Explaining Gurbani: The Steek Tradition of Sant Jagjit Singh Harkhowal

An expository teacher

Sant Jagjit Singh Harkhowal is remembered through a body of Punjabi-language works that explain bani and Sikh devotional life. He belongs to the wider tradition of the ਸੰਤ teacher who serves a sangat by opening the meaning of the Guru's words for ordinary readers. The collection preserves several works attributed to him, including a commentary on the ਆਰਤੀ and expository writings such as Bhannu Parkash and Suheal Parkash, alongside biographical and historical works connected to the Harkhowal lineage of Baba Jwala Singh.

Why study his approach

This course does not present a biography with dates we cannot verify. Instead it studies his approach: how he takes a bani and explains it. Reading one teacher's method closely is a good way to understand the whole tradition of the ਟੀਕਾ (commentary), because the steps he uses are the steps the tradition uses (Pashaura Singh and Fenech 2014).

What we will not do

We will stay reverent and neutral. We will not invent page numbers, dates, or scripture references, and we will always send the reader back to the Guru's own words rather than treating any commentary as a replacement for them.

Teeka and steek

A ਟੀਕਾ is a written explanation of a text. When that explanation is printed together with the bani itself, the combined book is a ਸਟੀਕ. Harkhowal's commentary on the Aarti is a steek in this sense: the reader sees the bani and the explanation side by side and so can check one against the other.

The three goals

Whatever the teacher's personal style, a steek tries to meet three goals. The table below sets them out in plain terms.

Why this matters

Gurbani uses a wide vocabulary and old grammatical forms. Without help a reader can recite correctly yet still miss the sense. A steek bridges that gap, and a careful teacher is honest about where a word has more than one possible meaning (Sahib Singh, Darpan).

Starting from the word

Harkhowal's expository writing begins close to the text. He pauses on a difficult word and gives its ਪਦ ਅਰਥ (word-meaning) so the reader is not left guessing. This is the same patient habit found across the commentary tradition.

Building the line

Once the words are clear, he reads the whole line and gives its ਅਰਥ. Here he keeps the ਪ੍ਰਸੰਗ (context) in view: what came before, what the bani is addressing, and who is speaking.

Opening the theme

His third move is the one that marks him as a devotional teacher. After the plain sense he opens out the ਵਿਆਖਿਆ — the spiritual point — and connects it to the reader's own life of ਨਾਮ (the Divine Name) and right living. His expository works such as Bhannu Parkash and Suheal Parkash show this same arc: explain, then apply.

The shape of his style

So his method is a ladder: word, line, theme, and finally a turn toward devotion. It keeps scholarship in service of the heart, which is characteristic of the Sant expository style described in modern surveys of Sikh commentary (Pashaura Singh and Fenech 2014).

What the Aarti is

The ਆਰਤੀ is a composition of praise and worship of the Divine. In the Sikh understanding the whole of creation performs this worship, so the bani turns an outward ritual of lamps and incense into an inward, cosmic act of devotion.

How his steek opens it

Harkhowal's commentary on the Aarti follows his usual ladder. He clarifies the older words first, then gives the line-sense, and then draws out the central teaching: that true worship is not a tray of lamps but the remembrance of ਨਾਮ. By giving the ਪਦ ਅਰਥ before the ਵਿਆਖਿਆ, he lets the reader feel the meaning grow line by line rather than receiving a conclusion all at once.

Keeping devotion central

What stands out is how he keeps the reader's heart in view. The explanation is not only information; it is meant to deepen love and humility before the Divine. This devotional aim is why his work is used in sangat settings and not only by scholars.

A note of care

Because this is a living devotional text, we describe his reading without quoting specific lines, page numbers, or scripture locations we cannot verify. The point for the learner is the shape of his explanation, which the reader can then trace in the steek itself.

Two useful approaches

Sikh commentary has more than one stream. One emphasises grammar: Professor Sahib Singh, in his Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan, fixes meaning by reading the grammatical endings of Gurbani closely. Another emphasises devotional teaching for the sangat, drawing out the ਵਿਆਖਿਆ (spiritual lesson) to the front. Harkhowal's work sits mainly in this second, expository stream.

Where they meet and differ

The table compares the two emphases. They are not opponents; a careful reader uses both.

Reading them together

The best practice is to use a grammatical steek to pin down the sense and a devotional steek to feel its application. Holding both keeps the learner from a dry reading on one side or a loose reading on the other (Sahib Singh, Darpan; Pashaura Singh and Fenech 2014).

The method in steps

From Harkhowal's practice we can draw a simple method any reader can repeat.

1. Read the bani aloud first, on its own, before opening any commentary.
2. Use the steek for ਪਦ ਅਰਥ — the word-meanings you do not know.
3. Read the line-sense (ਅਰਥ) and check it against the words you just learned.
4. Read the ਵਿਆਖਿਆ and ask what it means for your own life.
5. Where two steeks differ, note both and return to the bani itself.

Keeping the Guru central

A steek is a help, not a substitute. Harkhowal's own devotional aim is a reminder that the goal is not to master a commentary but to draw closer to ਨਾਮ. The commentary is the ladder; the bani is the house.

A habit of humility

Finally, his style models humility: he explains without claiming the last word, and he keeps the reader's heart, not his own learning, at the centre. That is a good posture for any student of Gurbani to carry forward (Pashaura Singh and Fenech 2014).