Talk:Anand Karaj

Is this passage a part of the ceremony?

The following passage is explained as being a part of the Anand Karaj ceremony:

"My mind has become peaceful; I have found the Lord.

I have met him with intuitive ease.

The Lord seems so sweet; I am pleasing to my God.

Night and day, I lovingly focus my consciousness on the Lord.

I have obtained my Lord and Master, the fruit of my mind's desires.

The Lord's name resounds and resonates."

However, I have not seen it written in any of the books I have read. I would appreciate it if someone would be able to clarify this for me. Sandeep S K 20:09, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

I've tracked it down. It's on page 773-774 of the GGS.

ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਮਿਲਿਆ ਸੁਭਾਇ ਹਰਿ ਮਨਿ ਤਨਿ ਮੀਠਾ ਲਾਇਆ ਬਲਿ ਰਾਮ ਜੀਉ ॥

As Gurmukh, I have met Him, with intuitive ease; the Lord seems so sweet to my mind and body.

ਹਰਿ ਮੀਠਾ ਲਾਇਆ ਮੇਰੇ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਭਾਇਆ ਅਨਦਿਨੁ ਹਰਿ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਈ ॥

The Lord seems so sweet; I am pleasing to my God. Night and day, I lovingly focus my consciousness on the Lord.

ਮਨ ਚਿੰਦਿਆ ਫਲੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮਿ ਵਜੀ ਵਾਧਾਈ ॥

I have obtained my Lord and Master, the fruit of my mind's desires. The Lord's Name resounds and resonates.

You can see it here [1]. Hope that helps. It'd be good to add the Gurmukhi and page number/source to the article. Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 20:27, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Sikhs only

I've witnessed non-Sikhs get married under the Anand Karaj ceremony. How strictly is this 'rule' enforced? Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 21:42, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

And, considering a Sikh only needs to say they're a Sikh to be one, this rule can't be terribly effective. I mean, how can a Gurdwara decide whether a Sikh is enough of a Sikh to get married? Seems unenforcable to me. Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 21:43, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

I think you are right. Even I have witnessed one non-Sikh marrying a Sikh under the ceremony so no, it is not very effective at all. I guess maybe the persons carrying out the ceremony do not mind as long as one Sikh is involved, even if this does go directly against the rules that have been set out in the Reht Maryada. Sandeep S K 22:42, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

I think we need to examine the reasons for this clause. I'm not sure there is anything in the Guru Granth Sahib that can be used to condone this clause (indeed, I'd say talk of equality amongst all would be against such a clause). However, it may stem from an aim to stop Sikhism from being diluted.

Also, the SGPC has no authority outside the Gurdwaras it controls in India. Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 23:37, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

What you say about equality may be correct and you are right to say that the SGPC only controls Gurdwaras in India. However, I thought that the Reht Maryada is universally applicable since it deals with actual Sikh practices.

One of my references talk about the Prem Sumarag; is it possible that this is the equivalet of the Reht Maryada for the UK atleast?

Sandeep S K 01:02, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I suppose it's up to individual Sikhs whether they wish to follow the Reht Maryada. Most Sikhs do follow most of it, but there are plenty of 'clauses' within it that many Sikhs quite happily ignore. This will just be another one to add to the list! :) Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 12:52, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

How is the "If you are invited to a Sikh wedding" thing relevant?

The Anand Karaj is a small part of the whole Sikh wedding ceremony. Although technically this *is* the wedding but there are many other things, e.g. Nahai Dhoi (bathing the groom). The "If you are invited to a Sikh wedding" may be relevant to an article on SIKH WEDDING (although I have doubts about that too) but here - I 'd say it is totally out of context! Bunty.Gill 05:03, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

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Attribution in the 'History' section

In the 'History of Anand Karaj' section, the article says "The history of the Anand marriage ceremony is traced back to the time of Guru Amar Das", which gives an erroneous picture. The ceremony involves the couple making 4 'Rounds' around the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (SGGS Ji) as each of the Laav hymn is read and sung. The present Anand Kaaraj ceremony could not have originated with the 3rd or the 4th Guru because SGGS Ji did not exist then. It was put together by the 5th Guru - Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

Why not the 4th Guru?

It is true that the Laavaan part of the ceremony was composed by the 4th Guru - Guru Ram Das. He composed the 4 stanzas of the Laavaan for his spiritual 'wedding' to God [SGGS Ji pp. 773-774]. In the Hymn preceding it [SGGS Ji p. 773, Shabad #1] Guru Ram Das ji prepares himself to be worthy of marriage to God. He does this by effacing his sinful behaviours and replacing them with virtues. It is in fact an Engagement ceremony in which Pundits are consulted - same as per existing Hindu custom - and they declare the moment to be auspicious for the wedding go-ahead with the four 'rounds'. God manifests in the Bride's heart/mind - in fact in her consciousness. In Guru Nanak's philosophy all men and women are Brides of Husband- God. Few Sikhs are aware that this Hymn is actually an Engagement ceremony. There are numerous references in SGGS Ji about wedding to God, e.g. on page 78 by the 4th Guru. The reason for the numerous references is that the key message of SGGS Ji is to be one with God i.e. live a virtuous life.

Why not the 3rd Guru?

The Anand Kaaraj Sikh wedding ceremony did not originate with the 3rd Guru - Guru Amar Das Ji either. To say so is a gross misrepresentation of the very popular Hymn Anand Sahib, on which the article in question is based. According to Sikh Rehat Muryada- the Sikh Code of Conduct- this Hymn is one of 5 designated for daily recitation by Sikhs [SGGS Ji pp. 917-922]. In Anand Sahib, Guru Amar Das Ji is overjoyed at finding God through the Guru, [SGGS Ji p. 917 s. 1]. He did this by singing God's Praises and to always keep God in mind . The word Anand and its variations appear 167 times in SGGS Ji.

In the 2nd stanza, the word Kaaraj is used. There is no doubt the author has connected it too with Anand Kaaraj - name of the Sikh wedding ceremony. Kaaraj simply means doing any work at hand. The word Kaaraj appears 115 times in Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

This Hymn is not about performing human weddings. As being one of the five daily Hymns to recite, Guru Ji was not reciting wedding vows daily but prayers to God for bliss, tranquility and contentedness. This fits in entirely with the central and recurring theme of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. And that message being about how to become a virtuous person by keeping the illusory charms of maya at bay - which lead to five main vikaars/sins mentioned repeatedly. They are lust, excessive anger, greed, attachment to worldly things and ego.

The article goes on to say that the Laavaan (Rounds) were added by the 4th Guru to the already existing Anand Kaaraj ceremony. As mentioned above, he did compose them but the Sikh Holy Book did not exist then. All Gurbani prior to compilation of SGGS Ji by the 5th Guru were manuscripts of each author.

View of Singh Sabha

The point I make has quite some history behind it. After the demise of last of the ten Sikh Gurus in 1708 fighting the Moghuls, Sikhi started to fracture. Control of Sikh religious matters went to Nirmala and Udaasi Sikhs. They did not subscribe to Guru Nanak's philosophy exclusively, but also believed in Hindu Scriptures; and Nirmala Sikhs control the top governing Sikh body SGPC today from Amritsar. After Punjab came under British rule after the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Christian missionaries flooded in. In reaction some educated Sikhs got together and started Singh Sabha, a revival movement. The conflict with Singh Sabha came to a head in the mid 1880's over precisely the issue of Anand Kaaraj -- Singh Sabha insisted on using the SGGS Ji and the Pseudo Sikhs using fire for the 'rounds' of the ceremony; "The pseudo Sikhs rejected the Anand ceremony on the grounds Sikh gurus did not perform their marriage with it. Further they cited that major Sikh texts like Dasam Granth and Gur Bilas contained no referenced to Anand ritual."

So in summary, there is really no primary information when it was adopted for ordinary Sikh weddings. Sikh history is woefully lacking. It is written by others from their own perspectives. Only thing widely known is that Sikh Anand Kaaraj ceremony was recognised by the Government in 1909.

I would appreciate some feedback on my suggestions. Thank you! --Dave Bains (talk) 22:16, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

References

Semi-protected edit request on 19 June 2023

I would like to reference how the the Namdhari anand karaj ceremony is different to mainstream sikh marriages. 13razaa (talk) 20:24, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. — Paper9oll (🔔 • 📝) 01:03, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

Primary sources will be from books written by Namdhari writers:

Anand Karaj by Phuman Singh Kanwal

Sehaj Anand by Vishwa Namdhari Vidhyak Jatha

I believe these fulfil the requirements of a reliable source 13razaa (talk) 10:48, 21 June 2023 (UTC)

@13razaa - best to use scholarly sources rather than Namdhari sources which are susceptible to bias. ThethPunjabi (talk) 06:12, 21 July 2023 (UTC)