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and took up a discipline to recite hymns from morning to evening. The outline of the political conditions in Punjab corresponds in the main with the approach of Sikh historians. 698 In 1756 the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded India for the fourth time and Punjab was annexed to his Empire. As the chief of Kartarpur, Vadbhag Singh conflicted with the new governor in Lahore (Tahmur Shah) and his military adjutant in Jalandhar (Nasir Ali) when two traveling Afghan officers were murdered in Kartarpur. In the hagiography this event forms the prelude to very hostile relations with the new rulers before the Sikhs, conjointly with the former Muslim governor of Jalandhar (Adina Beg Khan), defeated and later expelled the Afghans from Punjab in 1758. The narration of Vadbhag Singh’s deeds during the invasive years is painted in salient heroic and devotional color, embroidered with several moral allusions. Throughout the story he holds the centre stage and all events are performed in relation to him. He unites the dispersed Sikhs living in forests and commands them on the battlefield. He is a courageous warrior and the principal political character, sometimes invested with a surprising retaliatory harshness. When Nasir Ali is captured in the last battle Vadbhag Singh orders his Sikhs to burn the governor alive, just as he had burnt down gurdwaras. Simultaneously his character evinces strong sentimental traits. When he hears about the seducing of women, burning of gurdwaras, killing of cows and converting of Hindus by the Muslims, his heart becomes so sad that he cries blood instead of tears. Additionally and above all, he is the ideal Sikh saint, devoted to gurbani and the Sikh sangat, who acts by divine orders. Vadbhag Singh is the ideal Sikh saint-soldier personified. Where the empirical history of Vadbhag Singh more or less dries up ‒ he leaves Kartarpur for good and resides in the mountains until his death ‒ the hagiography approaches its narrative climax. After the final defeat over the Durrani army Vadbhag Singh indulges himself in religious propaganda and social service of the community. Gurdwaras are reconstructed and courts of Guru Granth Sahib are decorated again. In the post-war situation, however, evil forces emerge through other channels and this marks a new beginning of the jivan-sakhi: In the world at that time hypocrisy, deception, insincerity and sins were increasing, the demons of sorcery, cemeteries, ghosts and Muslim spirits spread out. Many people started to play by hitting their heads. The body gave terrible sounds. 699 After witnessing these sufferings Vadbhag Singh reaches a moral turning point: he must do something for the welfare of humanity. It is here that the story takes a turn. 698 It is possible to assume the historical existence of Vadbhag Singh, even if the history is relatively taciturn about his life. See e.g. Gupta 1998. The story of Vadbhag Singh’s defence of Jalandhar is mentioned in Guru Panth Prakash by Ratan Singh Bhangu (Bhai Vir Singh 1982). 699 Jivan Sakhi Baba Vadbhag Singh Ji Sodhi, p. 57 440 Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008
The enemy is no longer a human identifiable entity, but spiritual beings and more abstract predicaments of humanity. It is not a question of protecting and defending women, society, and country by the force of arms but other means are required to remedy humanity from suffering. Soon Vadbhag Singh comes to the conclusion that only simran, remembering of the divine name, can relieve the suffering. In one day he assigns all social obligations to his wife Bibi Bhani and takes a vow to perform worship as a hermit. With a mattress, a standard, a horse and a parrot in a cage he departs for the Darshani passage in the mountainous area. After a bath in a river he finds a jujube tree under which he places his seat and sets up his standard beside it. Under this tree a total of three episodes are enacted. First of all Vadbhag Singh acquires the auspicious sight of God and receives a divine sanction for his mission: The respected Timeless Creator gave darshan to Baba ji and said: - Brother, because of what have you come to this place and what is your wish by doing worship? Baba ji said: - Kindly you gave darshan to me, I do not wish anything more. I have just come here for the welfare of the sad world. The Lord Creator Benefactor ji said: - From today your devotion became verified in the house of Vahiguru. As long as this world will exist, your name will shine and also whoever comes to your door with reverence, his/her wish will come true. 700 Vadbhag Singh falls asleep in the shadow of the tree. From a distance a shepherd boy descries him and becomes frightened at the sight, as the boy knows that a fearsome ghost resides in the tree. The shepherd wakes him up to warn him, but the hermit calmly explains that no ghost can scare a person who does simran of the divine name. As the shepherd anxiously hurries home the horrible ghost, Nahar Singh Bir, appears and causes a terrible storm, a typhoon and thunder, to frighten the hermit off from his ghostly abode. By means of reciting two verses from Guru Granth Sahib, 701 Vadbhag Singh creates a ramkar, a sacred circle protecting him from the ghost attack. When Nahar Singh Bir realizes that the hermit will not leave his place, the ghost flies into a rage and brings an army of a hundred thousand of ghosts to assail him. But every ghost who enters the ramkar is reduced to ashes when Vadbhag Singh again recites two more gurbani hymns. 702 In fear the ghosts retreat and ask him from a distance to fight with them. While reciting gurbani, Vadbhag Singh takes water from a hollow gourd and sprinkles the ghosts, whose power promptly vanishes. The ghosts 700 Jivan Sakhi Baba Vadbhag Singh Ji Sodhi, p. 58 ‒ 59. 701 GGS: 677, 819. The latter hymn of Guru Arjan contains the metaphor of a protective circle which provides divine protection. 702 GGS: 6, 749 ‒ 750. 441 Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008
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Kristina Myrvold INSIDE THE GURU’
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Kristina Myrvold INSIDE THE GURU’
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Published on www.anpere.net in May
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PREFACE My research on the Sikhs in
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Singh Mann. He has provided me much
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CONTENTS PREFACE CONTENTS LIST OF F
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3. FROM MANTRAS TO UNBROKEN READING
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Seeking Divine Assistance 426 The H
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L I S T O F F IGURES 1. Sikh popula
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INTRODUCTION When I first arrived a
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on Sikh conceptualizations and inte
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and suffer from physical or mental
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language and society. 10 In respons
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should focus on the culture-specifi
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At the same time an oral transmissi
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take up a great deal of space. The
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compositions for those who lived an
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debates, Douglas (1970) observed th
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itual theorists in recent decades h
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Humphrey & Laidlaw’s claim to pre
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their reasons and motives for engag
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ety. 75 Instead I made the study ce
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had witnessed and confirmed that I
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a method, which implies patience, h
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division which grants women an acti
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O N E THE SIKHS IN VARANASI IN SEA
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the life and deeds of Guru Nanak. T
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ies and how these processes are ins
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particular ethnic background. The s
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appeared before Guru Tegh Bahadur w
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NANAK-PANTHIS AND PUNJABI SINGHS In
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who were “wholly of a worldly and
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litical actions would creep into th
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POST-PARTITION In the Census report
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to move to the house of their husba
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taught through individual reading p
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The historical presence of Punjabi
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more inclined towards ritual worshi
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propagate the Sikh religion. For Ba
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The Khalsa ceremony itself is pregn
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sify their religion as a synthesis
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vented Jhulelal as the prime God of
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HISTORY OF THE GURDWARA COMMITTEE A
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venerated family members, who natur
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the city testify that Sabharwal was
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near the airport in the outskirts o
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thorities consequently shut up the
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campus. This changed drastically wi
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Another popular non-profit organiza
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micro-discursive accomplishment tha
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identity to maintain a separate tra
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The Valaitvali Janam-sakhi carries
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events are plotted according to a m
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Gurus. Other Nirmala establishments
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of the story. This is accomplished
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Ram pursued this knowledge from the
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The three pandits are also attribut
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transformation of those in the soci
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assistance. It held a small room ar
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commemoration day of Guru Tegh Baha
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nectar-water. 233 Subsequently, all
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often epitomize key persons and mom
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Guru Gobind Singh meditates in the
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living moment during which examples
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T W O INSIDE THE GURU’S GATE CON
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don’t have a guru there will be d
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speaking of interaction contexts th
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Nanak perceived himself as a messen
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K: So were the Sikh Gurus of divine
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irth in the form of Guru Nanak Dev
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During his life time he waved the c
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“Nanak says” within individual
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answers are indicative of the exten
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procession to Amritsar. To honor th
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IMPLICATIONS OF SCRIPTURAL SUCCESSI
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shown that cosmologies and systems
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With the shift of authority, the sa
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divine messages and enjoy the same
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Local Sikhs will say that the Guru
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PERSONIFYING A TEXT For students of
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oth persons and inanimate “things
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they also construct and maintain so
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ciprocity, either for purely devoti
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keeping langar can be traced back t
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A JURIDICAL PERSON Perhaps the most
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Guru. In a practice-oriented approa
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large number of sites and buildings
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or on the roof terrace. One family
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gurdwara, or when they visit Sikh p
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said that people pay respect to Nis
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Nishan sahib in the courtyard, and
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Gurus and weapons that have belonge
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people”. To set up a place at whi
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emnizing Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind
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scriptures at their houses may visi
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ply the audience with an expositive
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ized undertakings, such as collecti
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edroom, between which the scripture
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ple in the ordinary social structur
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To illustrate the significances whi
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mon identity in the egalitarian com
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the time of our conversations and c
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MEDIATORS OF GURBANI In Varanasi th
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to neighboring congregations. The r
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GRACED GUIDES Whereas the above-men
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audiocassettes and distributed worl
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The performers I interviewed had ga
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for an aspiring granthi, Bhai Jiopa
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tation practices, which from a reli
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ing. He should know the full Ardas
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lieved to make his performances mor
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pages is eternal and will never be
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were hard to read and required that
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When SGPC released the first one-vo
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ture is thus conceived as a Guru to
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prior to the physical touching of b
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Sangat cleaning the road Panj Py
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order to keep the route pure in hon
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ered. In equally many homes the you
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ises do not satisfy these requireme
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establishes new bonds between the G
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the ashes in large bedecked urns an
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tion conducted the cremation ceremo
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congregate in the scriptural hospic
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Granth Sahib has its own life-cycle
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T H R E E FROM MANTRAS TO UNBROKEN
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ogy has made it possible to mass-pr
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The ultimate learning of gurbani is
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social life and mind. As such, reci
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night, which marks the break of a n
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the hair is veiled and the feet are
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ought to an end by reading Kirtan S
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MEMORIZED HYMNS (Number of informan
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Looking at the ways in which Amritd
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etween human and God, either to see
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India, the notion of chilla denotes
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able to complete and make a promise
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ecited after the Guru Granth Sahib
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(Akhand path), which is to be perfo
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RECITING THE GURU GRANTH SAHIB Sinc
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The Sikhs have developed various sy
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work in Varanasi I quickly lost cou
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formance has been located to the do
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of the scripture in one hour, but t
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Hukam and render the verse twice be
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professional reciters who read in r
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of an Akhand path performed after t
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cal savour of the divine that is be
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(path), music (kirtan) and distribu
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The two types of nectars have power
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The Guru’s wife added sugar becau
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water. An elderly Amritdhari woman,
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the musical components of kirtan sh
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and genuine. Preserving the origina
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standings and experiences of gurban
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DAILY SERVICES In a gurdwara there
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Whichever of these ragas they selec
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mind and affects the audience’s p
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verses and the fortieth verse of th
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to understand. Because of the scrip
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anecdotes with quoted hymns. 529 On
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moral point or a religious idea in
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discussions in the congregation and
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and sangat-pangat - the holy congre
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- “This will happen. I have decid
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Bhai Gurdas (1551-1636), the term V
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liable to spirit possession and oth
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devotional activities. The young ma
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the name. The musician may lead the
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Simran sadhna on cassette In additi
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modern interpretations of the Sikh
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Guru Gobind Singh when he formed th
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ATTENTIVE BODY POSTURE The most dis
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Thy command. Thine condition and ex
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all the desires and tasks are accom
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easons and motives. In the textual
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The rendering of Ardas thus stands
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God. Seva has power to cultivate hu
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of the divine name, to emphasize th
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heavy mud. When Sikhs became aware
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Although the perfect devotee should
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eing presented as offerings to the
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F O U R PRACTICES IN TIMES OF ORDE
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following descriptive account on Si
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pregnancy. 590 When a newly wed cou
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themes of a written gurbani hymn de
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ery, unless she falls ill or for so
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It is noteworthy that the amrit giv
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while uttering the name of God (Vah
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identify the bearer’s geographica
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as to how to wash, dry and comb the
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code of conduct. As he said, all ha
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When a Sikh couple and good friends
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the woman. Emotionally these suhag
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ing a married woman and which she s
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their parents are requested to stan
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ide’s brother then escorts her to
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his bed to make him prepared for th
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When the relatives from Punjab arri
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The dead body is brought into the c
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did not require the attention of ot
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Sikh woman said: “We used to ask
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hand path of the Guru Granth Sahib
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Page 423 and 424: Children representing the panj pyar
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Page 427 and 428: Nagar kirtan is a means for propaga
Page 429 and 430: Immediately after Arti, the granthi
Page 431 and 432: In the evening of the gurpurub the
Page 433 and 434: on North Indian festivals. 665 In t
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Page 437 and 438: At Varanasi, like many other places
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Page 443 and 444: punishments for misdeeds they have
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Page 447 and 448: One verse which stood out remarkabl
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Page 451 and 452: as they are believed to be unsatisf
Page 453 and 454: But Mata ji’s death was not defin
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Page 457: BABA VADBHAG SINGH When I first met
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Page 467 and 468: F I V E CONSTRUCTING MEANINGS CONT
Page 469 and 470: interpretation of activities define
Page 471 and 472: action. 714 These constructs may in
Page 473 and 474: CONTEXUALIZATION AND ENTEXTUALIZATI
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Page 477 and 478: Another discourse somewhat relevant
Page 479 and 480: As Austin argues, performative utte
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Page 491 and 492: Examples of STATED REASONS FOR PERF
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Page 495 and 496: name of the deceased. Some said the
Page 497 and 498: etween the two references. The gurb
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Page 503 and 504: engaging in religious action. The w
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Page 507 and 508: divine writing (likhna). 802 The fo
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with the divine words through conti
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life... that I do not have to suffe
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SAMMANFATTNING PÅ SVENSKA (SUMMARY
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minoritet i en hinduisk pilgrimssta
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GURPURUBS IN THE NANAKSHAHI CALENDA
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POH (DECEMBER/JANUARY) Prakash diva
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Divali Katak People perform puja to
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GLOSSARY OF SELECTED FOREIGN TERMS
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Jap - meditation and repetition of
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Ragi - a professional singer of kir
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REFERENCES ABBREVIATIONS GGS Guru G
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Amrit Kirtan[Nectar Praises (Punjab
Page 533 and 534:
Anand, G. S. 1970. ”Guru Tegh Bah
Page 535 and 536:
Briggs, Geo. W. 1997 (1920). The Ch
Page 537 and 538:
Fenech, Louis E. 2003. “Conversat
Page 539 and 540:
Hein, Norvin. 1972. The Miracle Pla
Page 541 and 542:
Kaushal, Molly (ed.). 2001. Chanted
Page 543 and 544:
― (ed.). 1990. India through Hind
Page 545 and 546:
Nijhawan, Michael. 2006a. “Ritual
Page 547 and 548:
Schildkrout, Enid. 2004. “Inscrib
Page 549 and 550:
Singh, Gurnek. 1998. Guru Granth Sa
Page 551 and 552:
Veidlinger, Daniel. 2006. “When a
Page 553 and 554:
LUND STUDIES IN HISTORY OF RELIGION
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