Authenticity of Kartarpuri Bir - Global Sikh Studies
Authenticity of Kartarpuri Bir - Global Sikh Studies
Authenticity of Kartarpuri Bir - Global Sikh Studies
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and shade <strong>of</strong> ink. No other <strong>Bir</strong> fulfils this test.. Thirdly, the<br />
words “Sud” or “Sud Keeche” appear at so many places in the<br />
<strong>Bir</strong>. These are supposed to be in the hand <strong>of</strong> the fifth Guru<br />
since these are in a different hand and not in the hand <strong>of</strong> the<br />
scribe <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Bir</strong>. These words appear in other hand- written<br />
<strong>Bir</strong>s as well. But, for obvious reasons, those are in the same<br />
hand as <strong>of</strong> the scribe <strong>of</strong> the concerned <strong>Bir</strong>, showing that the<br />
<strong>Bir</strong> is a copy and not the original. For, it was only in the case <strong>of</strong><br />
the original that the compiler and the scribe were two different<br />
persons, the fifth Guru and Bhai Gurdas respectively.<br />
It is also significant to note that while writing the dates<br />
<strong>of</strong> the demise <strong>of</strong> the first four Gurus, the day <strong>of</strong> the week is<br />
not mentioned. But in the case <strong>of</strong> the 5th Guru apart from the<br />
date, the day <strong>of</strong> the week too is mentioned though the scribe<br />
is the same. This shows clearly that the date <strong>of</strong> the demise <strong>of</strong><br />
the 5th Guru was written by Bhai Gurdas on a later day,<br />
otherwise had all the five dates been written at one time, either<br />
the day would have been mentioned in all the cases or been<br />
absent from all the five entries. We noticed two additional<br />
particulars <strong>of</strong> this entry about the fifth Guru. The shade <strong>of</strong><br />
ink, especially <strong>of</strong> the date <strong>of</strong> demise, is clearly different from<br />
that <strong>of</strong> the earlier four entries. Second, in the first four entries<br />
there is a line drawn between the end <strong>of</strong> each entry and the<br />
end <strong>of</strong> the page. No such line has been drawn in the case <strong>of</strong><br />
the fifth entry, showing thereby that the time <strong>of</strong> its writing<br />
was different otherwise the practice <strong>of</strong> drawing the line would<br />
have been observed in this case as well.<br />
2. Both the historical writings <strong>of</strong> Santokh Singh, Bhai<br />
Gurdas, Gur Bilas Chhevin Patshahi, etc. 26 and the tradition assert<br />
that the fifth Guru completed the Adi-Granth in Bhadon-Samat-<br />
1661. As it is, the <strong>Kartarpuri</strong> <strong>Bir</strong> is the only <strong>Bir</strong> which records<br />
that it was written in Bhadon 1661; “Samat 1661 Miti Bhadon<br />
Vadi ekam pothi likh pouhnche”. 27