Langar and Guru Gobind Singh jee

[Balait_da_Sher]

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

I was talking to my dad and he said that Guru Gobind singh ji once dressed up as a gareeb (poor) person and went to see the state of the langars around Anandpur sahib. At that time it was Anandpur sahib ji was very famous for "No one went hungry from guru's langar"

Guru ji went to one langar hall and langar was being cooked, He asked the sewadar for langar but the sewadar replied that he would have to wait for the langar to finish and for the bhog.

Guru ji left and went to another langar hall and asked the sewadar for langar but the sewadar said that anand sahib ji's path is yet to be done so he woul dhave to wait.

Guru ji left again and then went to another langar hall where Bhai nand lal ji was doing sewa. after guru ji asked bhai nand lal ji for langar, bhai ji said 'its not completly ready but you can have whatever is complete. After guru ji had the langar he went back.

Next day in the Darbar Sangat was talking about 'no one going hungry from guru's langar' But Guru ji told them that he had to go hungry from two of guru's langars. After that Guru ji gave a hukam that no one is supposed to go hungry from the langar and Even if the langar is not complete the person who is hungry should come first as Sangat is guru's own roop.

I have few questions

Do u think its right to serve Langar in circumstances like above where a hungry person comes in and requests food, before the path is complete and ardas hasnt been said (Lets say sunday service)?.

What is the importance of Kirpan Bhet?

[moorakh mugadh]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

bhogg is very very important but if this is the circumstance i think we can the quesion was rasaed by daas some time ago in the form jee

[gupt faujaan]

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

gud question by amardeep singh. any replies on tis topic :T: :T:

[JSingh]

I think the langar should be given to the hungry even if it hasn't been 'parvan' (accepted)by Guru Ji though 'kirpan bhet'.

I think from Guru Nanak Dev Ji to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the langar was first eaten by the Guru Ji and then distributed in the sangat. There is a Sakhi about Guru Arjan Dev Ji that, I think at that time Guru Ji was reciting Bani to Bhai Gurdas Ji for compilation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and they were late to the langar that day, someone came to ask Guru Ji to come and eat the langar and said that the sangat is waiting for him. I don't quite remember the sakhi but i remember only this part that illustrates that Guru Sahib had to eat langar before it was given to the sangat.

And now our everlasting Guru is Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the langar is given to 'kirpan bhet' during Ardas, just like 'charan pahul' was changed to 'Khande di pahul'.

And also remember, the words used in ardas are, for example, "langar te karah prashad di degh hazar hai, aap kirpa kar ke parwan karo....". Kirpan cannot eat, therefore, the words 'parwan karo', not 'bhog lao', are used. (Some Granthis do say 'bho lao', but these are not the words of Ardas by Akal Takhat Sahib.)

In short, Ardas is done to Guru Ji to accept the langar, and the 'kirpan bhet' is the sign of Guru Ji's acceptance.

I may be wrong. I just expressed my views how I came to see it.

bhul chuk di khima,

Jaswant (Singh)

[moorakh mugadh]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

well said jsinghjee

[Balait_da_Sher]

Thanks veer jsingh,

just a thought about kirpan bhet, to us Guru Granth sahib ji our living guru, thats why we do kirpan bhet so the guru will accept the langar but to an outsider this will seem like a ritual.

Someone who doesnt know about sikhi will see it no different than hindus touching their parshad on the mouths of the statues.

[JSingh]

Someone who doesnt know about sikhi will see it no different than hindus touching their parshad on the mouths of the statues.

In Hinduism, when they put the food in the mouth of a statue, they are actually feeding the deity of who the statues is. But in Sikhism, first of all, kirpan is not a statue, and second, we are not making the kirpan eat the food. We just do ardas to 'parwan karna' (to accept), not 'bhog lao' (eat). You are absolutely right that an outsider would think in the similar way you as you said, but we should be able to exaplain the difference.

Jaswant (Singh)

[Pheena]

what about when Akhand path which goes for 3 days straight, can the people not eat for 3 days?? Isn't the Langer served for the 3 days continuaslly??

[Khalsa4ever]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

Good point Pheena. But I do think that that langar does have bhog done to it (in a separate ardas). Am I right?

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

[Mkhalsa]

There is always a prelangar, a langar which had bhog done before the main langar is ready, so that anyone who needs to /wants to eat, can do so.

I see this done everywhere. Usually this is in the form of matteeaaee or pakoras or things like that.. sometimes its prontas and yogurt, but there is always something ready.

If your gurudwara/sangat does not do this, encourage it to be done.