BAANA: Literally: dress. In Sikh cultural terminology it means all the five Kakaars (articles of faith) plus a Chola (a long shirt), a tight fitting trousers, a Kamarkassa (a belt to tighten Gaatra and like a sash around the waist) which make one very active. This was actually a dress

PANCHAMI, lit. the fifth day of either phase {vadior sudi) of the moon. Panchami of the sudi, i.e. the brighter, phase is considered an auspicious day in the Hindu tradition, with some ritualistic observances attached to it. In the three Sikh hymns entitled Thitin/ Thiti devoted to the lunar days

BIKRAMI SAMMAT: A Calendar named after a Hindu king Vikramaditya. In Punjabi Vikrami is pronounced as Bikrami. Its abbreviation is Bk. The Hindus calculate their dates as per the Hindu astrology. Some ignorant Sikhs too adhere to this calendar. For a Sikh all the calendars have the same significance.

QUDRAT (spelled qudrati in gurbani), a term adopted by Guru Nanak from the Arabic and given a philosophical signification and connotation which, to some extent but with different shades of sense, had till then been conveyed by the milenniaold Indian words prakriti and mdyd. Qudrat, in Arabic, literally means power,

BRAHMA Brahma bom in the navel lotus of Vishnu was called the son of Lotus. (Kama M. 4, p. 1309) Brahma manifested the hymns of the Veda but extended the attachment of maya. (Wadhans M. 3, p. 559) Only the maya of three modes came out from the mouth

RANA SURAT SINGH, an epiclike poem by Bhai Vir Singh published in 1905. This poem of more than fourteen thousand lines is written in blank verse, tried for the first time in Punjabi. With all its protracted search and pang, it is ultimately a poem of complete spiritual certitude, of

GIAN (Skt.jnana), knowledge, understanding or consciousness, is what differentiates human beings from the animal world and establishes the superiority of homo sapiens over the other species. Nature has not only provided man with a qualitatively superior brain but has also endowed human mind with a dynamic inner stimulus called jagiasa

SALOK MAHALLA 9, i.e. slokas of the composition of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Nanak IX, form the concluding portion of the Guru Granth Sahib, preceding Guru Arjan`s Mundavam (GG, 142629). These slokas are intoned as part of the epilogue when bringing to a close a reading of the Guru Granth

GIAN PRABODH (Guide to Enlightenment), included in Guru Gobind Singh`s Dasam Granth, is a long poem in Braj employing sixteen different metres. It comprises two independent pans, the first, i.e. the introductory one (stanzas 1 to 125), beginning with laudation of the Almighty who is depicted as Supreme, beyond

SALOP SAHASKRITI, title of a composition comprising seventy-one verses incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. The term `Sahaskriti` denotes the language form, a mixture of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit, in which these slokas have been written. `Gatha` is another word used for `Sahaskriti`. Of the seventy-one verses collected under

IBRAHIM, SHAIKH (Shaikh Farid of the Janam Sakhi), twelfth in succession from the famous Sufi saint, Shaikh Farid udDin GanjiShakar (1173-1266), held the seat of the earlier Shaikh at Pakpattan in the present Sahiwal (former Montgomery) district of Pakistan when Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was travelling in these parts. Shaikh Ibrahim,

SARANG Kl VAR, in the Guru Granth Sahib, is of the composition of Guru Ram Das. It is set to be sung in Sarang raga and hence the tide Sarang ki Var. Nine of the 22 vars included in the Guru Granth Sahib are composed in the musical mode