Back to Larivaar: Repairing our Fragmented Panth

Caution: The issue of Larivaar does not allow anyone to reduce respect of Padh-Shed form of Gurbani. To prevent spiritual harm through accidental beadbi, everyone should adopt an approach where Larivaar is “preferred” but otherwise the Padh-Shed form of Gurbani is respected and treated exactly the same, especially Nitnem Pothis and Saroops of Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Lost Perspective

We are at a stage where our Panthic understanding and discourses are mostly in terms of external factors, and in recent times, only within the confines of political existence. However, our actual essence as a community is spiritual. That’s why when we lose this perspective, we struggle to get to the root causes of our important issues.

The Problem

Guru Sahib Ji gave us Gurbani and then blessed us with Eternal Jaagdi-Joot, Dhan Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. We are so fortunate to have such a unique blessing that the only thing we can do is to be extremely grateful for it.

There is no reason we would ever want to change what our Guru Sahib Ji did for us. Yet, here we are living in a reality where we have separated every single word of Gurbani that our Guru Sahib Ji gave us — even though there are so many Saakhis that clarify that we can’t even change a single word of our Guru. We have completely disregarded that and adopted the Padh-Shed form, instead of keeping our Gurbani united in the original form of Larivaar.

This is a crisis that we have been so extremely passive about, and now it has become our norm. We don’t even see going back to Larivaar as a serious Panthic issue or a priority. That’s why, in order to highlight the importance of resolving this crisis, we must contextualize it in another issue that we at least do acknowledge as a relevant concern: Disunity and extreme fragmentation of the Panth.

The Cause of Disunity

Just like with most issues, we assume that even our Panthic disunity and fragmentation are because of external factors. When in reality, it’s the polar opposite.

There is nothing more internal to the Panth than Gurbani. It not only defines us, but is also the primary source of our strength. That’s why, whatever affects our relation with Gurbani is going to have a direct impact on us.

This is the reason that the current state of the Panth is simply a mirror reflection of what we did to Gurbani: We separated every word that was connected and unified, and therefore, as a direct consequence, we too became fragmented and disunited at every level.

By such treatment of our own Guru, we have earned an unquantifiable amount of Negative Panthic Karma, and now, we are buried under it, and as a result, so is the destiny of our community.

We Let It Happen

Regardless of the presence or not of external malicious attempts to undermine the Panth, we can’t deny that this happened because we allowed it to happen. Even if we assume it was totally out of our control, there is still no explanation for why we couldn’t at least preserve our Nitnem in the Larivaar form?

All of this happened because we allowed it. We did this to our Guru.

We did this to our destiny.

No Larivaar, No Unity.

While centralization is what we mostly associate with unity, it isn’t the only way to get to it. Subtle alignments can also help us achieve unity by creating cohesiveness one step at a time. This is possible even in extremely scattered structures, such as ours. All we need to do is identify various points of alignment and work on them.

Such points are simple personal decisions that determine our priorities and behaviors. When those start aligning with others around us, it affects our local Sangat. When multiple Sangats in the same area do that, we get cohesiveness at the level of the regional Panth. Then, if multiple regions similarly align in a Localized and Distributed manner, we can get outcomes associated with unity at a much larger scale.

However, first we need to fix the current disorganized and dysfunctional state before we can even hope to be there. Currently, we don’t have a way to do basic calibration needed for our initial alignments. For that, we would need a starting point, something shared that can be the anchor to help us calibrate initially.

Since our Guru defines our identity as Sikhs, our core anchoring point to calibrate for unity must be Gurbani, right? But how it can be if we have already disunited all words of Gurbani?

With the innermost part of our identity divided as Padh-Shed, how can we even hope for unity? That's why, without Larivaar, we have can’t even meet the basic pre-requisite and calibrate for unity.

Without Larivaar, unity is just not possible.

Unite Gurbani, Unite the Panth!

We consider Panthic unity as a problem that requires a top-down approach. Usually, we hope for someone to get on the top and unite us. However, achieving a long-lasting unity in this manner is simply unattainable.

We must realize that we are the individual building blocks that the Panthic unity depends upon. If each one of us is not already fine-tuned to be compatible with unity, nothing can hold us together. That’s why we need to overcome the misconception that a someone else can just come and unite our Panth. This is a myth that is holding us back.

However, there is one exception to that myth. One person can indeed bring unity in the Panth, but that person must recognize the inherent ability to do that. That’s why you must realize that the only person who can unite the Panth, is You. Nobody else, but literally you!

Now, you might wonder, how is that even possible? How can you alone can bring unity in the Panth? Actually, among all the many issues that we have in our Panth, this is perhaps the easiest thing to accomplish. So yes, you surely can!

To become a unifying force in the Panth, you just need to take a simple decision: “From now onwards, I will choose to unite Gurbani by reading in Larivaar.”

With that single personal decision, you become the force that unites the Panth. The moment you bring unity to Gurbani’s words, you regain the calibration of your inner identity and become fine-tuned and ready for unity.

When you read Gurbani in Larivaar, you ignite a spark that helps recalibrate others in your local Sangat as well. The more you read, the more Kirpa you receive, which further enhances your local impact.

Larivaar is the Pathway

If we want to accomplish a lot for the Panth, we absolutely need the help of our Guru Sahib Ji. However, our Ardaas is only going to be reasonable and convincing if before doing it, we have at least taken some corrective action that is directly helping the Panth. For that, nothing is more easier than choosing unity in our Nitnem by doing it in Larivaar. If we can't do that right way, we can surely get started with at least reading one short Baani in Larivaar, such as Ciopai Sahib.

Without choosing Larivaar first, we can't even gain legitimacy in asking our Guru Sahib Ji for Panthic unity. This is a roadblock we must overcome.

By taking the small step of choosing Nitnem in Larivaar, we embark a transformative journey: from being unity-repellant to powerful magnets that pull together all of our Panthic potential.

Gradual Progress

The core driving factor is going to be individuals who learn Santhia in Larivaar and practice reading Gurbani in it. Since both of these take time, our pathway of returning to Santhia requires a gradual approach and a lot of patience.

Another key factor in making this change permanent is providing a significant number of Paathis to the Panth who can read in Larivaar. The best way to ensure that is to help your Sangat members arise at that skill level.

First step is to offer Santhia in Larivaar in so that there is a larger initial pool of Sangat members who can read it. After that, we must organize Sehaj Paaths to create opportunities for Sangat members to practice reading in Larivaar. This is a seamless process that can ensure a permanent shift within a single generation.

Cautionary Forethoughts

Among categories of Beadbi, while Padh-Shed is a subset of Textual Beadbi, we must absolutely isolate it from the broader issue of Beadbi. Not doing so could lead to unintended large-scale beadbi of Gurbani.

Most incidents of beadbi provoke strong emotions mixed with a sense of an attack on our existence. That intensity induces trauma in our community. That’s why there must take a comprehensive approach while taking many such factors into consideration.

Going back to Larivaar is a completely separate and an extremely delicate pathway that does not intersect with the dynamics of other Categories of Beadbi. Every category of beadbi requires a distinct set of preventative efforts and mitigation protocols. What might be a constructive reaction for one incident of beadbi might be destructive for another.

That is true for Textual Beadbi, that primarily focuses on the content and format of Gurbani. While most can understand categories of Physical Harm Beadbi, Diwan Beadbi, or Neglect Beadbi, that is not the case with Textual Beadbi, as it requires specialized knowledge that only a few can have.

Since Larivaar is a subset of that Textual Beadbi, only a few Gursikhs will understand why, for practical reasons, it must not even be called a beadbi — even though it is technically so. This is to help avoid unintended beadbi arising from mishandling our journey back to Larivaar. That's why everyone should abide by the guideline to never attack Padh-Shed but to only respectfully show preference for Larivaar.

We must understand that this balance is required so that we can appropriately deal with later-stage issues requiring specializations, such as conservation of Padh-Shed Pothis and Saroops, once Larivaar becomes the norm again in the Panth.

Until then, we should focus on raising awareness in our local Sangat and doing our Nitnem in Larivaar – that's how we will unlock a new era of unity in the Panth.