Guru Nanak Sahib, Guru Angad Sahib, Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib
From: Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer [mailto:hsdilgeer@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, 24 June 2013 7:06 PM
To: Gurmit Singh
Subject: Fw: ??? ??? ????? ????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ???? ? ???? ???
This Gurjeet Singh cheat has not forwarded my replies.
Hence, I am forwarding these to you; please forward to those whom he forwards mails sent by him.
Harjinder Singh Dilgeer
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer <hsdilgeer@yahoo.com>
To: Gurjeet Singh <khalsagurjeet@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, 23 June 2013, 14:01
Subject: Re: ਜਪਉ ਜਿਨ ਅਰਜੁਨ ਦੇਵ ਗੁਰੂ ਫਿਰਿ ਸੰਕਟ ਜੋਨਿ ਗਰਭ ਨ ਆਯਉ ॥੬॥
Guru Nanak SAHIB or Guru Nanak DEV Part.2.
gur jaisaa naahee ko dayv.
None is light (of knowledge) like Guru.
jis masṯak bhaag so laagaa sayv.[13]
One, for whom He is preordained, he is serving Him.
har simrat kichh chaakh na johai.
Remembering God one’s evil eye will not touch (see) you.
har simrat dait day-o na pohai.[14]
Remembering God, the (fear of) biggest demon (daint day-o i.e., here, deo/biggest/chief amongdaints) cannot get hold.
raⁿg laagaa at laal dayv.[15]
(I am) in deep red colour (i.e. in deep love) of my God.
Now, in all these verses Deo/Dev has been used for God Waheguru or His light; and at one place it also means 'chief' (e.g. 'daint' and 'day-o' i.e. demons). So Dev/Deo has nothing to do with the name of the Gurus.
In Guru Granth Sahib, there is a ballad by Satta and Balwand which mentions the names of the first five Gurus. They definitely knew the correct names of the Gurus. But they have not used DEV anywhere for any Guru. Bhatt Baani is also a part of Guru Granth Sahib. These Bhatts were court poets of the Guru Sahib. None of them have used DEV for any Guru. Bhai Gurdas, who scribed their verses in the Granth (and Guru Arjan Sahib must have read the final version) they must have knowledge of the names of Guru Nanak, Guru Angad and Guru Arjan. If the suffix Dev had been omitted, by Satta-Balwand or the Bhatts, by mistake, Guru Arjan or Bhai Gurdas would have corrected it. So it also proves that Guru Arjan too did not use Dev for any Guru.
Early sources of Guru Nanak's life include Wilayat Wali Janamsakhi, Meharban Wali Janamsakhi, Bhai Bala Wali Janamsakhi, Bhai Mani Singh Wali Janamsakhi (attributed to him), and Puratan Janamsakhi etc. None of these used DEV as suffix of Guru Nanak's name.
The 'ardas', approved by the S.G.P.C. and released from Akal Takht, begins with a stanza fromCharitropakhyan (wrongly attributed to Guru Gobind Singh). Under which conspiracy it became a part of the Sikh Ardas during the Mahants' period is not to be debated here, but this 'ardas' too does not use DEV as suffix of the name of any Guru:
pirtham bhagauti simar kay gur nanak layee dhiayei.
phir aⁿgad ṯe gur amardaas, raamdaasay hoyiee sahayei.
arjan hargobiⁿd no, simrau sri harrai...
Again, the writer (it is not Guru Gobind Singh) of the poem Bachitra Natak too mentions the names of all the Gurus but he too does not use DEV with any Guru's name:
Ṯin bedian ki kul bikhayei pragatei nanak Rai.
(The author, however, uses RAI and not DEV. Now, what should we use, as suffix of Guru Nanak’s name, Dev or RAI?
There are a very large number of vaars (ballads) in Punjabi which preserve history of the Guru period. Most of these were written between seventeenth and early nineteenth century. These include:
Raamkali Di Vaar (Satta & Balwand)
Vaar Babe Nanak Ji Ki (Bhai Gurdas)
Karhkhay Patshah Dasven Kay (Sain Singh)
Paurian Guru Gobind Singh Ji Kian (Mir Mushki & Chhabila)
Yudh Guru Gobind Singh Ji Ka (Ani Rai)
Vaar Patshahi Dasvin Ki (unknown writer)
Vaar Bhayrei Ki Patshahi Das (unknown writer)
Vaar Bhangani Ki (unknown writer)
Yudh-Charitra Guru Gobind Singh Ji Ka (Veer Singh Ball)
Vaar Amritsar Ki (Darshan Bhagat)
Vaar Sarb Loh Ki (unknown writer)
Vaar Kalyan Ki (Khushal Chand)
In these vaars, nowhere has DEV been used as suffix to the name of any Guru.
Bhai Gurdas has used the word DEO or DEV in several verses of his vaars e.g. vaar 3 (pauris 2 and 12), vaar 13 (pauri 25), vaar 15 (pauri 2), etc. But in these verses Dev/Deo is not a part of any Guru's name but it means 'manifested'. Further, he has used DEO/DEV in vaar 24 (pauri 25), where the words ‘deo japaiya...’ means ‘the Guru preached meditation in the name of God’ (here DEO means God). In vaar 28 (pauri 11), 'DEV' means 'devta/god' and it is not a suffix of any Guru's name.
Bhai Gurdas's 1st vaar depicts the life and role of the Guru Sahibs and in the whole Vaar the word DEV has not been used even once. In this vaar, pauris 23 to 45 are life story of Guru Nanak Sahib and pauris 45 to 48 are about the lives of Guru Angad to Guru Hargobind Sahib. In these 26 pauris too the word DEV (as suffix) is missing. Does it mean that Bhai Gurdas had written incomplete name of Guru Sahib?
The Bhatt Vahis (by various Bhatts, including Mathra and Keerat, the poets of Guru Granth Sahib) andPanda Vahis (of
The Sikh history books written during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries include the works by Sainapati, Koer Singh, Kesar Singh Chhibber, Sawrup Singh Kaushish, Ratan Singh Bhangoo, Sukhbasi Ram Bedi etc. None of these has used DEV as suffix of the name of any Guru. Dev is missing even from the Nirmala writings.
The usage of Dev began with Brahmin writers. The first Sikh to popularize it was Bhai Veer Singh. Though he used Dev but his action was still not followed by serious Sikh scholars. It was only after 1972 that DEV became an epidemic and Guru Nanak Sahib's name was changed into Guru Nanak Dev.
In 1972, Zail Singh became the chief minister of the
Later, Guru Arjan Sahib and lastly Guru Angad Sahib's names too were chnaged first by the Brahmin writers and then by novice Sikh writers, and finally
by the ignorant Sikh leaders who popularized DEV as suffix of the name of Guru Angad Sahib. (Especially, Manjit Singh Calcutta, the Secretary of the SGPC in 2004, played a major role, under the influence of a semi-educated employee of the SGPC). This practice was followed by common folk. Only intelligent Sikhs continued writing real name of Guru Nanak, Guru Angad and Guru Arjan Sahib. (Great are the leaders of the Sikh nation!). There is a saying of Gurbani:
aⁿdhaa aagoo jay thee-ai ki-o paadhar jaaṇai.
aap musai mat hochhee-ai ki-o raahu pachhaaṇai.
(Guru Granth Sahib, p.767)
[Meaning]: If the blind becomes a leader, how can he show the way?
He Himself is cheated, because of his hollow wisdom. How can he identify the way (i.e. how can he lead?).
From: Gurmit Singh [mailto:Gurmit@singh.net]
Sent: Tuesday, 25 June 2013 1:20 PM
To: 'hsdilgeer@yahoo.com'
Subject: RE: 33 Crore Hindu Devi-Devtas plus 3 more Dev being added ???
I have received your other messages and I will try to forwarded to those whose Emails I could find !
In the meantime, there is another message from the same intellectual, who is fond of the Truth !!
Look at Tukk-Tatkaraa of Guru Granth Sahib, where we find –
Nanak Neech, Nanak Soami, Nanak Saiar, Nanak Sonh, Nanak Sahib, Nanak Sakat, Nanak Sikh, Nanak Sant, Nanak Sadhu, Nanak Sadh, Nanak Sevak, Nanak Harnakhus, Nanak Giani, Nanak Gur, Nanak Gurmukh, Nanak Yogi, Nanak Jachak, Nanak Jann, Nanak Das, Nanak Dasan, Nanak Data, Nanak Deen, Nanak Bhagat, Nanak Murakh, Nanak Raj, Nanak Ram, Nanak Lal, Nanak Vichara, Nanak Garib, Nanak Chand.......
However, during the Sikh Scripture Classes, I often share as follows:
1469-1539: Guru Nanak Sahib,
1539-1552: Guru Angad Sahib,
1552-1574: Guru Amardas Sahib,
1574-1581: Guru Ramdas Sahib,
1581-1606: Guru Arjan Sahib,
1606-1644: Guru Hargobind Sahib,
1644-1661: Guru HarRai Sahib,
1661-1664: Guru HarKishan Sahib,
1664-1675: Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib,
1675-1708: Guru Gobind Singh Sahib,
7-10-1708: Guru Granth Sahib
For your information, though you already know this.
With best wishes,
Gurmit Singh