INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

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have? Again, what is the aim of devotion, according to local Sikhs? To exemplify the ultimate meanings people may assign worship, I will below quote a few responses that emerged when my interlocutors were asked to explain their aims and goals of devotion. A young woman For peace of mind. I cannot say it is to become immortal. No one will gain immortality in the present age. A young man There are two aims of devotion: moksh and that life proceeds happily. A person wishes to spend his life happily. To reach God he worships the Guru. When a person goes on this path he wants to get a happy life in the next birth, he wants to be born into a rich family. If his [present] life passes happily he wants to be happy in the next life too. A suffering person does not want that life again, he wants a happy life. A middle-aged woman My attention is on God and I do as well as I can. Doing good things is a duty. I do not care what I will gain. I just do it. I do not ask anything from God. Just do good work and do not care about the results. A middle-aged woman I want to be closer to him. When you are praising God for his sake, not because you want favours, then you are closer to him. We are seldom praising God for God’s sake. We make God a shelter for personal requirements. When I recite gurbani and listen to kirtan I feel like I am being closer to God. I try to follow the Guru’s teaching, I try to do that, because otherwise my mind would be completely caught up in the daily duties. A middle-aged woman We read in gurbani that by doing recitations we will get this, by doing another thing we will gain that. Therefore we carry out devotion. We think that God will give us something in the coming age. A middle-aged man For the peace and prosperity [sukhshanti] of my family. For my peace and prosperity in this life. A middle-aged man All this is for not meeting with troubles. That everything goes well with my small family. That my children will live better after me. It is also for the next 492 Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008
life... that I do not have to suffer in hell. By doing seva you can pass by the rebirths [yonis], by doing that you get over them. An elderly woman To gain happiness for the children and peace of the house. To gain good things for the next life. An elderly woman You will always face troubles, but you can easily get over them if you are taking the name of God. By taking the name of God all troubles go away. An elderly man The place from which you came, to that place you will return. The rainwater falls to the ground, goes into a river, which merges with the ocean. By the power of the sun it will get back to the sky to become rainwater again. It is just a play [khel]. The deeper you will go into it the more complicated it will be. No one is able to tell you that path. Only when God gives you grace you will know it. An elderly man For pureness of mind/heart. For good in next life. If I am reciting Ram, Ram, Ram it will bring me on the path of God. It will free me from bad thoughts and tension. Who has seen the next life? We have to do good karma, not be cheating. If I cheat then I will feel like a cheater and I think God will punish me for that. If you do good action then I will get a good rebirth. In the divine play the world is seen as the arena for rewards and punishments of conducts in this life and future life-forms that will be decided after the event of death. Rather than visualizing a release from the cycle of transmigration, which is difficult or even impossible to attain in the present age, the majority of respondents seemed to define the ultimate goal of devotion in terms of rewards in this and coming lives. The care of one’s beloved was especially a strong motive, sometimes more powerful than desired individual gains. Considerably many saw their devotional practices as attempts to protect and secure the wellbeing of themselves and their family members. Being reborn into a human life-form in the next life was the primary goal of devotion. While some expressed their wishes to meet with somewhat better conditions, concerning health and prosperity, others emphasized that only in a human birth is the soul able to sustain and develop a closer relationship with the Guru. In a longer exposition a middle-aged man distinguished between different significations of the word mukti, of which some were in a human life-form and only one implicated a release from the cycle of rebirths. Liberation was, in his view, to be reborn with a human body and intellect since only this life-form provided possibilities to praise and remember God, perform recitations, and receive darshan of God. He also 493 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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On the thirteenth day or the sevent
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ation of a deceased person justifie
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solar Gregorian calendar, while mos
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in the Sikh history: the birth of G
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The Nanakshahi samat jantri which i
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particular deity or deities in the
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a main attraction on anniversary da
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the practice of simran and during t
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Children representing the panj pyar
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pants who represent different Sikh
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Nagar kirtan is a means for propaga
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Immediately after Arti, the granthi
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In the evening of the gurpurub the
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on North Indian festivals. 665 In t
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ulate the fire for an uneven number
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At Varanasi, like many other places
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customary Arti ceremony was perform
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about the humble Bhai Kanhaiya, off
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punishments for misdeeds they have
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The most common approach to allevia
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One verse which stood out remarkabl
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water from Sitala Mandir near river
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as they are believed to be unsatisf
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But Mata ji’s death was not defin
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was the shadow of a Muslim girl, a
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BABA VADBHAG SINGH When I first met
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Page 461 and 462: where Vadbhag Singh continues his s
Page 463 and 464: connection with this event Kuku ji
Page 465 and 466: pected decline in a business is sus
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
Page 475 and 476: texualization can be achieved throu
Page 477 and 478: Another discourse somewhat relevant
Page 479 and 480: As Austin argues, performative utte
Page 481 and 482: nous “performativist” to the mo
Page 483 and 484: and religious ceremonies, discourse
Page 485 and 486: concern for the formal character of
Page 487 and 488: the human Gurus, Guru Granth Sahib
Page 489 and 490: Satnam Vahiguru in a repetitive man
Page 491 and 492: Examples of STATED REASONS FOR PERF
Page 493 and 494: shall arrange Akhand path “for th
Page 495 and 496: name of the deceased. Some said the
Page 497 and 498: etween the two references. The gurb
Page 499 and 500: Guru, which is always adaptable to
Page 501 and 502: variations with the eternal “cano
Page 503 and 504: engaging in religious action. The w
Page 505 and 506: ealization is presented in terms of
Page 507 and 508: divine writing (likhna). 802 The fo
Page 509: with the divine words through conti
Page 513 and 514: SAMMANFATTNING PÅ SVENSKA (SUMMARY
Page 515 and 516: minoritet i en hinduisk pilgrimssta
Page 517 and 518: GURPURUBS IN THE NANAKSHAHI CALENDA
Page 519 and 520: POH (DECEMBER/JANUARY) Prakash diva
Page 521 and 522: Divali Katak People perform puja to
Page 523 and 524: GLOSSARY OF SELECTED FOREIGN TERMS
Page 525 and 526: Jap - meditation and repetition of
Page 527 and 528: Ragi - a professional singer of kir
Page 529 and 530: REFERENCES ABBREVIATIONS GGS Guru G
Page 531 and 532: 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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