When I was asked to review this thesis I was aware of the highly critical opinions on it that had been published by scholars like Kohli Sukhminder Marco and J.S. Mann. Yet I agreed because a wider debate can only benefit us. It is only in the Sikh religion that a doctoral thesis is debated and analyzed in a lay publication and not necessarily in a scholarly university based journal. Consequently the discussion is open to all and not limited to those affiliated with academic institutions. This is our strength though it is not without liability.
Much of the debate seems to be centered on whether textual comparison of extant gurbani with possibly earlier versions of it is blasphemy. To us Sikhs gurbani is the revealed word of God but the Guru Granth is also a book to be read and analyzed. To others gurbani appears as literature much as we view the Bible. And there is no harm in that. If we Sikhs confidently aver that the spiritual light of Nanak illumined all 10 Gurus they all wrote under the same name ~ then why should we find it unacceptable if a Guru edited gurbani? Guru Nanak himself edited his own writing. For example the hymn “Sodar” is in Japji as well in Reheras but with minor modifications. The concluding shalok of Japji occurs more than once identified with different Gurus and with some alterations. Similar examples abound in the Guru Granth Sahib. The same verse with modifications was uttered by different Gurus at different times. It does not mean that one Guru deliberately set out to alter the writings of other Gurus. Such a conclusion as Pashaura Singh has drawn seems untenable. Is it so unreasonable that when anyone looks at his own writing some time later he edits it? So what if the Gurus did so! Gurbani is the revealed word yet when it was collated and annotated textual organization would be natural. As long as the process was done by the Guru it would be permissible.
Sikhism evolved in a milieu with a predominantly oral tradition but not much of a write none. Pashaura makes the case that Guru Nanak saw the necessity for a permanent written record which would evolve into the Guru Granth Sahib. He and the Gurus who succeeded him acted to preserve and codify gurbani in a process that culminated with Guru Arjans monumental effort. Naturally the process took years during which many versions and documents had to be edited or reconciled. One must keep in mind that in the days preceding printing and mass education documents were handwritten. There were few scribes some had their own agenda reflecting many factions and divided loyalties. They made mistakes some unintentional others stemming from their background bias and nature. If any changes appear to have been made by Guru Arjan they may not be deliberate modifications of text but merely corrections of errors introduced by different scribes? Pashauras conclusion that Guru Arjan emended Gur Nanaks writing is therefore not tenable.
Until the time of Ranjit Singh Sikhs had little peace or leisure it is no wonder then that it took many years to lay all the doubts to rest discard all of the competing or erroneous versions and to establish the primacy of the standard version of the Guru Granth Sahib which had been collated by Guru Arjan. Pashaura reinforces this traditional view well buttressed by research that the Kartarpur version is authentic.
Pashaura’s thesis rests on an analysis of an undated rare document MS1245 primarily from two aspects: I) Inclusion of certain hymns or parts thereof and 2) Features in the written script of the manuscript which may allow dating of the document. Unfortunately neither yardstick is in itself sufficient and the lumping together of two inadequate criteria does not always make for good logic.
As is well known and Pashaura readily admits one cannot clearly document whether a hymn or a part thereof was not included by a decree of the Guru a whim of the scribe or at the behest of a competing schismatic group. Dating a manuscript by the selective use of characters of a script is also but without pitfalls. In that age of less than universal education evolutionary changes in a script did not necessarily percolate so rapidly through the populace. Other corroborating evidence must be found before one can assign a definite place if any to MS1245 in the history of the Guru Granth Sahib. MS1245 remains a document of considerable interest and deserving of much research but at present one of unknown antecedent’s questionable authenticity and limited usefulness. The problem with Pashauras thesis becomes that his case no matter how intricately argued rests on a shaky premise the authenticity of MS1245 which remains open to question Pashaura Singh has in his zeal over-interpreted MS 1245 and extrapolated well beyond what the document allows.
Since the Gurus routinely interpreted their own writing as well as that of their predecessors it becomes ridiculous to suggest that Guru Nanak may have initiated Guru Angad in the art and skill of versification. What was Guru Nanak doing running a class in creative writing? The argument reminds one of the asinine discussions on who wrote Shakespeare’s plays. L am always amazed at how one creative mind spawns a thousand dissertations which are bent on splitting hair even where none exist It is too bad that in trying to be rigorously intellectual (a desirable goal) Pashaura Singh has fallen into a quagmire of his own making.
At one place Pashaura defends his mentor McLeod by attacking his detractors as former bureaucrats and medical doctors Such misplaced loyalty to one’s guide is understandable but that kind of thinking has no place in a thesis. Since when is it that bureaucrats or medical doctors may not also be philosophical and erudite? Witness such bureaucrats as Francis Bacon or closer to home Kapur Singh. Look at medical doctors such as Leydig. Somerset Maugham or Arthur Conan Doyle etc. the list is endless. When McLeods critics point to his connection with a Christian Missionary Institution it is relevant for in the interpretation of religious tenet he may have a bias. Similarly the religious affiliation of his critics (Sikh) is pertinent their being bureaucrats is not.
The Sikhs have come a long way in 500 years. I can visualize the rich tapestry and unbroken tradition in Sikh literature and history and its continuing evolution. It has progressed from giants such as Bhai Gurdas Nandlal and Mani Singh who were less historians and more scribes and interpreters of gurbani indeed the repositories of our heritage There have been Puran Singh and Vir Singh who combined the mystics vision with 4 sure grasp of historical detail. Finally we have the serious historical scholars giants like Kahan Singh McAuliffe Kapur Singh Jodh Singh Teja Singh Ganda Singh Sahib Singh and Harbans Singh followed by contemporary significant analysts like Kohli McLeod Khushwant Mansukhani and Shan Such an evolution with an emphasis that oscillates between the devotional and the analytic is quite natural to any religion. Others have had their day in the sun and now the torch must pass to a new generation of scholars. In the process many missteps will occur witness G.B.Singhs analysis of the Kanarpur Bir and some of the errant nonsense from McLeod and Khushwant. Pashauras work has to be looked at in perspective.
Not so long ago the radio commentator Jodh Singh observed to me that we Sikhs tend to discover cither “blossom or blasphemy” in a strictly analytical study of religion Pashauras work is neither one nor the other. It is a run of the mill Ph.D. thesis which doesn’t add anything that novel or earth shattering to our understanding of Gurus gurbani or human nature; only time and further research will tell us if MS 1245 has any significant value. But in the meantime let us treat this young scholar Pashaura Singh trained in the skills and rigor of historical analysis and dedicated to defining our roots as a well-intentioned man at the beginning of his intellectual exploration. Let this matter not become like the Salman Rushdie affair for that does not become us.
I.J.Singh
New York University
Article extracted from this publication >> December 18, 1992
