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Friday 5 June 2015

Bertrand Russel on Guru Granth Sahib:

Bertrand Russell was a great philosopher and free thinker and is said to have given Christianity (same applies to Islam and Judaism) a body blow and exposed its absurdities; but even this great man got stuck when it came to Sikhism! In fact he gave up and said "that if some lucky men survive the onslaught of the third world war of atomic and hydrogen bombs, then the Sikh religion will be the only means of guiding them.” Russell was asked that he was talking about the third world war, but isn't this religion capable of guiding mankind before the third world war? In reply, Russell said, "Yes, it has this capability, but the Sikhs have not brought out in the broad daylight, the splendid doctrines of this religion which has come into existence for the benefit of the entire mankind. This is their greatest sin and the Sikhs cannot be freed of it.”

What Bertrand was most impressed with was that Sikhism does not have a doctrine of evangelism that it does not go out to try to subvert and convert. In some ways he thought that Sikhs should go out and propagate their great faith.

Monday 11 May 2015

Adi Granth:

'Adi Granth' is reference to the compilation of the holy renderings by Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Sikh Guru, in book form. 

Subsequently, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, added renderings of Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, to the 'Adi Granth' compilation and established it as the perpetual Guru for the Sikhs. The Compilation has since then been referred to as Shri Guru Granth Sahib.

Size:

Shri Guru Granth Sahib has 1430 Pages. Each Page is referred to as 'Ang' which in punjabi language means part of body.

Wednesday 1 April 2015

Composition and Arrangement of Contents

Bird's eye view of the composition and arrangement of contents:

Mool Mantra
Jap
So Dar
So Purakh
Sohila
Raags (31):  1 SireeRaag, 2 Raag Maajh, 3 
Raag Gaudee, 4 Raag Aasaa, 5 Raag Goojree, 6 Raag Devgandhaaree, 7 Raag Bihaagadaa, 8 Raag Vadhans, 9 Raag Sorath, 10 Raag Dhanaasree, 11 Raag Jaitsree, 12 Raag Todee, 13 Raag Bairaadee, 14 Raag Tilang, 15 Raag Soohee, 16 Raag Bilaawal, 17 Raag Gound, 18 Raag Raamkalee, 19 Raag Nat Narayan, 20 Raag Malee Gaudaa, 21 Raag Maaroo, 22 Raag Tukharee, 23 Raag Kedaaraa, 24 Raag Bhairon, 25 Raag Basant, 26 Raag Saarang, 27 Raag Malhaar, 28 Raag Kaanadaa, 29 Raag Kalyaan, 30 Raag Prabhati, 31 Raag Jaijawanti
Slok Sahaskriti Mahla 1
Slok Sahaskriti Mahla 5
Mahla 5 Gaathaa
Phunhey 
Mahla 5 
Chauboley 
Mahla 5 
Slok Bhagat Kabeer Ji Ke
Slok Sheikh Fareed Ke
Swaiyaye Shri Mukhbaakya Mahla 5
Swaiyaye Mahle Pahle Ke 1

Swaiyaye Mahle Duje Ke 2
Swaiyaye Mahle Teeje Ke 3
Swaiyaye Mahle Chauthe Ke 4
Swaiyaye Mahle Panjve Ke 5
Slok Vaaraan te Vadheek: Mahla 1, Mahla 3, Mahla 4, Mahla 5
Slok Mahla 9
Mundavani Mahla 5
Raagmala

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The renderings under the above heads are compositions of:
Guru Nanak Dev (Mahla 1)
Guru Angad Dev (Mahla 2)
Guru Amar Das (Mahla 3)
Guru Ram Das (Mahla 4)
Guru Arjan Dev (Mahla 5)
Guru Teg Bahadur (Mahla 9)
The Bhagats: 1 Kabeer, 2 Naamdev, 3 Ravidas, 4 Trilochan, 5 Fareed, 6 Baini, 7 Dhanna, 8 Jaydev, 9 Bhikhan, 10 Surdas, 11 Parmanand, 12 Sain, 13 Peepa, 14 Sadna, 15 Ramanand
Satta Doom – Balwand Rai
Baba Sundar ji
The Bhatts: 
1 Kallashaar, 2 Jaalap, 3 Keerat, 4 Bhikhaa, 5 Salh, 6 Bhalh, 7 Nal, 
8 Gayand, 9 Mathura, 10 Bal, 11 Haribans 

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