DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0182
170 The Sikh Sect.
The language in which the whole work is written is not
so much the old PanjabI dialect as the old Hindi. This
ancient dialect was probably used by the Sikh Gurus, though
natives of the Panjab, that they might be better able to com-
mend their utterances to the whole Hindu community. It
may be conveniently called Hindii-I to distinguish it from the
modern Hindi1. The graphic system used by the writers
was a modification of the Devanagan alphabet, called Guru-
mukhl, the chief peculiarity of which is that it preserves the
forms of most of the Sanskrit letters, but changes their pho-
netic power.
Perhaps it is as unjust to disparage the Granth as to exalt
its merits unduly. To say that it contains many noble
thoughts is as true as to say that it abounds in much silly
twaddle and inane repetition. Nor can it be fairly accused
of absence of arrangement. The verses, though unconnected,
are arranged in six divisions:—(1) we have the Japu (com-
monly called Jap-ji), which consists of introductory verses by
Nanak ; (2) then follows the So-daru ; (3) the So-purkhu ;
(4) the Sohila, three short sections, consisting chiefly of
verses adapted for evening devotion; lastly come (5) the
Rags, verses sung in particular Rags or musical keys, thirty-
one in number, which constitute the great body of the
Granth, especially the first four, called Sirl Rag, Rag Majh,
Rag Gauri, and Rag Asa; and (6) the Bhog, consisting of
verses by Nanak, Arjun, and the earlier Gurus, besides others
by Kablr, whose sayings are also scattered everywhere through
every section of the Granth.
I select a few examples from different parts of the book,
slightly abridged and altered from Professor Trumpp's ver-
sion :—
1 Professor Trumpp designates it by this name. I believe I was one
of the first to recommend its being so distinguished, in the Preface to
the first edition of my Sanskrit-English Dictionary, published by the
University of Oxford in 1872.
The language in which the whole work is written is not
so much the old PanjabI dialect as the old Hindi. This
ancient dialect was probably used by the Sikh Gurus, though
natives of the Panjab, that they might be better able to com-
mend their utterances to the whole Hindu community. It
may be conveniently called Hindii-I to distinguish it from the
modern Hindi1. The graphic system used by the writers
was a modification of the Devanagan alphabet, called Guru-
mukhl, the chief peculiarity of which is that it preserves the
forms of most of the Sanskrit letters, but changes their pho-
netic power.
Perhaps it is as unjust to disparage the Granth as to exalt
its merits unduly. To say that it contains many noble
thoughts is as true as to say that it abounds in much silly
twaddle and inane repetition. Nor can it be fairly accused
of absence of arrangement. The verses, though unconnected,
are arranged in six divisions:—(1) we have the Japu (com-
monly called Jap-ji), which consists of introductory verses by
Nanak ; (2) then follows the So-daru ; (3) the So-purkhu ;
(4) the Sohila, three short sections, consisting chiefly of
verses adapted for evening devotion; lastly come (5) the
Rags, verses sung in particular Rags or musical keys, thirty-
one in number, which constitute the great body of the
Granth, especially the first four, called Sirl Rag, Rag Majh,
Rag Gauri, and Rag Asa; and (6) the Bhog, consisting of
verses by Nanak, Arjun, and the earlier Gurus, besides others
by Kablr, whose sayings are also scattered everywhere through
every section of the Granth.
I select a few examples from different parts of the book,
slightly abridged and altered from Professor Trumpp's ver-
sion :—
1 Professor Trumpp designates it by this name. I believe I was one
of the first to recommend its being so distinguished, in the Preface to
the first edition of my Sanskrit-English Dictionary, published by the
University of Oxford in 1872.