Bani Bhagat Surdas Ji

Bhagat Surdas Ji (1478-1583 CE) is one of the fifteen Bhagat contributors to the Guru Granth Sahib. The Guru Granth Sahib, contains only one line, ‘chāḍi man hari bimukhan ko saṅgu,’ by Bhagat Surdas Ji, recorded on page 1253 in Rag Sarang. The contributor’s name is not mentioned explicitly in the line itself or its title. Still, Sikh scholars have identified and accepted this line as belonging to Bhagat Surdas Ji.

In the Guru Granth Sahib, there is a Sabad by Guru Arjan Sahib (1563-1606 CE) following the line attributed to Bhagat Surdas Ji. This Sabad is titled ‘Sarang Mahala 5 Surdas,’ and it is believed to be Guru Arjan Sahib’s elaboration on the meaning of Bhagat Surdas Ji’s line.

Sur Sagar Granth and the line recorded in Guru Granth Sahib
The Sur Sagar Granth is believed to be the work of Bhagat Surdas Ji. This Granth exists in numerous manuscripts and published print editions. The number of compositions recorded in these editions is not consistent, and scholars do not have an agreement on their authenticity. Many scholars are of the opinion that a significant amount of external content has been recorded under Bhagat Surdas Ji’s name in the Sur Sagar Granth.

With minor variations, the line ‘chāḍi man hari bimukhan ko saṅgu’ is also recorded as an introductory line of the composition in some editions of Sur Sagar Granth. The Panjabi translation of the Sur Sagar Granth, titled ‘Sur Rachnavali’ and published by the Department of Language, Panjab, provides the following text of this composition:
rāg sāraṅg
tajau man, hari bimukhani kau saṅg.
jin kaiṁ saṅg kumati upjati hai, parat bhajan maiṁ bhaṅg.
kahā hot paya pān karāaiṁ, bish nahiṁ tajat bhujaṅg.
kāgahiṁ kahā kapūr cugāaiṁ, svān navāaiṁ gaṅg.
khar ko kahā argajā lepan markaṭ bhūshan aṅg.
gaj ko kahā sarit anhvāaiṁ, bahuri kharai vah ḍhaṅg.
pāhan patit bān nahiṁ bedhat manto karat nisaṅg.
sūrdās kārī kāmari pai, caṛhat na dūjau raṅg.

The location and structure of this line in the handwritten manuscripts of Guru Granth Sahib
In Kartarpur Bir, Bhai Banno Wali Bir, Guru Har Sahai Pothi and some other manuscripts of the Guru Granth Sahib, both the location and structure of this line vary. For example, this line is not recorded in MS-07 (page 592) and MS-08 (page 531). However, the entire composition is recorded in MS-02 (page 471), MS-05 (page 610), and MS-12 (pages 416-17).

Giani Gurdit Singh did not mention this specific line or stanza by Bhagat Surdas in the Guru Har Sahai manuscript. However, he referred to another stanza by Madan Mohan Surdas, which conveys sentiments similar to this stanza:
uh kuch cet bāvare log.1. rahāu.
jāke kahit sabhe sukhī tāko bikhai abhog.
jiu gaj dhūr uḍāvat sir par tāko kahit arog.
dukhdāī kuṭamb ko hai ākhat bhūl sanjog.
sūrdās madan mohan bhajilai, iho tuhāro jog.

Balwant Singh Dhillon and Pashaura Singh have also provided the above information by citing Giani Gurdit Singh.

Prof. Sahib Singh writes that in the Kartarpur Bir, only one line is recorded. He refers to a source, without naming the individual, who claims the complete Sabad of Bhagat Surdas Ji was originally present in the Kartarpur Bir. According to this source, the entire Sabad except this line was removed through overstriking. It is suggested that this line might have survived by mistake. This indicates that the source considers this line unnecessary or extra. However, according to Prof. Sahib Singh, there is no sign of other parts of the Sabad or deletion in this Bir.

Bhai Jodh Singh also writes that only this line is recorded in this Bir and that there is no sign of overstriking. However, he notes that there is an empty space following the line that was meant for four additional lines. Dr. Gursharanjit Singh interprets this empty space for four missing lines as a sign that the scribe did not have the complete text available to record.

Giani Gurdit Singh writes that only a single line is found in several copies of Adi Bir (Kartarpur Bir). In some instances, even this line is either missed or deliberately omitted. In some copies of the Bir, where the complete Sabad was initially recorded, it was later overstruck or erased.

Dr. Amar Singh writes that in Bhai Banno Bir and its various copies, additional stanzas to this line are present. Dr. Piar Singh’s opinion regarding the complete Sabad found in this Bir and its copies is that one line was written by the original scribe, while the remaining stanzas were added by a different scribe. Moreover, in the copies where the complete Sabad is recorded, there are variations in the text.

Reasons for recording a single-line
The question often arises as to why only one line of Bhagat Surdas Ji is recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib. According to traditional scholars like Giani Gurbachan Singh Bhindranwale, Pandit Narain Singh, Sant Hari Singh ‘Randhawa Wale,’ and others, it is believed that when Bhagat Surdas Ji was reciting the Sabad in the presence of Guru Arjan Sahib, he fell into a trance after uttering this particular line. As a result, only this single line was recorded.

Authors of the Shabdarth Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji propose that except for the one line recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib, the rest of the lines of this Sabad compare a faithless person to a snake, an elephant, a crow, a donkey, a stone, and a black blanket, thereby presenting them as unchangeable and irredeemable, with no hope for reform. Therefore, it appears that the Guru only included a single instructive line while leaving out the rest. Pashaura Singh has presented the same view as the authors of Shabdarth Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. According to Pashaura Singh, Bhagat Surdas Ji appears to be strongly opposed to any kind of association with sinners. Sinners are totally lost, and the doors of liberation are closed for them. This view of Bhagat Surdas Ji is directly opposed to the optimistic Sikh view that it is never too late to turn towards the Divine, and that every sinner is a potential saint. This seems to be the reason why Guru Arjan Sahib accepted only the first line of Bhagat Surdas’s hymn and edited out the rest of the hymn.

Disagreeing with these interpretations, Dr. Piar Singh argues that nothing in the available text of the other lines would justify its exclusion from the Guru Granth Sahib. Secondly, in Bhai Banno Ji’s manuscript, as mentioned above, one line is written by the original scribe, while the rest of the Sabad is written in a different hand. Therefore, it can be assumed that during the compilation of the Adi Granth, only this particular line of Bhagat Surdas Ji’s Sabad was available. Dr. Gurinder Singh Mann also hypothesizes that only the opening verse of Surdas’s hymn was recorded here because definitive text of the hymn was not yet available at the time.

Based on the above discussions, the perspective of Dr. Piar Singh appears to be correct. Many scholars also support this viewpoint. One can agree with this inference.