INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

Go to the gurdwara at 6 am for matha tekna, to give an offering
and listen to kirtan
Return home
Take food
Go to work at 9 am
It is noteworthy that taking a bath and visiting the gurdwara in the morning is
thought to be an essential part of nitnem. Reciting the panj banian should also follow
the same syntagmatic order as set down by the Khalsa rite, beginning with JapJi Sahib
and ending with Anand Sahib. When this man performed the full version of Ardas
which always followed the recitals, he used to stand barefoot on the floor in his private
room, facing a cupboard, decorated with a poster of Guru Gobind Singh and in
which he kept all gutkas. “The main cause for doing Ardas is gurbani”, he said. “In that
I ask God’s forgiveness if I had made any errors [in the recitation] and request for
power and knowledge to recite gurbani correctly. I also pray for my business …that it
will be profitable.” Some mornings when feeling drowsy he would extend his sleep
with one hour and without rest ride directly on his scooter to the gurdwara a few
kilometres away. With working days and office hours suited to the modern life, businessmen
will start and stop work later than the pace of a day in an agricultural society.
To avoid weariness and maintain a satisfactory working and social life, other
Amritdhari men and women in trading professions would likewise complete the
morning recitations before dawn and take a nap before they begun their working day
at 9.30 or 10 am. If time did not permit, they considered it adequate to read JapJi Sahib
at dawn and complete the other hymns later in the morning before noon.
In homes keeping gurdwaras the women would carry out the installation
(Prakash) of Guru Granth Sahib and take the daily Hukam before they performed all
panj banian. Others recited JapJi Sahib directly after the Prakash ceremony, and then
read Ardas, took the Hukam, and performed the remaining four compositions in a
successive order. In all cases the reading of the full Ardas text in a standing posture
subsequent to the recitation of JapJi Sahib, or all the panj banian, is held to be a momentous
stage of the morning liturgy. “I want to have my path of panj banian noted down
in the abode of God… and forgiveness if I have made any mistakes”, an Amritdhari
woman in her fifties explained her reasons for the concluding supplication. Other
Amritdhari Sikhs stated they would also read the full Ardas text after the hymn Rahiras
Sahib at dusk and present an abbreviate form of the supplication (Choti Ardas) subsequent
to the recitation of Kirtan Sohila before sleep.
COMMITMENT TO SINGLE VERSES
Apart from the daily nitnem, local Sikhs ‒ Amritdharis and others ‒ often pledge to
recite a single verse or a complete composition for a fixed number of times whenever
the need arises. These recitations usually involve a commitment to carry out readings
daily within a freely chosen or prescribed time period, formulated like a promise
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008