INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

The most common approach to alleviate sufferings in times of dukh is to recite
gurbani by oneself or have someone else do it on behalf of the afflicted person. It has
already been described (in Chapter 3) that Sikhs have developed numerous methods
of reciting particular gurbani verses, which are attributed a variety of positive effects
on humans depending on the content and sentiment the texts evoke. When the ordinary
state of affairs are in some or another way disturbed, the Sikhs will specify particular
gurbani hymn which they take refuge in. Recitations of Guru Gobind Singh’s
composition Chaupai Sahib, for instance, are frequently alleged to provide divine protection
and make the human mind/heart courageous and fearless. A Sikh woman in
her sixties used to recite this hymn whenever she got into a rickshaw in the street,
believing it would protect her from road accidents. A Sikh man of a younger age said
he had performed Chaupai Sahib five times when his mother ran a high fever at night
and fifteen minutes subsequent to the recitation her temperature went down. Recitations
of Guru Arjan’s beloved work Sukhmani Sahib is similarly attributed several
significations. When a relative becomes seriously ill many make a promise to recite
this text either five or twenty-one times daily for forty days, sometimes for the purpose
of alleviating sufferings and even curing diseases.
The majority of my informants stated that they used the popular anthologies of
gurbani verses particularly adjusted to times of crisis and suffering: Dukh Bhanjani
Sahib which is “the destroyer of suffering,” and Sankat Mochan or “the savior from
troubles.” A younger Sikh woman recounted how she had cured her disabled uncle
when a wound on his body became infected. When doctors diagnosed the case as
hopeless she committed herself to a forty-day long recitation period of Dukh Bhanjani
Sahib. In the customary manner she kept a pot of water beside her and sprinkled the
sanctified water in the house and on her uncle. She verified that her uncle restored
health after her treatment.
A glance at any of the different versions of these anthologies will mirror that the
concept of dukh involves far more than physical illness. In Sankat Mochan the 108
mentioned purposes for which the separate verses are to be recited concern both
spiritual, social and material gains. Recitations can be conducted to gain mental and
domestic peace, protection from vices and evil forces in humans, the atmosphere or
dreams, to obtain money, good company, religious merits, and even salvation, or to
rectify the order which have been disturbed in different social relationships. Some
verses are specifically adjusted to crucial moments in life, such as before childbirth,
marriage, at the possibility of being promoted or when receiving a verdict at court.
The prescribed verses in these ritual handbooks often bear traces of a traditional agricultural
life by referring to harvest fortunes and regional Punjabi cults, but also reflect
migration and modernization in current times. There are verses to recite for the purpose
of mitigating troubles on travels to foreign country with aeroplane, or to protect
sons residing abroad and gain success in a business one has established in foreign
land. 683
683
See e.g. Giani Narain Singh’s version of Sankat Mochan.
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008