Guru Nanak Sahib, Guru Angad Sahib,
Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib

 From: Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer [mailto:hsdilgeer@yahoo.com] 
Sent: Monday, 24 June 2013 7:06 PM
To: Gurmit Singh
Subject: Fw: ??? ??? ????? ????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ???? ? ???? ???

 This Gurjeet Singh cheat has not forwarded my replies.
Hence, I am forwarding these to you; please forward to those whom he forwards mails sent by him.
Harjinder Singh Dilgeer
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer <hsdilgeer@yahoo.com>
To: Gurjeet Singh <khalsagurjeet@gmail.com> 
Sent: Sunday, 23 June 2013, 14:01
Subject: Re: ਜਪਉ ਜਿਨ ਅਰਜੁਨ ਦੇਵ ਗੁਰੂ ਫਿਰਿ ਸੰਕਟ ਜੋਨਿ ਗਰਭ ਨ ਆਯਉ ॥੬॥

 Guru Nanak SAHIB or Guru Nanak DEV      Part.1.

      Guru Nanak's parents gave him the name NANAK only. Later, the Sikhs added Sahib as suffix, as a mark of respect; while others used Baba as a prefix. Most of the earlier writers, however, preferred using Baba Nanak; Sahib too was a later usage. In the second half of the nineteenth century some Brahmanic writers began using Dev as suffix with Guru Nanak's name; until that no book or manuscript or even any verse had ever used DEV for Guru Nanak Sahib. But, like the usage of 'SRI' in Sikhism, the term DEV was so much popularized by the Brahmin writers that a simple minded person considers Guru Nanak's name as incomplete if it is without the suffix DEV.
     An argument was presented that DEV was added because all other Guru-names had two words (i.e. Amar Das, Ram Das, Hargobind, Har Rai, Harkrishan, Tegh Bahadur, Gobind Singh) hence DEV should be added to the names of the other three Gurus also i.e. with Nanak, Angad and Arjan); this is ridiculous logic that names of three Gurus should be changed (adding a new word is ‘changing the original’) so as to make them in the fashion of (or look like) the names of the other seven Gurus. Are these names ‘decoration pieces’ that symmetry has to be established? Why should we not preserve the original names of these three Gurus? Secondly, it is wrong to say that Hargobind, Harkrishan are names with two words; both are one word names. Why don’t they write them as Hargobind Dev and Hakrishan Dev?
      Further, the Brahmanic writers suggested that the words DEV appears 100 times and DEO for 56[1] times in Guru Granth Sahib; hence DEV/DEO should be accepted; this too is a strange logic. Similarly, some preachers claim that in one of the verses of Guru Granth Sahib, the name of Guru Arjan Sahib has been mentioned as 'Arjan Dev'; hence his name should be written as Arjan Dev; and, let us add it to the names of the first two Gurus also. Now, let us read the verse by Bhatt poet Mathura:
jap-ya-o jinh arjun, dayv guroo, fir sankat, jon garabh na aa-ya-o.[2]
      This line means that “those who remember GuruDev, as per the teachings of Arjan, they do not suffer from the fear of entering womb and bearing the pains of birth again”. Here DEV is a part of Guru (Gurdev) and not as suffix of the name of Guru Arjan Sahib.
      It is further interesting that, in Guru Granth Sahib, RAAM and CHAND too appear after the name of Guru Nanak; should we accept Chand/Raam as suffix of Guru's name?
      Here is the verse where Raam is referred to as suffix:
sikh-yaa saⁿt, naam bhaj, naanak, raam, raⁿg aatam si-o ra-un.[3]
      It means: “Nanak says, (O! man) as per teachings of the God-oriented persons, meditate upon name (of God), let your soul live in love of God”. Here, Raam has been used as one of the names of God and not as a suffix of Guru Nanak.
      The verse where Chand is referred as suffix: 
parathmay naanak chaⁿd jagat bha-yo aanaⁿd  
taaran manukh-y jan kee-a-o pargaas.[4]
      This means: First, Nanak is like a moon, seeing him the world delights; to liberate the human beings, he illuminates their ways.
      In Guru Granth Sahib, the word Nanak appears more than 5100 times and  

Nanaki (short sound ‘i’ before K in Nanak), and Nanaku short ‘u’ under K in Nanak) 23 and 50 times respectively; so which spellings should we accept, and what is the basis?
      Now let us consider the usage of the word DEO (2 times after the word Nanak) and DEV (3 times after the word Nanak) in the verses of Guru Granth Sahib: 
tin ka-o ki-aa updaysee-ai jin gur, naanak, day-o. [5]
      This verse means: "Nanak says what sermons can be given to those, who have been blessed (taught) by Guru; hence DEO is a part of Gurdev (gur+dayo)". Similar is the meaning of the word DEO in verse:
bohith, naanak, day-o gur, jis har chaṛaa-ay, tis bha-ojal tarnaa.[6]
      It means: Nanak says, “Gurdev (day-o gur) is a boat, whomever God gets to embark it, he will swim across the terrible waters.” Here too DEO (day-o) is a part of Gurdev and not a suffix of Guru Nanak's name.
so vasai it ghar, jis gur pooraa sayv.  abichal nagree, naanak, dayv.[7]
This means: Nanak says, those whom perfect Guru blesses with the service (meditation) of God; his home (heart/mind) becomes (such an abode, i.e. abchal nagri, which is free from vices) where He resides. Here DEV has been used for God and not for Nanak or even Guru/Gurdev.
      Further:
kabeer dhi-aa-i-o ayk raⁿg.
naam dayv har jee-o baseh saⁿg.
ravidaas dhi-aa-ay parabh anoop.
gur, naanak, dayv goviⁿd roop.[8]
[Meaning]: Kabir remembered with single-mind. (O! God) You dwell with (in the mind of) Namdev.
Ravidas remembered beautiful Master.
Nanak says Gurdev is the image of Govind (God)].
      In the second line of this verse, Dayv is a suffix of Namdev, but in fourth line Dayv is a part of Gurdev. Similarly:
kavan kahaan ha-o gun pari-a tayrai.[9]
baran na saaka-o ayk tulayrai.
darsan pi-aas bahuṯ man mayrai.
mil, naanak, dayv jagat gur kayrai.
[Meaning]: I cannot narrate even some of them.  O! my dear, how many of your attributes, I can relate?
In my mind is great thirst to see you.
Nanak says, O Gurdev of the world (i.e. God), please meet me (i.e. come to stay in my mind).
       Besides these verses, the words Dev or Deo is found in about 150 verses in Guru Granth Sahib (pp. 108, 155,405, 469, 479, 522, 694, 795-96, 871, 943, 1129, 1142, 1149, 1172-73, 1180, 1183, 1338, 1353, 1389 etc). In all these verses Dev/Deo have been used in the meaning of Waheguru or His light and not as suffix of any name (even of the Gurus). For example:
kaam krodh ahaⁿkaar binsai, milai satgur dayv.[10]
With this the cupidity, the anger, the ego vanish, and one meets the divine Guru. 
mahimaa kahee na jaa-ay, gur samrath dayv.
None can say the praise of all powerful, Gurdev.[11] 
ghat ghat suⁿn kaa jaanai bhay-o. aad purakh niraⁿjan day-o.[12]
If one who knows the secret, the void is in all bodies. He is the Primal Purkah,
the taintless God. 

Continued