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The Raagi's Craft: Kirtan Maryada and the Discipline of Singing Gurbani

Professor: Bhai Avtar Singh · Source: Gurbani & scholarship

A graduate-level study of the discipline and etiquette of ਕੀਰਤਨ (kirtan), the sung devotion at the heart of Sikh worship. The course explains, in plain English, why the Sikh Rehat Maryada limits kirtan in the congregation to Gurbani and a short list of approved compositions, what this means for the

Begin course 6 lessons · 8-question test · 80% to pass
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What you'll learn

  • Explain why the Sikh Rehat Maryada restricts congregational <span class="gur">ਕੀਰਤਨ</span> to Gurbani and approved compositions, and name what those compositions are.
  • Describe the duties and the inner attitude expected of a <span class="gur">ਰਾਗੀ</span> who leads kirtan before the sangat.
  • Choose shabads that fit the occasion, the mood, and the spiritual needs of a congregation.
  • Distinguish devotional service to the sangat from self-display, and recognize the warning signs of performance creeping into worship.
  • Account for the place of <span class="gur">ਰਾਗ</span> (raag), rahao lines, and clear pronunciation in serving the meaning of the shabad.
  • Evaluate common modern pressures on kirtan, such as fame, fusion, and money, against the standard set by the Rehat Maryada.

Key terms — ਸ਼ਬਦਾਵਲੀ

TermAcademic context
ਕੀਰਤਨKirtan, the singing of Gurbani in raag; the central act of Sikh congregational worship.
ਰਾਗੀRaagi, a trained musician who leads kirtan in the sangat, usually as part of a jatha (group).
ਸੰਗਤSangat, the holy congregation that gathers in the Guru's presence to listen and sing together.
ਸ਼ਬਦShabad, the divine word; a single hymn from Gurbani that the raagi sets and sings.
ਰਹਾਉRahao, the pause line of a shabad that holds its central theme and is repeated as the refrain.
ਰਾਗRaag, the melodic framework prescribed in Gurbani that carries a particular mood and discipline.
ਮਰਯਾਦਾMaryada, the agreed code of conduct and discipline that governs how worship is conducted.
ਹਉਮੈHaumai, the self-centered ego that the discipline of kirtan is meant to dissolve, not feed.

Lessons

1. What Kirtan Is and What the Rehat Maryada Allows

Full course contents
  1. What Kirtan Is and What the Rehat Maryada Allows
  2. The Raagi: Role, Duties, and the Inner Attitude
  3. Choosing the Shabad: Reading the Sangat and the Occasion
  4. Raag, Rahao, and Pronunciation: Serving the Meaning
  5. Service Versus Performance: Guarding Against the Ego
  6. Kirtan Today: Fame, Fusion, Money, and the Standard

What kirtan means

In Sikh worship the central act is not a sermon but a song. ਕੀਰਤਨ is the singing of the Guru's word, Gurbani, in melody. The congregation, the ਸੰਗਤ, gathers in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib, and the sung word is the means by which hearts are turned toward the divine. Kirtan is not background music; it is worship itself (Cole and Sambhi 1978).

The rule of the Rehat Maryada

The Sikh Rehat Maryada, the agreed code of Sikh conduct first published in 1945, is clear about what may be sung in the sangat. Congregational kirtan is to be of Gurbani only, together with a short, named list of approved compositions. These approved works are the writings of Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Nand Lal, whose verse the Sikh tradition has long received as faithful explanation of the Gurus' teaching (SGPC 1945). Nothing else, no popular song, no invented verse, no devotional poetry from outside this circle, belongs in congregational kirtan.

What may be sung in congregational kirtan
CategoryPermitted?
Gurbani from the Guru Granth SahibYes
Compositions of Bhai GurdasYes (approved)
Compositions of Bhai Nand LalYes (approved)
Folk songs, film tunes, or invented verseNo
The raagi's own poetry mixed into the shabadNo

Why the limit matters

The limit is not narrowness for its own sake. It protects the sangat from being given the singer's opinions in place of the Guru's word. When only Gurbani and the approved compositions are sung, every listener knows that what reaches them carries the authority of the Guru, not the taste of the performer (Singh and Fenech 2014). The discipline guards the trust between the singer and the congregation.

What to carry forward

  • Kirtan is the central act of Sikh worship, not an accompaniment to it.
  • The Rehat Maryada permits Gurbani plus the approved compositions of Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Nand Lal, and nothing else, in the sangat.
  • The rule exists to keep the Guru's word, not the singer, at the center.
Cole, W. Owen, and Piara Singh Sambhi. The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 1978. / Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Sikh Rehat Maryada. Amritsar: SGPC, 1945. / Singh, Pashaura, and Louis E. Fenech, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

2. The Raagi: Role, Duties, and the Inner Attitude

Who leads the singing

The ਰਾਗੀ is the trained musician who leads kirtan in the sangat, most often working in a jatha, a small group of two or three singers and players. The raagi is a servant with a craft. Two things are asked at once: real musical skill, and a settled inner attitude of humility (Mansukhani 1982).

The outward duties

The outward duties are practical. The raagi keeps to Gurbani and the approved compositions, sings the shabad as it is written without altering its words, observes the raag where it is given, and pronounces the words clearly so the meaning can be heard. The raagi arrives prepared, tunes carefully, and keeps the instruments serving the word rather than drowning it (SGPC 1945).

The inner attitude

The harder duty is inward. The raagi sits before the Guru Granth Sahib as a student, not a star. The aim is to dissolve the self-centered ego, ਹਉਮੈ, not to display it. A raagi who begins to enjoy the admiration of the sangat more than the word being sung has quietly changed jobs, from servant of the Guru to performer for a crowd (Cole and Sambhi 1978).

Two sides of the raagi's role
Outward craftInward attitude
Sing only Gurbani and approved compositionsKeep the Guru's word above your own name
Observe the prescribed raag and keep words intactSing to serve, not to be praised
Pronounce clearly so meaning carriesStay a student before the scripture
Keep instruments serving the voice and wordLet ਹਉਮੈ dissolve, not grow

What to carry forward

  • The raagi is a skilled servant, not a star, and both sides matter.
  • The hardest part of the craft is the inner attitude of humility.
  • When admiration becomes the goal, the role has quietly changed (Mansukhani 1982).
Cole, W. Owen, and Piara Singh Sambhi. The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 1978. / Mansukhani, Gobind Singh. Indian Classical Music and Sikh Kirtan. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1982. / Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Sikh Rehat Maryada. Amritsar: SGPC, 1945.

3. Choosing the Shabad: Reading the Sangat and the Occasion

A choice that is itself a service

The raagi does not sing at random. Choosing the ਸ਼ਬਦ is a quiet act of judgment that shapes the worship. A wise raagi reads the gathering before singing: Is this a joyful event or a time of grief? A morning service or an evening one? A small congregation or a great festival? The shabad should answer the moment (Mansukhani 1982).

What guides the choice

Several things guide the choice at once. The occasion comes first: certain banis and shabads belong to particular times of day and to particular ceremonies. The mood of the sangat matters: a shabad of comfort serves a grieving family; a shabad of praise lifts a celebration. The raagi also weighs whether the meaning of the shabad will reach this particular congregation, choosing words the listeners can take to heart (Singh and Fenech 2014).

Matching the shabad to the moment
OccasionWhat the shabad should carry
Morning worshipBanis and shabads appointed for the early hours
A time of griefComfort, acceptance of the divine will, hope
A celebration or thanksgivingPraise and gratitude
An evening gatheringReflection and the settling of the mind

The line that should never be lost

However the raagi chooses, the choice stays inside the rule: only Gurbani and the approved compositions. Fitting the moment never becomes an excuse to reach for something outside that circle. The freedom is in selection, not in invention (SGPC 1945).

What to carry forward

  • Choosing the shabad is a real act of service, not a casual decision.
  • Occasion, mood, and the needs of this sangat all guide the choice.
  • Selection is free; the source is fixed to Gurbani and approved compositions.
Mansukhani, Gobind Singh. Indian Classical Music and Sikh Kirtan. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1982. / Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Sikh Rehat Maryada. Amritsar: SGPC, 1945. / Singh, Pashaura, and Louis E. Fenech, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

4. Raag, Rahao, and Pronunciation: Serving the Meaning

Music in the service of the word

In Sikh practice the music is never separate from the meaning. The Guru Granth Sahib arranges most of its hymns under named ਰਾਗ, melodic frameworks, each carrying a settled mood. A raag of the morning, of longing, or of joy is chosen by the Gurus to support the feeling of the words. When a raagi observes the prescribed raag, the melody and the meaning pull in the same direction (Mansukhani 1982).

The rahao line

Within a shabad, the ਰਹਾਉ line is the key. It is the pause line that holds the central theme of the hymn, and it is sung as the repeated refrain. A skilled raagi treats the rahao as the heart of the shabad: everything else is sung to return to it. Singing without grasping the rahao is like reading a paragraph and missing its main sentence (Singh and Fenech 2014).

Why clear pronunciation matters

Finally, the words must be heard. If the raagi blurs the Gurmukhi or buries it under loud instruments, the sangat receives melody without message. Clear, correct pronunciation is part of the craft because the whole point is that the Guru's word reach the listener. Beautiful sound that hides the words has failed at its one task (Cole and Sambhi 1978).

Three things that serve the meaning
ElementHow it serves the shabad
ਰਾਗ (raag)Aligns the mood of the music with the feeling of the words
ਰਹਾਉ (rahao)Holds and repeats the central theme so it is not lost
Clear pronunciationLets the actual words reach the listener

What to carry forward

  • The prescribed raag is chosen to match the mood of the words.
  • The rahao is the heart of the shabad and the anchor of the singing.
  • If the words are not heard clearly, the kirtan has missed its purpose.
Cole, W. Owen, and Piara Singh Sambhi. The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 1978. / Mansukhani, Gobind Singh. Indian Classical Music and Sikh Kirtan. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1982. / Singh, Pashaura, and Louis E. Fenech, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

5. Service Versus Performance: Guarding Against the Ego

The same act, two different hearts

From the outside, devotional kirtan and a polished concert can look almost identical: skilled singers, instruments, a listening crowd. The difference lies in the heart of the singer. In service, the raagi disappears behind the word; in performance, the raagi steps in front of it. The whole discipline of kirtan maryada exists to keep the first and resist the second (Cole and Sambhi 1978).

The warning signs

The ego, ਹਉਮੈ, rarely arrives all at once. It creeps in. The raagi begins to choose shabads that show off vocal range rather than serve the sangat. Applause becomes welcome. Instruments grow louder and longer while the words grow shorter. The singer measures the day by praise received rather than by stillness given to the congregation. Each step is small, and together they turn worship into a show (Singh and Fenech 2014).

Service or performance?
Sign of serviceSign of performance
Shabad chosen for the sangat's needShabad chosen to display the voice
Words kept clear and centralLong musical passages, words shortened
Indifferent to praiseHungry for applause
The raagi is forgotten; the word remainsThe raagi is remembered; the word fades

The remedy

The remedy is the discipline itself. Staying inside Gurbani and the approved compositions, keeping the words clear, observing the raag and rahao, and returning again and again to the attitude of a student, all of these keep the ego in check. The maryada is not a cage; it is a guardrail that protects both the singer's soul and the sangat's worship (SGPC 1945).

What to carry forward

  • Service and performance can look the same from outside; the heart tells them apart.
  • The ego enters by small steps, not all at once.
  • The discipline of kirtan maryada is the guardrail that keeps worship from becoming a show.
Cole, W. Owen, and Piara Singh Sambhi. The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 1978. / Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Sikh Rehat Maryada. Amritsar: SGPC, 1945. / Singh, Pashaura, and Louis E. Fenech, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

6. Kirtan Today: Fame, Fusion, Money, and the Standard

New pressures on an old discipline

The craft of the raagi now meets conditions the early code did not face. Recordings, streaming, and large stage events can make a raagi famous far beyond any one sangat. Money follows fame. And the wide world of popular music invites fusion, the blending of Gurbani with film tunes or unrelated styles. Each of these is a pressure on the discipline (Singh and Fenech 2014).

What the standard answers

Against each pressure the Rehat Maryada gives a steady answer. Fame is not the measure; faithful service is. Fusion that pulls Gurbani toward a catchy but foreign tune risks burying the word under the entertainment, and the rule that the words stay clear and the source stays Gurbani holds the line. Money is not forbidden, since raagis must live, but it cannot be allowed to decide what is sung or to turn the ਸੰਗਤ into an audience to be worked (SGPC 1945; Grewal 1998).

Modern pressure and the steady standard
PressureWhat the maryada keeps in view
Fame through recordings and stagesService, not celebrity, is the measure
Fusion with popular musical stylesKeep the source Gurbani and the words clear
Money and commercial demandEarning a living must not decide the singing

A craft worth keeping

None of this means the raagi must reject skill, beauty, or new instruments where they genuinely serve the word. The point is the order of priorities. When the Guru's word stays first and the singer stays a servant, the new tools become aids; when fame, fusion, or money come first, even great skill becomes a distraction (Grewal 1998). The standard set in the maryada is what lets a modern raagi navigate all of this without losing the heart of the work.

What to carry forward

  • Fame, fusion, and money are the main modern pressures on kirtan.
  • The Rehat Maryada answers each by keeping the Guru's word first and the singer a servant.
  • Skill and new tools are welcome only when they serve the word, never when they replace it.
Grewal, J. S. The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. / Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Sikh Rehat Maryada. Amritsar: SGPC, 1945. / Singh, Pashaura, and Louis E. Fenech, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Course test

Pass with 80% or higher to complete the course and unlock the next one.

1. In Sikh worship, what is kirtan best described as?
2. According to the Sikh Rehat Maryada, what may be sung in congregational kirtan?
3. Why does the maryada limit kirtan to Gurbani and approved compositions?
4. What is the hardest part of the raagi's role, according to the course?
5. What is the rahao line within a shabad?
6. Why does the prescribed raag matter when singing a shabad?
7. Which of these is a warning sign that performance is replacing service?
8. How does the Rehat Maryada answer the modern pressure of fame and money?

References & further reading

  1. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Sikh Rehat Maryada: The Code of Sikh Conduct and Conventions. Amritsar: SGPC, 1945.
  2. Singh, Pashaura, and Louis E. Fenech, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
  3. Mansukhani, Gobind Singh. Indian Classical Music and Sikh Kirtan. New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1982.
  4. Grewal, J. S. The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
  5. Cole, W. Owen, and Piara Singh Sambhi. The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 1978.

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