ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MAHAL&#256</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="MAHAL"> <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">&#65279MAHAL&#256, traditionally pronounced <i>mahall&#257</i>, appears in Sikh Scripture, the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, as a special term to credit the authorship of the compositions of the Gur&#363s recorded in it. <i>Mahal&#257</i> here refers to the person of the Gur&#363 specified by a numeral following it which signifies his position in the order of succession, commencing with Gur&#363 N&#257nak as Mahal&#257 1 (<i>pahil&#257</i> or first). <i>Mahal&#257</i> is a modified form of <i>mahala</i> word of Arabic/Persian origin. <i>Mahal</i> has also been used in the text of some hymns in its usual literal meaning as palace, grand building, house, dwelling, abode, and in its figurative cannotations as human body, heart, mind or the mystic, mental state. It also appears with the same spelling <i>mahal&#257</i> but signifying the Sanskrit <i>mahil&#257</i> (lit. a woman, female). But the use of <i>Mahal&#257</i> as a denominator of the Gur&#363s is peculiar to Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. <i>Mahal&#257</i> in this sense is derived from the Arabic word <i>hal&#363l</i> which means "descending, alighting, remaining; entering, penetrating; transmigration." The Sikh belief is that the spirit or light of Gur&#363 N&#257nak informed the bodies of the successive Gur&#363s, and that all of them were in essence the same N&#257nak. Mobid Zulf&#299q&#257r Ardast&#257n&#299, who had personally known Gur&#363 Hargobind (1595-1644) and Gur&#363 Har R&#257i (1630-61), testifies in his <i>Dabist&#257n-i-Maz&#257hib</i> that Gur&#363 N&#257nak was referred to as Mahal I, his successor Gur&#363 A&#7749gad as Mahal II, and so on. He uses the very word <i>hal&#363l</i> for the transference of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's spirit to the body of Gur&#363 A&#7749gad. All the Gur&#363s whose <i>b&#257&#7751&#299</i> is included in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib used N&#257nak as their <i>nom de plume</i>. Mahal&#257 I, Mahal&#257 II, and so on (pronounced Mahall&#257 Pahil&#257-First, Mahall&#257 D&#363j&#257-Second, and so on) were used by Gur&#363 Arjan, the compiler of the scripture, to mark the authorship of the compositions. Mahal&#257 I at the beginning of a composition means that it is by the First Gur&#363, Gur&#363 N&#257nak; Mahal&#257 II that it is by Gur&#363 A&#7749gad, his successor; Mahal&#257 III that it is by Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, N&#257nak III, and so on. That the practice dated back at least to the time of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s (1479-1574) is evidenced by two old manuscripts known as <i>Goindv&#257l Poth&#299s</i>, which also have the Gur&#363s mentioned in this style.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>&#346abad&#257rth Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1964<BR> <li class="C1"> Gurd&#257s, Bh&#257&#299, <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i><BR> <li class="C1"> T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Granth Gur Gir&#257rath Kosh</i>. Lahore, 1895.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Balb&#299r Si&#7749gh Nand&#257<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>