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CHAPTER XI
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
The following is a translation of congregational prayer of the of the Sikhs :
1. Formless-form, To God, the abiding Victory. (Composition of the 10th King.)
To begin with, we invoke the Dynamic aspects of God and we remember Guru Nanak (This One and only God) which inspired Gurus Angad, Amar Dass and Ram Dass.
We invoke the Light that shone through the Gurus, Arjun, Hargobind, and Hari Rai.
Let us invoke the Light that was the blessed Harikrishan, whose Vision heals all pains.
We call upon Guru Teg Bahadur through whom came the Kingdom of Heaven l to earth.
May, (the God and the Gurus) help us everywhere.2 Tenth King, Guru Gobind Singh, may he help us every where.
The Spirit of all the Ten Kings enshrined in the visible Body and the World of the Guru Granth, concentrate on that and say, Sires, “Glory be to God’ 3
(The Congregation: Glory be to God.)
Five Beloved Ones, Four Princes, 4 Forty Saved Ones, 5 those who have remained steadfast in persecution and suffering, those who have kept constant remembrance of God, those who refused to be charmed by the passing sense pleasures, those who have constantly lived in the Divine presence, those who have loved their neighbours by sharing their possessions with them, those who have turned a blind eye of charity to the faults and failings of others, those who have assuaged the hunger and Want of the hungry and the needy, those who have persevered in their struggles in the cause of Justice, concentrate your minds on the steadfastness and achievements of those. O, revered members of the Order of the Khalsa, and say ‘Glory be to God’.
(The congregation : Glory be to God.)
The Singhs of both the sexes, Who courted martyrdom in the cause of Religion and underwent unspeakable tortures and sufferings of being dismembered alive, scalped alive, broken on the wheels sawed alive and boiled alive, and those Who made sacrifices in the service of the centres of the Sikh Religion, the gurdwaras, but never wavered in their faith and remained steadfast in mind and spirit in the cause of Sikhism to the last hair of their body and to their last breath, O, revered members of the Khalsa Order, fix your minds on the glorious deeds of those, and utter; ‘Glory be to God
(The congregation:: Glory be to God.)
First we pray on behalf of all the creatures of God; 6 May the presence of God be progressively felt in the hearts of all the sentient creatures, and may in the whole creation become happy, prosperous and transfigured thereby. (Then) .may God shower His blessings upon and grant protection to each and every member of the Order of the Khalsa, wherever he or they may happen to be.
May the Supplies of the . Khalsa ever remain replenished. May the Sword of the Khalsa be ever victorious.
May the Royal title of the ‘Khalsa’ be universally recognised and honoured’ 7 May victory attend upon all just endeavours of the Panth, the Khalsa Commonwealth. May; the arms and armaments be our constant allies.
May the Order of the Khalsa achieve everexpanding progress and supremacy.
Sires, say, ‘Glory be to God’
(The congregation : Glory be to God.)
May God grant to the Sikhs, the gift of faith the gift of the uncut sacred hair, the Keshas, the gift of Discipline, the gift of spiritual Discrimination, the gift of mutual trust, the gift of self confidence and the supreme Gift of all gifts, the gift of Communion with
God, the Name, and may Sikhs freely centre around and dip in the holy lake of Amritsar, the symbol of the True Revelation of Supreme Truth, granted to mankind· by God through the Guru. 8
May the Government centres, the Banners, the Cantonments of the Khalsa ever remain inviolate.
May the Cause of Truth and Justice prevail everywhere and at all times.
Sires, utter, ‘Glory be to God,’
(The congregation: Glory be to God.)
May the passions in the minds of the Sikhs remain calm and the reason flow clear. And may Reason always be guided by the Light of God.
God, Almighty, our Protector and Helper ever, restore to us the right and privilege of unhindered management and free service of and access to the Nankana Sahib, and other centres of the Sikh religion, the gurudwaras, throughout the world.9
God, the Helper of the helpless, the Strength of the weak the Support of the fallen, the true Father of all, Lord God.
(Here, the specific purpose and occasion for the prayer is stated by the leader in suitable terms and the blessings and aid of God are beseeched.)
God, forgive us our remissnesses.
Extend Thy helping Hand to all and every one.
Grant us the company of those who may help keep Thy name fresh in our hearts.
May Thy Name, the Religion preached by Nanak, prevail and prosper for ever and for ever more.
May Thy will be done wherein lies the good of all.
The Khalsa is of God and to Him the victory, always and forever. (Here the whole congregation bow to God by touching the ground with their fore-heads, as is the oriental fashion, and the whole congregation then stand up and chant in unison :)
“The Will of God hath ordained the order of the Khalsa.
This is the firm· commandment to all the Sikhs : Accept Granth as the visible Body of the Gurus.
He whose mind is disciplined and well-oriented shall find confirmation thereof in the Revelation itself.”
The Khalsa shall prevail at the centres of power, and there shall remain no effective opposite camp.
All must come in, in the end, after bitter frustration, for the Humanity shall eventually be redeemed through the Way of life which the Khalsa upholds.”
The whole congregation then shout a full throated cry :
Sat Sri Akal. “The Existence — joy.” 10
1. Literally, “the Nine Treasures of Life”, which signify spiritual abundance and material plenty.
2.Dasamgrath. Varsiribhagmutijiki, 1..
3. Literally, “say Sires, Sri Waheguru.”
4. The four sons of Guru Gobind Singh who all gave their lives for the cause of the Religion.
5. Forty Sikhs who after a momentary wavering of faith, sacrificed their lives in the cause of Religion in 1705 A.D. at the battlefield of Muktsar, now in the Indian Punjab.
6.Sarbatt Khalsa signifies the whole humanity and all the sentient creatures, in the Sikh idiom, in contradistinction to Samuh Khalsa which signifies all the members of the Order of the Khalsa. This distinction is vital, though these terms are sometimes used confusedly.
7. Birad ki paij-birad (Sanskrit, biruda) means, royal and imperial titles and surnames, regal pretensions and claims. The title of, Khalsa, is a biruda.
8.Amritsar satguru sataveta. — Guru Granth
9. Literally, ‘Out of which we are expelled’, a poignant reference to historical and other Sikh gurdwaras, left in Pakistan in 1947.
10. This translation has been made from the standard Congregational Prayer approved by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Amritsar, as published in their hymnal, Sundargutka. 1951. pp. 169-73.
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