Q. Why does Sikh theology give so much importance to Shabad which are, after all, simply words?

A. Going by the Bible, in the beginning there was light. But going by the Rig Veda, in the beginning there was harmony sound. Naad or sound is the Supreme Being, Indian ancients maintained. Sikh theology enshrined the concept in Shabad, the Divine Word of the Guru, and accorded their singing the adoration of God as the sole mode of worship.

Shabad, the holy words of the Guru, is the Guru incarnate. And the Guru is the Enlightener, the Instructor who shows the path leading to the Divine, and puts the mortal in direct communion with the Supreme Being. This is why the Shabad is so important. The praises of the Lord are to be sung only in the words, Shabad, embodied in the scripture, Bani, revealed by the founding Gurus.

In short, the Divine Word is the Shabad, the singing of His glories is the right speech; listen to it and recite it always, and the Perfect Guru will look after you.

A. The Shabad, the word of the Granth, is the Guru. Guru Granth is divided into 31 chapters which are named after the ragas in which the hymns are sung. Literally 98 percent of Guru Granth is in musical composition. The discourses with the Siddhas living in the mountains are set in raga Ramkali. Those with the Muslim savants are in raga Tilang. The idea was to talk in a neutral language.

The poetic compositions were set in the various poetic metres and structures then prevailing in the literary and folk traditions of the country. These include chants or Shlokas, Ashtapadis and Pauris. It is natural to identify these by the author. What is unusual is that these were strung together and identified by the musical mode, the raga in which the hymns were first sung and possibly also composed.

A. When Shabad, the verses, are combined with the sublimity or raga, taal and rhythm, it bypasses the critical checks and barriers of intellect and accesses the consciousness, filling it with devotion and love. This is a state of communion with the Eternal Being. It is around this postulate that the genre of devotional music evolved and flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries. In north India this came to be known as Gurmat Sangeet, music in the Guru’s tradition.

A. The influences are not mixed. Like the kritis, we sing fixed ragas. As I said, the Shabads were composed in certain ragas, and for 400 years these have been sung in the original tunes. Some have been learnt from outside, and these are sung in their style, not mixed. Raga Vadhans, a bit like Marwah, is frozen in time: I sing it the way it was sung in the 16th century. Kanada is not Darbari but the original melody.

However, Gurmat Sangeet has absorbed elements - such as the simplicity and romanticism - of folk music. It also absorbed influences of the Sufi mendicants, like qawwali and tappa. But primarily it embodies itself in the spirituality of Dhrupad singing.

A. It is colloquial Punjabi. In earlier times this was a mix of Punjabi, Persian and Sanskrit which was known all over north India as Sant Bhasha. Sheikh Fareed’s compositions are all in this language. But the language has changed a lot over the years, and some 40 years ago, when I saw that people could not follow the difficult words, I made a special effort to simplify it.

A. To tell the world that the Shabad Bani is recited in raga music, not in film tune! Actualyl it serves to distinguish my music from the other kinds of devotional singing.

There was another set of musicians who were descendants of Mardana, the first disciple of Guru Nanak. They were practicing Muslims but they sang kirtan. They were known as the Rababis. Then there were the Dhadis, bards from the time of the sixth Guru Hargobind Sahib, in the early 17th century. They would sing standing upright. The stance changed because the Gurus especially wrote odes in a fast metre to popularize an aggressive form. There is also the two and half-hour-long morning service, Asa Di Vaar or ode, which was borrowed from the folklores of Rajasthan.

A. With great reverence. Paanv padte hain - they fall at our feet. Kirtan is an expression of bhakti, devotion. It is a quest for Niranjan, the Eternal Being, it is not for manoranjan or entertainment. People who come also come with devotion in their minds. They also immerse themselves in the singing of the hymns because upaasna ka aur saadhan nahin, there is no other mode of worship in our religion.

A. The only difference is that there is as much emphasis on this as on social service and good conduct. Sewa, service and Naam japna, singing His glory are given equal weightage. That is because this religion teaches you to honestly share everything you have earned or learned. And kirtan is effectively a sharing of knowledge.

This is also where we differ from qawwali. Kirtan is not repetitive. That makes people sway. This music is meditative, cogitative, invocative. Because it is meant to be uplifting because the prime thing here is Word, not music.

A. The evening I got the Shiromani Ragi award of the Punjab government, I was singing the Gurbani at the Rawatpura mandir. The gathering was more than a lakh strong. And all of them started singing "Ram bole". This will answer your question.

Ram, Rahim, Allah, Hari - there is no difference in the bhav. Namdev also sings Karima, Rahima, Allah to ghani... Govind, Gopal, Rahim, Wahe-Guru-sab usi ke naam, they are all the same. That is message of Sikh religion.

"Shabad, the very words of the Guru, is the Guru incarnate. And the Guru is the Enlightener, the Instructor who shows the path leading to the Divine, and puts the mortal in direct communion with the Supreme Being".

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