Mangal Positions in old Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib

The following are pictures of old Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, where the Mangal (invocation) appears before the Sirlekh (heading or Bani Name). These pictures are being shared to show the correct positioning of Mangals and how the problem of incorrectly placed Mangals began.

This is important because there is confusion today within the Panth about the positioning of the Mangals. For a detailed article about why Mangals should always appear before the Sirlekh, the following article by Bhai Kulbir Singh (Toronto) can be read here: https://tinyurl.com/MangalsVichar

Positions of Mangals

The reason many Gursikhs and academics believe that the Mangals should always appear first is because whenever a Bani is started it makes sense for Guru Sahib to invoke Akaal Purakh through a Mangal first (ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ) before mentioning the name of the Raag, tittle of the Bani and their own name (ਗਉੜੀ ਸੁਖਮਨੀ ਮਃ ੫). Akaal Purakh is always remembered first. It is interesting to note that in Sri Dasam Granth, all Mangals always come first.

Secondly, through a thorough examination of old Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji it becomes clear that Mangals were originally written first and were always meant to be read first. This will be explored through pictorial evidence in this article.

There are three important things to know about the positioning of Mangals:

1. When Gurbani was first written, Mangals always appeared before Sirlekhs. For example, in Sukhmani Sahib the start of the Bani should always be written and read as: ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ ਗਉੜੀ ਸੁਖਮਨੀ ਮਃ ੫ ॥ ਸਲੋਕੁ ॥

Below are two examples of Sukhmani Sahib where the Mangal appears before the Sirlekh.

This is a Saroop from 1701 where the Mangal for Sukhmani Sahib appears before the Sirlekh

A Saroop from 1801 where the Mangal for Sukhmani Sahib appears before the Sirlekh

Below are examples from Anand Sahib. The start of Anand Sahib should always be: ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ਅਨੰਦੁ ॥

A Saroop from 1749 where the Mangal for Anand Sahib appears before the Sirlekh

A Saroop from 1801 where the Mangal for Anand Sahib appears before the Sirlekh

Here are a few more examples where the Mangal appears before the Sirlekh in the Puratan Saroop, but in today’s standardized Saroops the Mangal appears after the Sirlekh:

A Saroop from 1701 where the Mangal for Bavan Akhri appears before the Sirlekh

A Saroop from 1653 where the Mangal appears before the Sirlekh

2. Sometimes the Mangals were written on the extreme right. This was done in traditional writing, where the invocation (Mangal) was written first on the extreme right (out of respect) and then the rest of the writing would continue on the left side.

Below is an excellent example of where this can be seen:

Above is an example from Jap Ji Sahib, where the Mangal is on the extreme right. If one were to read this as it is written, one would start off the Bani with ਜਪੁ and then ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ This is clearly wrong, and anyone with even a basic understanding of Gurbani knows that the Mangal for Jap Ji Sahib is always read first. The writer knew that the Mangal would always be read first because it was written on the extreme right of the ang.

Here are some more examples of this occurring in old Saroops:

A Saroop from 1728 where the Mangal ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ is on the extreme right and the Sirlekh is on the extreme left.

A Saroop from 1749 where the Manal for Bavan Akhri appears on the extreme right.

Presented below is an excellent example that shows that the Mangal should always be written and read first:

A Saroop from 1653

What we see above is the Mangal ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ coming on the extreme right. However, the Mangal and Sirlekh are all out of order here. If one were to read this Bani exactly as written it would go as follows:

ਸੋਹਿਲਾ ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ ਦੀਪਕੀ ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ॥

Clearly the writer began writing the Mangal ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ first on the extreme right. Then they began writing the Sirlekh. The writer clearly ran out space, so they had to move the ਮਹਲਾ ੧ down a line. This is irrefutable evidence that the Mangal was written first and should always be written and read first.

3. The problem began when some writers who were copying Saroops did not know that the Mangal was always meant to be read first. So when they saw the above Saroops where the Mangal comes on the extreme right, they mistakenly thought that the Mangal came after the Sirlekh. Because during the time of Maharaj Ranjit Singh a lot of Saroops were being copied by hand by non-Sikhs who were unaware of these details, many Saroops were written with the Mangals in the wrong position. This problem continued until the present where in the current standard Saroops, sometimes the Mangal comes first and sometimes the Sirlekh comes first. Gursikhs have tried to fix this problem, however they have been met with opposition by other Gursikhs unaware of the problem and not willing to accept that mistakes were made when some Saroops were copied.

Another interesting picture to note is from a Gutka Sahib said to have belonged to the Sixth Guru, Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji. In this Gutka Sahib the Mangal for Sri Sukhmani Sahib appears first before the Sirlekh:

Below are more pictures from old Saroops where the Mangal appears first. The date of when the Saroop was written is given where known:

A Saroop from 1695 where the Mangal for Sukhmani Sahib appears first.

A Saroop from 1739 where the Mangal for Sukhmani Sahib appears first.

A Saroop from 1801 where the Mangal for Sidh Gosht appears first. In current Saroops the Mangal appears after the Sirlekh.

A Saroop from 1801 where the Mangal for Sukhmani Sahib appears first.

From the same Saroop the Mangal appears first both times for Sohila and So Dar.

The Mangal for Ramkali ki Vaar appearing before the Sirlekh. In current Saroops the Mangal appears after the Sirlekh.

Conclusion

As can be seen by the evidence presented in this article, Mangals should always be written and read before Sirlekhs. Gursikhs who believe this are not trying to change Gurbani according to their own understanding. In fact, those that read Mangals as they are currently written in Saroops are changing Bani, because the Mangals were always meant to be written and read first.