INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

night, which marks the break of a new day. Depending upon individual duties and
preferences in the daily run, people may take additional baths throughout the day or
just squirt water over their hands and feet, and pour some on the head in more symbolic
acts of purification before they enter the gurdwara or start gurbani recitations. In
any case, after the stroke of midnight a full bath is mandatory for all who intend to
devote themselves to recitations. 431
The purification rules are more pronounced when it comes to complete readings
of the Guru Granth Sahib. A full bath with hair wash is an essential preliminary
for a reciter about to sit in the physical presence of the Guru-scripture, particularly
when the reading to be undertaken is unbroken (Akhand path) and thus requires a
higher degree of purity. 432 If this cannot be carried out due to lack of facilities or some
other circumstance the reciter should at least wash his or her mouth, hands and legs.
Since the mouth and the vocal cords are the vehicles to transform written words of
gurbani into uttered sounds, the mouth and throat should be carefully rinsed before a
reading lest it would be “tasted” (jutha) and impure by the mixture of saliva and
food. 433 Many of the professional reciters in Varanasi did not take a sip of anything
drinkable after having had the purifying bath. A cleansed mouth is a matter of course
before any type of reading that involves oral reproduction of gurbani just as the washing
of one’s hands is before touching the physical scripture. If for some reason a person
cannot comply with these regulative rules he or she should simply not touch the
scripture installed, but only listen to recitals.
According to an unwritten precept, menstruating women are not to perform
recitations nor physically touch scriptures, gutkas, or other texts containing gurbani in
writing. A Sikh woman explained:
During our menstrual period we do not touch Guru Granth Sahib ji for
five days, not even gutkas. We do not even enter the room of Guru
Granth Sahib ji, but give our namaskar [greetings] from outside the
room. During this period we only meditate.
For the four to five days women are menstruating they consider themselves to be
ritually impure. Female domestic granthis, who are taking care of the daily rituals of
Guru Granth Sahib in private gurdwaras, hand over the religious responsibilities to
431
As I was instructed, if one is to begin a recital before midnight and continue reading after the
stroke of twelve it is obligatory to take a preliminary full bath.
432
It is noteworthy that more arduous readings of Guru Granth Sahib seem to entail stricter
rules about purity. Several of my interlocutors emphasized that Akhand path and especially
Sampat path, the toughest recitation to perform, always requires a kesh ishnan in hot water before
each reading session. To accomplish a “pure” (shuddh) performance of Akhand path, paid reciters
should always take a head shower before reciting if they have visited their families in between a
reading relay. Broken readings, on the other hand, presuppose a daily morning bath, but the
reciter needs only to clean the hands and mouth before starting a reading.
433
Except for blessed food (prashad) that has been offered to (and tasted by) the Guru.
241
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008