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Guru Granth Sahib
Composition, Arrangement & Layout
ਜਪੁ | Jup
ਸੋ ਦਰੁ | So Dar
ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
Ashtpadiyan (53-71)
Gurbani (71-74)
Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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Guru Sahib, Kalika And Bhagauti - PART 1
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<blockquote data-quote="Astroboy" data-source="post: 60695" data-attributes="member: 4990"><p>BHAGAUTI (J. S. Neki, Giani Balwant Singh) or Bhavani (Skt. Bhagavati, consort of Visnu, or the goddess Durga) has had in Sikh usage a chequered semantic history. In early Sikhism, especially in the compositions comprising the Guru Granth Sahib, the word means a bhakta or devotee of God. “So bhagauti jo bhagvantai janai; he alone is a true devotee who knoweth the Lord” (GG, 88). In Bhai Gurdas, bhagauti has been used as an equivalent of sword. “Nau bhagauti lohu gharaia—iron (a lowly metal) when properly wrought becomes a (powerful) sword”(Varan, XXV. 6) It is in the compositions of Guru Gobind Singh contained in the Dasam Granth that the term began to assume connotations of wider significance. Reference may here be made especially to three poems by Guru Gobind Singh—Chandi Chritra Ukti Bilas and Chandi Chritra both in Braj and Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki, popularly called Chandi di Var in Punjabi—describing the exploits of the Hindu goddess (Bhagavati) Chandi or Durga. Each of these compositions is a free translation of “Sapt Sati (lit. seven hundred), meaning the epic comprising 700 slokas, chapter xiv, sub-sections 81-94, of the classical Markandeya Purana which describes the battle between the goddess and demons whom she vanquished to reinstall Indra, the king of gods, on his throne. The heroic odes in fact are among many pieces of Pauranic (mythological) literature that Guru Gobind Singh translated or got translated for the avowed purpose of instilling martial spirit among his Sikhs.</p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">The title of <em>Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki</em>, which has also been appropriated into Sikh <em>ardas</em> or supplicatory prayer, along with the first stanza runs as follows:</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><em>Ik onkar sri vahiguru ji ki fateh</em></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">God is one—To Him belongs the victory</span></span></p><p><strong><em><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Sri bhagauti ji sahe</span></span></em></strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">May Sri Bhagauti Ji be always on our side</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><em>Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki Patshahi 10</em></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">The ode of Sri Bhagauti as sung by the Tenth Master.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">The opening line of the Ode reads:</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><em>Pritham bhagauti simari kai gur nanak lain dhiai:</em></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">First call up Bhagauti in your mind, then meditate on Guru Nanak.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Here, the primacy accorded Sri Bhagauti Ji is obvious. This leads to the question why.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Bhagauti is, it appears, a multifaceted archetypal symbol employed by Guru Gobind Singh to fulfill a multiplicity of functions simultaneously. He perhaps wanted to complement the exclusive masculinity of the Divine image. Until then, God had in Sikhism as in other major traditions by and large a masculine connotation. He had been called <em>Purakh</em> implying masculinity. Although, at times, He had been addressed as <em>mata</em> (mother) as well as<em> pita</em> (father), almost all the names employed for him in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib—Ram, Govind, Hari, Shiv, Allah, etc.—were only masculine names. To widen the conception Guru Gobind Singh may have chosen Bhagauti, a name with a clear feminine implication. It is significant that in the entire Hindu pantheon the warrior Bhagavati, or Durga, is the only goddess without a male spouse, thus symbolizing female independence, strength and valour. This derives further support from Guru Gobind Singh’s autobiographical <em>Bachitra Natak</em> wherein he designated God by a composite name<em> Mahakal-Kalika</em> (Mahakal which is masculine is juxtaposed to Kalika which is feminine). More specifically, what is really meant by Bhagauti (or its synonym <em>Bhavani</em>) is made clear in the following verse of Guru Gobind Singh:</span></span></p><p><strong><em><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Soi bhavani nam kahai</span></span></em></strong></p><p> </p><p><em><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Jin sagri eh srishti upai</span></span></em></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">The One who created this universe entire,</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Came to be known as Bhavani</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">--Chaubis Autar</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Notwithstanding the fact that names of the deities from many diverse sources occur in the Sikh text, here they mix naturally shedding, after acculturation in the new religious and theological environs, their original nuances and proclaiming one and one identity alone, i.e. God the Singular Being. All other meanings and shades are subsumed into One Indivisible entity. The names Hari (originally Visnu), Keshav (also an epithet of Visnu—one with long hair), Damodar (Krsna who had a rope tied around his belly), Murli Manohar (also Krsna, master of the melodious flute), Raghupati (Rama, the Lord of Raghu dynasty), etc., all came to signify in the Sikh vortex the unitary Godhead. The same applied to <em>Bhagauti.</em></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Says Guru Gobind Singh in the second stanza of this poem, <em>Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki,</em> the following about Bhagauti:</span></span></p><p><em><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Taihi durga saji kai daita da nasu karaia:</span></span></em></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">It was you who created Durga to destroy the demons.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The line establishes beyond ambiguity the contextual meaning of <em>bhagauti</em>. Durga could not be presumed to have created Durga. She like all other gods and goddesses was indeed created by God Almighty.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">The nomenclature seems to have been employed to smoothen the gender distinctions when referring to God.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">The second archetypal significance of Bhagauti is linked to its other lexical meaning ‘sword’ as exemplified by Bhai Gurdas. Bhagauti where prefixed with the honorific sri (lid. fortunate, graceful) signifies the ‘Divine Sword’ –the Power that brings about the evolution and devolution of the Universe.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">In this kaleidoscopic universe, its Creator is immanent not in any static way. He is in all times and at all places dynamically protecting the good and destroying the evil (<em>Sant ubaran, dusht uparan</em>). “Everywhere through the great perplexed universe, we can see the flashing of ‘His Sword’! . . . and that must mean His nature uttering itself in His Own Form of forces (Phillip Brooks). That Sri Bhagauti, the Divine Sword, symbolizes Divine Power is further borne out in the Ode itself when about Bhagauti it is said:</span></span></p><p><strong><em><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Khanda prithmai saji kai jin sabh sasaru upaia</span></span></em></strong></p><p> </p><p><em><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Brahma bisan mahes saji kudrati da khelu rachai banaia</span></span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Sindh parbat medani binu thamma gagani rahaia</span></span></em></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Creating first the Power of Destruction, who brought forth the whole universe,</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Who raised the trinity of the gods, and spread the game of nature,</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">The Ocean, the mountains, the earth and the firmament without support who</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">shaped. . .</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">The invocation to the Almighty through His image as the ‘Divine Sword’ as employed by Guru Gobind Singh purported again to instill the heroic spirit among his Sikhs, for:</span></span></p><p><strong><em><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Jeha sevai teho hovai</span></span></em></strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">You become like the one you adore.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">(GG. 549)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Here a question arises: What is the special significance of remembering God with the name of a weapon? God is Pure Existence (<em>sat</em>), Absolute Essence (<em>nam</em>). Existence-Essence (<em>sat-nam</em>) is His primordial, archetypal, designation (GG, 1083). Whatsoever else is said to designate Him can only be symbolic. Though God is infinite, these symbols can only be finite. While the infinite includes the finite, it also transcends it. That is why every such symbol is not only affirmed by the symbolized but also negated at the same time. In the Sikh mystic lore, the prime symbol employed for God is the Word (<em>nam</em>). However, the other, even more structured symbol that Guru Gobind Singh introduced is the “the Sword’ (Bhagauti). One might here ask: can a fragment of the finite symbolize infinite? The answer can be given in the affirmative for God being Pure Existence is immanent in everything that exists. Hence symbolization of God through a finite symbol ‘Sword’ is not only possible, but also, in a sense, true because it serves to symbolize Divine Power. Every mystic symbol is bipolar. On the one end it is in contact with the Infinite, at the other in contact with the finite. That is how it succeeds in fulfilling the symbolic function. Bhagauti is one such symbol as it is in its symbolic meaning of Divine Power, in contact with the Infinite, and in its concrete form, as a weapon, in contact with the finite. Guru Gobind Singh has consecrated not only the sword, but in fact a whole spectrum of weaponry:</span></span></p><p><strong><em><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">As kirpan khando kharag tupak tabar aru tir</span></span></em></strong></p><p> </p><p><em><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Saif sarohi saihthi, yahai hamarai pir:</span></span></em></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The sword, the sabre, the scimitar, the axe, the musket, the shaft.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The rapier, the dagger, the spear: these indeed are our saints.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Remembering God through such heroic symbols was the exclusive style of Guru Gobind Singh.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Already in<em> gurbani</em>, the theistic symbol of the Nigam (Vedic) tradition had been monotheized. Guru Gobind Singh chose to monotheize even the theistic symbols of the Agam (Brahmanic) tradition. Thus his was a process of the integration of the two great mystical traditions of India.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times'">Finally, the word<em> bhagauti</em> stands for God or His devotee on the one hand (signifying <em>piri</em>), for the sword on the other (signifying<em> miri</em>). This integration of <em>piri</em> and <em>miri</em> in <em>Bhagauti </em>encapsulates another major dimension of Sikh thought.</span></span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">J. S. N.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Times'"><span style="font-size: 12px">G. B. S.</span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Astroboy, post: 60695, member: 4990"] BHAGAUTI (J. S. Neki, Giani Balwant Singh) or Bhavani (Skt. Bhagavati, consort of Visnu, or the goddess Durga) has had in Sikh usage a chequered semantic history. In early Sikhism, especially in the compositions comprising the Guru Granth Sahib, the word means a bhakta or devotee of God. “So bhagauti jo bhagvantai janai; he alone is a true devotee who knoweth the Lord” (GG, 88). In Bhai Gurdas, bhagauti has been used as an equivalent of sword. “Nau bhagauti lohu gharaia—iron (a lowly metal) when properly wrought becomes a (powerful) sword”(Varan, XXV. 6) It is in the compositions of Guru Gobind Singh contained in the Dasam Granth that the term began to assume connotations of wider significance. Reference may here be made especially to three poems by Guru Gobind Singh—Chandi Chritra Ukti Bilas and Chandi Chritra both in Braj and Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki, popularly called Chandi di Var in Punjabi—describing the exploits of the Hindu goddess (Bhagavati) Chandi or Durga. Each of these compositions is a free translation of “Sapt Sati (lit. seven hundred), meaning the epic comprising 700 slokas, chapter xiv, sub-sections 81-94, of the classical Markandeya Purana which describes the battle between the goddess and demons whom she vanquished to reinstall Indra, the king of gods, on his throne. The heroic odes in fact are among many pieces of Pauranic (mythological) literature that Guru Gobind Singh translated or got translated for the avowed purpose of instilling martial spirit among his Sikhs. [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]The title of [I]Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki[/I], which has also been appropriated into Sikh [I]ardas[/I] or supplicatory prayer, along with the first stanza runs as follows:[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times][I]Ik onkar sri vahiguru ji ki fateh[/I][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]God is one—To Him belongs the victory[/FONT][/SIZE] [B][I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Sri bhagauti ji sahe[/FONT][/SIZE][/I][/B] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]May Sri Bhagauti Ji be always on our side[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times][I]Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki Patshahi 10[/I][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]The ode of Sri Bhagauti as sung by the Tenth Master.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]The opening line of the Ode reads:[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times][I]Pritham bhagauti simari kai gur nanak lain dhiai:[/I][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]First call up Bhagauti in your mind, then meditate on Guru Nanak.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Here, the primacy accorded Sri Bhagauti Ji is obvious. This leads to the question why.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Bhagauti is, it appears, a multifaceted archetypal symbol employed by Guru Gobind Singh to fulfill a multiplicity of functions simultaneously. He perhaps wanted to complement the exclusive masculinity of the Divine image. Until then, God had in Sikhism as in other major traditions by and large a masculine connotation. He had been called [I]Purakh[/I] implying masculinity. Although, at times, He had been addressed as [I]mata[/I] (mother) as well as[I] pita[/I] (father), almost all the names employed for him in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib—Ram, Govind, Hari, Shiv, Allah, etc.—were only masculine names. To widen the conception Guru Gobind Singh may have chosen Bhagauti, a name with a clear feminine implication. It is significant that in the entire Hindu pantheon the warrior Bhagavati, or Durga, is the only goddess without a male spouse, thus symbolizing female independence, strength and valour. This derives further support from Guru Gobind Singh’s autobiographical [I]Bachitra Natak[/I] wherein he designated God by a composite name[I] Mahakal-Kalika[/I] (Mahakal which is masculine is juxtaposed to Kalika which is feminine). More specifically, what is really meant by Bhagauti (or its synonym [I]Bhavani[/I]) is made clear in the following verse of Guru Gobind Singh:[/FONT][/SIZE] [B][I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Soi bhavani nam kahai[/FONT][/SIZE][/I][/B] [I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Jin sagri eh srishti upai[/FONT][/SIZE][/I] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]The One who created this universe entire,[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Came to be known as Bhavani[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]--Chaubis Autar[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Notwithstanding the fact that names of the deities from many diverse sources occur in the Sikh text, here they mix naturally shedding, after acculturation in the new religious and theological environs, their original nuances and proclaiming one and one identity alone, i.e. God the Singular Being. All other meanings and shades are subsumed into One Indivisible entity. The names Hari (originally Visnu), Keshav (also an epithet of Visnu—one with long hair), Damodar (Krsna who had a rope tied around his belly), Murli Manohar (also Krsna, master of the melodious flute), Raghupati (Rama, the Lord of Raghu dynasty), etc., all came to signify in the Sikh vortex the unitary Godhead. The same applied to [I]Bhagauti.[/I][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Says Guru Gobind Singh in the second stanza of this poem, [I]Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki,[/I] the following about Bhagauti:[/FONT][/SIZE] [I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Taihi durga saji kai daita da nasu karaia:[/FONT][/SIZE][/I] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]It was you who created Durga to destroy the demons.[/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=Times][SIZE=3]The line establishes beyond ambiguity the contextual meaning of [I]bhagauti[/I]. Durga could not be presumed to have created Durga. She like all other gods and goddesses was indeed created by God Almighty.[/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]The nomenclature seems to have been employed to smoothen the gender distinctions when referring to God.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]The second archetypal significance of Bhagauti is linked to its other lexical meaning ‘sword’ as exemplified by Bhai Gurdas. Bhagauti where prefixed with the honorific sri (lid. fortunate, graceful) signifies the ‘Divine Sword’ –the Power that brings about the evolution and devolution of the Universe.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]In this kaleidoscopic universe, its Creator is immanent not in any static way. He is in all times and at all places dynamically protecting the good and destroying the evil ([I]Sant ubaran, dusht uparan[/I]). “Everywhere through the great perplexed universe, we can see the flashing of ‘His Sword’! . . . and that must mean His nature uttering itself in His Own Form of forces (Phillip Brooks). That Sri Bhagauti, the Divine Sword, symbolizes Divine Power is further borne out in the Ode itself when about Bhagauti it is said:[/FONT][/SIZE] [B][I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Khanda prithmai saji kai jin sabh sasaru upaia[/FONT][/SIZE][/I][/B] [I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Brahma bisan mahes saji kudrati da khelu rachai banaia[/FONT][/SIZE][/I] [I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Sindh parbat medani binu thamma gagani rahaia[/FONT][/SIZE][/I] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Creating first the Power of Destruction, who brought forth the whole universe,[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Who raised the trinity of the gods, and spread the game of nature,[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]The Ocean, the mountains, the earth and the firmament without support who[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]shaped. . .[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]The invocation to the Almighty through His image as the ‘Divine Sword’ as employed by Guru Gobind Singh purported again to instill the heroic spirit among his Sikhs, for:[/FONT][/SIZE] [B][I][FONT=Times][SIZE=3]Jeha sevai teho hovai[/SIZE][/FONT][/I][/B] [FONT=Times][SIZE=3]You become like the one you adore.[/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times](GG. 549)[/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=Times][SIZE=3]Here a question arises: What is the special significance of remembering God with the name of a weapon? God is Pure Existence ([I]sat[/I]), Absolute Essence ([I]nam[/I]). Existence-Essence ([I]sat-nam[/I]) is His primordial, archetypal, designation (GG, 1083). Whatsoever else is said to designate Him can only be symbolic. Though God is infinite, these symbols can only be finite. While the infinite includes the finite, it also transcends it. That is why every such symbol is not only affirmed by the symbolized but also negated at the same time. In the Sikh mystic lore, the prime symbol employed for God is the Word ([I]nam[/I]). However, the other, even more structured symbol that Guru Gobind Singh introduced is the “the Sword’ (Bhagauti). One might here ask: can a fragment of the finite symbolize infinite? The answer can be given in the affirmative for God being Pure Existence is immanent in everything that exists. Hence symbolization of God through a finite symbol ‘Sword’ is not only possible, but also, in a sense, true because it serves to symbolize Divine Power. Every mystic symbol is bipolar. On the one end it is in contact with the Infinite, at the other in contact with the finite. That is how it succeeds in fulfilling the symbolic function. Bhagauti is one such symbol as it is in its symbolic meaning of Divine Power, in contact with the Infinite, and in its concrete form, as a weapon, in contact with the finite. Guru Gobind Singh has consecrated not only the sword, but in fact a whole spectrum of weaponry:[/SIZE][/FONT] [B][I][FONT=Times][SIZE=3]As kirpan khando kharag tupak tabar aru tir[/SIZE][/FONT][/I][/B] [I][FONT=Times][SIZE=3]Saif sarohi saihthi, yahai hamarai pir:[/SIZE][/FONT][/I] [FONT=Times][SIZE=3]The sword, the sabre, the scimitar, the axe, the musket, the shaft.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Times][SIZE=3]The rapier, the dagger, the spear: these indeed are our saints.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Times][SIZE=3]Remembering God through such heroic symbols was the exclusive style of Guru Gobind Singh.[/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Already in[I] gurbani[/I], the theistic symbol of the Nigam (Vedic) tradition had been monotheized. Guru Gobind Singh chose to monotheize even the theistic symbols of the Agam (Brahmanic) tradition. Thus his was a process of the integration of the two great mystical traditions of India.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times]Finally, the word[I] bhagauti[/I] stands for God or His devotee on the one hand (signifying [I]piri[/I]), for the sword on the other (signifying[I] miri[/I]). This integration of [I]piri[/I] and [I]miri[/I] in [I]Bhagauti [/I]encapsulates another major dimension of Sikh thought.[/FONT][/SIZE] [CENTER][FONT=Times][SIZE=3]J. S. N.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Times][SIZE=3]G. B. S.[/SIZE][/FONT][/CENTER] [/QUOTE]
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Guru Sahib, Kalika And Bhagauti - PART 1
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