1

Anand Kraj








The Anand Marriage Act Centennial











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To the reader,

This publication has been produced in observance of the centennial of the Anand
Marriage Act of 1909. The Anand Marriage Act was passed under British occupation of South
Asia. In this historic piece of legislation, the Sikh wedding ceremony, known as Anand Kraj,
became legally recognized, thereby also recognizing the Sikh faith as a distinct religious tradition.
The passage of this law was a result of agitation and protests by Sikhs in the Singh Sabha
Movement who demanded Sikh be considered a separate entity. Their successful effort was a
landmark step in the struggle for Sikh sovereignty and the shedding of Brahminical influences.
With the end of British colonialism and the subsequent creation of Pakistan in 1947, the Anand
Marriage Act became obsolete. In India today, Sikhs are legally considered Hindus, along with
Buddhists and Jains. Conversely, in 2008, Pakistan passed the Sikh Marriage Registration
Ordinance, making it the only country in the world to recognize Sikh marriages as a unique
tradition. Our hope in featuring this date in legislative history is to inspire Sikhs to demand
acknowledgement as a distinct community, especially with regards to legal reforms.
Simultaneously, our intent behind this booklet is to provide young Sikh couples with a
resource to utilize as they embark on an important journey in life. The Gurs, through their words
and actions, have impressed the importance and merit of married life. Therefore, it is essential
that Sikhs have a sincere understanding of the collective vows they make before Gur Granth
Shib. We hope to encourage Sikh couples to strengthen their marriage through the Gurs
wisdom, leading to strong families and an even stronger Sikh nation.
Our endeavor, which is a draft version, must be prefaced with several comments
regarding the contents. Any place where we have interpreted Gurbn or Gurmukh or used the
interpretations of others must be viewed as simply that, an interpretation. We strongly
recommend consulting the source of any interpretation to more fully grasp the original meaning.
We have purposely omitted any address of cultural customs surrounding Sikh weddings, as
engagements and other traditions are not religiously sanctioned. Nonetheless, these practices
should not be condemned as long as they do not conflict with Gurmat and the Sikh way of life.
We encourage the reader to make use of this document as a resource for wedding
planning, as well as an opportunity to explore the historical and political ways in which Sikhs
have asserted their sense of autonomy. We also encourage you to view a related video entitled
Anand Karaj: Ceremony, Bliss & I at SikhRIs website. Special thanks to Dilpreet Kaur and
Harinder Singh for leading this project; we are also grateful to Shraddha Nembang, Simran Singh,
Sara Stroo, Gurvinder Singh, Ravpreet Singh and Jasmine Kaur for their input and service.

Let us use the observance of the centennial of the Anand Marriage Act to further our spiritual and
political sovereignty!


Sikh Research Institute
22 October 2009








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Table of Contents


Introduction. 4
Historical Overview 5
Anand Kraj Act. 6
Sikh Rahit Maryd. 7
Lv
Gurmukh, Transcriptions,
& Interpretations... 10
Commentary.. 14
Selected Sabads...15
Essays
Akal Fatah.. 23
by Harinder Singh Mehboob
Love.. 25
by Puran Singh
4
Introduction

| U|J m|m| 8J| |UN J|U v
UN H U|U H| | N|Jm H|U v
- N N H|J8, ?cc

The two who merely live together are not considered husband and wife,
Those who become one spirit in two bodies are acknowledged as spouses.
- Gur Granth Shib, 788

The Sikh wedding ceremony is called Anand Kraj, which literally means ceremony of bliss.
During the ceremony, the bride and groom walk around Gur Granth Shib, the Sikh scriptural
canon, signifying the central role of the Gur in the life of a Sikh. As the couple encircles Gur
Granth Shib together, the congregation sings a composition which was revealed to Gur
Rmds Shib and enshrined in Gur Granth Shib. This composition expresses the ideal
relationship between an individual and Vhigur. In the context of marriage, this prototypical
union between the individual and the Divine is extended to the ideal marriage between a wife and
husband. With the recitation of each verse of the composition, the couple makes another pass
around the Gur Granth Shib. Each revolution around Gur Granth Shib is called a lv
(plural lv). The lv consist of four verses that metaphorically relate worldly marriage
between two individuals to the souls pursuit for union with the Divine. The Anand Kraj traces
the path of the ideal human life as it strives for mergence with Vhigur.

Before the Anand Kraj begins, the congregation sits before Gur Granth Shib and listens to the
devotional recitations of scripture, or krtan. When the bride and groom arrive, they are seated in
front of Gur Granth Shib. The leader of the ceremony stresses the significance of marriage and
how the act of circling the Gur represents the fundamental role the Gur plays in Sikh life. Next,
the couple and their respective parents rise for Ards, a formal request for Divine support. The
bride's father then takes the end of the cloth draped over the grooms shoulder and places it into
the hands of his daughter.

The ceremony commences with the most important aspect of the Sikh wedding: the lv. The
four lv express the classic progression of human life and relays the qualities of an ideal spousal
relationship. The first lv initiates the wedding ceremony with an emphasis on the necessity of
leading a life of righteousness. The second lv reveals that, through submission to the Gur,
discipline is discovered. The third lv affirms the importance of the company of divinely-inspired
individuals, the sangat, as a source of guidance. The final lv proclaims that with the support of
Gur and sangat, harmonious and blissful living is experienced. During each of the four lv, the
groom leads the bride around the Gur. After the complete recitation of each verse, the couple
bows before Gur Granth Shib.

In undergoing Anand Kraj, a couple accepts Gur Granth Shib as their guiding principle and
vows to continue the journey toward the Divine. Furthermore, the couple vows to work together
in helping each other probe spiritual depths toward a more sublime and profound union. In this
way, the Sikh marriage ceremony is an enactment of a larger union, namely the union of the
human soul with the Supreme Being; a union which transcends the physical world and moves
towards the renunciation of individual egos in pursuit of a greater union, in which two become
one. The process of this union both between wife and husband and between the soul and
Vhigur is detailed in the lv that are sung during the solemnization of the Sikh wedding
ceremony.
5
Historical Overview


Gur Nnak Shib, the founder-prophet of the Sikh faith, is widely believed to have devised the
initial form of the Sikh wedding ceremony. According to tradition, at the onset of his wedding,
Gur Nnak Shib placed an inscription of the Ml Mantr on a stool and walked around it with
his bride, disregarding Hindu marriage rites oriented around fire. The third Gur, Gur Amards
Shib is also credited with contributing to the origins of the Anand Kraj, and some sources
maintain that his rendition of the ceremony included the singing of a composition entitled Anand.

The fourth Gur, Gur Rmds Shib formally composed the lv, which came to be
institutionalized as the composition to be sung during the wedding ceremony of Sikhs, a tradition
that continues to this day.

British law in South Asia did not formally acknowledge the Sikh wedding ceremony until the
early twentieth century. During this historical period, Sikhs began to voice demands to be
recognized as a distinct religious tradition. In response to extensive political agitation on behalf of
the Sikhs, the Imperial Legislative Council passed the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 on October
22, 1909, thereby legally recognizing Sikh marriage rites.

However, following the formation of Pakistan and India in 1947 as distinct political entities, this
act became irrelevant. Today, Article 25 of the Indian Constitution explicitly identifies the Sikh,
Jain, and Buddhist traditions as sects of a larger Hindu religion, and therefore, all marriages
involving members of these religious communities are officially performed under the Hindu
Marriage Act of 1955.

On January 16, 2008, the Pakistani government passed the Sikh Marriage Registration
Ordinance, making Pakistan the only nation in the world to recognize Sikh marriages according
to their own unique tradition. Following this decision, Sikhs have begun to call for the enactment
of similar legislation in India.
6
Anand Marriage Act

The Anand Marriage Act of 1909

ACT NO. 7 OF 1909

Act Objective: An Act to remove doubts as to the validity of the marriage ceremony common
among the Sikhs called Anand.

1.

(1) Short title and extent.

This Act may be called the Anand Marriage Act, 1909; and

(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

2. Validity of Anand marriages.

All marriages which may be or may have been duly solemnized according to the Sikh marriage
ceremony called Anand shall be, and shall be deemed to have been with effect from the date of
the solemnization of each respectively, good and valid in law.

3. Exemption of certain marriages from Act.

Nothing in this Act shall apply to-

(a) any marriage between persons not professing the Sikh religion, or

(b) any marriage which has been judicially declared to be null and void.

4. Saving of marriages solemnized according to other ceremonies.

Nothing in this Act shall affect the validity of any marriage duly solemnized according to any
other marriage ceremony customary among the Sikhs.

5. Non-validation of marriages within prohibited degrees.

Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to validate any marriage between persons who are related to
each other in any degree of consanguinity or affinity which would, according to the customary
law of the Sikhs, render a marriage between them illegal.








7
Sikh Rahit Maryd


Protocols of Anand Kraj

Note - This is an excerpt from the Sikh Rahit Maryd, a reference document outlining the code
of conduct for the Sikhs. In an effort to establish unity amongst Sikhs, it was adopted by the
Panth and published by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The interpretation below,
done by Kulraj Singh in 1994, is published on SGPCs website. The reader is encouraged,
however, to consult the original text in Gurmukh to capture the true spirit of the document.

Anand Sanskar (Lit. Joyful Ceremonial: Sikh Matrimonial Ceremony and Conventions)

Article XVIII

a. A Sikh man and woman should enter wedlock without giving thought to the prospective
spouse's caste and descent.

b. A Sikh's daughter must be married to a Sikh.

c. A Sikh's marriage should be solemnized by Anand marriage rites.

d. Child marriage is taboo for Sikhs.

e. When a girl becomes marriageable, physically, emotionally and by virtue of maturity of
character, a suitable Sikh match should be found and she be married to him by Anand marriage
rites.

f. Marriage may not be preceded by engagement ceremony. But if an engagement ceremony is
sought to he held, a congregational gathering should be held and, after offering the Ardas before
the Guru Granth Sahib, a kirpan, a steel bangle and some sweets may be tendered to the boy.

g. Consulting horoscopes for determining which day or date is auspicious or otherwise for fixing
the day of the marriage is a sacrilege. Any day that the parties find suitable by mutual
consultation should be fixed.

h. Putting on floral or gilded face ornamentation, decorative headgear or red thread band round
the wrist, worshipping of ancestors, dipping feet in milk mixed with water, cutting a berry or
jandi (Prosopis spieigera) bushes, filling pitcher, ceremony of retirement in feigned displeasure,
reciting couplets, performing havans (Sacrificial fire), installing vedi (a wooden canopy or
pavilion under which Hindu marriages are performed), prostitutes' dances, drinking liquor, are all
sacrileges.

i. The marriage party should have as small a number of people as the girl's people desire. The two
sides should greet each other singing sacred hymns and finally by the Sikh greetings of Waheguru
ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh.

j. For marriage, there should be a congregational gathering in the holy presence of Guru Granth
Sahib. There should be hymn-singing by ragis or by the whole congregation. Then the girl and the
boy should he made to sit facing the Guru Granth Sahib. The girl should sit on the left side of the
boy. After soliciting the congregation's permission, the master of the marriage ceremony (who
8
may be a man or a woman) should bid the boy and girl and their parents or guardians to stand and
should offer the Ardas for the commencement of the Anand marriage ceremony.

The officiant should then apprise the boy and the girl of the duties and obligations of conjugal life
according to the Guru's tenets. He should initially give to the two an exposition of their common
mutual obligations. He should tell them how to model the husband-wife relationship on the love
between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul in the light of the contents of
circumambulation (Lavan) hymns in the Suhi measure (rag) section (The bulk of the Guru Granth
(the Sikh holy book) is divided on the basis of the ragas (measures) of the Indian classical music.
Suhi is one of the ragas featuring in the Guru Granth Sahib) of the Guru Granth Sahib.

He should explain to them the notion of the state of "a single soul in two bodies" to be achieved
through love and make them see how they may attain union with the Immortal Being discharging
duties and obligations of the householders' life. Both of them, they should be told, have to make
their conjugal union a means to the fulfillment of the purpose of the journey of human existence;
both have to lead clean and Guru-oriented lives through the instrumentality of their union.

He should then explain to the boy and girl individually their respective conjugal duties as
husband and wife. The bridegroom should be told that the girl's people having chosen him as the
fittest match from among a whole lot, he should regard his wife as his better half, accord
unflinching love and share with her all that he has. In all situations, he should protect her person
and honour, he should be completely loyal to her and he should show much respect and
consideration for her parents and relations as for his own.

The girl should be told that she has been joined in matrimony to her man in the hallowed presence
of the Guru Granth Sahib and the congregation. She should ever harbour for him deferential
solicitude, regard him the lord master of her love and trust; she should remain firm in her loyalty
to him and serve him in joy and sorrow and in every clime (native or foreign) and should show
the same regard and consideration to his parents and relatives as she would, to her own parents
and relatives.

The boy and girl should bow before the Guru Granth Sahib to betoken their acceptance of these
instructions. Thereafter, the girl's father or the principal relation should make the girl grasp one
end of the sash which the boy is wearing over his shoulders and the person in attendance of the
Guru Granth Sahib should recite the matrimonial circumambulation stanzas {Lavan of the fourth
Guru in the Suhi musical measure section of the Guru Granth Sahib} (Pp. 773-4). After the
conclusion of the recitation of each of the stanzas, the boy, followed by the girl holding the end of
the sash, should go round the Guru Granth Sahib while the ragis or the congregation sing out the
recited stanza.

The boy and girl, after every circumambulation, should bow before the Guru Granth Sahib in
genuflexion, lowering their forehead to touch the ground and then stand up to listen to the
recitation of the next stanza. There being four matrimonial circumambulation stanzas in the
concerned hymn, the proceeding will comprise four circumambulations with the incidental
singing of the stanza.

After the fourth circumambulation, the boy and girl should, after bowing before the Guru Granth
Sahib, sit down at the appointed place and the Ragis or the person who has conducted the
ceremony should recite the first five and the last stanza of the Anand Sahib. Thereafter, the Ardas
should he offered to mark the conclusion of the Anand marriage ceremony and the sacred
9
pudding, distributed'.

k. Persons professing faiths other than the Sikh faith cannot be joined in wedlock by the Anand
Karaj ceremony.

l. No Sikh should accept a match for his/her son or daughter for monetary consideration.

m. If the girl's parents at any time or on any occasion visit their daughter's home and a meal is
ready there, they should not hesitate to eat there. Abstaining from eating at the girl's home is a
superstition. The Khalsa has been blessed with the boon of victuals and making others eat by the
Guru and the Immortal Being. The girl's and boy's people should keep accepting each other's
hospitality, because the Guru has joined them in relationship of equality (Prem Sumarag).

n. If a woman's husband has died, she may, if she so wishes, finding a match suitable for her,
remarry. For a Sikh man whose wife has died, similar ordinance obtains.

o. The remarriage may be solemnized in the same manner as the Anand marriage.

p. Generally, no Sikh should marry a second wife if the first wife is alive.

q. A baptised ought to get his wife also baptised.
10
Lv Gurmukh, Transcription, & Interpretation


Lv 1


I HJl HJ u 3 9 (. =-u)
+ Hl3 IHlH
Jl lJl = l=3l =H lHl8o 8l H HlU
8l 8JH =H uH lH J 3Hl8o 8l H HlU
uH lHJ Jl H luo=J lHlHl3 H lHl8o
Hl3I I ouJ Hl l=l= I=l8o
HJH oH Jo =Il Hl Jl Jl Hl l8o
H =J = = lJl o =H 0l8o 9

rAgu sUhI mahalA 4 chant gharu 1 (pp. 773-74)
ik oaOkAr sati gurprasAdi
hari pahilaRI lAv paravirtI karam driRAJA bali rAm jIK.
bANI brahmA vedu dharamu driRahu pAp tajAJA bali rAm jIK.
dharamu driRahu hari nAmu dhiAvahu simriti nAmu driRAJA.
satiguru guru pUrA ArAdhahu sabhi kilvikh pAp gavAJA.
sahaj anandu hoA vaDbhAgI mani hari hari mIThA lAJA.
janu kahai nAnaku lAv pahilI Arambhu kAju racAJA. 1.

Revealed to the fourth NAnak in Rg SUhI
One Universal Integrative Force. Truth. Realized by the Gurs Grace.
O Powerful All-Pervading! In accordance with Vhigurs order,
engagement in household activities is confirmed with this first lv.
O Powerful All-Pervading! The Gurs Word is the Divine Message.
Contemplate on righteousness and vices are cast away.
Dwell on the path of righteousness, Identify with the Omnipresent,
and stay resolute in this practice through contemplation.
Be in constant remembrance of the Satigur, the Perfect Enlightener,
and conquer the vices and blemishes of the soul.
When Identification with the All-Pervading delights your mind and heart,
blissful joy is effortlessly achieved this is how you become a fortunate!
Nnak proclaims that by Vhigurs order,
the wedding ceremony is initiated through this first lv.
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Lv 2


Jl HHl = Hl3I lHl8o 8l H HlU
lU H Jl8 JUH H I=l8o 8l H HlU
lH U l8o Jl I Il8o Jl = H JH
Jl o3H H Hlo HoHl H8 lJo
o3l 8Jl Jl 8= lHl Jl H HI I8
H = HHl = 08l oJH H8H =H8 7

hari dUjaRI lAv satigur purakhu milAJA bali rAm jIK.
nirbhaK bhai manu hoJ haKmai mailu gavAJA bali rAm jIK.
nirmalu bhaK pAJA hari guN gAJA hari vekhai rAmu hadUre.
hari Atam rAmu pasAriA suAmI sarab rahiA bharpUre.
antari bAhari hari prabhu eko mili hari jan maOgal gAe.
jan nAnak dUjI lAv calAI anhad sabad vajAe. 2.

O Powerful All-Pervading! With the second lv,
Vhigur has united me with the Satigur, the Complete Enlightener.
O Powerful All-Pervading! The mind has become fearless and the impurity of ego has vanished.
The love of the Flawless attained, Divine praises sung, the Omnipresent seen in all!
Vhigurs power pervades over everything
and the image of the Universal Master resides in the Creation.
Within the self and without, only the Omnipresent is seen;
devotees sing hymns celebrating this All-Pervading.
Nnak proclaims that the blissful joy of unstruck Divine Music is heard through this second lv.
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Lv 3


J| |H| M H| 8 |Um 8N|m 8|M H H| v
H H J| HM J| |Um KN|m 8|M H H| v
|HM J| |Um J| NF N|Um H| 8M| J| 8F| v
H H KN| |Um J| N|m mN NJF| v
|JU J| J| J| | H| J| H|m HH|N N H| v
H N 8M |H| M J| H H| 8N H| vv

hari tIjaRI lAv mani cAK bhaJA bairAgIA bali rAm jIK.
sant janA hari melu hari pAJA vaDbhAgIA bali rAm jIK.
nirmalu hari pAJA hari guN gAJA mukhi bolI hari bANI.
sant janA vaDbhAgI pAJA hari kathIai akath kahANI.
hirdai hari hari hari dhuni upajI hari japIai mastaki bhAgu jIK.
janu nAnaku bole tIjI lAvai hari upajai mani bairAgu jIK. 3.

O Powerful All-Pervading! In this third lv, the mind is filled with yearning love.
O Powerful All-Pervading! By introducing holy companionship to the fortunate ones,
Vhigur has bestowed Union.
The Perfect Vhigur attained, Divine Praises sung, the tongue solely utters Divine Glory!
By great fortune the congregation of devotees is attained
and the inexplicable story of the Divine discussed.
A Divine Note has sounded because of All-Pervadings presence in the heart;
uttering the Omnipresents praises, consider yourselves fortunate.
Nnak prays with this third lv O All-Pervading! Let the loving thirst grow in the mind!
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Lv 4


Jl 0Uul = Hl HJH l8o Jl l8o 8l H HlU
IHl lHlo Hl8 Jl Hl 3l Hl l8o 8l H HlU
Jl Hl l8o H l8o olH Jl l= 8l
H l0lHo = l8o HoHl Jl lH =Hl =u8l
Jl l =l =H 0l8o u lJH lH l=IHl
H = 8 0Uul = Jl l8o ol=Hl u

hari caKthaRI lAv mani sahaju bhaJA hari pAJA bali rAm jIK.
gurmukh miliA subhAJ hari mani tani mIThA lAJA bali rAm jIK.
hari mIThA lAJA mere prabh bhAJA andinu hari liv lAI.
man cindiA phalu pAJA suAmI hari nAmi vajI vAdhAI.
hari prabhi ThAkuri kAju racAJA dhan hirdai nAmi vigAsI.
janu nAnaku bole caKthI lAvai hari pAJA prabhu avinAsI. 4.

O Powerful Omnipresent! In the fourth lv, as the mind attains balance, Vhigur is attained.
O Powerful All-Pervading! Following the instructions of the Gur,
one feels the Divine Presence, achieving mental and physical delight with Vhigur.
Whosoever is attuned with Vhigur day and night, loves the Divine unconditionally;
that person feels the Grace.
That one has obtained the Master, the fruit of all desires.
From devotion to the Divine Identification,
a concert of congratulations resounds internally.
The Supreme Omnipresent the Husband has arranged the nuptials,
the Divine Identification has been revealed in the heart of humanity the wife.
Servant Nnak proclaims by the fourth lv that harmony with the Immortal is attained.
14
Lv Commentary


Revealed to Gur Rmds Shib in Sh Scale.
One Universal Integrative Force. Truth. Realized by the Gurs Grace.

In accordance with Vhigurs order, engagement in household activities is confirmed through
this first lv. By the Holy Word, Vhigur is discovered, righteousness is confirmed and vices are
discarded. Be determined to stay on the path of righteousness, Identify with the Divine, and stay
resolute in this practice by using the power of contemplation. Be in constant remembrance of the
Perfect Preceptor and lose the vices and blemishes of the soul. O fortunate couple! When
Identification with Vhigur tastes sweet to your mind and heart, then blissful joy is achieved
naturally. Nnak proclaims that by Vhigurs order, the weddings initial rite is constructed
through this first lv. 1.

In the discourse of the second lv, Vhigur has enabled union with the Satigur, the Complete
Enlightener. Consequently, the mind has become fearless and the impurity of ego has vanished.
The love of the Pure Supreme Being is attained, Divine praises have been sung, and Vhigur can
truly be seen manifested everywhere. Vhigurs power pervades over everything and the image
of the Universal Master resides in the Creation. Within the self and without, only Vhigur is
seen, and songs celebrating the All-Knowing are sung by devotees. Nnak proclaims that blissful
joy unstruck. Divine Music is heard through this second lv. 2.

O bride and groom! Due to Vhigurs grace, happiness originates in your mind and heart,
transforming vices into Divine Love and worldliness to non-attachment. Vhigur has bestowed
you fortunate beings with union by introducing the holy companionship. The undefiled Vhigur
is attained, only Divine Laudation is sung, and the tongue solely utters the Divine Glory. By great
good fortune the congregation of devotees is attained, in whose company the inexplicable story of
the Divine is discussed. An unstruck Divine Note has sounded because of Vhigurs presence in
the heart and mind; uttering Vhigurs praises, consider your selves fortunate. Nnak prays with
this third lv - O Vhigur! May virtue yield in this couples mind and heart. 3.

In the discourse of the fourth lv, Vhigur is attained when the mind and heart attain balance. By
following the instructions of the Gur and feeling the Divine Presence, one becomes at ease with
Vhigur. Whosoever is attuned with Vhigur day and night, loves the Divine unconditionally;
that person feels Grace. A concert of congratulations resounds due to devotion to the sought
Divine Identification. Supreme Soul the husband has arranged the nuptials, the Divine
Identification has been revealed to humanity the wife. Nnak, the fourth lv proclaims that
harmony with the Immortal is attained. 4.
15
Selected Sabads

Sabad 1

mH v (. 0c7)
| H | N| J 8 8| v
H |U |H | MJ mH |J |N | v9v
N N | UMJ| HNM8 v
H |NJ mU H H v9v J v
| NHM H|J 8U| |8 M 8JH |Nm 8 v
H |U H UMJ |UU mH 8KN JH v7v
H| H| H NN mU N|J |H Hl v
N|J N8| H|J |8m|J 8M J UN N vv7v70v

AsA. (p. 482)
tanu rainI manu panu rapi kari haK pAcaK tat barAtI.
rAm rAJ siK bhAvari lahaK Atam tih raOgi rAtI. 1.
gAK gAK rI dulahanI maOgalcArA.
mere grih Ae raja rAm bhatAra. 1. rahAK.
nAbhi kamal mahi bedI raci le brahm giAn ucArA.
rAm raJ so dUlahu pAJo as baDbhAg hamArA. 2.
suri nar muni jan kaKtak Ae koTi tetis ujAnAM.
kahi kabIr mohi biAhi cale hai purakh ek bhagvAnA. 3.2.24.

RAg sA
I made my body a dying vat and colored my mind with qualities.
My wedding guests are five divine virtues.
I wed the Boundless Sovereign! My soul is colored with love!
Sing soul-brides! Sing the Divine wedding-songs!
My Boundless Sovereign Husband has entered my home!
Within my lotus-heart, I have constructed a bridal pavilion and expressed the Divine Wisdom.
This is my great fortune! I have received the Boundless Sovereign as my husband!
Countless beings have come to witness this event.
Kabr says, the Single Supreme Being has now wedded me.













16
Sabad 2

HNM| N| (. c)
HMN H: v
H| |U N H| H J U| |m J |N |mN| v
J HN N |K M K MN| v9v

rAmkalI kI vAr (p. 963)
salok m: 5.
ustati nindA nAnak jImai habh vaPAI choRiA habhu kijhu tiAgI.
habhe sAk kUrAve DiThe taK palai taiDai lAgI. 1.

Ode in Rg RmkalI
Couplet revealed to the fifth Nnak.
O Nnak! I have forsaken all praise and slander, left and abandoned all.
I have seen that worldly attachments are fleeting, so I have clutched Your sash.
17
Sabad 3

N HJ| HJM 0 W 7 (. ??)
J| | NH 8|Um v
NH| |mJ|F m|Um v
|mJ|F m|Um NH| J| |Um H N |m| v
H H |H|M HNM NU J| H| m| H| v
H| NF N8 |H|M mU m8 H 8FU| v
N |Um H H8 NU H HU| v0v9vv

rAgu sUhI chant mahlA 4 gharu 2 (p. 775)
hari prabhi kAju racAJA.
Gurmukh vIAhaNi AJA.
vIAhaNi AJA Gurmukh hari pAJA sA dhan kant piArI.
sant janA mili maOgal gAe hari jIK Api savarI.
suri nar guN gandharab mili Ae apUrab jaPP baNAI.
nAnak prabhu pAJA mai sAcA nA kade marai na jAI. 4. 1. 3.

Revealed to the fourth NAnak in Rg ShI
The All-Pervading Divine arranged the wedding.
Vhigur has come to marry the human-bride through the Gur.
Come to marry the human-bride through the Gur, that soul-bride is cherished.
Meeting with the humble believers and singing devotion, the Omnipresent adorns the bride.
Superhuman entities have joined to form this unprecedented wedding party!
O Nnak! I have realized the All-Pervading, the Imperishable, who is beyond birth and death!
18
Sabad 4


N HJ| HJM W 7 (. ?c)
HH m|U W HJ| v
J| NF N|J || mWJ| v
J| NF N|U HU |H| || MN mU v
UJ |U|H H J J| H N| H J| J| H |mU v
N J| m H| | J| |8 N UH J| v
HH m|U W HJ| v0v9v

rAgu sUhI chant mahlA 3 gharu 2 (p. 768)
sAjan AJ vuThe ghar mAhI.
hari guN gAvahi tripati aghAhI.
hari guN gAJ sadA tripatAsI phiri bhUkh na lAgai Ae.
Dah disi pUj hovai hari jan kI jo hari hari nAmu dhiAe.
nAnak hari Ape joRI vichoRe hari binu ko dUjA nAhI.
sAjan AJ vuThe ghar mAhI. 4.1.

Revealed to the third NAnak in Rg ShI
The Friend has come to reside in my home!
Singing the praises of the Omnipresent, one is content.
Singing the All-Pervadings praises, forever content, hunger never approaches.
The devotees of the All-Pervading who celebrate the Omnipresents identity
are honored in every direction.
O Nnak! Only the Omnipresent unites and separates!
There is none other than the All-Pervading!
The Friend has come to reside in my home!
19
Sabad 5

|H|N HJM 0 W 7 (. ?c)
J| H 88M J| UJ U H UH v
J| N J| H UJ |H H H NH v
J| J| N| NH HJM N| H|N| U |U|Um v
|K |K J| H JU| |UJ U M M|Um v
J| HH UH |H | |UM|J H N mJN N8 H v
J| H 88M J| UJ U H UH v0v

sirIrAgu mahlA 4 gharu 2 chant (p. 79)
hari prabhu mere bAbulA hari devahu dAnu mai dAjo.
hari kapaRo hari sobhA devahu jitu savarai merA kAjo.
hari hari bhagatI kAju suhelA guri satiguri dAnu divAJA.
khanDi varbhanDi hari sobha hoI ihu dAnu na ralai ralAIA.|
hori manmukh dAju ji rakhi dikhAlahi su kURu ahaOkAru kacu pAjo.
hari prabh mere bAbulA hari devahu dAnu mai dAjo. 4.

Revealed to the fourth NAnak in Rg SirI
My Divine Father! For my gifts and dowry, give me the presence of the Omnipresent!
Let the presence of the Omnipresent be the clothes I receive.
This will complete my ceremony beautifully.
Through devotion to the All-Pervading, the ceremony of marriage becomes blissful.
The Perfect Gur has given this gift.
The Omnipresents greatness spans across worlds and continents.
Although widely distributed, this gift never decreases.
Any other dowry presented by the self-oriented is deceptive, egotistical, and worthless.
My Divine Father! For my gifts and dowry, give me the Omnipresent!
20
Sabad 6

|H|N N| HJM 0 (. c9)
| v
N| M|m NH H J| |J m|m v
NH U|U H| H|N H8 H|m v
H H|N | m|H 8|m v
H |HJ UH N| |m v
N J| NF N|U mM M|m v7Ov

sirIrAgu kI vAr mahlA 4 (p. 91)
paKRI.
kItA loRIai kammu su hari pahi AkhIai.
kAraju deJ savAri satigur sacu sAkhIai.
santA saOgi nidhAnu ammritu cAkhIai.
bhai bhaPjan miharvAn dAs kI rAkhIai.
nAnak hari guN gAJ alakhu prabhu lAkhIai. 20.

Revealed to the fourth NAnak in Rg SirI
Ode.
Whatever task you wish to accomplish, request it from the All-Pervading.
By the Eternals Grace, all tasks will be completed through the Perfect Gurs inspiration.
The everlasting treasure Divine Identity can be appreciated in the company of devotees.
O Fear-Destroyer, O Compassionate! Protect your servants!
O Nnak! Singing the praises of the All-Pervading, cognize the Unfathomable!
21
Sabad 7

N mH HJM W 9 (. 07)
H|Jm H|Jm H 8N Um H v
J J H H |m H v
H |m NH H HHN N| MN H v
m H| m H| m| HmH| m| U v
mF NH m| H m v
NJ N HJ W H|J 8 H J 8N Um v7v

rAgu AsA mahlA 5 chant gharu 1 (p. 452)
sohiaRe sohiaRe mere baOk duAre rAm.
pAhunaRe pAhunaRe mere sant piAre rAm.
sant piAre kAraj sAre namaskAr kari lage sevA.
Ape jAPI Ape mAPI Api suAmI Api devA.
apNA kAraju Api savAre Ape dhAran dhAre.
kahu nAnak sahu ghar mahi baiThA sohe baOk duAre. 2.

Revealed to the fifth NAnak in Rg s
My senses have become so beautiful and wonderful!
My souls partner, my Divine-Spouse has entered my life!
The Beloved Divine-Spouse is completing all tasks.
My senses salute and serve the Divine with devotion.
Youre the grooms party! Youre the brides party!
Youre the master! Youre the manifestation.
You take care of Your own affairs and You safeguard on your own!
Nnak says: The Divine-Spouse is residing in my heart-home,
my senses have become beautiful.
22
Sabad 8

|H|N HJM 0 W 7 (. ?c)
|mJ Jm H 88M NH J| |Um v
m|Nm m N|Jm N |Nm 8K 8M|Um v
8|Mm N |Nm m |8|Hm J| U M v
JH N N|Um U M m m NH| v
mNM H| |Um m|8H| NU H H|Um v
|mJ Jm H 88M NH J| |Um v7v

sirIrAgu mahlA 4 gharu 2 chant (p. 78)
viAhu hoA mere bAbulA gurmukhe hari pAJA.
agiAnu andherA kaTiA gur giAnu pracanDu balAJA.
baliA gur giAnu andherA binsiA hari ratanu padArathu lAdhA.
haKmai rogu gaJA dukhu lAthA Apu Apai gurmati khAdhA.
akAl mUrati varu pAJA abinAsI nA kade marai na jAJA.
viAhu hoA mere bAbulA gurmukhe hari pAJA.

Revealed to the fourth NAnak in Rg SirI
O my Divine Father, my wedding is done!
By submitting to the Gur, I realized the All-Pervading!
Ignorance and darkness conquered,
the Gur has brought forth wisdom and light.
The Gurs wisdom blazing, darkness dispelled
I have discovered the priceless jewel of the Omnipresent.
The disease and pains of the ego have disappeared.
Through the Gurs tradition the sense of self has been vanquished.
I have received my Divine Spouse, the Timeless Form, the Imperishable
the one beyond birth and death!
O my Divine Father, my wedding is done!
By submitting to the Gur, I realized the All Pervading!
23
Essays


Akal Fatah by Harinder Singh Mehboob

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24

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25
Love by Puran Singh

In Gur Granth, Love is not any philosophical abstraction; it is the incessant breathing of the
Spirit of God, and a life informed of universal sympathy. Love is an ever-flowing inebriation of
the Deep through a Gur-transmuted man. Love is the simple, inmost state of life, which depends
on no outward condition of life. As the seed is to the pine tree, love is to the true man. The latter
is the whole of it in stuff of growth, leafage, blossom, and fruitage. Love has hands and feet and it
works. Love is fully passionate, and has the color of ruby lips the quiver with Naming Him.
The Gurs color is of the rose; perfumes are emitted by his very flesh. His words are visions.
Gur Nanak is opposed to the analytical descriptions of the Great Spirit

***

Passion burns all theories, all the past of India is mere ballast. His God is the bridegroom, and he
His bride. His passion is natural, like that of a wedded woman, but it is one continuous song
ringing day and night in his soul. Here is the spontaneity and the naturalness of the relationship of
the wedded woman to her husband, not glaring and showy, nor what they may call artistic and
demonstrative, but deep as the sea, eternal as earth and sky. To him, God is never impersonal.

***

Love is called Ajar Vastu, a thing that cannot be absorbed; it tends to overflow the banks of the
heart. The Gurs man is he who is the great shock-absorber, spark-eater. Nothing but a half-
closed inebriation, aye a small ripple of a smile that might reveal the great love to one who is
familiar with such things. He calls all other thinking and intellectualizing on the subject dead.
And to him, even life processes are mere processes of combustion, unless the scent of this great
spiritual Presence is in the breadth of man.

Gur Nanak is fond of the Name as a spiritual Presence and he says, by this continuous
inspiration of Naming Him by living, moving and being in it, one can be God-like. So much so,
he says; the Presence is but the word, the song in ceaseless repetition is the soul-sound.

***

Love is dead matter if it wastes itself and dissipates its glow, its passionate uprush, its sublime
flights, its soul-felt exquisite thrills of life The half-closed eyes, the ripe-red cheeks, the wave
after wave thrilling ones being, the very pores trembling with a soothing passion, the aching of
the whole body mounting up in a stream of blood to the brain physically and trembling with an
infinite variety of love-emotions of both pain and pleasure, is the devotee-picture sculptured in
Gur Granth. It is overwhelmed with its own feeling. In its continuous elevation of love, it is
Beauty itself. The transmuted disciples act of loving man and woman is an act of grace. It
relieves the heavily-laden, imprisoned souls, that by it are set free. It is wholly spiritual. Whatever
they might say from understanding the fundamentals of scientific discovery, there is, above the
electric current, a super-electric human-divine current that by its touch, blesses and washes the
heaviness of thought away and makes one feel bodiless, rich, inebriated, quickened and God-like.
The Gur seems to have dwelt in Gur Granth on the absolute realism, on the existence of the
Spirits current that flows through man and nature, and those who know its fundamentals can
alone bear witness to Gurs word. None other, none other!

***

26
The filth that surrounds love while still struggling in physical and mental environment is all
washed away by his touch, by the Gurs gladness of love To have renounced all truly
spiritual and truly aesthetic joys of life and to have taken to extreme penances in the name of love
is not recognized by the Gur as the right attitude to the Divine. It is unjust to the human nature
and its natural spontaneous and balanced, gradual and easy development. But by the influence of
the Gur, the transmutation takes place and love with full passion and pulse loses or begins to
tend to lose all its lower smoke

***

Great as its impulse is to run, the Gur is assured that as great and even greater is the impulse of
human nature to return to a certain level of inner sanity which instead of interfering with the
freedom of others, prefers to absorb beauty and be absorbed in it, thus to keep thrilling the whole
being of man continuously with intense sensations of the Beautiful. And the Gur is assured that
man duly informed will resist the ignorant temptations of possessing Beauty. All is the Beauty of
God, nothing excluded, whether in flower, leaf, snow peak, forest, or in sun or star or woman or
angel. And all that attracts, fascinates, and dreams the soul out of its clay-embodiment is
fundamentally of the supreme fascination of the pure spirit. All attractions, all achings are
spiritual in essence and in verity. The soul goes out to beauty and beauty comes to meet the soul;
the union takes place in utter disembodiment of both, somewhere outside man, somewhere inside
Beauty, somewhere within the soul. This union is the point where the All-Beautiful throngs in
sensation, in which come and meet the visible and invisible worlds. No one can resist the
temptations of going out to experience this joy. The Gur says this union must be, in the nature of
things, creative Simrin (Aching, continuous Remembrance) not only in the memory, but in its
intense relish. A memory must be given by it to the very pores of the body. This is Simrin, this
memory gives to every cell of the human body the Gur calls Love, and it has its degrees of
intensity, amplification, and subtle elevations. All human loves are expressions of Simrin.

***

The Gur takes delight in celebrating the marriage of his disciples; some of them he married
away under his own blessing. And for the first time in Indian religious history, he makes woman
truly free, because he grants her full liberty of soul by bestowing on her His discipleship, as freely
as a man. Ananda alone, in early Buddhism, pleads for woman; but in Sikh history woman is self-
realized. A Sikh woman stood up to disclaim the Sikhs who had returned home after repudiating
their personal fidelity to Gur Gobind Singh; sisters disowned brothers, mothers their sons, and
wives their husbands. They shut the doors of their homes on the renegades. Mai (mother) Bhago,
the disciple-woman, led the forty Sikh martyrs to death if thereby they could wash away their
temporary dereliction. And they did, those forty great Sikhs fought along with them like a soldier.
Sundari was the type of Sikh womanhood that lived in the forest with the Khalsa, nursing the
wounded and attending the sick. Bibi Nanaki, the sister of Gur Nanak, was the very first disciple
of Gur Nanak, who had the spiritual genius to understand the prophet in her brother. She has that
homely sweetness of soul, which attracts Gur Nanak again and again to return home. Bibi Amro,
the daughter of Gur Angad was chanting Japuji while churning butter, and her melodious soulful
chant fascinated Amardas, the uncle of her husband, who eventually became the Third spiritual
sovereign of the Sikhs.

***

And many are the effects of the Gurs love. All the senses of man are quickened by contact with
the Gur. The disciple is a kind husband, a loving father, a brave affectionate brother, and a
27
patriot who dies for his country before you can gauge the immensity of his love and his self-
sacrifice. Behold, I do not give lectures, or a little charity; when I give, I give myself (Walt
Whitman). So great is his attachment to his home, his heart, his soil, and his native land. And he
is universal in his sympathy. Like a cloud, he goes where the winds take him, and he rains when
the Cloud-sender bids him to rain. True citizenship came in Panjab in the wake of the Gurs
education of the masses by bringing them in close contact with himself. His love for the people
can be gauged from the fact that like a father, he loved to feed his children. To give to the people
too much of spiritual gospel means always some want of genuine sympathy, surely some
alienness. The Gur treats mans physical needs of life with human sympathy and he ignores
human imperfections and loves the beauty of Perfection that nestles in him. Love in practice has
not that grand color which is given to it in books. It has the color of brown earth and it has the
same rugged simplicity. Distribute your labor and the fruits of your labor all around you
feeding, clothing, and making your brothers physically comfortable this is the simple life of the
Sikh. It is a poor life of love and feeling, it has no blind pride and vanity about it.

***

Sense indulgence, whether through anger, lust, greed, selfishness, and its seemingly bright
exciting pleasures, appertains fundamentally to the blind I-ness of man. It necessarily involves
a certain selfish aggressiveness at the expense of the spiritual experience. And so the Gur points
out the grossness of going hog-like after sensual indulgence. But the Gurs acknowledge that
such tendencies cannot be put down by mere vows, by self-restraint or by mental resolutions
The man has not yet attained his mellowed, wise, beautiful and spiritually ripe manhood; he is
still so irresistibly drawn by the animal pleasures that are in the body of woman, as distinguished
from the wholly spiritual pleasures that are in her lovely soul. How far is the religion of the soul
from those who get self-hypnotized and seek pleasure in the mere body.

***

The Gur trusts with infinite faith the essential nobleness of human nature, and as men see love
divine in the companionship of digs, so the Gur sees it in the companionship of unsophisticated
men, the upward tendency to pure spiritual love. The river flows and it does universal good. The
star shines, the lamps burn all do universal good. Beauty is forever altruistic, intellectual more
than physical, and spiritual more than intellectual, if relief of human distress and the bestowing of
peace and power to souls in struggle is altruism. So a Sikh is a true householder, a true citizen, a
worthy patriot, and a humanitarian man, whenever the call comes. And he is intensely human all
the while.

***

The Gur has insisted that no dead mentalities, no mechanical definitions, no individual views
taken out, above or below the life complex itself, shall be permitted to guide the inscrutable
destinies of the peoples soul. Opportunities of life are to be brought together, and no strange and
extraordinary vows of celibacy, of poverty, or Yoga or Bhoga shall interfere with the living
choice of a living people The Sikh has to be drunk with the wine poured into the cup of his
heart by the Gur. In this inner realization of love takes the shape of unbroken inebriation. Bhai
Gurdas, the great savant of Sikhism says: Give us, too, a drop of Thy Wine, O Gur, so that we
may not be counted amongst the dry moralists.

Excerpts from Love by Puran Singh, The Spirit of the Sikh, Part II, Volume II,
Panjabi University, Patiala, pp. 170-196.
28











H HH JU|H-U |UHN-U , J| -lU|H 1
U J-U |UHN-U U|, JH N H| N|H 1
- U| U MM NU

We need not read sayings besides the adage of Your Love.
And on this Path of Love alone, we engage in the dialogue.
- Bh Nand Ll Goy