Sardar Kapur Singh translates above hymn as “There are those who are cultured neither in philosophy nor in scripture, nor have developed proper taste for music, And, likewise, there are those who are unacquainted with aesthetic and arts. They have neither a trained character, nor disciplined intellect, and, as such, they are devoid of true learning, so much So that the true significance accumulated human wisdom is outside their sphere of interest. Such people, says Nanak, are true animals for they strut as human beings without the qualifications of human beings.”

It is very painful to review that Pashaura Singh’s thesis suggests that original Mulmantar revealed to Guru Nanak, was subsequently modified by his successors to suit the changing Socio-Political scene is clearly Blasphemous and extremely disturbing. Pashaura Singh contradicts himself when he writes: “Guru Nanak employed both phrases, “Karta Purakh’ and ‘Akal Purkhu’ being in the first stanza of Var Majh (AG, 138 and in Maru Solhe 18 (AG, P. 1038) respectively”.

 “Although Guru Nanak has also employed the work nirvairu for the supreme being in his Ramkali Dakhani Onkaru (AG p. 931), the frequency of its usage is greater in the composition of Guru Ramdas”, Pashaura Singh should understand that revelation can not be set aside on the mere suspicions of un justified scepticism of an ex-employee of a Christian mission. He should have gone deeper to find the authenticity of (GNDU M.S. #1245)

Sikhism is a revealed religion. The spiritual and religious truths which Guru Nanak preached had been revealed to him “through a direct encounter with God at some level of consciousness” and he preached what he had been told and taught by God himself. He conveyed only those words to the world which God had wished him to give forth as his divine message as stated by him in verses such as the following:

As the Lord’s Word descends to me

So i express it, Lalo!” (G.GS. pg.722)

I have uttered only what You, O’ Lord!

Have inspired me to utter . (G.G.S. pg-566)

Guru Nanak has also mentioned in another hymn that he was an ordinary minstrel who was commissioned and blessed by God with his service. Describing his first audience with the Supreme Being the Guru sang aloud thus in words which read as under;

I  was an idle bard,

God assigned to me a rewarding task,

And commanded me to sing His praises night and day,

He summoned me to his eternal Mansion,

Bestowed on me the robe of holy laudation,

And feasted me on the holy Name ambrosial

The Supreme Being is attained, says Nanak,

By laudation of the holy Eternal .” (G.G.S. 148 & 150)

As is well known to the students of comparative religion, contents of a revealed religion are conveyed to the people by the Supreme Being through His special messengers either by calling them to His presence, as in the cases of Moses, or by communicating His messages to them, as in the case of Prophet Muhammad. As regards Sikhism, God is stated to have been pleased to use direct ways to convey His Words, Laws and Commandments to its founder, as stated above by the first Sikh Prophet, Guru Nanak, himself in his own words. (This has been duly mentioned by the earliest chroniclers of Sikh Religion; such as Bhai Gurdas (1551-1629) in his var no.1 Pauri no.24; Puratan Janam Sakhi (1634 c.) pp.17-18; Sodhi Meharban (1581-1640) in his Sachkh and Pothi (dt.1620 c.), pp.88-89; Bhai Nand Lal (16331741) in his Ganj Namah, Ch. I, verses 48-50). The thought contained in Sri Guru Granth Sahib is not the product of the environment, nor were the Gurus compelled by the circumstances, the conditions of that period to say whatever they have said. There was nothing new in the environment to bring about the revolutionary changes in thought made by Guru Nanak. Revelation can never be the product of the circumstances or environment. It is the direct experience of the Truth. The Sikh thought produced history; it is not the product of history. Thought which has the capacity to transform man, to change the circumstances, cannot be the product of environment.

The Argument and Evidence in Support of alleged changes in Mul Mantar and other Shabads is an unholy exercise called Textual Analysis. Pashaura Singh should understand that Sikh Religion is the only religion in the world where revealed Bani has been written by a living prophet himself, if you believe in prophets, then Textual Analysis has no meaning in evaluating such revelatory thoughts.

He takes the support of a Bir about which nothing is known. Without any history, authorship Or date, after the Blue Star it has Suddenly appeared from the Shelves of a shopkeeper in Bazar Mai Sewan Amritsar. This appears Suspicious and demands investigation; It could be a case of 4 planted copy. Without any evidence, Pashaura Singh has rushed to say that it is one of the “number Of earlier drafts on which Guru Arjun worked.” The Bir appears to have been copied much later by one not conversant with the standardized Gurmukhi and its grammar used by Guru Arjun Dev Ji and Bhai Gurdas in the Adi Granth,

Pashaura Singh in his thesis still promoting Jat Theory and caste system Theory of McLeod his supervisor, writes “There is enough evidence that the number of Hymns of Bhagats were included in the Kartarpur Manuscript after it was bound. Their inclusion in the scripture reflects a situation wherein the followers of those Bhagats (the Jats and the cobblers) were attracted into the Sikh fold in Large numbers. The diversity that we find in the manuscripts of the Adi Granth produced during the 17th and 18th centuries may be explained by the fact that later followers of particular Bhagats tried to interpolate the latter’s hymns in the scripture, though they were originally turned down by Guru Arjun.” But he contradicts himself in his conclusion “One important outcome of this study is confirmation-through Scrutiny of Manuscript Evidence of Kartarpur Manuscript as final text of Adi Granth as compiled by Guru Arjun.”

Pashaura Singh or his supervisor McLeod has no Answer for Nash Doctrine of Guru Gobind Singh which clearly indicates, Dharam Nash, Karm Nash, Janam Nash, Sharam Nash and Bharam Nash if you believe in Sikhism, The anti caste achievement of the Sikh movement during the period of the Gurus and the Khalsa Dal stand out in bold relief. No Indian movement succeeded, to the extent the Sikh Revolution did, in making the Khatries, Aroras, Jats, artisans, village menials and the outcasts (Chamars and sweepers), forego their caste hierarchy and merge on equal terms into a genuine brotherhood of the Khalsa; or shared political power with “the lowest of low in Indian estimation,” as was done under Banda’ or enabled the Jat (on the borderline of Vaisyas and Sudras) to regard his social status as higher than that of the Brahmin and the Rajput; or raised Jats, shepherds, artisans (carpenters) and the despised Kalal to be the rulers of the land.

The Jat theory ignores altogether the motivational gap between an ideological struggle and the one for power, or the demarcation between the behavior of the same individuals or groups, when they are charged and when not charged by a religio moral ideology. The Jat theory does not even attempt to explain how the prowess of Jats, left to their tribal mores, led to the Sikh political revolution, in which political power was shared by Sudras and distillers; or how Jat cultural traits gave rise to such concepts as Sache Patshah, Meeri Peeri, Akal Takhat, Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa and Fateh? Nor does it explain as to what was the need of creating the Khalsa at all, Unless these questions, and other related ones, are answered, no conclusion would be logical or valid. Pashaura Singh must give explanation of the above with his Textual Analysis Theory.

Considering Guru Har Rai’s decision, nothing could be more blasphemous for a Sikh than to even suggest that Guru Nanak’s revealed Bani could be theologically altered. The scripture has been authenticated by the Guru himself. This seems to have invited jealousy of some missionaries leading to motivated blasphemy and attacks on the authenticity of the Sikh scripture, our Guru. Since the Declaration of unique distinction and authenticity of the Adi Granth (Guru Granth Sahib) by Bhai Ardaman Singh, some missionaries have been anxious to undo it. By his great wisdom and vision Guru Arjun Dev has himself vouched for the authenticity of the Bani of Guru Nanak, Now, Pashaura Singh has come forward to say that this is not correct, and Guru Arjun Dev Ji changed it. Is this not blasphemy?

Sikhs owe it to themselves to find out how and why this has happened. The SGPC and all Sikh institutions should take appropriate action against such misadventure. It is unfortunate that despite the order of Jathedar Kesgarh Sahib that Sikhs should not cooperate with McLeod, he has found a collaborator in Pashaura Singh. It is learnt that another coordinator is coming up with similar plans. Sikhs must set their own house in order, so that at least no Sikh becomes a part to blasphemy.

Pashaura Singh must answer Sikh Panth two questions;

1) Does he believe that Sikhism is a Revelatory Religion or a Product of History?

2) Does he believe in constant unity of Sikh thought?

As Sikh Panth believes in the concept.

He (Nanak) established religion in the Kali age…

Nanak assumed the body of Angad…

Afterwards Nanak was called Amar Das,

As one lamp lit from another. And Amar Das become Ram Das, The pious saw this, but not the fools,

Who thought them all distinct, but some rare persons recognized that they Were all one.”

Hope Waheguru gives strength to Pashaura Singh to understand the revelatory text and meaning of Adi Granth.

This is the second of a series of responses from Sikh scholars to a Thesis by Mr. Pashaura Singh on the veracity of Sikh Scripture. The Editors

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Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1992