INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

MULTIPLE CONTEXTS: MULTIPLE MEANINGS
Many Sikhs in Varanasi would say that Akhand path is the greatest type of worship,
even comparable to the horse sacrifice in Vedic times. Contrary to this, Sikh reformists
sometimes point out that Akhand path indeed served a practical function in the
past when people had restricted access to written editions of the scripture, but the
highly formal way to recite the scripture today obscures true comprehension of the
Guru’s teaching. To reformists the staging of Akhand path has become one of the more
ritualized events in the Sikh life. As I described in Chapter 3, the performance of
Akhand path constitutes a larger event which contains several stipulated verbal and
nonverbal acts that frame and run parallel to the actual reading from the scripture.
Usually, the enactment is handed over to professional reciters who complete the
recitation within forty-eight hours. Chapter 4 further illustrated that Akhand path
makes an integral part of Sikh life-cycle rites and festivals, and is carried out in various
life situations to seek divine assistance. Below I will exemplify how Akhand path
can be attributed multiple meanings depending upon the situational and shifting
contexts in which to the performance occurs.
When I first began to analyze my field data, I tried to typologize different stated
motives and functions of Akhand path (based on performance contexts and themes,
such as protection, thanksgiving, commemoration, etc.), which frequently recurred in
the accounts of my interlocutors. I soon realized that if I were to follow a typology
strictly I would be compelled to exclude many reasons (and the absence of reasons)
and create a classification of motive types that would either reflect a false objectivity
or develop into infinite dimensions. The performance of Akhand path seems to have a
quality of being open for a variety of verbally articulated motives of both a secular
and a religious nature. Local Sikhs may say they arrange the recitation for success in a
business venture or an examination; for divine support and protection in times of
illness; to thank God for fortunate events that have occurred or just because the heart
and mind “feel for it”. The list of stated motives is long (See Figure 28).
Other interlocutors may also reveal that they do not need any specific reason for
staging an Akhand path; it is simply a custom that should be performed at regular
intervals, or they do it because they have the required financial resources and other
community members also do it. Clients who are sponsoring an Akhand path may
choose to keep their name and private motives secret from the community. During
my stay at Varanasi this happened in a few cases, when not even the pathis knew for
which cause they were performing the recitation. To keep the motives confidential is
not treated with suspicion but explicated from a theological framework: God is the
“knower of inner things” (antar jami) and can see people’s inner thoughts. It is therefore
not necessary to utter one’s motives for the performance. According to the granthis
in Varanasi, they have never refused a sponsoring client on account of dubious
reasons. One of them stated: “It is our duty to do Akhand path. I won’t even refuse my
enemy. If I did that it would bring disgrace to this place. People come here with hope
and we have to help them.”
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008