INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

pected decline in a business is suspected of being caused by the evil eye, he will give
a lime fruit to hang in the shop as protection and recommend the owner to recite
gurbani verses for a fixed period of time.
The most common ritual instrument used for physical and mental ailments is
amrit imbued with gurbani verses. By reciting selected hymns from the Sikh scripture
over water Kuku ji says he “medicates” the water which is transformed into nectar
with the potential to heal, protect and purify the suffering body. This amrit can be
prepared anywhere and only requires clean water and a receptacle of any kind, like a
glass or bottle, which the clients should bring with them. When preparing nectar
water Kuku ji may recite a specific shabad three times and after that shakes, blows or
stirs the water with his right forefinger to make the fluid fully imbued with gurbani.
The whole procedure is performed in a couple of minutes. The clients may drink the
substance immediately or mix a few drops with the ordinary drinking water. Kuku ji
will instruct them to keep the amrit in a safe and high up place at the house and always
touch it with clean hands. Before any consumption of the healing water the
client should remember God and sometimes recite gurbani verses. On special occasions,
like the full-moon day, Kuku ji sometimes distributes nectar-water to all visitors
along with the communal meal. To prepare a large quantity of amrit he takes out
a glass of water from the family’s household reservoir, recites gurbani over it, and
then pours the fluid back. All water in the tank is thereby converted to a favorable
amrit.
Barrenness make up a great deal of the cases at Kuku ji’s practice and it is usually
the women who seek help and are treated for infertility. In these cases water is
exchanged for fruits such as mango, apple and guava depending on the season. In the
same way as the preparation of amrit Kuku ji medicates the fruit with gurbani for
ingestion. The woman is adviced to carefully keep the fruit in her amcal, the hem or
end of the sari that covers the breasts of the wearer, and at sunrise eat the complete
fruit with pulp, pip and peel. 709
Kuku ji claims that the particular gurbani hymn he employs in a healing situation
comes to him by divine support. One hymn which he frequently used and attributed
power to relieve all physical problems was the previously quoted composition
of Guru Arjan in the measure Bilawal (See 3.1. in this Chapter). All kinds of bodily
problems can be cured by drinking the nectar of this hymn or by touching the acing
body part while reciting, he said. The choice of this particular composition again
illustrates the tendency to ascribe excerpts from the Sikh scripture perlocutionary
effects when texts are ritually performed. In one line of the mentioned gurbani hymn
Guru Arjan writes: “He [the perfect Guru] has given me the medicine of the Lord’s
name and I have enshrined love for the One Lord.” 710 In the healing situation the
hymn which contains the word medicine is attributed agentive power to cure suffering
patients. The notion that recitations of gurbani evoke divine protection and work
709
The mango pip is too big to swallow and should instead be buried.
710
GGS: 819.
447
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008