by: Dr. Kulwant Singh
Wondrous is He who writes the name of the Lord! 1129113
Everything keeps evolving as the inventions are made is evident from the trend in the past, This is the right and a very healthy attitude according to one set of the thinkers They feel that the electronic gadgets should be used for the propagation of Gurbani. Their View is that on should keep growing along with the advancements and not left behind. They believe that it will make Gurbani available with case to the developed world, as well. Gurbani is not the sole possession of only one set of people but it is for the humanity at Targe who should have access to it. Almost all modem electronic gadgets and media, beside all other new and old techniques, are used in the underdeveloped, developing and developed countries and promotion of Gurbani through these has its own role, Beside serving others, we have to streamline our methodology for the modem man, too. Many think, it is impossible to keep out of the mainstream and the flow of the time. Gurbani has no limitations or boundaries and the same way it should reach every one freely. To achieve this goal, we cannot ignore modem machines for processing and printing Gurbani without errors, efficiently and economically. To allay hesitations and apprehensions “of those who develop these product is and work on them to serve ‘Gurbani, the cooperation of the prestigious priests of the High Seats of the Sikh Religion, will be a great contribution. The edicts of the Gurus about writing Gurbani are.
Dhann Ickhari Nanka piare sach likhay urdhar 1-636-18 Appreciation be to the writer who writes the praise of Lord after fixing his mind ‘on Him.
Likh daat jote vidyai. 1-989-11 ‘Write in the praise of the benevolent God.
Likh Naam salah likh likh anttna parawar. 1-16-6 Scribe about the name of the Almighty beyond all comprehension.
Likh Iekhan: kagad maswan:i Ram naam har amrit bans. 5-185-5.
With the scribing instruments write the ambrosial script of the name of the God.
There is a strong feeling that the Golden Temple Library should have prepared backup material through microfilming and clectronic technology. Its worldwide Storage would have saved the precious documents from their destruction through arson. Numerous Original manuscripts including those of the Gurus, have been permanently lost. By negligence and shortsightedness, the coming generations and the world has been deprived of his hostage.
The self-oriented scholars who feel great by insulting Gurbani ( Blasphemy ) by their ill-conceived researches, are mostly attached to the institutions and have an easy access to the electronic gadgets to undertake their deleterious projects and manipulate the scripts with convenience. They do their job with agility, case and speed. To counter their corrosive activities we have to adopt all modem facilities to keep ahead of them by extensive propagation of Gurbani and plenty of constructive work of quality on it.
So far, the printing of Gurbani and even that of Guru Granth Sahib is not one hundred percent accurate and fault free, The “Nit Nem” Gutkas ( Minibooks of daily prayer ) are mostly full of mistakes, These go as such, even to the foreign countries where the chances of getting them corrected are negligible and so, the Gurbani gees recited incorrectly, involuntarily. The only remedy is to use the word processors or this program in the computer. Once, the Gurbani is typed and corrected on it, even a minor mistake will not recur. This is the only way to print absolutely correct Gurbani. The computer software on Gurbani should have printing ability, This is especially needed beside other things to insert quotations from Guru Granth Sahib into the literary work on Gurbani. Without this ability the software will have very restricted utility.
To facilitate research work and to make the study of Gurbani very easy we may put Gurbani onto the computer discs and develop various computer programs for its study from different angles. Computerization of the Holy Book and making its cassettes or discs etc., does not make these the Guru, as per criteria cited above, Any person who memorizes whole of the Holy Granth does not become a Guru. If a wall is built of gold, silver or platinum and on it whole of the Guru Granth is done in diamonds, rubies and precious stones, all this will not make it the revered Guru It is not we to designate anything our Guru. The Tenth Master proclaimed Gum Granth the physical form of the Shabd Guru. Guru Granth Sahib written in its own language in any script, may perhaps be considered a Guru, ‘This laxity will help the spread of Gurbani I have seen the Holy Books in Urdu, Hindi and perhaps in Roman, too, Easier still, will be to learn Gurmukhi itself The “Panth” is the supreme authority and it has the power to address to many such issues though containing full contents of the Guru Granth in a single volume, its translation, transliteration, commentary or any other work docs not make these a Guru, To keep the things practically workable, the concept of Shabd Guru has to be restricted to the Guru Granth Sahib the Holy Book, The obeisance to or the recitation of the Holy Granth clearly implies bowing to and reading the Guni Granth Sahib itself and listening it in its very presence. It is of top importance to honor Gurbani and real respect is to recite it with simple minded sincerity, to fix it in our mind and to apply it to our lives. Merehypocrisy hasnoyaluc, Simply to fake as its protector does no good to the person but will harm others and will obstruct the promotion of Gurbani. We have to keep wide awake, If at all needed, the following points may help to appease the sentiments by making the computer work look different from the format or the layout of the Holy Granth.
On computer, the Guru Granth Sahib may be installed in the form of different chapters like Sainch is (Parts more than one book), We already have the Holy Book in its parts by the Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar (S.G.P.C. ) and other publishers. These “Sainchis” are mainly used for the study of or for working on the Guru Granth, The chapters may have headings and subheadings. The computer page numbers and line number should tally with the Guru Granth to eliminate confusion. * The portions which can be presented as quotations, may be highlighted. These may be underlined, written in bold letters or be in Italics ete, Just like “Sainchis,” whole of the Guru Granth may be put on more than one disc. It should be installed into the computer the same way, one part after the other Gunuji made us “Grihstis” ( Worldly people ) and there may not be any harm in our accepting the modemization in a right way. When every thing is an extension and expression of Waheguru then, modem techniques also, belong to Him. We can make a wise selection out of these for our ideal, cthical as well as, gainful use. The Sikhs are basically progressive people and they cannot afford to lag behind the advancing world. To make Gurbani available to the millions and to promote it at a reasonable cost, it is ideal to accept the revolutionized printing and to take to the ever advancing technology. Writing Gurbani manually, has become very, very rare If we keep in mind the need and the utility of printing, it is a great service. Most of it has become a business but still, this is essential for the promotion of Gurbani Aap Jpho awra Naam jpawho. 52891 Altach yourself to the Lord and take others with you, And so.
Dhann so kagad kalam dhann dhann bhanda dhann muss. Dhann lekhari Nanka jin Naam likhya sack, 1129113 Wondrous are the instruments of scribing and wondrous is he who scribes His praise.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 14, 1994
