Recently I had a chance to go through a thesis entitled “The Text and Meaning of the Adi Granth” submitted to the University of Toronto by Pashaura Singh for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The research work was carried out under the direction of Dr W.H.McLeod. In this thesis the author claims to have endeavored to “reconstruct the history of the text of the Adi Granth to provide textual analysis of certain portions of the Adi Granth and to examine Guru Asjans editorial policy particularly his approach towards the inclusion of the Bhagat Bani in the Sikh Scripture”. The basis of his dissertation is a rather recently acquired manuscript of Adi Granth from bazaar Mai Sevan Amritsar by Guru Nanak Dev. University (Manuscript No. 1245). The researcher puts forth some extremely flimsy and childish arguments to show that this manuscript was written earlier than the Kartarpuri Bir. The depth (or shallowness) and quality of his research work becomes quite evident when one finds that the manuscript at issue has neither any date of writing nor the name of the scribe nor any authentication by Guru Arjan. Without even an iota of evidence (historical or traditional) he maintains that Bhai Gurdas was the writer of this manuscript. Now it is ahistorical fact that the scribe of Kartarpuri manuscript was Bhai Guards. Pashaura Singh has realized that the handwritings of the two manuscripts are markedly different. However puts forth the silly argument that Bhai Guards handwriting probably improved by the time he wrote Kartarpuri manuscript. As he proceeds further his conclusions approach the levels of from absurdity to blasphemy. It will not be possible for me to discuss here all the preposterous conclusions that he has reached in his “don’t confuse me with facts I have made up my mind” analyses because that will require a whole book so I will confine myself to some glaring blasphemies that he has professed.
Modification of Mool Mantar by Guru Arjan Pashaura Singh suggests that the original Moo! Mantar given by Guru Nanak was changed to the present form by Guru Arjan. This statement could only be possible from a person who is suffering from Amnesia because in his thesis (P.101) he writes that “the entry in the index of Kartarpuri manuscript however reads “the Japu is copied from the manuscript written in Guru Ram Dass hand”. Thus the Japuji in Kartarpuri manuscript is identical to that in current printed copies of Guru Granth Sahib and this was written by Guru Ram Das. How then could Guru Arjan have modified it to its present form? Furthermore in reaching this conclusion the researcher has utterly disregarded the established traditions of Sikhism a rather young religion where the probability of changes because of time factor is not very high Reciting of Japuji in the morning has been a daily chore of every Sikh from the time of Guru Nanak. Nowhere is there any indication of Japu Ji having been changed.
This is a blatant violation of established tradition of Research According to Dictionary the word “Research” means to investigate thoroughly or careful or diligent search. It is hard to find even a slight element of diligence or depth in Pashaura Singh’s research work.
Authorship of the Concluding Shalok of Japuji In spite of the fact that Puratan Janamsakhi as well as Miharban Janamsakhi both state that this shalok was recited by Gun Nanak Pashaura Singh ignores them completely and seems to follow the purely conjectural conclusion drawn by W.H.McLeod who had the temerity to write that Banno recession (Khari Bir) represented the original text of the Adi Granth without even seeing the Kartarpur manuscript and totally ignoring the famous book by Bhai Jodh Singh on the same subject (Kartarpuri Bir de Darshan). Prof. Surinder Singh Kohli in his recent article (World Sikh News Oct.161992) has aptly (but politely) called Pashaura Singh s suggestion as obnoxious which goes as follows: “Guru Nanak may have initiated his successor Bhai Lehna into the poetic skill of verse composition in the literary form of a shalok and the training may have been a part of his designation to the office of Guruship.” Again this seems to be a premeditated conclusion drawn by the researcher in the face of strong historical evidences to the contrary. Bhagat Bani in the Adi Granth. There are numerous conclusions drawn by the author on the inclusion of Bhagat Bani in the Adi Granth and under the title “Doctrinal Issues Arising from the Bhagat Bani” (Pashaura Singhs thesis pp. 174-194) which indicate lack of knowledge of Guru Granth Sahib and the basic tenets of Sikhism on the part of author. I will take only a couple of examples. On page 174 the statement “one hymn of Dhanna in the Dhanasri mode was incorporated in the Kartarpur manuscript after it was bound in 1604 CE. This is quite evident from the way it is recorded on folio 519/2 with the extended margin on the left hand side of the volume. Its later addition may reflect a situation when Jats were attracted into the Sikh fold in large numbers”. This statement in the light of logic can at best be called childish. When already several hymns of Dhanna were included in the Adi Granth why one additional hymn was felt to be necessary by Guru Arjan for inclusion in order to attract Jats to the Sikh fold or to please them? Another preposterous statement is to be found on page 109 which reads “by doing so he (Guru Arjan) is in fact inviting the followers of the Bhagat ( Sur Das ) to become part of the Sikh Sangat and to enjoy the state of blissful sahj through devotional singing. It is a historical fact that none of the Sikh Gurus ever tried to invite implicitly or explicitly any one to become his follower. In fact the basic principles and standards of values laid down by the Gurus do not recommend solicitation for conversion to Sikh faith. This indicates the negligence of the researcher to study in depth the Sikh Religion and its basic principles or he has purposely ignored them. Furthermore unlike Kabir and Ravidas there has never been a separate and coherent staunch following of Sur Das which renders this conclusion of Pashaura Singh redundant. This conclusion however become easy to comprehend if we realize that the supervisor of this thesis is none other than W.H.McLeod who is a Christian missionary and like all other men of his profession is obsessed with the idea of converting heathens to his faith. According to his own words” The sacred Scripture is indeed the Guru butit conveys its message in different ways to different people communicating with some atone level of perception and with others at a different level(W.H.McLeod the meaning of Sikh Fundamentalism and its origin Nov.1990 conference at University of Chicago)”. Thus someone with obsession of conversion to his faith like a jaundiced eye will see the same motivation elsewhere also.
Conclusion: Pashaura Singh in his thesis has arrived at certain conclusions based on the existence of an obscure and spurious manuscript of Adi Granth with no proof of its anther city. These conclusions seem to disregard the revelatory character of the Adi Granth totally ignore the Sikh traditions and even negate some of his own observations made from other historical sources and entered in his own thesis He seems to have advertently or inadvertently fallen into a diabolic trap and has become a mouthpiece of Dr. McLeod all whose writings seem to indicate that he is obsessed with distorting and misinterpreting the established Sikh religious traditions in the name of research. Finally I appeal to the decency of Dr. McLeod that enough is enough. If he failed to bring Sikhs in Punjab to the fold of Christianity during the period of his missionary work there he should not puff out his pent up frustration to mislead innocent Sikhs by bringing out (himself as well through his stooges) ill-conceived and preposterous publications which have little historical traditional or even logical corroborative truth. Dr.Hakam Singh Sikh Welfare Foundation N.A. Duarte CA.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 11, 1992
