ABDHUT/AUDHUT/AVADHUT A kind of Hindu devotee who worships Shiva. neglects the ceremonies of religion, and goes naked, with the body besmeared with ashes. Guru Nanak defines the Abdhut as a person who renounces vice and is imbued with the Holy Name. Such a person not only liberates himself front

ACROSTIC :At the age of seven Guru Nanak went to school and the schoolmaster wrote the alphabet on a wooden tablet for Nanak. After just one day Nanak copied the alphabet from memory and made an acrostic on the alphabet. The acrostic called the Patti or tablet in the

ALAHUNI,(mournful song by women) When a person dies. women cry and often sing songs in chorus in praise Of the deceased. There is a lot of pessimism in, such songs. Generally professional women used to lead in the singing of mourning songs. Guru Nanak used this form of poetry

ALANKAR,is the singing of notes (seams) in the melodic phrase of a raga. It can be done in different laya (tempo) which may be slow, medium or fast. A lankar literally means an ornament or decoration. It is the repetition of the musical notes of a raga in a

AMRIT VELA, is the time of about three and three quarters of an hour before sunrise, say from about 2.15 AM to 6AM. Guru Nanak urged his disciples to get up at this auspicious time and recite God\'s name. Literally it means the "period of divine nectar" In this

ANCESTORS,In ancient Hindu scriptures, the honouring of human ancestors is commanded. Pitri or mass\'s to one\'s ancestors arc regarded as sacred funeral rights and Sradh (offerings of food) are considered obligatory for placating the spirits of the departed ancestors up to thee seventh generation. It is believed that the

ANHAD/ANHAT BANI or SHABD :A sound that is unending and knows no limits. Audible life current originating from the Divine Will, endlessly carrying on the work of creating and sustaining the universe; interchangeably used with Anhat meaning \'Unstruck\', as it it automatic and not instrumental. It also means sound not

ANJALI:Literally,Anjali means an offering of a palmful of water or a few grams of rice to a deity as a mark of respect or devotion. Anjali is also a form of poetry. Guru Arjan wrote four \'chhands\' in Raga Maru (GGS, p. 1019) in the form of \'Anjali\'. In

ANT KAL,means the few moments before a person\'s death. A person feeling the approach (if death thinks of many things, his wife, children, wealth and home which he will leave shortly and then begins to worry about them and after a while he is no more. Bhagat Trilochan realised

ARTI is a form of worship of an idol or deity in which candles or earthen lamps are waved as a token of devotion; sometimes during the Arti, incense.jossticks, pieces of sandalwood are burnt and flowers showered on the object of worship. When Guru Nanak went to Jagannath Temple

ANAND KARAJ: Aanand Kaaraj is the Sikh marriage ceremony. The exact date of its origin is not known but references can be found that the marriage of the children of Guru Sahib had been performed by way of this ceremony. Guru Sahib had made it obligatory for a Sikh

AKHAND PATH: Aakhand Path is nonstop recitation of Guru Granth Sahib. It is completed in approximately 48 hours. Several readers perform this recitation in a relay system. The reading goes, in a relay manner, continuously, day and night. At given intervals (usually two hours per turn) the next reciter