GURU
GRANTH SAHIB ( 1708 - For Ever )
CONCEPT OF GURU IN SIKHISM:
In
Sikh religion the word 'Guru' is not denoted to its usual meaning
such as a teacher or an expert or a guide or a human body, but
this is composed of two words- GU and RU.
GU
means darkness and RU means Light i.e.
Light that dispels all darkness is called
JOT
OR DIVINE LIGHT.
When
Impersonal God manifested His attributes in person, that person
was called Guru Nanak:
'Jot
rup har aap gur nanak kahayo.'
(Swayas Bhattan- p.1408)
Guru
Nanak was thus the embodiment of Divine Light.
'In
the true Guru (Nanak), He installed His Own Spirit,
Through him, God revealed Himself.'
(Asa di Var, pauri 6, page 466)
Guru
Nanak seated Bhai Lehna (later called Guru Angad) on his throne,
placed five paise and a coco-nut before him, and then bowed to
him declaring him as GURU ANGAD. When Guruship was conferred on
Guru Angad, he too became the embodiment of Divine Light.
'Jot
uha jugat sai, seh kaya pher paltiae.'
(Sata Balwand, p-966)
'The Divine Light was the same,
The Way and Mode were the same,
The Master had merely changed the body.'
(Translation of the above)
The
most important point to remember here is that the people bowed
to Guru Angad ONLY when JOT was installed in him. No body bowed
to him before the Guruship, which means the Sikhs did not bow
to the human body (of Guru Angad) because human body was not Guru,
but to the Divine Light which was passed on to that body by Guru
Nanak.
The
same process of conferring the Guruship continued till the tenth
Guru. Then the tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh seated the Adi
Granth (the Holy Scripture- the Divine Word) on the throne of
Guru Nanak, placed five paise and a coco- nut before it and then
bowed declaring it as the Last Guru for ever. When the Guruship
was passed on, Guru Granth Sahib too became the embodiment of
Divine Light. It should, therefore, be remembered very clearly
that bowing before Guru Granth Sahib as Sikhs do, is not a bowing
before a book, but it is a bowing before the Divine Light or JOT
(Guru) which was passed on when the Guruship was conferred upon
it.
In
Sikh religion the word 'Guru' has been used in three inter-related
aspects:
Firstly
it is used for God, the All-Pervading Divine Spirit, the Divine
Light:
'The
Guru is Beneficent, the Sanctuary of peace,
The Guru is the Light of three worlds,
He is the Eternal Being,
O Nanak, he who believeth in Him, attaineth peace.'
(Slok Mohalla 1, p-137)
'The Guru is All-Powerful,
The Guru is the Formless Lord,
The Guru is the Highest, Fathomless and Limitless,
Ineffable is His praise; what can a sayer say?'
(Sri Rag Mohalla 5, p-52)
'The
Guru is Infinite God Himself
Nanak, meditate upon such a Guru day and night.'
(Asa Mohalla 5, p-387)
Secondly
the word 'Guru' is also used for Guru Nanak as he was the Embodiment
of God's Light:
'Guru
Nanak is the perfect Guru,
With the true Guru I meditateth upon God.'
(Ramkali Mohalla 4, p-882)
'Guru
Nanak is the true Guru,
The true Guru taketh me to God.'
(Kanra Mohalla 4, p-1310)
'The
Guru and God are one
, Divine Master pervadeth everywhere.'
(Sri Rag Mohalla 5, p-53)
Thirdly
the word 'Guru' is used for Gurbani, the Divine Word. Since Gurbani
came direct from God, and as there is no difference between God
and His order (Divine Word), Gurbani is Guru too:
'The
Word is the Guru,
And the Guru is the Word,
The Guru's Word is full of life-giving Elixir,
Whosoever shall obey, what the Word commandeth,
Verily he shall get salvation.'
(Nat Mohalla 4, p-982)
'The
Word is the True Guru and True Guru is the Word,
And the Word revealeth the path of salvation.'
(Kanra Mohalla 4, p-1310)
DIVINE WORD CAME DIRECT FROM GOD:
Guru
Granth Sahib does not narrate the life story of Guru Nanak, but
each and every word is dedicated to the Glory of the Almighty
God only. It is not a reproduction of earlier religions, but the
Divine Word (Gurbani) came to the Gurus direct from God. Guru
Nanak stated that it was not his philosophy, it was not his understanding
and it was not his thinking, but the Word was coming to him direct
from God and he was simply delivering His message to the world.
As he confirms:
'O
Lalo, as comes the Divine Word from Lord to me,
So do I narrate it.'
(Tilang Mohalla 1, p-722)
'I
have said what Thou commandeth me to say.'
(Wadhans Mohalla 1,p-566)
This
was repeatedly confirmed and emphasized by all the Gurus in their
Bani such as:
'From
God springs ambrosial Gurbani
The exalted Guru narrates and preaches the same to world.'
(Majh Mohalla 3, p-125)
'This
Word comes from Him, Who hath created the World.'
(Mohalla 4, p-306)
'This
Word that hath come from God, It dispelleth all woes and worries.'
(Sorath Mohalla 5, p-628)
'I
speak but the Will of the Lord,
For, the Lord's devotee narrateth the Word of the Lord.'
(Sorath Mohalla 5, p-629)
'Whatever
the Lord hath instructed me,
Hear, O my brother.'
(Tilang Mohalla 9, p-727)
The
tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh established the same truth that
it was God's Word that was being revealed through the Gurus:
'Whatever
the Lord sayeth to me
I say the same to the world.
' (Guru Gobind Singh)
The
Janamsakhi (biography) reveals that Guru Nanak many times said
to his minstrel Mardana, "Mardana, start playing the rebec,
Gurbani (Divine Word) is coming." And the Divine Word was
then recorded. That Divine Word is GURBANI- Guru Granth Sahib.
AUTHENTICITY:
Guru
Granth Sahib was not written by the devotees after the Gurus had
gone, but it was dictated and compiled by the Gurus themselves.
Thus it is the Authentic Divine Scripture. No body is allowed
to change even a comma or a period out of 1430 pages. The seventh
Guru's son, Ram Rai, changed the meaning of only one verse to
please the Emperor, Aurangzeb, upon which he was excommunicated
for ever by his father (the seventh Guru), thereby establishing
the fact that no one could ever change the God's Word, the Gurbani.
Max
Arthur Macauliffe, an English writer, delivered a speech in Punjabi
language at Akal Bunga, Amritsar in 1899, the translation of which
is:
"There
is another point to the merit of the Sikh religion that the founders
of other religions in this world never wrote even one line with
their own hands. You might have heard that there was a very famous
Greek philosopher called Pythagoras who had many followers, but
he never left behind anything written by him from which we could
have known about the principles of his sect. After him came the
second Greek philosopher named Socrates who was born in 500 B.C.
He became a very famous religious leader who claimed that he was
receiving Divine instructions from God within himself, which persuaded
him to do good and prohibited from doing any evil deeds. But he
too never left anything behind written by him which could have
shed light on his philosophy and its principles. Whatever we know
about him, has only come through the writings of his follower,
Plato. Besides there came Mahatma Buddh in India and he never
wrote anything with his hands. After that came Christ who did
not write anything himself. His teachings are only known through
Bible. However the Sikh Gurus acted quite opposite to all these
religious leaders that they themselves dictated their message
of Truth and compiled Guru Granth Sahib. In that respect the Sikh
religion is far ahead than others."
(Translation
Sri Guru Granth Sahib- pothi 1,p-gaga, by Bhai Vir Singh)
GURU GRANTH SAHIB BEGINS UNIQUELY:
In
Hindu mythology the word 'OM' always meant for God as monotheistic.
Then they started interpreting it as more than one God. Guru Nanak
put an integer '1' before it and a kar (a semi- circle) after
it. Thus it becomes 'EK-OM-KAR' and by doing so, he sealed the
position for ever meaning 'There is One and only One God'. Therefore
Guru Granth Sahib uniquely begins with integer One ('1'). The
One Absolute is the monotheistic conception of God and is represented
by numerical symbol here. One God does not only mean numerically
one but Unique without a second like Him.
Guru
Granth Sahib begins with Mool-Mantar or the Preamble of Japji
which is the Essence of the whole Guru Granth Sahib:
Ek-Onm-Kar
Sat-Nam
Karta-Purkh
Nirbhao-Nirvair
Akal-Murat
Ajuni, Saibhang
Gurparsad
There is But One God
He is the Eternal Truth
The Creator, All-Pervading
Divine Spirit
Unfearful, Without hate and enmity
Immortal Entity
Unborn, Self-Existent
Realized by His Own Grace
(the Guru)
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The next verse is generally called Sach (True) Mantar:
Jap
Aad Sach
Jugad Sach
Haibhi Sach
Nanak Hosibhi Sach
Meditate upon
Who was True before the Creation
Who was True in the beginning of
Creation
Who is True now, and
O Nanak, Who shall be True for ever.
Guru
Arjan Dev had accomplished a task by authenticating the diverse
compositions and prepared the Adi Granth for the benefit of his
followers. Since the work had remained where it was left, Guru
Gobind Singh included in it the Bani of Guru Tegh Bahadur and
put the seal of Finality on it. Subsequently this finalized version
of the Adi Granth was invested with the Guruship by Guru Gobind
Singh.
Guru
Granth Sahib is the only refuge for a man tossed about in the
furious ocean of worldly existence. It helps a person to live
by certain directives or moral codes which are necessary for the
achievement of salvation.
Man
is the epitome of God's creation. This human body is attained
after transmigrating through various lower species. Guru Granth
Sahib advocates the excellence and utility of human life because
it is through human form that a person can attain final emancipation.
Man has great capacity for conscious awareness which helps him
reach the desired spiritual goal. Therefore, all teachings and
exhortations for spiritual enhancement are addressed to man in
Guru Granth Sahib. Man's material values are listed as false,
'koor':
"False
are kings, false their subjects, false the whole world;
False are mansions, false palaces, false those who dwell therein;
False is gold, false sliver, false he who weareth them;
False husbands, false wives, they pine away and become dust.
Man who is false, loveth what is false, and forgetteth the Creator.
With whom contact friendship? The whole world passeth away.
False is sweetness, false honey, in falsehood shiploads are drowned-
Nanak humbly asserteth- Except Thee, O God, everything is thoroughly
false."
(Asa di Var- Slok Mohalla 1, p-468)
Guru
Granth Sahib signifies the importance of Nam by identifying it
with the Guru. Nam releases man from all his previous sins, sorrows,
sufferings and cycle of birth and death. No rituals, no alms,
no sacrifices, no fasts and no penances equal Nam.
Guru
Granth Sahib initiates a disciple on the path of spiritual progress
and guides him at the various stages of his journey to God. It
is a ship that steers clear a devotee through the ocean of Maya
(Materialism), thus, leading the human soul to its ultimate destination
which is the Absolute Bliss.
"The
fearful ocean of the world is dangerous and formidable; it hath
no shore or limit,
No boat, no raft, no pole, and no boatman;
But the true Guru hath a vessel for the terrible ocean,
and ferrieth over him on whom he looketh with favor."
(Sri Rag Mohalla 1, p-59)
Guru
Granth Sahib is completely authentic and is preserved in its original
form. It is a highly valuable possession which Sikhs have received
from God through Guru Nanak and is held in supreme reverence by
them.
FN-1:Three
worlds- one world is whatever is on our plane, second one is whatever
is above us, and the third one is whatever is below us.
FN-2:Lalo
was Guru's disciple.