Rag Mala - The Panch Shabad

Over the years I have been graced with having the darshan of many extant manuscripts of Adi Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Dasam Granth Sahib Ji, and Sarbloh Granth Sahib Ji.

For the benefit of my brothers who doubt the authenticity of the Rag Mala in Adi Guru Granth Sahib. I will as a humble offering to the readers, provide photographic evidence of those Birs of Guru Ji, that are historical, been signed (Daskhat) of the Gurus etc. Some of the copies that were examined by Giani Gurditt Singh, I have also had the opportunity to see. Those findings will also be presented.

Adi Guru Granth Sahib Ji, is Nam. It is the true mystical vibration of God. Ik Oankar can be interpreted to mean that Out of the One comes Five sounds or Panch Shabad. Many AKJ's say that Rag Mala has no Ustat of Akal Purukh in it. They are wrong.

The Rag Mala begins Raga Ik Sang Panch Barangam.

There is One Raga with Five wives. This needs to be thought of poetically, not literally as many fanatical people do. There is One God, One essence, One Raga. This Raga has five wives. The Panch Shabad. The five primal sounds that vibrate in the Dasam Dvar. That are talked about again and again in Gurbani, see Dakhni Oankar.

The Ragas then branch out to form a Guladasta, a garland from the primal vibration of the five sounds. This is Raga Mala.

Beej Mantra - Ik Oankar - The Seed.
Mool Mantra - Ik Oankar - Nanak Hosi Bhi Sach - The root.
Madh Mantra - the Japji Sahib - The trunk.
Guru Granth Sahib - The branches.
Rag Mala - The flowers.

Think of a tree with blossoms in three dimensions, and visualise it. This is the same way the Adi Guru Granth Sahib is ordered.

The Dakhni Oankar contains many references to God being the Oneness or the One. The Panch shabad also find amny references in the Adi Guru Granth Sahib Ji. That from the Oneness of God came the five primal vibrations of Sound.

Raga Ik Sang Panch Barangam.

A brother has emailed the following to share with the Sangat:

There are Raags in certion sections of Guru Granth Sahib jee (mukh and raag parkara sections) which are not in the Raag mala, these include raag mali gaura and Raag Jaijaiwanti. I believe the reason these raags are not in Raag mala is because they are not apart of hindustani Sangeet. mali Gaura came from Arab Desh and Jaijaiwanti for example is the creation of Guru Tegh bahadur jee (this raag cant be apart of raag mala anyway because it was not composed at Guru Arjan dev jees time). It would be impossible for mali Gaura to be in Raag mala because it does not belong to the family tree of the Raag mala (the 6 thaats of raag mala). Its like you making your family tree, you wont have my name in there because we have no blood relation. The raags in Raag mala which are not in the mukh guru granth Sahib (31) or Raag parkar (31 such as Tilang kafi, gauri chiti, Gauri manj etc) belong to the 6 thaat raags. It is possible to do kirtan if the raag belongs to the thaat. For example Shankara (also in raag mala) belongs to Raag bilawal and alot of bandishs and compositions which Raagis teach from Shankara will be from shabads in Raag bilawal. (people such as Principle Dyal Singh who have published books prove this and have compositions passed down through generations) This relation of the thaat that a raag belongs to is important when doing kirtan. Some writers even say that Raag mala is the first documentation of Gurmat Sangeet. I think its Dr Taran Singh jee who writes on the atamic importance of Raag mala. you will find Akjs say Raag mala has nothing to do with the atama. However this is incorrect. Raag bilawal for example is about happiness. The happiness is in relation to once meeting the guru all sorrows pain etc are/have been taken away......for example look at the shabad in Raag bilawal..... shant payee gur satgur poori sukh oopjai vajai anhad toori Rahaoo. Taap paap santap bindash, har simrat kilvikh sabh nasi .......also...... Rog gaiya prabh aap gvaya. Jaijaivanti raag is a khusi raag, however the shabads are all about death, the khusi is in relation to meeting to the guru, then Death can only be khushi and not ghami. Jaijaivanti represents this concept, its not simply a raag name, there is a deeper concept behind the name. Unfortunantly people who dont have any knowledge of raags have not and seem not willing to grasp this knowledge. Its often claimed raag mala does end in any pauri with nanak (therefore it cant be gurubani), however there are many shabads in Jap jee sahib and Guru granth sahib jee maharaj which dont end with nanak, will AKjs take them out? Also shabads in the Dasam granth are the same. In Sri Raag its written that Sri Raag is the mukh raag (raaga vich Sri Raag hai) however in Raag mala its written bairoo. The reason Sant Singh maskeen jee gave was that both are raags are accepted in different areas of India as being the mukh raag. Its like there are 4/5 ways which raag basant is claimed to be sung (the following Thaats are claimed: bilawal, poorvi, Kalyan and marva). Akjs claim Alam wrote the Raag mala. However in Bhai Vir Singh jes Shabad Kosh you will see a comparision of the Raag mala written by Guru Sahiban and Alam,. They are obviously different and AKJs are lying as normal. Finally AKJs claim prof Sahib Singh jee said raag mala is not bani. This is incorrect, he never said its not bani, he simply said it does not follow gurbani viakaran principles. I accept this aswell, however that does not mean its not gurbani. Further Prof Sahib Singh in his book adi bir bari clearly writes which writings he felt is not Gurbani (such as mira bhai's writings). However Prof Sahib Singh jee does not include Raag mala as being bani which he questioned as being guru sahibs bani.