INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

4. A middle-aged woman
It is singing the praises of God. Everything is from Guru Granth Sahib
ji only, so they [the ragis] are trying to bring it out [gurbani] in a singing
manner. All the things we are reading every day, but when you listen
to them it feels nice because you can understand gurbani better when it
is performed in a singing manner. By this you feel closer to God. By listening
to kirtan I feel that I am closer to God.
5. A middle-aged businessman
Kirtan is listening to the bani of Guru Granth Sahib ji by singing... it
comes by listening. By music we grasp fast, because it is attractive. In
Sikhism we say you should sing only the Gurus’ bani, not anyone else’s
bani.
6. An elderly man
It is reciting the name of God. We sing the hymns (shabads). The hymns
(shabads) we take in the musical form, that is kirtan. During nam simran
we take God’s name without instruments. That is also kirtan, because
in that we recite the shabads. It does not matter if you have instruments,
even without [instruments] it is considered as kirtan.
7. An elderly woman
Kirtan is a feeling that comes in you. It is very hard to explain in words.
When we are taking food … like if a person who cannot speak will eat
a good meal, he will not be able to tell the taste of it. It is similar like
that. We enjoy, but we are not able to explain it in words. It is another
level of language.
8. An elderly man
When you sing gurbani on stage that is kirtan. Then other people can
also enjoy it. You make them listen to it. If you are reading at home, for
yourself, reciting or reading in your heart, then it is gurbani. Just by
reading yourself, you benefit. But by doing kirtan, you benefit and you
also give chance to others to benefit
As these excerpts of interviews illustrate, the main function of kirtan is to mediate and
clarify gurbani. More simplified definitions of kirtan would read, “Gurbani set to music
(sangit)”, “singing words”, or “hymns sung in a musical way”, as some of my interlocutors
put it. Drawing parallels to Hindu devotional music, people may argue that
bhajans are man-made music with a verbal content drawn from the “outside”, that is,
from different sources of poetry, whereas Sikh kirtan is solely based on sacred words
quoted from the “inside” of Guru Granth Sahib and therefore regarded more spiritual
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008