Jasbir Kaur, a woman with a great love of the Guru and proficiency in Gurbani Kirtan, would come to Khalsa Women's Training Camp in the seventies to teach the women how to play spirited kirtan. The following are my notes from one of her introductory classes, entitled, "Gurmukhi":
The tenth Guru used eleven languages in Jap Sahib to show
that God has no one language. We use language to communicate with each
other. To communicate with God you need love.
In India they say God's language is Sanskrit, and that unless you can communicate in Sanskrit it is not possible to meet God.Commoners were not able to read and
were not supposed to read or participate in religious ceremonies.
Guru Nanak explained that religion is for everyone, and that we may reach God through love. He communicated his teachings
in a language common to the masses.
Sadh Bhasha is the language of Gurbani in the Siri Guru
Granth Sahib, the language of the saints, that was used throughout India. It is
the combination of thirty-seven languages, including Medieval Punjabi, all of
which were the basic languages of India. In Guru Nanak's language, Sanskrit was
written in Gurmukhi.
Guru Angad gave final shape to the Gurmukhi script and
taught it to the people. Kabir used the script to some degree even before Guru
Nanak.Guru Angad was the first to
collect these poems. He called it Gurmukhi, which means "from the mouth of the Guru", because it was the script used to record Guru's words.
Sidh Gosht is written in the pure Punjabi of that time, as
are the Hindi verses of Guru Nanak written in pure Medieval Hindi.
Why know Gurmukhi? Learn the proper way to pronounce Guru's
words right from the start. When you read Punjabi it pierces the heart. Unlike Punjabi, Hindi does not have the five elements in balance, and does not have the same effect.
We do not need to know thirty-five languages to understand
the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Just relate to the Guru. As your consciousness
increases you will automatically understand through love.
