Jan-March 2006 - Institute of Sikh Studies

20ABSTRACTS OF SIKH STUDIES : JAN-MARCH 2006 / 537-38 NShad composed hymns in 19 ragas and Guru Angad had contributedonly 62 salokas, while Guru Amar Das used only 17 of those 19 ragas.Guru Ram Das and, following him, Guru Arjun Dev composed in 30ragas including the 19 ragas earlier used. (Guru Tegh Bahadurcontributed 31 st raga in SGGS to which we shall refer later on). GuruNanak, during his widespread travels in several parts of India andabroad, had collected the compositions of various Bhaktas, both Muslimand Hindu of various denominations, including Brahmins, and peoplecoming from the so-called lower or down-trodden castes. Some ofthe hymns were collected later by the successor Gurus.The need for straightaway compiling Pothi Sahib, now known asSri Guru Granth Sahib, arose because of two reasons. Firstly, becauseof alignment of Brahmnis with hostile Minas – Guru Ram Das’ elderson, Prithi Chand, who had defied his father and others – and theirattempts at projecting Guru Nanak as an avatar in Puranic framework,while there was an urgent need to uphold the universal humanism ofGuru Nanak. Secondly, Minas, Prithi Chand and his son Meharbanstarted composing their poems under the name of Nanak, to causeconfusion amidst the general populace, and thereby corrupt the Sikhphilosophy.It were some such considerations that forced Guru Arjun Dev tocommission Bhai Gurdas as an amaneunsis to compile Pothi Sahib toseparate the real bani from the spurious one. Bhai Gurdas had beenclosely connected with the Sikh movement from the third Guruonwards, had blood relationship with Guru Amar Das, and was also ascholar par excellence, apart from being the first great exponent ofSikh religion, theology and philosophy. Besides Guru Arjun Dev, hehad the competence to separate grain from chaff, and put real bani ona permanent footing. A structure at Ramsar at Amritsar was selectedfor the purpose, where Guru Arjun Dev and Bhai Gurdas spent a lotof time to compile Gurbani.Guru Nanak had passed on the collection of his compositionsand those of Bhaktas collected by him to Guru Angad, who passed onthe same to Guru Amar Das. It was during this time that there was amajor schism in the Sikh faith, and serious efforts were made to compilewhat he aptly described as kachi bani, unauthorized or spuriouscompositions. Ahyapur Wali Pothis were among some of those