ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>B&#256&#7750&#298</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BF*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279B&#256&#7750&#298, Sanskrit <i>v&#257&#7751&#299</i> (meaning sound, voice, music; speech, language, diction; praise, laudation), refers in the specifically Sikh context to the sacred compositions of the Gur&#363s and of the holy saints and s&#363f&#299s as incorporated in the Scripture, the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Compositions of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh comprising the <i>Dasam Granth</i> are also referred to as B&#257&#7751&#299. For Sikhs, B&#257&#7751&#299 or the compound Gurb&#257&#7751&#299 (Gur&#363's b&#257&#7751&#299) is the revealed word. Revelation is defined as the way God discloses and communicates Himself to humanity. There are different views on how he does this. The Hindu belief is that God occasionally becomes incarnate as an <i>avat&#257r</i> and thus communicates Himself through his word and action while living on this earth. For the Muslims the revelation consists in actual words in the form of direct messages conveyed from God through an angel, Gabriel, to the Prophet. Another belief is that God communicates not the form but the content of the words, i. e. knowledge, to man. A related view is that, as a result of the mystic unity they achieve with the Universal Self, certain individuals under Divine inspiration arrive at truths which they impart to the world. The Gur&#363s did not subscribe to the incarnation theory -"The tongue be burnt that says that the Lord ever takes birth" (GG, 1136), nor did they acknowledge the existence of angels or intermediaries between God and man. They were nevertheless conscious of their divine mission and described the knowledge and wisdom contained in their hymns as God-given. "As the Lord's word comes to me, O L&#257lo, so do I deliver it, " says Gur&#363 N&#257nak (GG, 722). Gur&#363 Arjan : "I myself know not what to speak; all I speak is what the Lord commandeth" (GG, 763). It is in this sense that B&#257&#7751&#299 is revelation for the Sikhs. It is for them God's Word mediated through the Gur&#363s or Word on which the Gur&#363s had put their seal. The B&#257&#7751&#299 echoes the Divine Truth; it is the voice of God -"the Lord's own word, " as said Gur&#363 N&#257nak; or the Formless Lord Himself, as said Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s :</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i> v&#257hu v&#257hu b&#257&#7751&#299 nira&#7749k&#257r hai</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;tisu jeva&#7693u avaru na koi </i>(GG, 515)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hail, hail, the word of the Guru,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Which is the Formless Lord Himself;</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There is none other, nothing else</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;To be reckoned equal to it.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Being Word Divine, B&#257&#7751&#299 is sacred and the object of utmost veneration. That the B&#257&#7751&#299 was reverenced by the Gur&#363s themselves even before it was compiled into the Holy Book is attested by an anecdote in <i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i>. While returning from Goindv&#257l after the obsequies of his father, Gur&#363 Arjan took with him some <i>poth&#299s</i> or books containing the B&#257&#7751&#299 of the first four Gur&#363s. The Sikhs carried the <i>poth&#299's</i>, wrapped in a piece of cloth, in a palanquin on their shoulders. The Gur&#363 and other Sikhs walked along barefoot while the Gur&#363's horse trailed behind bareback. When the Sikhs suggested that the Gur&#363 ride as usual, he replied, "These [<i>poth&#299s</i>] represent the four Gur&#363s, their light. It would be disrespectful [on my part to ride in their presence]. It is but meet that I walk barefoot. " "The B&#257&#7751&#299 is Gur&#363 and the Gur&#363 is B&#257&#7751&#299___" sang Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s (GG, 982). Gur&#363 N&#257nak, the founder, had himself declared, "<i>&#347abda</i>, i. e. word or <i>b&#257&#7751&#299</i>, is Gur&#363, the unfathomable spiritual guide; crazed would be the world without the <i>&#347abda</i>" (GG, 635). "&#346abda-Gur&#363 enables one to swim across the ocean of existence and to perceive the One as present everywhere" (GG, 944). Thus it is that the B&#257&#7751&#299 of the Gur&#363 commands a Sikh's reverence.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The content of the B&#257&#7751&#299 is God's name, God's praise and the clue to God-realization. God is described both as immanent and transcendent. He is the creator of all things, yet He does not remain apart from His creation. He responds to the love of His creatures. <i>Hukam</i> or the Divine Law is the fundamental principle of God's activity. Man's duty is to seek an understanding of His <i>hukam</i> and to live his life wholly in accord with it. God is the source of grace (<i>nadar</i>) and it behoves man to make himself worthy of His grace. The B&#257&#7751&#299, which is Gur&#363 in essence, brings this enlightenment to men. It shows the way. Listening to, reciting and becoming absorbed in B&#257&#7751&#299 engenders merit and helps one to overcome <i>haumai</i> i. e. finite ego or self-love which hinders understanding and realization. In proclaiming the supreme holiness and majesty of God, the B&#257&#7751&#299 has few parallels in literature. It contains one of the most intimate and magnificent expressions of faith in the Transcendent. It is an earnestly given testament about God's existence and a sterling statement of a deeply experienced vision of Him. The B&#257&#7751&#299 is all in the spiritual key. It is poetry of pure devotion, love and compassion. It is lyrical rather than philosophical, moral rather than cerebral. It prescribes no social code, yet it is the basis of Sikh practice as well as of the Sikh belief. It is the source of authority, the ultimate guide to the spiritual and moral path pointed by the Gur&#363s.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The form of the B&#257&#7751&#299 is as sublime as is its content. It is a superb body of verse in a variety of metre and rhythm, arranged under thirty-one different musical measures. Besides its ardent lyricism and abounding imagination, it displays a subtle aesthetic sensitivity. The aptness of its image and simile is especially noteworthy. Its musicality is engaging. The language is mainly Punjabi in its simple spoken idiom. The down-to-earth, sinewy presence of its vocabulary and the eloquence of its symbolism drawn from everyday life give it a virile tone. The B&#257&#7751&#299 constitutes the springhead of Punjabi literary tradition and the creative energy the latter acquired from it informed its subsequent growth and continues to be a vital influence to this day.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Shackle, C. , <i>A Gur&#363 N&#257nak Glossary</i>. London, 1981<BR> <li class="C1"> Kirp&#257l Si&#7749gh, <i>Janam S&#257kh&#299 Prampar&#257</i>. Patiala, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> K&#257hn Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Gurmat M&#257rta&#7751&#7693</i>. Amritsar, 1983.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh S&#257mbh&#299<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>