Goindwal Pothis

To consider the so-called Goindwal Pothis or Mohan Pothis as the precursor to the Adi Granth (now Guru Granth Sahib) has become a part of the Sikh tradition. However, recently many prominent researchers have produced some irrefutable evidence that indicate this tradition to have been introduced by a schismatic group.

The controversy that has been created around these Pothis has jumped the boundaries of Gurdwara and reached the world of academics. Some Ph.D. theses have been written on this subject and degrees awarded by some reputed (Western) universities. Academics of both schools of thought, the ones in favor of these Pothis as the original source of the compositions of the first three Gurus and some Bhagats and those against this view, have put forth arguments and counter-arguments.

In spite of repeated and lengthy debates in many seminars and conferences both sides seem to be sticking to their original judgement and no solution seems to be in sight. Ironically, both sides have the same source on the basis of which they have reached their conclusions.

The story according to the Sikh tradition, narrated quite often in the Gurdwaras, goes as follows:

When Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Master, decided to compile a volume containing the Banis (compositions) of all his predecessor Gurus, he started collecting these compositions from all possible sources. He sent messages all over the country where Guru Nanak had visited and had established Sangats (congregations) to find out if any of his compositions (written or oral) were available. He is said to even have sent a personal representative to Sri Lanka to bring Pran Sangli, a lengthy composition considered to be that of Guru Nanak.

On examining this composition, however, Guru Arjan Dev rejected it because he thought that it was not in line with the philosophy of Guru Nanak.

During this search he also sent Bhai Gurdas (a highly regarded Sikh and nephew of Guru Amar Das) to Baba Mohan, the eldest son of Guru Amar Das, to bring four Pothis that were in his possession. These four volumes were known to contain the utterances of the first three Gurus along with those of some of the Bhaktas.

Baba Mohan is said to have refused to part with the Pothis and Bhai Gurdas returned empty handed.

Guru Arjan Dev then sent Baba Budha, the senior most Sikh at that time, to convince Baba Mohan regarding the importance of the project but he too failed to achieve the purpose of his visit to Goindwal. At this point Guru Arjan Dev himself walked bare-footed from Amritsar to Goindwal, a distance of over twenty miles, to obtain the Pothis. On hearing of the arrival of Guru Arjan Dev, Baba Mohan shut himself in a room on the second floor of his house and would not see the Guru.

Guru Arjan Dev sat down in the street in front of Mohan's house and started singing a hymn in praise of him (Mohan). The hymn, which is included in Guru Granth Sahib at page 248, is: "Mohan tere ooche mandir mehl apara-------------*".

The melodious voice of Guru Arjan Dev along with the flattering words of the hymn made Mohan change his mind. He brought the Pothis to the Guru who placed them in a palanquin and brought them with great respect to Amritsar. He then used these Pothis as the main source material in the compilation of the Adi Granth.

When and how this story became a part of the Sikh tradition is not clear. But recent research and scrutiny of at least one of the four Pothis (only two are known to exist today), known as "Ahiya Pur Pothi", has led several Sikh researchers to unequivocally negate this story and the hypothesis that Guru Arjan Dev used any portion of these Pothis for compilation of the Adi Granth (Ahaiya Pur Wali Pothi, by Prof. Pritam Singh, Guru Nanak Dev University, 1998).

Professor Sahib Singh was among the first researchers to refute the hypothesis that Guru Arjan Dev had to borrow the Pothis from Mohan in order to use them in the compilation of Guru Granth Sahib (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan, Vol. 2, P. 495). According to him, every Guru passed on the collection of his compositions to his successor Guru at the time of the ceremony of transferring of Guruship (Guriaee). Thus, Guru Nanak gave the collection of his utterances to Guru Angad Dev, who in turn added his own utterances to this collection and gave them to Guru Amar Das and so on. Thus Guru Arjan Dev had in his possession the collection of Banis of the first four Gurus and therefore he had no need to go to Mohan for his Pothis.

The protagonists of the traditional story maintain that while Guru Amar Das gave the Guruship to Guru Ram Das he gave the collection of utterances of the first three Gurus and utterances of some of the Bhagats, which he had got incorporated in these Pothis, to his elder son Mohan. Why he did so is not explained.

If one looks at the hymn by Baba Sunder (the Sadd, page 923 in Guru Granth Sahib) one can see that only Mohri, the younger son of Guru Amar Das obeyed his father and bowed before the newly established Guru, Ram Das. The elder son, Mohan, disobeyed his father and did not accept Guru Ram Das as the fourth Guru.

This is further substantiated by Bhai Gurdas, the Sikh savant who was given the exalted duty of scribe of guru Granth Sahib. According to him Mohan became crazy (Mohan kamla hoiya ---var 26, pauri 33) when he was deprived of Guruship, which he had thought was his birthright. Why then would Guru Amar Das give the collection of Banis to him, a disobedient son?

It seems that the protagonists have not gone through the whole hymn on the basis of which they build their whole hypothesis. A stanza in this hymn is:

"Taria jahan, lahia abhiman, jinni darsan paya, jinni tudh nu dhan kahiya, tin jam ner na aya".

Which means, "You emancipated and removed the ego of all those in the world who beheld Your vision. Those who praised You were spared from the nearness of Yama".

If Guru Arjan Dev praises a person in such superlative terms how could an extremely devout Sikh of his (Bhai Gurdas) use such a derogatory term as crazy for the same person? Furthermore, Guru Arjan Dev could not use such words for a mere mortal.

Guru Arjan Dev in his composition, Sukhmani, clearly says:

"Eko jap eko salah, ek simar, eko manu aha, ekas ke gun gao anant, manu tanu jaap ek Bhagwant". (SGGS p. 288)

Which means, "meditate upon the one Lord, praise Him alone, recite and sing the laudations of the sole Lord, recite only Him with your mind and body".

Having so clearly and unambiguously enjoined every one to sing the praises of only one Supreme Being, how could he go and sing the praises of Mohan, a mere mortal? Any one who believes in this is blaming Guru Arjan Dev for a double standard. That would be blasphemy.

Guru Arjan Dev in many of his hymns used the word 'Mohan' addressing God. For example:

Mohan ghar aavo karon judaria (SGGS p. 1209) Mohan neend na aavay (SGGS p. 830) Mohan pran maan rangila (SGGS p. 498) Mein pekhio ri oocha Mohan (SGGS P. 534) Mere Mohan sravni ih na sunai (SGGS p. 820)

In all these hymns the word 'Mohan' has been used for God (the enchanter). In one hymn why would Guru Arjan Dev use it for Mohan Bhalla is difficult to comprehend.

Prof. Sahib Singh, one of the most respected scholars of Guru Granth Sahib, on the basis of a critical study of the utterances of various Gurus reached the conclusion that doctrinal and thematic similarities in these writings clearly indicated that each Guru received the compositions of the previous Gurus from his predecessor at the time of succession to the spiritual throne of Guru Nanak.

Thus, Guru Nanak passed the book containing his utterances to Guru Angad Dev, who in turn added his own compositions to it and passed it on to Guru Amar Das and so on. It is hard to imagine that Guru Amar Das would give the Guruship to Guru Ram Das but the book of utterances of the three Gurus to his son Mohan who disregarded his advice and refused to bow before Guru Ram Das as his younger brother Mohri did (SGGS P. 927).

According to Gurinder Singh Mann (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1993, P. 199), "the extant Goindwal Pothis contain 14 hymns that are neatly inscribed and then crossed out. The hymns are attributed to Ghulam Sadasevak ----in some places both names appear, in others only one".

All these hymns use the signature of 'Nanak' in the concluding couplets. Dr. Mann, on the basis of an entry on one of the folios (94) of the Pothi currently known as the Pinjore Pothi that reads: "Gulam mast tenda Jethchand", meaning, 'Jeth Chand, your intoxicated slave', concludes that the author of these hymns was no one else but Guru Ram Das whose original name was Jeth Chand.

The question immediately arises as to how could Jeth Chand, who had not yet become the fourth Guru Nanak, use the title of Nanak. To this he puts forth the conjecture that by the time the Pothis were being prepared, Guru Amar Das had decided on Jeth Chand as his successor and thus allowed him to use the signature of Nanak. Why then all 14 of these hymns were crossed out and not entered by Guru Arjan Dev in the Adi Granth is a question that does not have a logical answer.

To recognize the style of poetry of any particular author and differentiate it from another one may be difficult but it does not require genius. With an above-average level of intelligence and a certain level of knowledge of basic principles of poetry, one can do so. If one compares the hymns by Gulam Sada Sevak with those of Guru Ram Das (in the Adi Granth), the styles are so different that it is hard to escape the conclusion that the thought of considering the hymns of Gulam Sada Sevak to be those of Guru Ram Das, is hard to swallow*.

A brief statement is recorded in the opening folio of the Pothi (Ahiya Pur) which gives one some food for thought. According to this statement: "If someone leaves the Guru who comes from our family and follows another, he will definitely go to hell".

This statement leads one to the conclusion that the Pothi was prepared by someone who was interested in keeping the Guruship in the family and was frustrated at losing the Guruship to Guru Ram Das whom he considered an usurper of his birthright. This person could be no one other that Mohan.

The "Mool Mantra" in the Pothi is quite different from that repeated many times in Guru Granth Sahib (Ik Oankar, Satt Naam, Karta Purakh, Nirbhau, Nirvair --------Gur Parsaad). If Guru Arjan Dev was copying from the Pothis, why would he change the fundamental formula of Sikhism, given by Guru Nanak?

One should remember what happened to Ram Rai when he only changed one word of Guru Nanak's Bani. It would be extremely difficult to think that Guru Arjan Dev would start such a tradition.

It can therefore be safely concluded that Guru Arjan Dev did not take any help from the so-called Mohan Pothis in the compilation of the Adi Granth.

• According to Gurinder Singh Mann "Guru Ram Das purposely excluded the 14 hymns of Gulam Sada Sevak, being the hymns written by him during the time he was young".