User talk:Karanangles

Waheguru (Punjabi: ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ, Wāhegurū or ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ, Wāhegurū; also transliterated as Vahiguru) is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God, the Supreme Being or the creator of all. It means "Wonderful Teacher" in the Punjabi language, but in this case is used to refer to God. Wahi means "wonderful" (a Middle Persian borrowing) and "Guru" (Sanskrit: गुरु) is a term denoting "teacher". Waheguru is also described by some as an experience of ecstasy which is beyond all descriptions.

"Waheguru" is the distinctive representation of God's name in the Sikh tradition. In Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, the term does not figure in the compositions of the Gurus, though it occurs therein, both as Vahiguru and Vahguru, in the hymns of Bhatt Gayand, the bard contemporary with Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru (1553-1606), and also in the Varan of Bhai Gurdas.

The most common usage of the word "Waheguru" is in the greeting Sikhs use with each other:

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh Wonderful Lord's Khalsa, Victory is to the Wonderful Lord.

"Waheguru", and its variant "Vahiguru", appear 16 times in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Vahiguru occurs twice on Ang 1403 and once on Ang 1404. Other words used in the Guru Granth Sahib to refer to God are: Onkar, Satguru ("true teacher"), Satnaam ("true name"), Rama,[1] Rahman, Purushah, Allah, Khuda among others. Indeed, a verse in Guru Granth Sahib just highlights the very fact that different people use different 'words' :

(ang 885, Sri Guru Granth Sahib) Koyi Bole Ram Ram, Koyi Khudaye :: Some call (you) Ram, Some Khuda Koyi Seve Gosain, Koyi Allah :: Some serve (you) as the Gosain, some Allah Kaaran Karan Kareem :: You alone are the cause of everything Kirpa Taar Raheem :: Shower your mercy and Compassion (on all) Bhai Gurdas says (Pauri 49, Var 1):[2]

Satguru (Nanak) in Satyuga was Vasdeva and his name as ‘Vava’ Vishnu Nam was made to be repeated by people. Satguru (Nanak) in Duapar Yuga was Hari Krishna and his name as ‘Haha’ Har Har was made to be repeated by people. Satguru (Nanak) in Traeta Yuga was Rama and his name as ‘Rara’ Rama was made to be repeated by people. In Kali Yuga Guru Nanak was Gobind and his name as ‘Gaga’ Gobind was made to be repeated by people. He (Nanak) gathered four letters (Vava, Haha, Rara, and Gaga of all the reincarnated gods) created a Jap Nam ‘Waheguru’ as mantra to be repeated by people.

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs (1666-1708), used "Waheguru" in the invocatory formula ("Ik Onkar Sri Waheguru ji ki Fateh", besides the traditional "Ik Onkar Satguru Prasada") at the beginning of some of his compositions as well as in the Sikh salutation ("Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki Fateh"). Bhai Gurdas at one place in his Varan (I.49) construes "vahiguru" as an acrostic using the first consonants of the names of four divine incarnations of the Hindu tradition appearing in four successive eons. Modern scholars, however, affirm that the name Vahiguru is owed originally to the Gurus[citation needed], most likely to the founder of the faith, Guru Nanak, himself. According to this view, Vahiguru is a compound of two words, one from Persian[citation needed] and the other from Sanskrit, joined in a symbiotic relationship to define the indefinable indescribable Ultimate Reality. "Vah" in Persian is an interjection of wonder and admiration[citation needed], and "guru" (Sanskrit guru: "heavy, weighty, great, venerable; a spiritual parent or preceptor") has been frequently used by Guru Nanak and his successors for "SATGURU "(True Guru) or God. Bhai Santokh Singh, in Sri Guru Nanak Prakash (pp. 1249–51), reporting Guru Nanak’s testament to the Sikhs has thus explicated "Vahiguru": "Vah" is wonder at the Divine might; while guru means a spiritual and devotional teacher.