Poetic Figures in Gurbani: Reading Alankaar with Giani Pritam Singh Likhari

A poetic figure, or ਅਲੰਕਾਰ, is a way of shaping language so that it carries more beauty and more force than plain speech. The word itself means an ornament, like jewelry that adorns a person. In poetry, an ornament is not added only for show. It helps the listener feel and understand the meaning more deeply.

The Gurus composed ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ as poetry set to music. Because it is poetry, it uses the full range of poetic figures. When we learn to notice these figures, we read with more care, and we are less likely to misunderstand a line. This is why the traditional study of Gurbani has always paid attention to ਅਲੰਕਾਰ.

The author's writing on ਅਲੰਕਾਰ grows out of this traditional concern. The goal is never to reduce the sacred word to a list of techniques. Instead, the study of figures is a tool of reverence: it slows us down and helps us listen closely (Pritam Singh, Alankar).

Scholars of Sikh literature also note that the poetic shape of Gurbani is central to its meaning and authority (Pashaura Singh and Fenech, The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies, 2014). In this course we will keep both views in mind: the traditional, reverent method and the wider scholarly view.

Traditional poetics divides poetic figures into two broad families. One family works mainly through sound. The other family works mainly through meaning, or sense. Knowing this difference helps us see what a figure is doing in a line.

Figures of sound please the ear. The most common is alliteration, ਅਨੁਪ੍ਰਾਸ, where similar sounds repeat across nearby words. Rhyme and the steady beat of a line also belong here. These figures make Gurbani easy to remember and beautiful to sing.

Figures of sense work through meaning. Here we find comparison, image, and the joining of unlike things. Simile (ਉਪਮਾ) and metaphor (ਰੂਪਕ) are the two most important members of this family, and the next two lessons treat each one closely.

Many lines of Gurbani use both families at once. A single line may delight the ear with repeated sounds while it teaches the mind through a comparison. The author's treatment of ਅਲੰਕਾਰ keeps both families in view (Pritam Singh, Alankar).

Simile, ਉਪਮਾ, is the most familiar figure of sense. It compares one thing to another in an open way, often using a word that means 'like' or 'as'. The comparison is stated plainly, so the listener sees both things side by side.

A simile has named parts. The thing being described is the subject, ਉਪਮੇਯ. The thing it is compared to is the standard, ਉਪਮਾਨ. Between them lies a shared quality, the point on which the comparison turns. For example, if a mind is said to be steady like a mountain, the mind is the subject, the mountain is the standard, and steadiness is the shared quality.

In ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ, simile is used to make spiritual truths clear through everyday images. By comparing an inner state to something we can see, the Gurus help the listener feel the meaning. The traditional method asks us to name each part of the simile so that we read it correctly and do not confuse the standard with the subject (Pritam Singh, Alankar).

Metaphor, ਰੂਪਕ, is a stronger form of comparison. Instead of saying one thing is like another, metaphor speaks as if the subject simply is the other thing. There is no open word for 'like'. The two things are joined into one image.

The difference from simile is important. A simile (ਉਪਮਾ) keeps the two things apart and compares them. A metaphor (ਰੂਪਕ) overlays one upon the other so that they seem to merge. This makes metaphor more direct and often more powerful.

Because metaphor merges images, a reader can mistake a metaphor for a plain statement. The traditional study of ਅਲੰਕਾਰ trains us to notice when the Gurus are using ਰੂਪਕ, so that we read the line as the poetry it is and grasp its intended sense (Pritam Singh, Alankar).

The traditional method of studying Gurbani is called ਸੰਥਿਆ. In this method, a student reads slowly under guidance, learning correct pronunciation, the meaning of words, and the shape of each line, including its poetic figures. The study of ਅਲੰਕਾਰ is one part of this larger, careful practice, preserved in the Damdami Taksal lineage.

In ਸੰਥਿਆ, attention to poetic figures is never separated from reverence. A figure is studied so that the student does not misread the sacred word, not to treat it as a puzzle. The aim is always faithful understanding (Pritam Singh, Alankar).

This balance matters. Modern scholars also describe the close link between form and meaning in Gurbani, and they value the traditional learning that keeps this link alive (Pashaura Singh and Fenech, The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies, 2014). The traditional method and the scholarly method can support one another when both are pursued with respect.

In this final lesson we bring the parts together into a simple method. The method is meant to be respectful and slow. It does not replace formal ਸੰਥਿਆ under a teacher, but it helps a careful reader begin.

First, read the line aloud and listen for figures of sound, such as ਅਨੁਪ੍ਰਾਸ. Second, look for a comparison. Ask whether it is an open comparison, a simile (ਉਪਮਾ), or a merged image, a metaphor (ਰੂਪਕ). Third, if there is a comparison, name its parts: the subject (ਉਪਮੇਯ) and the standard (ਉਪਮਾਨ). Fourth, ask what shared quality the figure points to. Finally, state the meaning in plain words, with reverence.

Used patiently, this method turns the study of ਅਲੰਕਾਰ into a path toward deeper understanding of ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ. This is the spirit of the author's work: to use the study of poetic figures in the service of faithful reading (Pritam Singh, Alankar).