The Mà «l Mantar (, ) is the opening verse of the Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. It consists of twelve words in the Punjabi language, written in Gurmukhi script, and are the most widely known among the Sikhs. They summarise the essential teaching of Guru Nanak, thus constituting a succinct doctrinal statement of Sikhism.
It has been variously translated, with the interpretation of the first two words particularly contested. These are rendered as "There is one god,â "One reality is,â "This being is one,â and others. Sometimes the disagreements include capitalising the âÂÂGâ in âÂÂgod,â or the âÂÂRâ in âÂÂreality,â which affects the implied meaning in English. Some consider it monotheistic, others monist. The general view favors the monotheistic interpretation, but not the Abrahamic understanding of monotheism. It is rather "Guru Nanak's mystical awareness of the one that is expressed through the many." The remaining ten words after the first two are literally translated as true name, the creator, without fear, without hate, timeless in form, beyond birth, self-existent, (known by) the grace of Guru.
The verse is repeated in the Sikh scripture before numerous Shabad, or hymns. It existed in many versions in the 16th-century before it was given its final form by Guru Arjan in the 17th century. The essential elements of the mantar are found in Guru Nanak's compositions, the various epithets he used for Akal Purakh (Ultimate Reality).
A mantar means "formula, succinct doctrinal or sacred words with spiritual meaning". The word mà «l means "root, main or "fundamental." The Mà «l Mantar is thus "root formula", or the root statement of Sikhism.
The Mà «l Mantar is:
The extended version with the Jap verse is:
The archaic language of the Guru Granth Sahib is highly inflected; the suffixed short vowels parenthesised above indicate various declensions. In the Mà «l Mantar, the suffixed -u indicates nouns and adjectives in the masculine singular direct case, though some words ending with -à(like karatÃÂ) can also indicate this case. This suffix can also indicate an imperative when attached to a verb, as in japu.
The suffixed -a can indicate the masculine vocative case, as in NÃÂnaka, the masculine singular oblique case in compounds as in gura prasÃÂdi, and a feminine singular direct adjective as in akala, as well as the masculine plural direct case and the feminine singular direct case.
The suffixed -i can indicate the possessive case in compounds (as in sati nÃÂmu), and the locative (as in ÃÂdi and jugÃÂdi) or instrumental case as in gura prÃÂsadi; these terms would be ÃÂdu, jugÃÂdu, and prasÃÂdu if taking the direct case. It is also another feminine singular direct case (as in mà «rati); -a and -i are among the predominant declensions for this case.
Adjectives and modifiers also agree in number and gender with their dependent element, hence ikku oaá¹ kÃÂru, akÃÂla mà «rati, and the term mà «lu mantaru itself.
Most of these cases still exist in the modern language in slightly different forms; features in the archaic language like the masculine singular direct suffix -u and feminine singular direct suffix -a parallel nominal declensions in other related languages.
The included grave accent included in the above transliterations illustrates tones and guide the verbal pronunciation of the verse.
The modern Mà «l Mantar is the edited version that was canonised by Guru Arjan. It is the Mà «l Mantar that is widely used among Sikhs today. It is different from the version originally written by Guru Nanak. The earliest form of the Mà «l Mantar is found in the goindwal pothi which comes from time of Guru Amar Das. In the goindwal pothi the Mà «l Mantar is:
This variation of the Mà «l Mantar was standard in the time of Guru Amar Das. The modern Mà «l Mantar was formed by Guru Arjan during his editing process. An earlier draft of Guru Arjan's editing process though still included the text sat-gur(a)-prasÃÂd<small>(i)</small> in place of the modern gur(a)-prasÃÂd<small>(i)</small>. Most variations of the Mà «l Mantar came from other Sikh traditions. There are 7 Variations of the Mà «l Mantar found within the Goindwal Pothis, which comes from the Mohan Sikh tradition. There are other variations of the Mà «l Mantar from the Mina Scribal tradition. The modern Mà «l Mantar was formed by Guru Arjan during the canonization of the Adi Granth. Other versions of the Mà «l Mantar can be found within the GNDU MS1245 Manuscript, which comes from a independent scribal tradition. It is unclear whether or not Guru Nanak had made a Mà «l Mantar. The most common textual variants seen in the Mà «l Mantar is Satgur Parsad at the end of the Mà «l Mantar instead of Gur Prasad. Most variations are minor and do not affect the essence of the Mà «l Mantar.
The Mà «l Mantar is a widely known part of Sikh scripture, but it has posed a challenge to translators. The first two words Ik Onkar has been rendered multiple ways. It has been translated as "'There is one god', as 'One reality is', 'there is one God', 'singularity despite seeming plurality,' and 'This being is one,' and asserts the "distinctively Sikh theological emphasis" on "the ineffable quality of God" as "the Person beyond time," "the Eternal One," and "the One without form," and is canonically understood in Sikhism to refer to "absolute monotheistic unity of God". The varying capitalisation of "God", "Reality", or "Being" affects the meaning in English. A number of translations erroneously change the Mà «l Mantar from a list of qualities to a statement of facts and possessive adjectives. For example, they may change Satnam from "truth by name" to "His name is truth", which adds a masculine quality to the Mà «l Mantar which does not appear in the original Gurmukhi. These sacred words of Sikhism do not presume a particular gender. the Mà «l Mantar serves as a "succinct statement which set the Sikh doctrine apart from the philosophical systems of both Indic and Semitic religious traditions."
Some Sikh institutions, like the SGPC, consider the Mà «l Mantar proper to end at gura prasÃÂdi, arguing that what follows is the name and first line of the Japji Sahib composition, citing the number of times that the verse appears as such preceding Gurbani compositions. On the other hand, other historic institutions, like some taksals (traditional Sikh religious educational institutions) and gurmat schools, hold the Mà «l Mantar to be the full following verse, contending that this form has been used in the Amrit Sanchar baptising ceremony since its inception. This is in line with the stand taken by the nihangs and other groups who stress the recitation of the complete Mà «l Mantar, arguing that this tradition has come directly from the time of the Gurus, and there is reliable evidence to support this contention; like the kamar kassÃÂ, or waist-belt body armor of Guru Gobind Singh, preserved at Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala, bearing an inscription of the long form.