INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

lations into other spoken and written languages in order to grasp locutionary meanings,
but in oral performances the reader should remain faithful to the stylistic and
content-based features of the original Gurmukhi text. The stress on formal correctness
is a distinguishing feature of the recitation genre: it is a mimetic reproduction or a
quotation of an already fixed text that bears clear references to the author(s) or a believed
origin, in this case preserving the immaculate substance and form of gurbani.
Recitation aids to objectify texts, that is, endow them with a clearly defined and object-like
identity that is not considered to be created by the reciter, nor dependent on
her or his motives in the act of reciting (even though devotion and sincerity conditions
are certainly normative prerequisites for any rendering of gurbani). 423 Thus
when reciters are performing hymns from Guru Granth Sahib, committed to memory
or by interpreting visual signs in writing, they say they act merely as intermediaries
to convey sacred words for themselves and for others. They internalize the text by
memorization or reading to quote it by means of the human mental and vocal apparatus.
Professional reciters in Varanasi carefully point out that they only mediate
gurbani in service of the congregation.
As a formalized mode of communication, recitation differs from ordinary uses
of languages in that it is non-discursive, invariant and controlled by rules of vocabulary,
syntax, meter, style and intonation. Unlike everyday speeches and narrations,
recitations cannot be complemented with cross-references to other texts within the
actual performance, nor can the text be expanded or added with additional statements.
The hymns are to be repeated again and again according to the form laid
down by the Gurus within the scripture. Given these features, the indigenous genre
of recitation is clearly separated from other types of readings, like analytical studies
of secular books or “readings” of poetry or fictional literature. Many Sikhs would
quickly point out that reciting the scripture is indeed “a study of the Guru’s teaching”
which provides spiritual and moral guidance. Comprehension of referential meanings
in the Guru Granth Sahib is an important and legitimate motive for undertaking
recitations. This notwithstanding, when local Sikhs pursue knowledge of the scriptural
content they more often devote themselves to straightforward readings from
sanchi, the Sikh scripture divided into two or more volumes that do not necessitate
ritual installments, listen to live and recorded oral expositions (katha), or consult
secondary exegetical literature. Owing to the authoritative and sacred status of gurbani,
anyone who is to undertake a “reading” from the Guru Granth Sahib should
accept the quoting convention or otherwise not read at all. It is considered blasphemous
to browse through the scriptural pages more wantonly or look up sentences
and repeat words only for investigating purposes. If the verb “read” in a more restricted
sense of the word refers to the ability to view and interpret written signs in a
given syntagmatic order, then reading is an activity that assists the verbatim and
literatim rendering of recitations. People read the script in order to be able to re-cite
and reveal the sacred hymns in sound.
423
See Chapter 5.
236
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008