INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

Thy command. Thine condition and extent, Thou alone knowest.
Nanak, a slave of Thine is ever a sacrifice unto Thee. 560
Most Sikhs are well-acquainted with the couplet and the melodious singing of it,
which in the performance context works as a musical marker, signaling that a reading
of Ardas will follow. The sound of this melody usually induces people to immediately
take up a standing bodily posture. When the congregation stands with folded hands
facing Guru Granth Sahib, the officiator usually begins with a verbal invocation,
either by reciting one selected gurbani hymn that is appropriate for the occasion, or, as
is more common in Varanasi, repeating the divine name (Satnam Vahiguru) a few
times, before the actual reading starts. From the religious standpoint, this and similar
verbal markers preceding Ardas and other performances are a type of simran intended
to invoke the divine name and settle the human mind and heart on remembrance
and meditation on God. The subsequent reading of the Ardas text will be divided into
separate parts which are marked by the officiators’ exhortation of “utter” (bolo ji),
whereupon the entire congregation exclaims the gurmantra ‒ Vahiguru! Throughout
the reading the leader is thus urging the participants to call out the divine name and
receives a joint response from all present.
As with most sacred texts of the Sikhs, Ardas is read in a quoting manner. But
contrary to other recitations the supplication affords an opportunity to express gratitude,
wishes or requests from individuals or the community. The last part of the
prayer supplies a break in the text, or a textual “opening”, in which people may insert
and present personal or collective petitions to God and additional gurbani verses
appropriate for the particular occasion. Accordingly, when people are performing or
arranging recitations or any other performance for some special cause or purpose,
they may formulate these reasons in the Sikh prayer. In this way Ardas holds a significant
instrumental function as it offers a way to verbally express the motives of
religious action, or as a middle-aged woman put it: “When doing a path you have to
do Ardas. If not, it is like writing a letter without mentioning the addressee - the letter
won’t reach.” Because of the divine nature of gurbani texts they are always rendered
in verbatim and do not allow for insertion of any verbal supplements of the performer.
If the reciter wants to express or communicate personal wishes or reasons for
conducting a recitation, she or he will have to add a performance of Ardas before and
after the recitation. The textual opening at the end of the Ardas text allows for this
communication. Consequently, any gurbani recitation is always embedded within a
much wider performance structure and supplemented with an Ardas by means of
which individuals or the community may express their motives and desired goals.
In the textual “opening” of Ardas, the granthi or the attendant in duty usually
inserts one or several supplementary verses from the Guru Granth Sahib which are
considered suitable and favourable for the cause of presenting the supplication. These
supportive stanzas are always recited without any break prior to the presentation of
560
GGS: 268.
329
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008