The Traditional View About the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib.the Global Vision of Guru Gobind Singh That Is

8/3/2019 The Traditional View About the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib.the Global Vision of Guru Gobind Singh That Is

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The traditional view about the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib The Global Vision of

Guru Gobind Singh that is.

A rejoinder to IJ Singh: 'Sikhi: The Global Vision That Was'

By Gurinder Singh Mann & Kamalroop Singh, UK, February 2012.

Sach kahon lun lehu sabhai, jin prem kio tin hi prabh paioI proclaim the truth, listen all, those who are absorbed in love realise the Lord

This tukh from the Sikh nitnem always hits hard, it resounds in my mind at the crescendo

of the prayer. It always resonates deeply, and it seems to that the Guru intended this to bethe case. He emphasizes that true love is the only way for mankinds emancipation.

Without love and passion in our prayer, simran and seva, it is just empty ritual. In the

words of the Sufis, it is love that is the Divine wine that fills up the cup. This verse by

Guru Gobind Singh daily reveals to us the ultimate truth, and is specifically in the thirdnitnembani the Tav-PrasadSvaiye, which is a part of the longerSri Akal Ustati. In the

rest of the composition he reiterates that without bhavana or heartfelt devotion allreligious rituals, however elaborate and splendid, are nothing but mere illusions. What is

surprising is that a composition that shows the universal nature of Sikh Dharam is now

subject to a constant barrage of doubts and criticisms.

The SriAkal Ustati is the celestial bani of Guru Gobind Singh and forms part of his

majestic writings called the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib. It is the second bani afterJap Sahib

in his temporal scripture. As aforementioned, the particular stanzas of this bani arereferred to as Svaiye (Tav-Prasad Svaiye) and as well as forming a part of the Sikh

liturgy, they are also verses recited as part of the initiation of the Double-edged Sword,known as Khande ki pahul. Parts of this composition are recited as part ofKirtan atDarbar Sahib, Amritsar - the holiest shrine of Sikhism. One of the most notably lines in

the composition is the frequently quoted and celebrated, Manas ki jaat sabhai ikepachanabo:recognise mankind as one. The celebrated line is by one writer who has one

global vision of mankind.

Guru Gobind Singh had a profound vision and it is widely accepted that SriAkal Ustati is

a creative masterpiece which weaves the universality of God and the transcendence ofAkal, in reference to the many cultures and religions of the world. Yet in a recent article

by IJ Singh 'SIKHI: The Global Vision That Was', he sits on the fence regarding the Sri

Dasam Granth Sahib and sadly this only allows ignorant people to create even moreambiguity, and make the universal bani of Guru Gobind Singh into a debatable farce. In

this world would the same doubt driven rhetoric be allowed to spew forth regarding the

Holy Bible, Qu'ran, Vedas, or Torah? We would think not, but now pseudo-scholars haveno ethical consideration for people who consider the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib to not only

be authored by Guru Gobind Singh, but a mirror in which one sees his holy radiant face.

After all in their eyes the bani is mukhvakliterally from the radiant face of the Guru.

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IJ Singh in his write up makes a slip regarding the scripture by incorrectly citing the

number of 'pages' in Sri Dasam Granth as 2300. It is unclear which Granth he has been

looking at but the Sri Dasam Granth has 1428 folios in the standard print. Unfortunately,when we do not research properly, we make up statements about Guru Gobind Singh's

Granth without knowing about its status in the canon, its creation, and compilation. He

states 'Dasam Granth has a controversial place in Sikh psyche, history and tradition', avery bold statement made by a gentleman who claims by his own admission to be 'non-

scholarly'. In actual fact, before 1902 and British colonialism there was no debate about

the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib. The first reference to any authorship issues was not writtenby a Sikh but an intelligence officer of the British Army, aptly named Cunningham.

He states 'Scholars as well as the larger Sikh community agree that many parts of it are

the authentic writings of Guru Gobind Singh but that they also appear mixed withcompositions that may not be his but come from various sources of that time.' It is

unclear which scholars he is referring to as the only a handful of scholars have studied the

Sri Dasam Granth in any depth and they are of the unanimous conclusion that every word

is that of the Tenth Master, including Dr Jaggi who changed his stance on the scripture ayear after writing his thesis. Generally, the Sikh community believes firmly in the Sri

Dasam Granth, for example important Jathebandis of the Khalsa: Akali Nihangs, Udasis,Nirmala, Sevapanthis, SGPC, 3HO, AKJ and Dam Dami Taksal. All of whom have

issued formal written confirmation about the important status of the Sri Dasam Granth

Sahib. In fact, all the traditional schools of exegesis created by the Gurus are united by

their faith in the Holy Scripture of the Tenth Guru. Furthermore all the thrones of SikhPolity (Takht Sahibs) agree that the Sri Dasam Granth is the work of Guru Gobind Singh.

On the other hand, it is fringe groups such as missionaries (one must think why they

called themselves missionaries) and those people who believe in the complete divisionbetween the religious and secular a modern notion, who cannot fathom the words of

Guru Gobind Singh, that are based on the tradition of miri-piri inaugurated in the SriAkal Takht Sahib by the Sixth Master. Two other thrones (Takht Patna Sahib and Takh

Hazur Sahib) have theprakash of Guru Gobind Singhs scripture next to the Guru GranthSahib just like the in the days of the Khalsa Raj. This puritan maryada is in fact on the

increase around the world and will continue as the Khalsa goes back to its roots. The

larger Sikh community recite the Ardas (Chandi di Var), and read verses from Ram

Avatar(Rahiras) daily, therefore they recite from Sri Dasam Granth whether they know it

or not.

IJ Singh states that compositions in the Granth may come from sources of that time. Can

he tell us which sources of the time he is referring to? Anyone can make a statement but

concrete research is limited to a handful, and IJ Singh should refrain from doing so, if he

has not researched primary sources himself. In his write up he makes statements similarto those that have Sri Dasam Granth phobia before him. The Sri Akal Ustati has one

simple message, that mankind maybe composed of different cultures but in essence they

are the same and all bound by the confinements ofKal (time) and Akal (Timeless). Infact the Guru states that every living entity, in all realms, is subject to time, decay, and

death. Only the name of Akal, if repeated just once fully, can save man. This is the same

as the theology of Adi Guru Granth Sahib Maharaj. The profound vision of the Guru is

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not only evident in Sri Akal Ustati but throughout the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib. This is

also notable in the didactic Charitropakhyan where again the Tenth Guru cites religious

anecdotes from different cultures and religions to describe the types of relationshipsbetween man and woman. Within this composition the Guru tells his Sikhs four-hundred

and five stories from the Panchtantra, Hitopdesh, the arabic Alif-Laila, the Qu'ran, the

Bible, BuddhistJhatka tales, Persian Shahnama, and the SanskritPurans. This literaturewas written to instruct Kings and Princes in morality and ethics.In the climax to the four-

hundred and five stories, in the Chaupai Sahib, the Guru says 'Sewak Sikh hamare tariye',

'Akal Purakh please protect my servants and Sikhs'. This leaves us with no doubt aboutthe authorship of the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib. It is sad that the Granth in which the Tenth

Master offers the Khalsa Raj to his Sikhs is now the subject of much controversy and

insults.

IJ Singh describes several verses of Sri Akal Ustati as pieces of literature and ascribes

their authorship to an unknown poet, yet at the same time he says other verses ofSri AkalUstati were written by the Guru. Even a cursory glance at the composition makes it clear

that the author ofSriAkal Ustati is Guru Gobind Singh. At the start of the compositionthis is made clear:

The Lord is One and he can be attained through the grace of the True Guru.

Copy of the manuscript with exclusive signatures of the Tenth Sovereign.

Furthermore the relics of Guru Gobind Singh also bear verses from the Sri Akal Ustati,this includes the Charaina or armour worn by the Guru at the battle of Bhagani Sahib and

also the Gurus sword. With so much history attached to Guru Gobind Singhs SriAkal

Ustati, it is important that this issue is not left on the fence and efforts should be taken toread studies by those who have looked at the subject in depth. To start dissecting parts of

a composition without understanding the language, structure, and contents of the larger

scripture leads to confusion. This pattern of confusion can have serious consequenceswhen people pose as experts, most notable is the excommunicated heretic Ragi Darshan

known for his belief that even theJap Sahib, Chaupai Sahib, and Svaiye are not bani, and

that all the verses from Sri Dasam Granth Sahib should be excised from the Sikhtradition.

The Armour of Guru Gobind Singh inscribed with Sri Akal Ustati presentlykept at the Royal House of Patiala.

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Gurinder Singh Mann wrote his MA thesis on the Sri Dasam GranthSahib in 2001. Dr Kamalroop Singh has a PhD in Sri Dasam Granth

Sahib. They are authors of the influential book: Sri Dasam Granth

Sahib: Questions and Answers. More information regarding thebook can be found at www.archimedespress.co.uk.

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The Traditional View About the Sri Dasam Granth Sahib.the Global Vision of Guru Gobind Singh That Is