AHIMSA. The term ahimsa is formed by adding the negative prefix a to the word himsa which is derived from the Sanskrit root \'han\', i.e. \'to kill\', \'to harm\', or \'to injure\', and means not killing, not harming, not injuring. The commonly used English equivalent \'non-violence\' is inadequate as it seems to give a false impression that ahimsa is just a negative virtue. Ahimsa is not mere abstention from the use of force, not just abstention from killing and injuring; it also implies the positive virtues of compassion and benevolence because not killing and not injuring a living being implicitly amounts to protecting and preserving it and treating it with mercy.
GURU GIRARATH KOS is a dictionary of the Guru Granth Sahib compiled by the Nirmala scholar Pandit Tara Singh Narotam. The kos, completed in AD 1889, is in two volumes printed at Rajendra Press, Patiala the first (pp. 702) in 1895 and the second (pp. 706) in 1898. The first volume has a lengthy Introduction which carried no title except the abbreviated form of the mul mantra, i.e. Ik Oankar Satguru Prasad, at the head. The Introduction beginning with a definition of the word kos contains detailed information about the contents of the book, the method of arrangement of words and phrases, abbreviations used, a list of the Sanskrit prefixes, some specimens of the words which have different meanings in Sanskrit and Persian, and a few examples of the words which take different forms in different languages of India.
ANAHATASABDA figures variously in the Guru Granth Sahib as anahadasabad, anahadatura, anahadajhunkara, anahadabain, anahatanada, anahadabani and anahadadhumand in the Dasam Granth as anahadabani and anahadabaja. The word anahata is from the Sanskrit language. It occurs in Pali and Prakrit texts as well. In the Sanskrit original, it implies unstruck; it stands for pure or immaculate in Pali and for eternal in the Prakrit. The suffix words like sabad or sabda, tura, jhunkara, bani and dhuni stand for word, rhythm, sound or speech. Thus, anahatasabda would mean the unstruck or pure or eternal sound. In a theistic system, anahatasabda would signify an eternal voice symbolizing the reality of God.
Guru Nanak (1469-1539) represents the highest point of Punjabi literature, it has reached so far. Not because he is the first preceptor of the; religion of the Sikhs who are to this day staunch champions of Punjabi literature, the excellence in its own right, though it is available to us as an influential part of the canon of the Guru Granth, the holy scripture of the Sikhs. Guru Nanak was born on 16 April 1469 that is the second of Baisakh, 1526 of the Vikrami era, in a village in those days called Talwandi Rai Boi, later called in the province of Lahore. Since the days of the ascendancy of the Sikhs, it has been known as Nankana Sahib which is now a major town in the district of Sheikhupura in Pakistan.
HAUMAI is a term which recurs frequently in the Guru Granth Sahib in reference to the spiritual state of those who .have not discovered the way of liberation and peace. Literally, the word means `I am`, implying egoism reckoned as a spiritual and moral disease. It is, says Guru Amar Das, a filth which clings to man, a polluting presence which torments its victims while resisting all attempts on their part to wash it away: "jagi haumai mailu dukhu paid malu Idgi dujai bhdi; malu haumai dholi kivai na utaraije sou firath ndi in this world the filth of haumai, the clinging dirt of worldly affection, bring suffering.
SIKH COSMOLOGY. From the very beginning man has been curious to know about the structure and constitution of the Universe and its origin. To locate the stable base of this universe and to fix his own place in it have been the subjects of his constant search and speculation for him. The Gurus brought their own mystical and philosophical powers to solving the riddle. In their poetry in the Guru Granth Sahib, they have expressed their sense of wonder and sung paeans of praise for the Almighty. A minute observation of the phenomenon of nature forms an important part of the Sikh metaphysical insight.