Tarey Chupey) that Bhai Gurdas ji is talking about?

Let us just take one verse of Guru Nanak:

ਹੁਕਮਿ ਰਜਾਈ ਚਲਣਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਨਾਲਿ ॥ ੧ ॥

Hukum Rajayee Chalna, Nanak Likhiya Naal.

It is on page 1 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It captures the essence of Guru Nanak’s enlightenment for all of humanity – Hukam. Guru Nanak’s Sikhi is about Hukam – about attempting to know and understand the Will of the Creator; about wanting to abide by (chalna) and live one’s life within the confines of this will; about wanting to be part and parcel of this will (likhiya naal), and about making the will of the Creator as the object of our spiritual life (rajayee).

Should one apply the message of just this one SINGLE verse of Guru Nanak, 90 percent of the sakhis of the Janam Sakhis would crumble because they show Guru Nanak going against the Will of the Creator. How can a Guru tell us Sikhs to know, understand, and abide by the Hukam of the Creator, while he himself destructed the Hukam at every step of the way, in every sakhi?

If we had read the Banee of Guru Nanak, we would know that his companion is Mardana who is placed in the SGGS by Guru Nanak at three places. We would know that Bala did not exist because in the 947 shabds (and 40 Vaars of Bhai Gurdas ji), Bala is not mentioned even once.

We Sikhs need to cure the blindness that Islamic luminary Dr Iqbal is pointing out for us. The cure is within the enlightenment of Guru Nanak’s 947 shabds and the rest of Gurbani. We also need to transform our barren hearts and souls so that we can contain the blessing that Guru Nanak brought for us. The way to irrigate these barren hearts and souls is again to connect with the messages of Gurbani.

Is there hope for us Sikhs? What hope can there be when Sikhs cannot even get the birth date of their founder right. What hope can there be when Sikhs have more faith in the non-existant Bhai Bala who falsified Guru Nanak’s birth date to Kathik, than they have in Bhai Gurdas who tells us it was in Vaisakh? What hope can there be when educated but foolish Sikhs tell us that the birthdate does not matter, what matters is that we follow his messages. What hope can there be when it is clear as daylight that his messages are not being followed.

The year 2024 will celebrate the 555th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak our Guru. One can almost hear the soul of the Guru cry out from the pages of the GGS: Enough of darkness and barren-ness; come to the enlightenment that Guru Nanak is:

ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਇਸੁ ਜਗ ਮਹਿ ਚਾਨਣੁ ਕਰਮਿ ਵਸੈ ਮਨਿ ਆਏ ॥ ੧॥ SGGS 67.

Gurbani Es Jug Mein Chanan, Karam Vasei Mun Aiye.

Gurbani is the enlightenment (Chanan) within which the divine blessings (Karam) will fill the heart of the enlightened.

It is up to us Sikhs if we will celebrate the 555th birthday as enlightened persons. It is up to us if we will continue with our blindness and resort to barren and meaningless ways of lighting 555 lamps, presenting 555 roses to the SGGS, doing 555 Akhand Paths, affixing 555 diamonds to the palkee, or having 555 helicopters fly over the Darbar Sahib or Nankana Sahib to rain flowers from 555 different varieties. The list for barren ways is long, varied, wasteful meaningless and endless. Most of all, it is not what Guru Nanak would want.

This essay is a revised version of the one that first appeared in The Sikh Bulletin, USA Vol 1 2019. The author is now the Editor in chief of the publication. He can be contacted at dhillon99@gmail.com.

ARTICLES - ENGLISH/PUNJABI, BACHITR NATAK GRANTH- (DSM GRANTH)- THE TRUTH REVEALED, HISTORY

The Truth of Our Panthik Ardas

The Truth of Our Panthik Ardas

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In Two Questions.

Karminder Singh Dhillon, PhD (Boston)

dhillon99@gmail.com

The Ramayan of Tulsi contains the following paragraph that is recited as a prayer (Ardas) by those who belong to that faith in their mandirs or places of worship.

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ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਸਿਮਰ ਕੈ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਵਿਸ਼ਨੂੰ ਲਈਂ ਧਿਆਇ ।

 

Par Bhram Simar Kay Sri Vishnu Layee Dhiaa-ey

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Page From Tulsi Ramayan

ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮ ਕਰਿਸ਼ਨ ਅਵਤਾਰ ਹਰੀ ਸੰਕਰ ਹੋਇ ਸਹਾਇ । Sri Raam Krishen Avtaar Hari Shangkar Hoye Sha-ey

ਮਾਤ ਭਗਵਤੀ ਸਿਮਰੀਐ ਨਵ ਨਿਧ ਆਵੈ ਕਰ ਧਾਇ । Maat Bhagwatee Simree-ay Nav Nidh Avai Ghar Dhayey

ਸ੍ਰੀ ਪਰਭੂ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਸਭ ਥਾਂਈ ਹੋਇ ਸਹਾਇ । Sri Prabhu Paramatimaa Sbh Tha-ee(n) Hoey Shaa-ey.

The Ramayan of Valmiki contains the following paragraph that is recited as a prayer (Ardas) by those who belong to that faith in their mandirs or places of worship.

Shri Tulsi Ramayan – B.Chatar Singh Jiwan Singh

Page from the Valmiki Ramayan

ਪਰਿਥਮ ਭਗਵਾਨ ਕੋ ਸਿਮਰੀਐ ਵਰਾਹ ਜੀ ਕਰੇ ਸਹਾਇ । Pritham Bhagwan Ko Simreay Vrah Jee Karey Sahaye. (Note: Vraah is Vishu)

ਯੱਗ ਪੁਰਸ਼ ਨਰ ਨਰਾਇਣ ਕੋ ਧਿਆਇ, ਜਿਸ ਡਿਠਿਆਂ ਸਭ ਦੁਖ ਜਾਇ । Yug Purash Nar Narayan Ko Dhiaye, Jis Dhiteyan Sabh Dukh Jaye.

ਮੱਛ ਕੱਛ ਕੋ ਸਿਮਰੀਐ ਨਰ ਸੰਗ ਰੂਪ ਬਸਾਇ । Much Kuch Ko Simreay Nar Sang Roop Basaye.

ਸ੍ਰੀ ਬਾਵਨ ਹਰ ਕਾ ਨਾਮ ਲੇ ਘਰ ਆਵੈ ਨਵ ਨਿਧ ਧਾਇ । Sri Bawan Har Ka Naam Ley, Ghar Avey Nao Nidh Dhaye.

ਸ੍ਰੀ ਰਾਮਚੰਦਰ ਕੋ ਸਿਮਰੀਐ ਜੋ ਪਰਗਟ ਕਰੇ ਸਹਾਇ । Sri Raam Chander Ko Simreay, Jo Pargat Kare Sahaye.

ਦਸਮ ਅਵਤਾਰ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਕਰਿਸ਼ਨ ਚੰਦਰ ਭਗਵਾਨ ਤਿਰਲੋਕੀ ਆਤਮਾਇ । Dasam Avtaar Sri Krishen Chandar Bhagwan Triloki Atamaye.

ਸਭ ਥਾਂਈ ਹੋਤ ਸਹਾਇ । Sabh Thanyee(n) Hoat Sahaey.

The following is the first paragraph of Durga Ki Vaar as contained within the Bachitar Natak Granth which is now known as the Dasam Granth (DG).

Var Durga Ki

This first paragraph is the paurri that Sikhs recite as their institutional ardas in Gurdwaras and elsewhere.

ਪ੍ਰਿਥਮ ਭਗੌਤੀ ਸਿਮਰ ਕੈ ਗੁਰ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਈਂ ਧਿਆਇ ।

Pritham Bhagauti Simar Kaiy Gur Nanak Layee(n) Dhiaye.

ਫਿਰ ਅੰਗਦ ਗੁਰ ਤੇ ਅਮਰਦਾਸ ਰਾਮਦਾਸੈ ਹੋਇ ਸਹਾਇ । Fir Angad Gur Tay Amardas Ramdasaiy Hoyey Sahaey.

ਅਰਜਨ ਹਰਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਨੋ ਸਿਮਰੋ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਹਰ ਰਾਇ । Arjan Hargobind No Simro Sri Har Raye.

ਸ੍ਰੀ ਹਰਕ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਨ ਧਿਆਈਐ ਜਸ ਡਿਠੈ ਸਭ ਦੁਖ ਜਾਇ । Sri Harkrishen Dhiayiay Jes Dithay Sabhh Dukh Jaye.

ਤੇਗ ਬਹਾਦਰ ਸਿਮਰੀਐ ਘਰ ਨਵ ਨਿਧ ਆਵੈ ਧਾਇ । Teg Bhadur Simraey Ghar Nav Nidh Avaiy Dhaye.

ਸਭ ਥਾਂਈ ਹੋਇ ਸਹਾਇ । Sabh Thanyee(n) Hoye Sahaey.

THE SIMILARITIES

If one took the first para of Durga Ki Vaar of the DG – which is our institutional ardas – and compared it with the prayer found in the Ramayan, the result is as follows. All the similar words are in red.

Pritham Bhagauti Simar Kaiy Gur Nanak Layee(n) Dhiaye. Fir Angad Gur Tay Amardas Ramdasaiy Hoyey Sahaey. Arjan Hargobind No Simro Sri Har Raye. Sri Harkrishen Dhiayiay Jes Dithay Sabhh Dukh Jaye. Teg Bhadur Simraey Ghar Nav Nidh Avaiy Dhaye. Sabh Thanyee(n) Hoye Sahaey.

The only thing different are the names of the Gurus. With the names included, the lifting, copying or what is known in the literary world as plagiarism is 80 percent. With the names excluded, the lifting, copying or plagiarism is total and complete (100 percent). In other words, apart from the names of the 9 Gurus, every other word is lifted from the Ramayan.

If the prayer wordings of the Ramayan and Durga Ki Vaar of DG are run in a plagiarism checker, the percentage of plagiarism is 80 percent. Schools, colleges, universities and institutions of learning tolerate 10 percent similarities. Anything above that is returned to the student for a re-write, or even given a fail grade. Reputable institutions bar students from the courses in which they present plagiarized papers. Some expel students right away. Anyone presenting work that consists of writing that is 80 percent lifted, copied or plagiarized is expelled because there is no defense for such a literary crime.

Given the above, we can ask two questions as follows.

FIRST QUESTION: WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF DURGA KI VAAR?

In other words, who is the author of the paurri that Sikhs recite as their institutional ardas. The possible answers, presented in a multiple choice format are:

  1. Durga herself wrote it in her own honor.
  2. A Devotee of Durga wrote it in her honor in Markanday Puran.
  3. The same person/s who wrote the Bachitar Natak (Dasam Granth) wrote this Vaar.
  4. The Benares-based Nirmlas who also wrote 34 other corrupted texts (Gurbilas, Suraj Parkash, Bhagat Maal etc) aimed at making Sikhs into Hindus wrote this Vaar.

Readers will note the following two things. First, that whichever answer above is chosen, it would have to mean that he/she lifted, copied and plagiarized it from the Ramayan. In other words, the author/s stole it from the Ramayan. Even if the claim is that Durga herself wrote this paurri in Durga Ki Vaar, even she would have copied it from the Ramayan.

Second, Guru Gobind Singh is NOT listed in the choice of answers provided because our tenth master CANNOT EVER commit the acts of lifting, copying, plagiarizing or stealing from the writings of others. Our Gurus have no record of doing anything of this sort. When Guru Arjun compiled the Pothi Sahib (later Guru Granth Sahib), he included the writings of 15 Bhagats, 10 Bhats and 3 Sikhs – and ensured their names were included. He did not take their writings and put them under his own name.

Those Sikhs whose voices have gone coarse shouting aloud that Guru Gobind Singh is the author of Durga Ki Vaar are advised to consider not injuring the character of the tenth master by making him appear to have lifted, copied or plagiarized the first para from the Ramayan, and the entire Vaar from the Markanday Puran.

Those Sikhs that are willing to attack, injure, maim or kill other Sikhs who maintain that Guru Gobind Singh is NOT the author of Durga Ki Vaar and NOT the author of the Bachitar Natak may want to pay attention to this first question above.

Those Sikhs who say that it was actually Tusli and Balmiki of the Ramayan who lifted, copied, plagiarized or stole from Durga Ki Vaar may want to check the chronology of the texts to decide which came first.

SECOND QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF OUR GURUS DOING IN DURGA KI VAAR?

Durga

The title of the compostion says it all – it is a Vaar (poetic compostion) about Durga. The entire Vaar consists of 55 paras. The final para reads as follows:

ਦੁਰਗਾ ਪਾਠ ਬਣਾਇਆ ਸਭੇ ਪਉੜੀਆਂ । Durga Paath Bnayea Sabhay Paurrea(n). Meaning: ALL the paurees are created as paath in honor of Durga.

ਫੇਰ ਨਾ ਜੂਨੀ ਆਇਆ ਜਿਨ ਇਹ ਗਾਇਆ । Feyr Na Junee Aiya Jin Eh Gaya. One who sings them will not reincarnate into life forms.

ਇਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਦੁਰਗਾ ਕੀ ਵਾਰ ਸਮਾਪਤੰ। ਸਤ ਸੁਭਮ ਸਤ। Et Sri Durga Ki Vaar Smaptang. Sat Subhm Sat. With this ends the Durga Ki Vaar. All certified as true.

Given the above two facts as derived from within Durga Ki Vaar, namely that it is written in her honor, and that ALL the paragraphs are created as paath for Durga, the second question can now be asked: WHAT AND WHY ARE THE NAMES OF OUR GURUS INCLUDED IN DURGA KI VAAR? The choice of answers – in accordance with the choice of answers for Question 1 above, is as follows:

  1. The names of our ten Gurus were written by Durga herself as the author of Durga Ki Vaar which she wrote in her own honor.
  2. A Devotee of Durga who also happened to be a devotee of the nine Gurus.
  3. The first para was ADDED on later to Durga Ki Vaar (as copied from Markanday Puran) by the Benares-based Nirmlas who also wrote 34 other corrupted texts (Gurbilas, Suraj Parkash, Bhagat Maal etc) aimed at making Sikhs into Hindus and devotees of Durga.

Readers will note that Guru Gobind Singh is again NOT listed in the choice of answers provided because our tenth master CANNOT EVER commit the acts of writing ONE para in honor of nine Gurus, and then go on to write 54 paras in honor of Durga. Our Gurus have no record of honoring Durga in any way, fashion or form in the entirety of the SGGS.

Those Sikhs who maintain that Guru Gobind Singh honored our nine Gurus in nine verses, and then went on to write 364 verses in praise of Durga, and are ever ready to attack, injure, maim or kill other Sikhs who maintain that Guru Gobind Singh CANNOT ever do such a thing, may want to ponder over this second question as well.

ARDAS IN THE SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB

The Ardas of the Sikh is contained on page 268 the SGGS as follows:

Sikh Holy Day: Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

ਤੂ ਠਾਕੁਰੁ ਤੁਮ ਪਹਿ ਅਰਦਾਸਿ ॥ ਜੀਉ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਸਭੁ ਤੇਰੀ ਰਾਸਿ ॥

Tu Thakur Tum Peh Ardas. Jio Pind Sabh Teri Raas.

ਤੁਮ ਮਾਤ ਪਿਤਾ ਹਮ ਬਾਰਿਕ ਤੇਰੇ ॥ ਤੁਮਰੀ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਮਹਿ ਸੂਖ ਘਨੇਰੇ ॥

Tum Maat Pita Hum Barak Terey. Tumree Kirpa Meh Sukh Ghanerey.

ਕੋਇ ਨ ਜਾਨੈ ਤੁਮਰਾ ਅੰਤੁ ॥ ਊਚੇ ਤੇ ਊਚਾ ਭਗਵੰਤ ॥ Koey Na Janey Tumra Aant. Uchey Tey Ucha Bhagwant.

ਸਗਲ ਸਮਗ੍ਰੀ ਤੁਮਰੈ ਸੂਤ੍ਰਿ ਧਾਰੀ ॥ ਤੁਮ ਤੇ ਹੋਇ ਸੁ ਆਗਿਆਕਾਰੀ ॥ Sagal Samagree Tumrey Sutar Dharee. Tum Tey Hoey So Aagiakari.

ਤੁਮਰੀ ਗਤਿ ਮਿਤਿ ਤੁਮ ਹੀ ਜਾਨੀ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਦਾਸ ਸਦਾ ਕੁਰਬਾਨੀ ॥ Tumri Gatt Mitt Tumhee Janee. Nanak Daas Sda Kurbani.

This paurri is our personal ardas. After reading this stanza in the personal ardas, a Sikh should be able to have a free and personal heart to heart communication with our Guru.

The institutional or Panthik Ardas can, and should be standardized in the name of Panthic unity. One would be hard pressed to find an argument against such a preposition. But this standardization must NOT be against the tenets of the SGGS in any way whatsoever. This standardization must never be part of the agenda to Hinduize Sikhi. Lifting, copying or taking verses from the religious texts of others should not be part of this standardization. Beliefs like Dithey Sabh Dukh Jaye (all sorrows disappear upon seeing) and Ghar Nao Nidh Avey Dhaye (the NINE treasures come rushing) are not Sikhi or Gurmat concepts – UNLESS we indulge in severe re-interpretations. The notion of starting our institutional ardas with honoring Durga (Bhagautee) is not in line with the teachings of the SSGS.

It is hoped that the two questions above can help bring about awareness within such a context. End.

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