Guru Nanak Bani (Selected Hymns)

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GURU NANAK (1469-1539) was the founder of the Sikh faith and redeemer in the setting of a corrupt and degenerate society. He became a source of powerful current of spiritual and social renewal and regeneration. He had a mystical encounter with Nirankar (formless God) and then travelled throughout India and beyond to preach the divine message. His teachings, addressed to entire humankind and set forth in verse written in common man's language, Punjabi, are found included in the Guru Granth Sahib and aim at the holistic development of man and society as a whole.

The book is a compilation of selected hymns of Guru Nanak thematically divided into different heads. The selection has been made by Dr Bhai Jodh Singh to highlight different aspects of Sikhism such as metaphysics, philosophy, theology, etc. The exegesis made by Bhai Jodh Singh is marked by his catholic knowledge of Eastern and Western schools of thought. The rare beauty of the collection is that it not only enlightens us about the Guru's teachings but also brings out great poetic beauty of the hymns.

DR BHAI JODH SINGH, the founder Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University when it came into being in 1962, was a patriarchal figure for many years in the fields of Sikh theology, education and politics. Deeply influenced by the Singh Sabha renaissance, he became an authoritative interpreter of Sikh faith and tradition and published exegesis of several scriptural texts all of which are marked by clarity of thought and expression. He was also a member of the Punjab Legislative Council and Indian Sahitya Akademi and founder-president of Punjabi Sahitya Akademi.

DHARAM SINGH, former Professor of Sikh Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism at Punjabi University, Patiala. He has authored more than a dozen books on Sikh philosophy and theology and inter faith studies. His English adaptation of Sahib Singh's Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan (10 vols.), which is an exegesis of the Guru Granth Sahib, is being published by the Singh Brothers, Amritsar, and an English translation, with detailed annotations, of Varan Bhai Gurdas has been under print with the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

In this collection we have compiled selected hymns of Guru Nanak and then arranged them under different heads with the objective of highlighting the Guru's views and doctrines on religious, ethical, moral and social aspects of life. If we want to correctly evaluate these ideas and doctrines of the Guru, it becomes imperative for us to first know the religio-social and political situation in Punjab and the neighbouring regions at the time of Guru Nanak's birth. This part of Punjab (where the Guru was born) has been famous as the land where hymns of the Vedas were composed. The seekers desirous of learning the correct pronunciation of Sanskrit words would come to the ashramas of this land. The author of the Sanskrit grammar, Panini, was also born in this region. Later on Buddhism also remained a dominant religion of this area. The university of Taxila was also situated here. However, by the time of Guru Nanak's birth, Buddhism had almost disappeared from this region. Brahmanism was dominant at that time. There were some Jainas but only a few and they too were scattered in some cities. Interestingly, they had then become almost a part of the Hindu society. There were only two dominant religions - Hinduism and Islam. However, the yogis of the Gorakhpanthi order, who get their ears pierced and wear ear-rings, had considerable influence on the common man among Hindus as well as Muslims. The masses believed that these yogis possessed supernatural powers. They had also earned fame among the masses because of their jantras (diagram of mystical character; amulet; charm), mantras (holy hymn or text but later on 'words of power' based on the magical properties believed to be inherent in sound) and tantras (magical formula for attainment of supernatural powers). People would serve them either lured by the greed to earn some boons from them or for fear of their curse. Some of them also took one or the other yogi as their Guru. People with all kinds of religious background - whether Hindus or Muslims - were accepted in this tradition. (Bhakta) Puran and Ranjha (of Heer-Ranjha fame) getting initiated into this order is an affirmation of this statement.