ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>RAHR&#256SI</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="RAHRSI"> <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">&#65279RAHR&#256SI is the name given to the main evening prayer of the Sikhs. The word itself implies supplication, though some traditionalist scholars have interpreted it as <i>r&#257h-i-r&#257st</i> which, in Persian, means the straight path, the path of faith and devotion as against that of mere ritual practices or yogic austerities. The title 'Rahr&#257si' however does not occur anywhere in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib itself, nor is the text, as it is recited today, recorded as a single whole. Besides its two major constituents, <i>So Daru</i> and <i>So Purakhu</i>, it has three further sections-the <i>Chaupa&#299</i> from among Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's compositions in the <i>Dasam Granth, Anandu</i> (only the first five stanzas and the last from among Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s' and the <i>Mund&#257va&#7751&#299</i> from among Gur&#363 Arjan's. The total text is a case of &#8216editing' by tradition. The <i>Rahr&#257si</i> in its current form has evolved in the course of a period of time. The earliest text was but <i>So Daru</i> which, as says Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s ( V&#257r&#257&#7749, I.38), used to be recited in the evening assemblies in Gur&#363 N&#257nak's day. Gur&#363 Arjan supplemented it with <i>So Purakhu</i> hymns and the two were recorded by him jointly in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib after the <i>Japu</i>. The complete text, with three more sections subsequently added, has come down the generations through <i>gu&#7789k&#257s</i> or breviaries, but with minor variations as regards the number of hymns or of the stanzas thereof included. The text as it appears in the <i>gu&#7789k&#257s</i> issued by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee is the accepted form today. The title 'Rahr&#257si' comes from the hymn of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s included under <i>So Daru</i> wherein the word occurs once in the line: <i>gurmati n&#257mi mer&#257 pr&#257n sakh&#299 hari k&#299rati hamar&#299 rahr&#257si</i> (The name Divine is my life's companion; laudation of the Lord my supplication).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Rahr&#257si</i> is included in <i>nitnem</i>, Sikhs' daily regimen of five prayers. It is recited in the evening in <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> and may be preceded or succeeded by <i>k&#299rtan</i> i.e. holy singing. Those who are unable to join the evening assembly may say it individually at home or wherever they should be at that hour.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the hymns entitled <i>So Daru</i>, that is, the Divine Portal, is portrayed the cosmic hall in which dwells the Supreme Being, the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the universe. <i>R&#257ga</i>, that is harmony, reigns here. Every element or being, however great and powerful, is here perfectly attuned to the Will of the Supreme Lord and works in complete unison with it. All the powers symbolized by wind, water, fire, the celestial judge, the invisible scribes of good and evil deeds, &#298&#347vara (&#346iva), Brahm&#257, the goddess, Indra, <i>dev&#257s</i> or gods, <i>siddhas, s&#257dh&#363s</i>, virtuous beings, pa&#7751&#7693its, fairies, the jewels' churned out of the ocean, holy places of pilgrimage, the four kh&#257&#7751&#299s or sources of life, the planets and parts of the universe, the blissful bhaktas and myriads of other entities, sing praises of the Lord and give complete obedience to His Will. <i>So Daru</i> is by Gur&#363 N&#257nak; so is the hymn following. This hymn proclaims how great, how beyond utterance, how beyond compute is the Supreme One. The third hymn, also by Gur&#363 N&#257nak, says that the Supreme Being is intrinsically great for He neither dies nor experiences sorrow. Remembering Him one lives; forgetting Him one dies. In the fourth hymn, Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s asks for the favour of Name enlightenment. Gur&#363 Arjan next says that he who with <i>satsa&#7749gat, </i> holy company, mingles is liberated.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>So Purakhu</i> (That Being) by Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s praises the Supreme Being who is transcendent as well as immanent, infinite, all pervading, residing in every heart, above fear, beyond measure, eternal, creator and sustainer. His Will reigns supreme. Those who remember Him are freed from fear, are liberated. They truly are the sincere devotees who find approval with Him, not those who merely perform formal acts of worship. Those who on Him meditate, into Him are merged. The next hymn, also by Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, lays stress on the unicity of the Ultimate Reality that is God. All creatures have their being in the Creator. His Will is supreme. It is the <i>gurmukhs</i> (the devoted) who find the jewel of the Name; the <i>manmukhs</i> (the self-willed) forfeit that precious object. Gur&#363 N&#257nak in the following hymn seeks shelter with those who forever remember the Lord. In the concluding hymn in this section, Gur&#363 Arjan reminds men that in this human birth they have the opportunity to unite with Govind, the Lord. They must, to this end, meet in <i>sa&#7749gat</i>, holy fellowship and repeat the Name.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the <i>Chaupa&#299</i>, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh invokes the Timeless Being who cherishes his saints and cancels the sorrows and faults of those who pronounce his Name. <i>Anand, </i> in the <i>Rahr&#257si</i> comprising six stanzas from Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s' <i>b&#257&#7751&#299</i> of this name with which conclude all Sikh services, expresses joy and bliss in God achieved through <i>sahaj</i>, that is the path of serene prayer and meditation. Munava&#7751&#299 (the seal, finale), concluding the <i>Rahr&#257si</i>, is Gur&#363 Arjan's brief composition which forms the epilogue to the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Here Gur&#363 Arjan presents the Sacred Volume as an amalgam of the spiritual values of truth, equipoise and contemplation. He also renders gratitude to God almighty for bringing to fulfilment the task of compiling the Holy Granth he had undertaken.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>&#346abd&#257rath Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Narai&#7751 Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Rahr&#257si</i>. Amritsar, n.d.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">T&#257ran Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>