INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

anecdotes with quoted hymns. 529 One can presume that a creative oral retelling of
stories on the Sikh Gurus and expounding on gurbani hymns was a key feature of
Sikh worship and operated parallel to the written narrative and exegetical traditions.
At the present the notion of katha evokes associations to a variety of practices.
On auspicious days in the calendar, such as the full-moon day, Sikh women may
observe a “fast” (vrat) that implies abstinence from water, food, or particular types of
food, and recite a story on Guru Nanak (puranmashi katha). 530 The “sacrifice” of the
fast in combination with the oral rendering of the narrative is used as a means to
procure protection and blessings for themselves and family members. In domestic
settings anecdotes on the lives of the Sikhs Gurus are continually re-told to children
for didactical purposes. In times of disorder and emotional distress, such as after the
death of a beloved family member, people will seek comfort and peace in oral renditions
of these stories. Katha can exist in ordinary discussions and conversations as
well. Sikhs who have appropriated large portions of the Guru Granth Sahib through
memorization tend to employ a formulaic and proverbial use of stanzas from the
scripture and anecdotes of the Gurus’ lives. Whenever they are to illustrate and legitimize
subjective standpoints, moral deliberations and interpretations in ordinary
discussions they automatically quote gurbani stanzas and tap anecdotes on the Sikh
Gurus from their resources of memorized texts. 531
On a daily basis the granthi is responsible for a creative expanding of the Sikh
scripture to community members as he is expected to interpret the hymn which constitutes
the Hukam and verses that occur in other worship acts. In a stricter sense of
the word, however, katha refers to the oral exegesis staged as a performance in the
gurdwara by professional Sikh exegetes or musicians. The local ragi jatha play a vital
role in keeping the katha tradition alive by integrating expositions of gurbani in the
daily performances of devotional music. The leader of the group may first sing a line
or hymn from the Guru Granth Sahib accompanied with music. He will then bring a
central theme into focus and clarify spiritual and moral meanings of the content. To
support his interpretation the ragi may refer to other passages in the Guru Granth
Sahib and summarize anecdotes from the lives of saint-poets and devout Sikh disciples.
The alternation between formal renderings of stanzas and vocal expositions is,
as we shall see, a standard method of revealing the semantic properties of gurbani.
529
As Mcleod observes, listening to stories about Guru Nanak was regarded by the janam-sakhi
narrators as way to attain liberation (McLeod 1980a: 106 ff).
530
On vrat and the stories (vrat katha) related to the ritual discipline in the Hindu tradition, see
McGee 1991, Pearson 1996, Menzies 2004.
531
As I experienced in many interview situations with Sikh performers, an ordinary conversation
on a religious topic often turns into a katha-like discourse in which the speaker will cite a
line of reference from Guru Granth Sahib and tell anecdotes from the lives of the Sikh Gurus.
The punch line of the story will epitomize his or her subjective positions or interpretations.
303
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008