INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

able to complete and make a promise to individually recite the chosen composition a
fixed number of times daily at the house. If 108 readings of JapJi Sahib are required,
for example, it will take twelve women to read the text nine times each. At the end,
the women will decide a date when they gather in the gurdwara and let the granthi
perform an Ardas for all accumulated recitations. No specific Punjabi word is used for
this type of calculated recitations, even if the language of the banking and business
world lies near at hand. An English-speaking interlocutor, a businesswoman herself,
referred to it as “bank balancing” recitations, which in her opinion was the ideal
method to make women take interest in gurbani and simultaneously economize their
time at disposal. One composition frequently used for these types of recitations, and
which here deserves special attention, is Guru Arjan’s beloved poem Sukhmani Sahib.
THE PRECIOUS JEWEL OF PEACE
Of all compositions drawn from Guru Granth Sahib and recited in liturgies and
ceremonies, Sukhmani Sahib is undoubtedly one of the most popular in the Sikh community
today. The lengthy poem is divided into twenty-four parts called asthapadi,
each of which comprises an introductory couplet (shalok), followed by a set of eight
stanzas. Local tales often narrate how Guru Arjan composed Sukhmani Sahib at Amritsar
on the request of the congregation, pleading for a divine hymn that could pacify
the restless mind and heart of humans. The Guru therefore gave them the precious
gift of Sukhmani – “the jewel of sukh”. In common parlance the compound of the two
words sukh and mani is often translated into “the peace-giving jewel” (sujh den vali
mani), or the gem which provides happiness and peace of mind/heart. 455 Why
Sukhmani Sahib has gained popularity is said to be due to the beauty of its expressions
and thoughts, praising the splendour of the divine name as the means towards liberation,
and the comprehensible language of the text. If the semantic content and language
of other gurbani texts, such as Chaupai Sahib and other compositions attributed
to Guru Gobind Singh, are deemed linguistically challenging, ordinary people can
easily read, understand and enjoy the epigrammatic style of Sukhmani Sahib. Each of
the almost 2000 lines of the composition is believed to store powerful meanings, and
individual ashtapadis evoke stories about the blissful result from reading the verses. 456
455
For different interpretations of the term Sukhmani, consult Guinness 1980.
456
One man, for instance, told the following story related to the first asthapadi of Sukhmani
Sahib: “There was a beggar who went to Guru ji and complained about his poverty. The Guru ji
said,”There are two words, just two words, prabh ke simran [the remembrance of God], if you
recite these you will get all you that you can wish for. The beggar agreed and he started to recite
the two words. After this, another man came to Guru ji and said, “Let me take this beggar to my
fields in Punjab.” The beggar got a job. A second time he went back to Guru ji and said, “You
have given me all this, but now tell me what to do. I want children.” Again Guru ji told him to
recite these two words. The man got children. A third time the man went to Guru ji and said,
“Now I got all things in life. I got children and the landowner gave me his fields. I do not want
anything else but to be closer to you. I want to reach you.” For the third time Guru ji told him to
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008