Guru Angad
invented the present form of the Gurmukhi script. It became the
medium of writing the Punjabi language in which the hymns of the Gurus are
expressed This step had a far-reaching purpose and impact.
First, it gave the
people who spoke this language an identity of their own, enabling them to
express their thought directly and without any difficulty or transliteration.
The measure had the effect of establishing the independence of the mission and
the followers of the Guru. Secondly, it helped the community to dissociate
itself from the Sanskrit religous tradition so that the growth and development
of the Sikhs could take place unhampered and unprejudiced by the backlog of the
earlier religious and social philosophies and practices. This measure, as shown
by the subsequent growth of Sikhism, was essential in order to secure its
unhindered development and progress as it required an entirely different
approach to life.
Dr Gupta
feels that this step, to a certain extent, kept the upper classes
among Hindus, to which the Guru belonged, away from Sikhism, partly because they
were steeped in the old religious and Brahminical tradition and partly because
the Sanskrit tradition fed their ego by giving them a superior caste status to
that of the other castes. But, the idea of equality of man was fundamental to the
Sikh spiritual system. Thc Guru knew that its association with traditional
religious literature would tend to water it down. The matter is extremely
important from the point of view of the historical growth and study. Actually,
the students of Sikh history know that over the centuries the influence of these
old traditions has been very much in evidence. It has sometimes even given a
wrong twist to the new thesis and its growth. The educated persons were almost
entirely drawn from the upper castes and classes. They had a vested interest,
visible also in their writings, in introducing ideas and practices which helped
in maintaining their privileges and prejudices of caste superiority, even though
such customs were opposed to the fundamentals about the equality of man laid
down by the Gurus. For example, the Jats, who were themselves drawn from classes
branded as low by the Brahminical system, started exhibiting caste prejudices
vis-a-vis the lower castes drawn from the Hindu fold.
Earlier, the Punjabi language was written in the Landa or Mahajani script
This had no vowel sounds, which had to be imagined or construed by the reader in
order to decipher the writing. Therefore, there was the need of a script which
could faithfully reproduce the hymns of the Gurus so that the true meaning and
message of the Gurus could not be misconstrued and misinterpreted by each reader
to suit his own purpose and prejudices. The devising of the Gurmukhi script was
an essential step in order to maintain the purity of the doctrine and exclude
all possibility of misunderstanding and misconstruction by interested persons.
The institution of langar was maintained and developed. The Guru's wife
personally worked in the kitchen. She also served food to the members of the
community and the visitors. Her devotion to this institution finds mention in
Guru Granth Sahib.
The Guru earned his own living by twisting coarse grass into strings used
for cots. All offerings went to the common fund. This demonstrates that it is
necessary and honourable to do even the meanest productive work. It also
emphasises that parasitical living is not in consonance with the mystic and
moral path. In line with Guru Nanak's teaching, the Guru also declared that
there was no place for passive recluses in the community.
Like Guru Nanak, Guru Angad and the subsequent Gurus selected and
appointed their successors by completely satisfying themselves about their
mystic fitness and capacity to discharge the responsibilities of the mission.
Read biography of Guru Amardas ji
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