GUNVANTI, lit. a woman of becoming qualities, is the title of one of Guru Arjan`s compositions, in measure Suhi, in the Guru Granth Sahib (GG, 763). It follows Guru Nanak`s Kuchajl (lit. an awkward, illmannered woman) and Suchaji (lit. a woman of good manner). The term gunvanti is figuratively used

VAR SUHI KI, in the measure Suhi, is one of Guru Amar Das` four vars in die Guru Grandi Sahib. Suha in Punjabi means red or scarlet, and this being the colour of a bride`s dress in India, die word signifies the consecrated lives of the true devotees of

GURU, a spiritual guide or preceptor. The term, long used in the Indian religious tradition, has a special connotation in the Sikh system. The Sikh faith itself signifies discipleship, the word sikh (sisya in Sanskrit and sissa or sekha in Pali) meaning pupil or learner. The concept of Guru,

ZINDAGI NAMAH, a book of pious poetry in Persian by Bhai Nand Lal Goya, an honoured Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh, whose name continues to be remembered with affection and esteem. A distinction which uniquely belongs to him is that his verse can be sung along with Scriptural hymns at

IBRAHIM, SHAIKH (Shaikh Farid of the Janam Sakhi), twelfth in succession from the famous Sufi saint, Shaikh Farid udDin GanjiShakar (1173-1266), held the seat of the earlier Shaikh at Pakpattan in the present Sahiwal (former Montgomery) district of Pakistan when Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was travelling in these parts. Shaikh Ibrahim,

ISAR or Isvar, a Gorakhpanthi yogi, who according to Miharbdn Janam Sdkhl, met Guru Nanak at Sumer mountain in company with a group of Nath ascetics and engaged in a discourse with him. Bhai Gurdas, Varan, I. 39, mentions Achal Vatala, outside of Batala, in present day Gurdaspur district

JAPU, with the Punjabi complimentary ji commonly suffixed to it as ah honorific, is the opening composition of Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. At the head of the table of contents of the volume, this composition is recorded as Japu Nisdnu, meaning the `flag composition Japu` or, according

KALIYUGA In Sat Yuga there was truth; in Treta, there were Yajnas (sacrifices) and in Dwapara, there was ritualistic worship. In the three Ages, there were three types of acts, but in Kali Yuga, the Name of the Lord is the only base. (Gaurt Bairagan Ravidas, p. 346) In

ASA KI VAR, as recorded in the index to the Guru Granth Sahib, but commonly designated Asa di Var, lit. an ode (var) in the musical measure Asa, is a composition by Guru Nanak sung by musicians at Sikh congregations as part of the early morning service. Asa is

MACHHINDARNATHA (Matsyendranatha), also known as Minanatha, i.e. Fish-Lord, Minapa, Luipa (in Tibet), and Avilokitesvara (in Nepal), who flourished in the 10th century AD, was one of the eighty-four siddhas or Perfect ones of Tantric Buddhism. According to Tibetan-Buddhist belief, he was a fisherman who, while devoured alive by a

AMRIT, derived from Sanskrit amrta, defined variously as not dead, immortal, imperishable; beautiful, beloved; world of immortality, heaven; immortality, eternity; final emancipation; nectar, ambrosia; nectarlike food; antidote against poison; or anything sweet, commonly means a liquid or drink by consuming which one attains everlasting life or immortality. It is