Mul Mantar

A mantar means "formula, succinct doctrinal or sacred words with spiritual meaning".{{cite book|author=Pashaura Singh|title=The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and Authority|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMvXAAAAMAAJ |year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-564894-2|pages=84 }}Jan Gonda (1963), The Indian Mantra, Oriens, Volume 16, pages 244–247 The word mūl means "root, main or "fundamental." The Mūl Mantar is thus "root formula", or the root statement of Sikhism.

The Mūl Mantar is:

The extended version with the Jap verse is:{{cite book |last1=Rahi |first1=Hakim Singh |title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib Discovered: A Reference Book of Quotations from the Adi Granth |date=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |location=Delhi, India |isbn=9788120816138 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2FIL6L2GQaYC&pg=PA8 |access-date=11 December 2019}}{{cite book |last1=Chauhan |first1=G. S. |title=Sri Guru Nanak Dev's Japji |date=2005 |publisher=Hemkunt Press |location=New Delhi, India |isbn=9788170103141 |pages=44–51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LeWcb_rjupUC&pg=PA50 |access-date=11 December 2019}}{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Guy |title=Sacred Sound: Experiencing Music in World Religions |date=2006 |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press |location=Waterloo, Canada |isbn=9780889204218 |pages=146–147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-IeHbqAfSsC&pg=PA146 |access-date=11 December 2019}}

File:Sri Guru Granth Sahib Nishan.jpg folio with Mūl Mantar of Guru Gobind Singh]]

The archaic language of the Guru Granth Sahib is highly inflected;{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=35}} the suffixed short vowels parenthesized above indicate various declensions. In the Mūl Mantar, the suffixed -u indicates nouns and adjectives in the masculine singular direct case, though some words ending with -ā (like karatā) can also indicate this case.{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=18}} This suffix can also indicate an imperative when attached to a verb,{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=73}} as in japu.

The suffixed -a can indicate the masculine vocative case,{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=72}} as in Nānaka, the masculine singular oblique case{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=62}} in compounds as in gura prasādi, and a feminine singular direct adjective{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=31}} as in akala, as well as the masculine plural direct case and the feminine singular direct case.

The suffixed -i can indicate the possessive case in compounds (as in sati nāmu),{{sfn|Shackle|1983|pp=64, 69}} and the locative{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=88}} (as in ādi and jugādi) or instrumental case as in gura prāsadi;{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=91}} these terms would be ādu, jugādu, and prasādu if taking the direct case. It is also another feminine singular direct case{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=30}} (as in mūrati); -a and -i are among the predominant declensions for this case.{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=30}}

Adjectives and modifiers also agree in number and gender with their dependent element,{{sfn|Shackle|1983|p=18}} hence ikku oaṅkāru, akāla mūrati, and the term mūlu mantaru itself.

Most of these cases still exist in the modern language in slightly different forms; features in the archaic language like the masculine singular direct suffix -u and feminine singular direct suffix -a parallel nominal declensions in other related languages.

The included grave accent included in the above transliterations illustrates tones and guide the verbal pronunciation of the verse.

File:Long version Mul Mantar, Darshan Deori, Golden Temple.jpg]]

The Mūl Mantar is a widely known part of Sikh scripture, but it has posed a challenge to translators. The first two words Ik Onkar has been rendered multiple ways. It has been translated as "'There is one god', as 'One reality is', 'there is one God',{{cite book |author = Singh, Khushwant| author-link = Khushwant Singh| chapter=The Sikhs| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5LSvkQvvmAMC |editor=Kitagawa, Joseph Mitsuo |title=The religious traditions of Asia: religion, history, and culture |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=2002 |page=114 |isbn=0-7007-1762-5 }} 'singularity despite seeming plurality,'{{cite book|title=Aspects of Guru Nanak's philosophy | first=Wazir | last=Singh | year=1969 | publisher=Routledge | page=20 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWM9AAAAIAAJ}} and 'This being is one,' and asserts the "distinctively Sikh theological emphasis" on "the ineffable quality of God" as "the Person beyond time," "the Eternal One," and "the One without form," and is canonically understood in Sikhism to refer to "absolute monotheistic unity of God".{{cite book | title=Merriam-Webster's encyclopedia of world religions | last=Doniger | first=Wendy | year=1999 | publisher=Merriam-Webster | page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/500 500] | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440 | url-access=registration | isbn=978-0-87779-044-0}} The varying capitalization of "God", "Reality", or "Being" affects the meaning in English. A number of translations erroneously change the Mūl Mantar from a list of qualities to a statement of facts and possessive adjectives. For example, they may change Satnam from "truth by name" to "His name is truth", which adds a masculine quality to the Mūl Mantar which does not appear in the original Gurmukhi. These sacred words of Sikhism do not presume a particular gender. the Mūl Mantar serves as a "succinct statement which set the Sikh doctrine apart from the philosophical systems of both Indic and Semitic religious traditions."

Some Sikh institutions, like the SGPC, consider the Mūl Mantar proper to end at gura prasādi, arguing that what follows is the name and first line of the Japji Sahib composition, citing the number of times that the verse appears as such preceding Gurbani compositions.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} On the other hand, other historic institutions, like some taksals (traditional Sikh religious educational institutions) and gurmat schools, hold the Mūl Mantar to be the full following verse, contending that this form has been used in the Amrit Sanchar baptizing ceremony since its inception. This is in line with the stand taken by the nihangs and other groups who stress the recitation of the complete Mūl Mantar, arguing that this tradition has come directly from the time of the Gurus, and there is reliable evidence to support this contention; like the kamar kassā, or waist-belt body armor of Guru Gobind Singh, preserved at Moti Bagh Palace Museum in Patiala, bearing an inscription of the long form.{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pashaura, Michael Hawley |title=Re-imagining South Asian Religions: Essays in Honour of Professors Harold G. Coward and Ronald W. Neufeldt |date=2012 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004242371 |page=39 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qT0yAQAAQBAJ&q=hosi+bhi}}

• Namokar Mantra

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Shackle |first1=Christopher |title=An Introduction to the Sacred Language of the Sikhs |date=1983 |publisher=University of London School of Oriental and African Studies |location=London, U.K. |isbn=9780728601079 |url=https://archive.org/details/AnIntroductionToTheSacredLanguageOfTheSikhs/mode/2up}}
• {{cite book | author=Macauliffe, M.A | title=The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus Sacred Writings and Authors| publisher=Low Price Publications | year=1909 | isbn=81-7536-132-8}}
• {{cite book | author=Shackle, C | title=A Guru Nanak Glossary| publisher=School of Oriental and African Studies| year=1981 | isbn=0-7286-0243-1 }}
• {{cite book | author=Singh, Dalip | title=Sikhism in the Words of the Guru| publisher=Lok Sahit Prakashan | year=1999| asin=B0000CPD3S}}
• {{cite book | author=Singh, Dr. Gopal | title=Guru-Granth Sahib Vol.1| publisher=Taplinger Publishing Co.| year=1962 }}
• {{cite book | author=Singh, Dr. Santokh | title=English Transliteration and Interpretation of Nitnaym Baanees, Sikh Prayers for English Speaking Sikh Youth| publisher=Sikh Resource Centre | year=1990| isbn=1-895471-08-7}}
• {{cite book | author=Osho | title=The True Name, Vol.1 : Discourses on Japji Sahib of Guru Nanak Dev| publisher=New Age International(P) Ltd| year=1994 | isbn=81-224-0606-8}}
• {{cite book | author=Dr Sahib Singh, D Lit | title=Shiri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan| publisher=Raj Publishers (Regd), Adda Husharpur Jallundhar | date=Jan 1972 }}

• [https://www.damdamitaksaal.org/mool-mantar Mool Mantar, Damdami Taksaal]
• [http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Page&Param=1 English and Hindi translations]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120825234434/http://www.sikher.com/guru-granth-sahib/user/search/scripturelist?scripturepage=1 Translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in >52 languages] Machine translation of SGGS can be read from linked site by choosing appropriate language in transliterate and translation fields

{{Sikhism}}

Category:Adi Granth