MUNDAVNI

• Whether 'Guru Granth' ends with Mundavni, a composition of Guru Arjan, or with Raagmaala, which has a disputed authorship, is a matter that has sporadically engaged the attention of Sikh scholars for over a century.

• Mundavni, literally a legally binding seal, should appear at the end because it indicates the closure or completion of a seminally important document. (This is the accepted translation of Mundavni, though in some dialects of Punjabi the word also means a conundrum or a brainteaser.) Then where did the little over one page of Raagmaala come from?

• Educated Sikhs would generally agree that Raagmaala could be an index or listing of the raagas [musical tune or harmony] in the Guru Granth. However, as We read it though it fits neither the style nor the substance of the Guru Granth. Yet it has, 'TRUTH god' knows how, become integral to the Guru Granth and appears in every printed copy.

• Scholars have debated it and rejected it, yet its persistent appearance continues to give it life. So much so that the Sikh Code of Conduct (Rehat Maryada Approved by Akal Takhat) is non committal on the issue, saying that the 'Sikh Society' may chose to read this composition or not, as they wish. How this happened is evidence of the power of politics or of benign neglect.

• Giani Gurdit Singh is a dedicated scholar and respected interpreter of SGGS('SACHy GURAn dy GRANTH SAHIB').He has cast an analytical eye on the controversy that surrounds the Raagmaala – how it arose and how it continues to be fed so that it still survives.

• In the early 17th century, when Guru Arjan compiled the main corpus of the 'Guru Granth', a spurious rescension (Bhai Banno's Birh [book]) appeared and this contained many additional compositions, including the Raagmaala and even a recipe for making ink. In these early days before printing when handwritten copies of sacred liturgy were made by scribes, errors and additions were not uncommon, either through ignorance, carelessness or because the spirit so moved the scribe.

• Indian culture, rich as it is, is really one of oral tradition. It has never valued consistency, precision or accuracy in evidence, whether in history or literature.

• The first printed copy of the 'Guru Granth' debuted in 1864, almost 400 years after the Guttenberg Bible was printed.

• Giani Gurdit Singh ably explores almost all available historical rescensions of the Guru Granth and finds that most did not contain this spurious composition.

Early history is fascinating and provides some interesting vignettes

1901

Chief Khalsa Diwan founded.

1907 onwards

controversy broke out in the Police gurdwara at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on whether to read the Raagmaala or not.The matter was referred to

Chief Khalsa Diwan

Ruled that Raagmaala was not gurbani [the Guru's word].

Bhai Veer Singh

took a principled stand against the Raagmaala

Bhassaur group

took a principled stand against the Raagmaala.

Macauliffe

concluded that the Guru Granth concluded with Mundavni, which was inexplicably followed by Raagmaala - a composition of a Muslim poet, Alam.

1917

controversy in a Nairobi gurdwara elicited a response against Raagmala.

Bhai Veer Singh

changed his mind in 1917 and started advocating the inclusion of Raagmaala

1918

Some gurdwaras resorted to placing two slips of paper with the choices written on them in front of the Guru Granth and picking one at random after prayer. Raagmaala stood consistently rejected.

Bhai Jodh Singh In , another celebrated Sikh scholar concluded the reading of the Guru Granth with Mundavni.

1920

Sikhs regained control over the Akaal Takht, once again they started concluding the reading of Guru Granth at Mundavni. This remained true for all the akhand paaths [continuous full readings] that were concluded during the Gurdwara Reform Movement in the 1920's.

1936

In the first draft of the Rehat Maryada in 1936, Raagmaala was rejected.

1945

Bhai Jodh Singh

Yet in 1945, the question was revisited and finally tabled without resolution. At this meeting Bhai Jodh Singh had done an about turn and now supported Raagmaala.\

sants [saints] and mahants [priests]

By then Bhai Kahn Singh (Nabha) was no longer alive, and the debate was dominated by the sants [saints] and mahants [priests] of the time.

To be fair, Bhai Jodh Singh was seriously challenged on his changed stance on this issue. He answered some and then preferred to walk out of the meeting.

Giani Gurdit Singh

The author of the book 'MUNDAVNI', Giani Gurdit Singh - was also present at the meeting, an eyewitness account of history in the making.

Giani Gurdit Singh also takes a pleasantly educational detour and lists several Raagmaalas composed by poets and musicians of that era; apparently it was a much-favored style of versification.

LOVE STORY A whole chapter of the book is devoted to the Muslim poet Alam who is reputed to have been a contemporary of Guru Arjan and of Emperor Akbar. With a plethora of citations from Sikh and non-Sikh scholars, Giani Gurdit Singh leaves little doubt that Raagmaala, which has become a part of the Guru Granth, is in fact derived from an epic poem of Alam celebrating a love story - a la Romeo and Juliet - that would be found in every culture.

How it jumped to the pages of Guru Granth still remains a mystery ???

Why Sikhs keep it there is a bigger riddle ???

• It appears some what like the Indian equivalent of the Gordian knot with its frustrating persistence, which will only respond to similar treatment.

• A discussion of Mundavni is an integral part of Giani Gurdit Singh's fundamental work on Ithihas of Guru Granth sahib. The author has a website, gianigurditsingh.com, where his works are available.

• It is a sad commentary on the popularity of Sikh literature that this book, which analyzes such an important matter, is privately published and not by an important house with worldwide distribution facilities.

                                               -source: Sikh Times 03 Sep06