Authenticity of Kartarpuri Bir - Global Sikh Studies

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were trained in the reading on the khari bir; i.e. Banno’s before
starting on the authorized bir.
As for the Ranjhunjhanra hymn, the heading was
inscribed by Bhai Gurdas in the Kartarpur volume but the rest
of the text was omitted and the space left vacant as it was
rejected by Guru Arjan. This is exactly what happened in the
case of the composition called Pran Sangli. The heading was
again written in Ramkali Ranjhunjhanra and there is strong
possibility that the Shabad was rejected as spurious, with only
two lines remaining there. The question of deletion does
not arise, because there is no deletion or obliteration in tbe
Kartarpur manuscript. Sant Inder Singh Chakravarti, of the
Namdhari Sect, which does not believe in the Guruship of
Sri Guru Granth .S’ahib and is still carrying on with the
tradition of personal Gurus, bas been quoted by the author.
But Sant Inder Singh had no first band knowledge of the
Kartarpuri Bir and has nowhere stated that he saw or studied
that manuscript.
The hymn of Mira Bai was inscribed in the Kartarpuri
volume but it was crossed out. As for Surdas, only one line is
there. There is neither any crossing out nor deletion. These
two Bhagats remained, up to the last, devotees of the
incarnation of Vishnu. They were not Bhagats of the Nirgun
tradition for which reason Guru Arjan rejected their
compositions.
The tradition of Akhand Path is universally accepted
by the Panth and is not as recent as the author seems to suggest.
It is also wrong to say.that the Sikh cremation ceremony
is performed in tbe presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
The printed version is the autborized version accepted
by all Sikhs. There may be some printing errors, but it is wrong
to say that “the quest for a definitive authorized version is still
not quite over.”
When I studied the Kartarpuri manuscript, there was
no litigation of any kind about it.