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ADI BIRH BARAI About Compilation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib

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Facts About Compilation of Adi Guru Granth Sahib

Facts About Compilation of Adi Guru Granth Sahib

“On hearing the cries of the suffering Humanity, the Merciful Creator Lord sent Guru Nanak Dev to this Earth to convey His Message of Hope for all.”

The oldest book on the life of Guru Nanak Dev is “Puratan Janamsakhi”, which was written during the time of Guru Arjan Dev, the 5th Guru, or soon thereafter. This Janamsakhi states that under Guru Nanak Dev’s instructions, at the time of his Demise, the BOOK OF COMPOSITIONS WAS HANDED OVER TO GURU ANGAD DEV. Please see details in Chapter 4. Similarly, Guru Angad Dev wrote his own Compositions, and passed on all the Compositions to his Successor, Guru Amar Das. Guru Amar Das made substantial contribution toward exposition of the Divine WORD, who added to the stock of Compositions he had received from Guru Angad Dev, his own Compositions, and passed on all of them to his Successor, Guru Ram Das. Chapter 5 gives in detail the closeness of the Compositions of Guru Amar Das and Guru Nanak Dev, which could not have been possible had Guru Amar Das not been in possession of Compositions of Guru Nanak Dev. Gurus Nanak Dev and Amar Das also made some amplificatory remarks on the Compositions of Bhagats, which clearly proved that Compositions of Bhagats were collected by Guru Nanak Dev. In this way all the Compositions of the First Four Gurus and the Bhagats reached Guru Arjan Dev.

Guru Arjan Dev in one of his Compositions, given below expressed his Joy in reading the Divine Word of the First Four Gurus and of the Bhagats, he received. The Guru writes -

“I am rich and fortunate, for I keep the Lord’s Name in my mind. I sing the Lord’s Praises spontaneously. 1. Pause. When I opened the Treasure of the Wealth of my forebears, my mind was immensely pleased at the Spiritual Find. (1) The store-house of the Spiritual Wealth is brimful, beyond measure and inexhaustible. It can neither be measured with pearls nor rubies. (2) We may get together and expend this Wealth as much as we like, it never diminishes, but on the other hand it increases more and more. (3) Nanak says: He, who has been so Blessed by the Lord, he alone partakes of this Treasure.”
(Rag Gauri, page 185, Sri Guru Granth Sahib)

“When I opened the Treasure of Wealth of my forebears (khol ditha khajana)”

MOST IMPORTANT NOTE: We give hereunder the account appearing in Professor Harbans Singh’s book “The Heritage of the Sikhs”, page 48 -

“The Granth Sahib, containing hymns of the Sikh Gurus and of Hindu and Muslim Saints, was a puzzle to the people of orthodox views. No one had known a religious book of this kind. Complaints were made to the Mughal emperor that the Book was derogatory to Islam and other religions. Akbar, who was then encamped at Batala in the Punjab, sent for Guru Arjun. The Guru sent Bhai Buddha and Bhai Gurdas with the Granth. The Book was opened at random and read from a spot pointed out by Akbar. The hymn was in praise of God. So were the others read out subsequently. Akbar was highly pleased and made an offering of fifty one gold mohars to the Granth sahib. He presented Bhai Buddha and Bhai Gurdas with robes of honor and gave a third one for the Guru. Akbar had himself visited Guru Arjun earlier, at Goindwal, on November 24, 1598, and besought him for spiritual guidance. At the Guru’s instance, he remitted 10 to 12 per cent of the land revenue in the Punjab.”

The writer of these lines wrote a letter to Professor Harbans Singh, Editor in Chief, The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, Punjabi University, Patiala (India) and also other authorities in Punjabi University on January 16, 1995 pointing out the above mentioned serious anomaly and other wrong history given in the Sikh Encyclopedia books published by them. No reply has been received from them so far. This is a very serious matter, as totally incorrect history of the revered Gurus has been written by the people of the Special Interests to destroy real Sikhism.

Guru Arjan Dev selected a spot situated at a distance of one mile, on the east of Amritsar City. This was a beautiful secluded place, where Prosopis Spicigera or Jand, wild caper, indian fig and Pipal trees yielded agreeable shade, while green herbage gratified the eye and looked like pleasant carpet on the floor. This was the place, the Guru had earlier composed his famous Composition “Sukhmani”. The Guru got a tank constructed there, which is called Ramsar. Tents were pitched on the banks of the tank. Guru Arjan Dev then arranged all the Compositions under different Rags or Musical Measures. On each of the Shabad (stanza or passage) the Rag and the name of the Guru as Mehla 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 had already been indicated. The Guru arranged the Compositions under each Rag. The Compositions were arranged in the manner as we find them in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Once this arrangement was made by the Guru, Bhai Gurdas only scribed in the form of the Holy Book. Writing of the textual portion of the Holy Book was completed by Bhai Gurdas on Bhadon vidi 1661 Bikrami, corresponding to August 2, 1604. This date is indicated in the Original Copy of the Holy Book, called Kartarpur Birh, now in the possession of the descendants of Baba Dhir Mal, grand-son of Guru Hargobind. As this Copy of the Holy Book was to be installed in Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar, and was not to be made available for making copies from it, Guru Arjan Dev arranged for the preparation of another Copy of the Holy Book, the textual portion of which was completed on asuj vidi 1, 1661 Bikrami, corresponding to August 30, 1604. This date is given on the Holy Book, and is now called “Banno’s recension”.

How Guru Arjan Dev arranged to make another copy of the Holy Book just after 28 days of the completion of the first Original Copy of the Holy Book, which was completed on August 2, 1604 only? When the first Original Copy was about to be completed, the Guru employed 12 scribes to make another volume. Till the time Original volume was available and had not been bound, the scribes copied the text from it. The Original Volume was installed in Harimandir Sahib on Bhadon sudi 1, 1661, corresponding to Augusat 16, 1604, that is, after 14 days of the completion of the writing of the textual portion. Bhai Gurdas then engaged himself in writing of the Table of Contents, which consisted of 56 pages. It took 10 -11 days to complete this work. Then the Book had to be bound, which was arranged in remaining 2-3 days, and finally the Holy Book was installed in Harimandir on August 16, 1604, the date accepted in all history books and the day is celebrated in Sri Harmindir Sahib every year. Then how the second copy of the Holy Book was completed by the 12 scribes? After the Original Holy Book was taken away for binding, it was not available for copying purposes. The manuscripts used for completion of the Original Copy of the Holy Book were then utlized for copying the remaining unfinished portion of the Holy Book by the 12 scribes. Thus the second volume was also prepared, its textual portion completed on August 30, 1604. After that, Table of Contents was made and the Holy Book bound. All further copies of the Holy Book were made from this Volume. This volume also became to be known as Banno’s recension.

All stories that the Original Holy Book was taken out of Amritsar to Lahore for its getting bound, and Banno taking it to his native village, Mangat, when on the way he was alleged to have engaged 12 scribes and made another copy of the Holy Book, and inserted therein the spurious compositions, are baseless concocted imaginary fables. If any one may disagree to this analysis, he must satisfy that the Original Holy Book’s textual portion was completed on August 2, 1604, thereafter Table of Contents was to be made, the Book to be bound, and installed in Harimandir Sahib on August 16, 1604. How any one could make the Table of Contents and take it to Lahore for binding purposes and return to Amritsar in time for installation in Harimandir Sahib in just 14 days’ time. Secondly, how could the other volume be made from the Original Volume in just 10 - 12 days time, that is before August 30, 1604. The Original Holy Book was installed on August 16, 1604 in Harimandir Sahib. If we assume that it was removed from Harimandir Sahib and given to Banno for making copy therefrom, how could he manage in just 10 -12 days time, and that too by engaging one scribe only. From the bound Book, one scribe only can do the copying work. The readers are requested to read chapter 9 for details.

A copy of the Holy Book was made at village Bohat in Gujrat district of erstwhile Punjab, now a part of Pakistan State, first of all, from the Copy of the Holy Book made on August 30, 1604, within few months of its completion, when Guru Arjan Dev was still alive. The Guru was martyred on May 30, 1606 at Lahore (now a part of Pakistan State). After lapse of 69 years, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the 9th Guru was martyred on November 11, 1675 (1732 Bikrami) at Delhi. During the period of 70 years, from 1605 - 1675, not more than 100 copies of the Holy Book could have been made and it was not difficult to know the location of each copy. All these copies were made from the Copy of the Holy Book completed on August 30, 1604, in the sense, the copies made from this Holy Book, further copies were made from those copies. In all cases there was no textual difference from the Original Holy Book, as the other copy dated August 30, 1604 was made with the Original Copy under the supervision of Guru Arjan Dev and Bhai Gurdas at Ramsar, in Amritsar.

It came to notice that most of the Copies of the Holy Book made before the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur in November 1675, got corrupted by insertion of spurious compositions by those who wanted to do away with Sikhism totally. As there were few copies of the Holy Book made by that time it was not difficult to locate each of the Copy. Even then, the mischievous persons could not lay their hands on certain copies of the Holy Book. Most of the Copies of the Holy Book, including the one made on August 30, 1604 under the supervision of the Guru and Bhai Gurdas got corrupted by insertion of the spurious compositions in them. This Copy of the Holy Book, began to be called Banno’s recension. The date of completion of the textual matter on August 30, 1604, is clearly indicated in this Holy Book. IT WAS NOT PREPARED BY BANNO, whose descendants claim their ownership. As stated above, it did not happen that the changes were confined to the copy of the Holy Book (made on August 30, 1604) in possession of Banno’s descendants only. Those who had in mind to give a mortal blow to the Cause of Sikhism, their purpose could not have been served by making changes in one or two copies of the Holy Book. Whosoever introduced the extraneous matter in the Holy Book, their motive could only be accomplished if they could be successful in effecting the changes in all the copies of the Holy Book, which were in existence at that time. In our view, apart from the mischief played by those who opposed Sikhism, Sikhs too cannot be absolved from this criminal act of the worst type. This nefarious work of the enemies of Sikhism could not be accomplished without the connivance of the Sikhs, who were the custodian of the Holy Books. The Sikhs succumbed to this evil onslaught on their Faith, as we painfully note that all the copies of the Holy Book began to be made from the corrupted copies of the Holy Books for more than a century. A true Sikh would have laid down his life, rather than to see this happening. What could be more precious to a Sikh, than to serve His Creator, His WORD being the very life of Sikhs, nay whole of the Creation.

The three history books,

1. Gur bilas of Sixth Guru, written in 1718 A.D
2. Sooraj Parkash written in 1766 A.D, and
3. History of Guru Khalsa (author died in 1921),

From the examination of the Old Hand Written copies of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, it is observed that the following two types of extraneous matter was inserted in them after the Martyrdom of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, the 9th Guru in 1675 A.D. -

1. Addition of spurious compositions in the name of Guru Nanak Dev at the  end of the Holy Book.
2. Insertion of Mira Bai’s Shabad at the end of Rag Maru; and also of   complete Shabad of Bhagat Soor Das at the end of Rag Sarang, while  Guru Arjan Dev had included in the Holy Book his first verse of 6 words   only, which was amplified by the Guru in a stanza given below the verse.

Sardar G B Singh, who used to take interest in examining the old hand written Holy Books of 17th and 18th centuries, wrote a book “Pracheen Birhan - Old Hand Written Holy Books”. It may be clarified here that G B Singh had no sympathy for Sikhism. He had no faith in the Gurus, as at many places he made most derogatory remarks relating to them. This man considered that the Holy Book called Banno’s recension was the real one, and not the one at Kartarpur. Prof Sahib Singh made a study of the findings of G B Singh, and gave his own analysis and assessment.

HOLY BOOK, CALLED BANNOE’S RECENSION

“The Holy Book of Mangat was written by 12 scribes, and at the end there are few pages written by some other persons (interpolations)”. On page 127 of his book, he further states: “I can make neither Bannoe nor the 12 scribes responsible for making such additions. In this recension of the Holy Book, many additions and alterations were made at later dates. It is clear from the writings in Gur bilas that by that time, 1718 A.D., these additions and alterations had been made. However, we cannot conclude that these changes were made at the time this copy was being made.” On receipt of certain clarification G B Singh asked from the custodian of Banno’s recension of the Holy Book, he stated : “If this is correct, then we will have to say that all these pages have not been written by any of the scribe of Bhai Banno, but after a very long time, some one else has included these pages in the Book. Few of the pages of the Real Book might have been earlier damaged or torn away.”

“A copy was made from the Holy Book of Bannoe within the very first year of its inception. That copy of the Holy Book is available with the public gurdwara of village BOHAT, situated at a distance of 5 miles from village Mangat. Leaving aside the last 26 pages, which were inserted in it after 100 years of its existence, the whole of this Book, from leaf 1 to leaf 568, has been written in the hand of one scribe only. It is very clear and neatly written Book including the Table of Contents. After the Table of Contents, space equal to the width of three fingers has been kept vacant, after which the same scribe has put the date of its completion. It also appears from the Table of Contents that there was page No 569, on which the scribe had written Rag Mala and the dates of demise of the Gurus. The leaf 569, was removed, and then 26 leaves of Banat Paper containing extraneous compositions of varied types were added.” (On the new leaves mostly spurious compositions were written. Please see the details in chapter 10.)

“IT IS APPARENT THAT THESE 26 PAGES WERE INSERTED INTO THE BOOK AFTER THE MARTYRDOM OF GURU TEGH BAHADUR AND DURING THE TIME OF GURU GOBIND SINGH...”

“The whole of it has been written by one person only. Table of Contents have been given in first 26 leaves of the Book. ..... the total number of leaves is 589, which were serialized from number 1 onward, without any omission. After lapse of long time, some one removed two leaves from the last bundle of papers forming the Book, on which numbers 587 and 588 were given. These leaves were removed and in their place he made the bundle constituting 4 leaves of paper, on which he wrote many extraneous things and increased the number of leaves .... The paper used for these four leaves is different from the other leaves, the ink is different, the pen is different, and the scribe was different from the first scribe. Because of the additional material which has been added, among them the composition “hikikat rah mukam rajai shivnabh ki” was also there, and this was written during the time of Emperor Aurangzeb, near about 1673A.D., the second scribe should be taken as living during the time of Guru Gobind Singh. The second scribe wrote the dates of demise of the Gurus, and on the other side of the leaf he kept the original date of completion of this Book unchanged and copied the same date on the leaf number 589.”

On page 150 of his book, G B Singh mentions about the Holy Book of village Pindi Lala (Gujarat - Pakistan). This Holy Book was made in 1732 Bikrami (1675 A.D), a month after Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur. This Book contains the Compositions of Guru Tegh Bahadur also, which are given in compact form at the end of the Book, from page 538 to 547, having been written by a person other than the first scribe. After page 547, five more pages have been added, which contain extra compositions, which are spurious. For details see chapter 10.

THE HOLY BOOK OF DEHRA DUN

“This Holy Book, which is in possession of Dehra Baba Ram Rai, Dehra Dun, is of great importance. I consider this Holy Book like those of Boohai Sandhu and Mangat. We get inference from these volumes, what was the Original Holy Book and what was NOT. This Holy Book was made under the supervision of Guru Hari Rai, who gave it to his older son, Baba Ram Rai, when he dispatched him to Delhi to meet with Emperor Aurangzeb. Although this Book was copied from some other Holy Book, yet it was considered as the copy of the Original Holy Book of Guru Arjan Dev. The reason for this is contained in this volume. Some amendments had to be carried out to bring into line with the Original text. Thereafter, no other additions were made. The Compositions of the nineth Guru were not even included.

At the end of Rag Maru, there was a little space available there. The scribe therein inserted in small letters the Shabad of Mira Bai. This was taken from other Holy Book, or some one inserted it from his memory. There is the textual difference. At the end it is written in bold letters - “Mira Bai’s Shabad is not contained in 5th Guru’s Granth.”

Below this Shabad, again it is written - “This Shabad was taken from the Granth of 5th Guru.” For more details see chapter 10.

G B Singh has mentioned one or two more copies of the Holy Book in which no extraneous matter has been inserted: The Holy Book of village SARANKE, which was written in 1728 Bikrami (1671 A.D), and also of KANGAR ( erstwhile Patiala State), which was written in 1718 Bikrami (1661 A.D).

OBSERVATIONS

Sardar G B Singh mentioned about other Old Hand Written Holy Books also, which were written after 1732 Bikrami (1675 A.D), such as Holy Book of Vasoo made in June 1829, Holy Book of Akhnoor, made in March 1813 and Holy Book of Kangarh, made in 1729 A.D. There are many more Holy Books prepared after 1675 A.D. mentioned in his book. In all these cases, extraneous material has been added, but no old bundles of papers had to be removed and also there was no need to add new papers into them, nor was the scribe changed. From the corrupted volumes, corrupted copies were made. The passive role of Sikhs toward such changes by the enemies of Sikhism, is most amazing, rather shameful!!

It is also observed that in regard to the Holy Books written before 1732 Bikrami or 1675 A.D., those, who did this nefarious work, were clever enough, to remove bundles of written papers and in their place put the new papers to make the interpolations and also write anew the adjoining scripts before and after, so that their corruption might not be detected. The readers and the observers should believe that the new papers had to be inserted due to the possible damage that might have been caused to the original ones. Even the research scholar like G B Singh was also duped when he examined Bhai Bannoe’s Holy Book. He could not detect the cleverness of the mischief mongers, who placed new leaves of paper to cover the changes and the additions made in portions from Rag Kanra onward till the end of the Book. It was, therefore, that he wrote: “it was likely that the last two sheets of the Real Holy Book might have been damaged or torn away to warrant addition of new pages.”

CONCLUSION

INSERTION OF UNWANTED SHABADS OF MIRA BAI AND BHAGAT SOOR DAS IN THE HOLY BOOK

It may also be stated that neither Sardar G B Singh nor Sardar Bishan Singh, a descendant of Bhai Banno and custodian of Holy Book, called Banno’s recension, is clear about Bhagat Soor Das’ composition. They consider that Bhagat Soor Das composed two Shabads, one beginning with the verse included in Guru Granth Sahib: “chad mun har baimukhan ko sung”, but the remaining Shabad was not included in the Holy Book. Sri Guru Arjan Dev gave his own Shabad below the verse of Bhagat Soor Das. They consider this Shabad is also of Bhagat Soor Das, Such a mis-understanding exists in Sikh scholars also - Dr Surrinder Singh Kohli, who ventured to write a book, titled “Sikhism and Guru Granth Sahib” is a classical example. On page 119 of the book, Kohli states that Bhagat Soor Das composed 2 hymns, included in Guru Granth Sahib. In this way he also authenticates Banno’s recension as the original one. In this part of discussion, Professor Sahib Singh Ji dealt with intrusion of one Shabad of Bhagat Soor Das and one of Mira Bai in the Hand Written copies of the Holy Book. He clears the confusion that exists in his wondrous arguments and lays bare the facts as clear as day light. Like the Thunder Bolt he kills the Falsehood.

Let us first of all make it clear, in what form Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji included the first verse of Soor Das’ Shabad in Sri Guru Granth Sahib in Sarang Rag, page 1253. The following entry exists below the Shabad of Sri Permanand Ji -

“Chad mun har baimukhan ko sung  Sarang Mehla 5 Soor Das

Eik Onkar Satgur Persad. har kai sung basai har lok. tun mun arp sarbas sab arpio anand sehajdhun jhok. (1) Pause. darsan paikh bheiy nirabkhei paai hai saglai thok. aan bast sio na kaj kachooai sundar bachan alok. (1) syam sunder tajh aan jo chahat kusti tan jok. soordas mun prabh hath leeno deeno eih parlok.” 2.1.

“O my mind, turn your back, who forsake the Lord (top six words) - Soor Das.

Guru Arjan Dev’s Shabad By the Grace of the Eternal Enlightener. The devotees of the Lord abide with Him. They dedicate their mind, body and everything else to Him and remain joyously intoxicated by the Divine music of the Word. (1) Pause. They are relieved of all evil when they see the Lord. They receive all from Him, what they need. They have nothing to do with anything else except the sight of His Beautiful Form. (1) Those, who discard the Lord, seek anything else, are like leeches sucking leper’s blood. O Soordas, the Lord has grasped my mind in His Hand, and has granted me the Everlasting Joy of the Spiritual World.” (2)

“Chad mun har baimukhan ko sung. kaha bhio pai pan piaye, bikh nehi tajat bhung. Rahao. kaga ka kapoor chughaey, soan naey gung. khar ko kaha agar ko laipan, markat bhookhan aung. (1) phan patat ban baidhari, bitai hoai lehkhung. soor das ki kali kamri charat na dooja rung.” (2)

“Turn your back on those, who forsake the Lord. Tell me, what good is there in feeding cobras with milk? Serpents can never surrender their venom. Why waste camphor by feeding it to crows or squander the water of Ganga on dogs? Why array an ass in an aromatic scent? Why deck a monkey with jewels or dress it in rich clothes? Do you really think that an arrow can pierce through a fallen stone, even if you empty your quiver of them all? Once you dye a blanket in dark color, Soor Das says, there is no point hoping for a different hue.”

(A) With regard to the Banno’s recension of the Holy Book, G B Singh stated: “The Shabad of Soor Das that exists in the Holy Book can rather be objected to for the following verse - “syam sundar tajh aan jo chahat, jio kusti tan jok.” Because of this verse, worship of Sri Krishna has been mentioned and worship of any one else has been condemned. The other Shabad of Soor Das must be in the Original Holy Book. NOTE: G B Singh did not know that the Original Copy of the Holy Book contained only one verse of Bhagat Soor Das - “Chad mun har baimukhan ko sung”. All the remaining verses are from Guru Arjan Dev Ji. The word “syam sundar” - The Most Handsome Lord, refer to the Infinite Creator, not Sri Krishna.

G B Singh further states : “Mira Bai like Soor Das and other Bhagats, was the worshipper of Sri Krishna. Her Shabad also refers to worship of Krishna and is full of erotic love. In my opinion that Shabad too like Soor Das’ Shabad is flawless. The Shabads of Soor Das and Mira Bai were recorded and are separated from each other by 170 pages in-between them. Therefore, it appears that two scribes were responsible for making additions these Shabads. It is also possible that the sole scribe might have made these additions. I could not get a chance to investigate either of their possibility.”

On his return from Mangat, G B Singh thought over many aspects of the case, which he should have solved there. But he did not get any chance to visit that place for the second time. For this reason, he wrote a letter to Sardar Bishan Singh Bannoania (a descendant of Bhai Banno) asking for answers to those questions. Bishan Singh again examined the Holy Book (Banno’s recension), went to lahore to apprise G B Singh of his findings. Bishan Singh’s explanation in this regard was recorded at page 137 of G B Singh’s book, which is given below -

“Mira Bai’s Shabad appears at the end of Rag Maru, and there is nothing thereafter. This has been written by the same person, who wrote the preceding Shabads of Jaidev and Ravi Das. This Shabad has not been written by any person afterward, it is part of the original writings.”

“We thus conclude, that at the time when the Holy Book in possession of Banno, was brought before Guru Arjan Dev these Shabads had been recorded in the Holy Book.”

Permanand’s Shabad:

1. “Chad mun har baimukhan ko sung” (Complete Shabad of Soordas)
2. “har kai sung basai har lok” (This is Guru Arjan Dev’s Shabad, incorrectly stated to be of Soor Das - translator)  Below this appears Shabad of Kabir Ji - “har bin kaon sahaei mun ka.”

“We arrive at this conclusion. At the time, when the scribe was doing the copying work, while on return journey from Mangat to lahore, then he recollected this Shabad. But he did not remember all the verses or he had doubts about some words. Therefore, he wrote the first verse from his memory. It was written with the preceding Shabad of Permanand, without giving new heading of “Soor Das”. For the remaining 6 verses he left the space. Soor Das’ second Shabad (this is Guru Arjan Dev’s - italics ours) was copied from the book placed in front of him. When the Book was presented to the Fifth Guru, about 6 verses had not been copied. Afterwards, search was made or some other scribe, who had correctly remembered them, wrote them. (a funniest story - translator)

The cause of inclusion of Shabads of Soor Das and Mira Bai’s mentioned above, (and also at the end of the Holy Book insertion of extraneous sloks), was apparently that all these compositions appeared in the books of Baba Mohan.”

“It is an admitted fact that Bhai Banno added large number of extraneous matter in the Holy Book, while preparing his copy, before he took it to the 5th Guru, but thereafter he made no further additions in it.”

These two gentlemen did not know what they were talking about. They considered that there were two Shabads of Soor Das in the Holy Book. Their comments are senseless and vulgar to say the least. Professor Sahib Singh made the following observations. There is no doubt that according to his written statement, GB Singh did go to Mangat and saw Bhai Banno’s recension of the Holy Book. And there is not the slightest doubt that he saw the Book cursorily only. At that time he had lost the vision of a researcher and the critical examiner, and for this purpose he wanted to go there at another time, but could not go. He tries to cover up his deficiency with the help of others’ witnesses, and with whose help? WITH THE HELP OF THOSE, WHO ARE THE OWNERS OF THE VERY BOOK IN DISPUTE!! WHAT KIND OF RESEARCHER IS HE, WHO IS DECIDING THE ISSUES ON THE BASIS OF OTHERS’ OPINIONS? BISHAN SINGH WANTS G B SINGH TO DECIDE THE ISSUE IN HIS FAVOUR ON THE BASIS OF HIS OPINION IN ORDER TO PRESERVE HIS DYNASTIC PROPERTY. G B SINGH IN THE FIRST INSTANCE LIKE BISHAN SINGH DOES NOT KNOW WHAT IS ACTUALLY IN THE HOLY BOOK AND WHAT ADDITIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. DO THE OPINIONS OF SUCH PERSONS HAVE ANY VALUE WORTH THE NAME?

Professor Sahib Singh further states, G B Singh had opened the Holy Book of Banno and was examining it. He saw it at the end of Rag Maru, a Shabad of Miran Bai, and at the end of Rag Sarang Soor Das’ composition. But strange it is, he could not get a chance to examine the simple fact, whether these two compositions were written by one person or two persons. Why? Why did he not get the chance? How many minutes it would have taken to put together the leaves from Rag Maru to Sarang? Kindly note the words used by G B Singh. The pages involved according to the portable volume of the Holy Book he was carrying, were 150 pages (75 sheets). He had gone to examine Bhai Banno’s recension of the Holy Book. Why he did not count the sheets or pages of the Holy Book there? The truth is, by comparing the writings of these two Shabads, he forgot about counting the pages in between these two Shabads. In order to complete the writing in this book, he, while sitting home, counted the pages from the volume of the Holy Book available with him.

Not only this; he only went to Mangat, but did not see the Holy Book there at all. Leaving aside the research work, the maximum he did was, as it appears, he got both the Shabads written from a priest there. He did not see the actual Shabads written in the Holy Book. On page 125, he wrote the prevalent notions of Sikhs and thereafter wrote both the Shabads. He did not unequivocally say that he himself had seen these Shabads from the Holy Book. If he had seen them, then why should he have asked Bishan Singh to state in which hand the Mira Bai’s Shabad had been written. By taking the support of his witness, he at once came to the conclusion that before presentation of the Holy Book to Guru Arjan Dev, this Shabad had been included in the Book.

The same technique has been adopted with regard to the Shabads of Bhagat Soor Das. If G B Singh had seen for himself the verse written in the Holy Book there “chad mun har baimukhan ko sung”, he would have surely seen the additional verses written there also, then how could he not have seen whether or not those were written in one hand or in two? If he was so short sighted, or the power of observation had weakened so much that he was not able to decide this simple issue, then at that very time he could have contacted Sardar Bishan Singh or any other person to clarify the facts. Why should he have asked Sardar Bishan Singh to enlighten him on these things by writing a letter to him? The matter is quite straight forward. In the first instance, G B Singh never saw the Holy Book, and if he had seen it, he must have seen it closed and wrapped in clothes. So, what to say of finding of time for the comparison of the writings of Mira Bai’s Shabad and that of Bhagat Soor Das, whether written in one hand or different hands, he did not care to see even Soor Das’ Shabad, whether all the six verses were written in one hand or different hands, he did not care to see even Soor Das’ Shabad, whether all the six verses were written in one hand or first one in one hand and the remaining five verses in different hand. WE ARE A SACRIFICE TO SUCH A RESEARCH, MARVELOUS! MARVELOUS!! We will now examine those answers which Bishan Singh sent him.

What is the Reality? Bishan Singh has rightly stated that Mira Bai’s Shabad was written by the same person, who wrote the Shabad of Bhagats Jaidev and Ravi Das. But one thing he has missed. The question is: THE ONE WHO WROTE THE SHABADS OF MIRA BAI, JAIDEV AND RAVI DAS, HOW MUCH DID HE PREVIOUSLY WRITE IN THE HOLY BOOK IN QUESTION? NOW SEE!! WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO THIS? THIS IS THE KEY POINT. BISHAN SINGH AVOIDS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION. WITH REGARD TO THESE TWO SHABADS, THE SAME TACTIC HAS BEEN USED, WHICH WE SEE AT THE END OF THE HOLY BOOK, WHERE SPURIOUS COMPOSITIONS WERE ADDED. 12 SCRIBES COPIED THE HOLY COMPOSITIONS TO MAKE THIS COPY OF THE HOLY BOOK. IF ANY BODY SAYS THAT THE SHABADS OF MIRA BAI AND SOOR DAS AND ALSO THE ADDITIONAL COMPOSITIONS AT THE END OF THE BOOK, WERE WRITTEN BY THE SAME PERSONS WHO WROTE ADJACENT PRECEDING AND SUCCEEDING COMPOSITIONS OF THE TEXT, THEY MUST ALSO PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT THOSE PERSONS WERE AMONG THE 12 OF THE ORIGINAL SCRIBES AND THEIR SUSPECTED WRITINGS MATCH WITH THEIR EARLIER WRITINGS, IF ANY. WE SHALL FULLY EXPOSE THESE PERSONS, WHEN WE DESCRIBE THE COPY OF THE HOLY BOOK AT VILLAGE BOHAT.

In this case what the cheats did with a view to incorporating the Shabad of Mira Bai, and to show that it was already in existence in the Book, they took out bunch of leaves of the Book containing compositions in Maru Rag and the next Rag, replaced them with the new bunch of leaves, compositions re-written and changes made wherever wanted. The changes were made in such a manner that it would appear nothing has been done. So, Sardar Bishan Singh rightly said that all was found written with the same hand.

Let us now examine the one verse of Bhagat Soor Das. Here those who changed the text, did not feel the necessity of removing the bunch of leaves and replacing with new bunch of leaves with changes made thereon.

A STRANGE RESEARCHER

(B) THE HOLY BOOK AT VILLAGE BOHAT, was seen by G B Singh. He wrote that the Copy of the Holy Book at Bohat was made from the copy of the Holy Book, called Banno’s recension, within the very first year of its making. This copy has been written by one person only. It was stated by Bishan Singh and G B Singh that when Bhai Banno presented the copy of the Holy Book made by him to Guru Arjan Dev, at that time the Shabad of Mira Bai had been included in the Holy Book. G B Singh also stated that he could not get a chance to examine Banno’s recension of the Holy Book, as he was in a hurry. He deputed Bishan Singh Bannoania to examine the Holy Book at Bohat and send him a report. Bishan Singh examined the Holy Book at Bohat and sent his report to G B Singh, which is given at page 143 of his book. It reads -

“Under Rag Maru, below the Shabad of Jaidev ‘chund sut bhediya’ at the end of the Shabad, there was some blank space. There some one else has written two shabads -

1. Shabad of Ravi Das - “sukh sagar surtar chintaman...”
2. Mira Bai’s Shabad - “mun hamaro baidhio”

There is still some blank space available. (page 348)”

When they started making changes in the Copy of the Book at Bohat, they like wise removed the bunch of sheets of paper from the Book. It so happened that on a page was the lonely Shabad of Bhagat Ravi Das written, which was removed. In the new page that they inserted they had to write both Ravi Das’ Shabad and Mira Bai’s Shabad. Hence the statement of Bishan Singh that he noted the Shabad of Ravi Das and Mira Bai written in new hand. Now both the Shabads of Ravi Das and Mira Bai were made to appear written by the same person, so that no body should doubt about inclusion of Mira Bai’s Shabad as an intrusion. WE HAVE AT LAST FOUND OUT, BEYOND ANY DOUBT, THAT MIRA BAI’S SHABAD IN THE FIRST INSTANCE WAS NEITHER IN BANNO’S HOLY BOOK NOR IN THE COPY OF THE HOLY BOOK AT VILLAGE BOHAT.

About Soor Das’ Shabad, G B Singh on page 144 of his book writes,

“Under Sarang Rag, Soor Das’ Shabad “chad mun har baimukhan ko sung” and Kabir’s Shabad “har bin kaoan sahahi mun ka”, have been written in different hand writing.”

There were thus the following categories of hand written copies of the Holy Book -

1. Holy Books made before 1732 Birami (1675 A.D). There are some copies in which both the Shabads were inserted, some in which one Shabad was inserted. The Holy Books generally were written by one person. The additional Shabads inserted in them, are distinctly in different hand-writing.
2. There are the very few copies of the Holy Book in which these additional shabads were not incorporated, and also at the end, no additional compositions were added. These copies were left unscathed.
3. There are the copies of the Holy Book which were made after 1732 Bikrami (1675 A.D). Each of these Books was written by one person. They include Shabads of Mira Bai and Bhagat Soor Das, written in the same hand-writing It means that the Sikhs compromised with the evil - a sordid story.