Sewa of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj 1. Maintain a separate room, dedicated to the sewa of Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. In today’s times, we live with luxurious items and have the most amazing technologies and services available to us. In a world of gated-communities and high priced cars, we ensure our home is of the highest standard. However, we must be thankful for the homes and items provided to us, and although we seek these lavish items for ourselves, we do not consider it out duty to dedicate a room for the service and respect of Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Many decide against maintaining a dedicated room, explaining that it is too big of a responsibility and that they do not have the time or the means to pay the required respect to Maharaj’s saroop. This excuse is not acceptable, as God has given us everything through him blessing us with good health and wealth. Therefore, it is not too much to ask of ourselves to make a dedicated room in which we would worship every morning. With the same hands that we have been blessed with, is it too much to ask that these same hands do the righteous sewa of Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji? Surely not. Dhan Dhan Baba Isher Singh Ji Maharaj says ‘if a king goes to the home of a poor person, and the poor person knows how to beg, then the king will surely push the poverty away from the beggars family. So, in the homes where the king of all king (SGGSJi) resides, and the home owner knows how to beg, then anything is available. For us as beggars to the king, we can expect all the treasures of both the worlds (this world and heaven). All the poor person needs is an understanding of how to do sewa.” 2. How to go enter the room where Guru Sahib resides. When a student wants to enter the office of his schools headmaster, he first knocks and seeks permission to enter by asking ‘may I come inside, sir.’ In this same way, when we enter the room of our emperor, Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, we should respectfully seek permission and the blessing to enter by first reciting ‘Satnaam Ji’ and bow our head while doing so. After this a person may enter. This respect and faith done with a clean heart will soon transform into divine meditation. 3. Should Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji be placed on a bed or a small crib? We can visit any home or place of worship and see how everyone in the house resides on comfortable king size mattresses and that all priests belonging to a temple have countless sleeping luxuries available to them. However, when seeing how they have placed the center of their establishments; Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, it is sad to see that they have placed it on a small crib sized mattress. We should think that if anyone told us to sleep on this same small mattress, would it be possible and could we ever be comfortable? Obviously not. Both Gurdwara Sahib’s and us as home owners spend countless dollars on renovating both the inside and outside of our residences, but when it comes to taking the extra step to ensure our holy Guru is comfortably presented as a king, we take shortcuts and do not offer the best available arrangements. We should always do the parkash (religious readings) of SGGSJi on a bed, as nothing else is adequate. There are some Gurdwara Sahib’s where the head priests place our Guru in an almirah (cupboard), which is a huge disservice and disrespect to Guru Sahib. 4. How long should we do Parkash of Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Once, Dhan Dhan Baba Isher Singh Ji went to Faridkot and he came to know that in one place, Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji was in parkash for over twenty days. The head priests at this temple did not do Guru Sahib’s brajmaan and insisted that there was no need to do it. BabaJi’s bachan was that ‘we all need rest after a few hours, and in this same way, our Guru Sahib also should be treated with the same principle. If you wake up in the early morning and do parkash of Sahib Guru Granth Sahib Ji, then we should do brajmaan after four or five hours. In the same way, we should repeat this practice in the evening. We should sewa in this same manner where during the time of parkash our Guru Sahib is sitting, and during the time of brajmaan, Guru Sahib is resting on the bed.’ 5. We should cover our mouths when reciting from Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Nowadays, it is very common to see that when a priest says a prayer, he does not have a cloth over his face and as he speaks, he is unknowingly spitting on Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. This is a great disservice to our Guru and therefore, the requirement to perform prayer with a cloth over ones face is a very important measure to ensure the utmost respect of our Guru. In this same way, when we make langar or degh we should still keep our face covered to avoid any spreading of saliva. Sometimes people are foolish and argue about this concept, but in reality, its is not really anything worth arguing about as from a medical standpoint, hygiene is preserved and all contamination is eliminated. There are countless ailments that can be spread when a person’s mouth is not covered. There have also been occasions where I have seen the head priest reciting a prayer and at the same time, touching his hands, or feet while in the process of conducting a sermon. Once more, this is a huge disrespect. Often we see, priests put the ramaals (covers) of SGGSJi on the floor after removing them. This is a huge mistake as they later go on to place the cloths back on Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. 6. Requirements for heater, fan and other services. If we understand that SGGSJi truly is the embodiment of our Guru Ji’s then during summer we must offer fans, room coolers/AC services and thin cotton covers. During the colder months, we must offer heaters and warmer cloths to compensate for the weather changes. When we perform complete sewa we should have the belief that we are serving our Guru Ji’s directly. If we as individuals place any doubt on SGGSJi then, any religious act will prove to be worthless as it was not done with a pure heart and clean intentions. 7. Rumalas (covers) for Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Sometimes we see Guru Sahib on a small crib, with very small material covers and pillows. They are so light that when the wind blows, they too, move with it. This is very sad to see, as rumalas are not very expensive at all. If a Sikh is poor, then the value of inexpensive rumalas is considered reasonable, as a person has done his best based on his or her living conditions and finances. However, on the other side, if a person is wealthy, and they place inexpensive rumalas on Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, then that is considered very wrong as they have the wealth to secure better goods for Guru Ji. If a person has been blessed with wealth, then he must consider it his duty to place only the highest quality rumalas on SGGSJi. Environmental conditions often bring dust and dirt into the presence of Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. It is considered a great disrespect if these objects somehow end up on Guru Ji, and therefore, rumalas must always accompany our holy Guru. To ensure the rumalas are both functional and of a high-quality, they must be double sided and one side would go over the angs (pages) of Guru Sahib while the other side would go downwards (away from SGGSJi). In this way, it is highly unlikely that any ang (page) of SGGSJi will be bent and saves the pages from dirt and dust. 8. How to offer Bhog to Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Dhan Dhan Baba Isher Singh Ji Maharaj explained to the entire sangat that ‘even the way of conducting the bhog offering to Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is unique and must be performed a certain way. On one side, we offer Karah Prashad and a Singh (Khalsa) with a naked sword stands up and when the granthi (priest) offers the bhog, then the Singh comes forward, and moves his Kirpan (Sword) into the prashad. It is at this point the bhog offering is complete as Guru Sahib has now taken the food.’ He also said ‘that when a guest comes to our house, do we offer him his dinner in a plate directly in front of him, or to the side? We give it directly in front of course. Upon doing so, we then request him to begin eating his food, as he does not automatically start without our official offering. If we were to offer him the prashad on the side, then is that adequate? Of course not, we should always place it in front of him. If we agree that Guru Sahib himself is indeed coming to bless the food and then, at the same time, while we expect Guru Ji to start the bhog, we were to go and show him a naked sword, then that would be considered threatening and be of the highest disrespect for our guest.