Patti (Mahala 3)

Patti is a letter-based poetic form. The tradition of composing poetry according to the order of a script’s alphabet is ancient. There is even a reference to a composition in this poetic form in Hebrew. Examples of some poetic forms based on the alphabetical order of scripts from different languages ​​are as follows:
- Ekakshari: In Sanskrit, based on a single letter of the Devanagari script.
- Chauntisi (poetry of the ear-pierced Nath yogis): Based on the thirty-four characters of the Sidh Matrika script.
- Bawan-Akhari: In Hindi, based on the fifty-two letters of the Devanagari script.
- Siharfi: Based on the thirty letters of the Persian-Arabic script.

In Panjabi, alphabet-based poetic forms such as Siharfi, Chauntisa, and Bawan-Akhari are derived from other poetic traditions. However, the poetic forms based on the indigenous Gurmukhi script, such as Patti or Painti Akhari, also gained popularity. Piara Singh Padam associates the origin of these compositions with the Sidh Matrika script.

In earlier times, students used a wooden tablet to write and practice the alphabet and its various forms. The wooden tablet students would write on was also called a ‘Patti.’ Perhaps based on this, such poetic composition came to be known as ‘patti,’ in which the letters of the then-prevalent script were used sequentially to explain a certain subject.

In the Guru Granth Sahib, there are two compositions recorded under the title ‘Patti.’ The first composition is of Guru Nanak Sahib (1469-1539 CE), and the second composition is of Guru Amardas Sahib (1509-1574 CE). Thus, Guru Nanak Sahib first utilized this poetic form, and following his lead, it seems that Guru Amardas Sahib recited another composition in the same poetic form.

Alphabet-based poetic compositions were already being written before Guru Nanak Sahib. Utilizing this poetic tradition, Guru Nanak Sahib revealed Patti based on the letters prevalent at that time. This script later became known as ‘Gurmukhi’ because of the contributions of the Gurus in its development.

In Panjabi, about a hundred compositions based on the thirty-five-letter alphabet (painti-akhari or patti) are available. However, the compositions titled ‘Patti’ only appear in the Guru Granth Sahib. In Panjabi literature, compositions that utilize the thirty-five letters of the Gurmukhi script are usually referred to as ‘painti-akhari.’

The Guru Granth Sahib also contains compositions in poetic forms based on alphabetical order. These include Patti, revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib and Guru Amardas Sahib; Oankar, revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib; and Bawan Akhari, revealed by Guru Arjan Sahib and Bhagat Kabir.

The Patti composition revealed by Guru Amardas Sahib in Rag Asa is recorded on pages 434-435 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It has eighteen stanzas of two lines each, and the stanza of rahau is separate. This composition is recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib after the Patti composition of Guru Nanak Sahib. Along with the letters from Gurmukhi and Nagari scripts, this composition is based on certain additional unique letters.

Brief on the Patti Composition
The essence of this composition is revealed in the stanza of rahau (pause). In it, worldly accounting (entanglements) is described as useless. In the rest of the stanzas, the being is inspired to engage in true devotion to IkOankar instead of getting caught up in meaningless wordplay. Only by singing the praises of IkOankar can one be freed from worldly entanglements and gain honor in the court of IkOankar.

At the center of this composition are a being, a Pandit, and the Guru. For a being, birth marks the beginning, and death is the end. Throughout life, between these two points, a being usually drifts away from virtues and is drawn towards non-virtues. In this composition, one of the causes of this decline in morality and behavior is the Pandit or the teacher, who is himself straying from the virtuous path. The causes of the Pandit’s decline are the shortcomings in his own life and a lack of discipline. In this composition, the Guru removes these shortcomings.

The Order and Counting of the Alphabet in Patti
The alphabetical order in this composition differs somewhat from the order in the Patti composition revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib and the current order in the standardized Gurmukhi script. Additionally, some of its letters are unique from those in Guru Nanak Sahib’s ‘Patti’ and the standardized Gurmukhi script. The letters of this composition, their order, and usage are as follows: ayo, aṅṅai, kākhai, ghaṅṅai, rīrī, lalī, sidhaṅṅāiā, nannai, chachai, babai, jajai, sasai, mammai, kakai, tatai, thathai, ghaghai, dadai, papai, bhabhai, vavai, jhajhai, dhadhai, gagai, hāhai, rārai.

Bhai Vir Singh believes that this composition begins as per the custom of the Devanagari script. According to the scholars of Shabdarth, this composition also has thirty-five letters, like the Patti composition of Guru Nanak Sahib, but the method is of Muharni used in Landa script. This Muharni begins as: ayo, aṅṅai, kākhai, ghaṅṅai, rīrī, lalī, sidhaṅṅāiā, nannai, chachai, etc. Here, ‘ayo’ is ‘a,’ ‘i,’ ‘u,’ and ‘aṅṅai’ is ‘aṅ,’ ‘ah.’ The letters ‘rīrī lalī’ (ऋ ॠ ऌ ॡ) are of Nagari script. Guru Amardas Sahib has also used the letters in the same order.

There is a difference of opinion among the scholars regarding the total number of letters in this composition. The following are the opinions of some scholars:

1. Bhai Vir Singh considered ‘ayo aṅṅai’ to be indicative of a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, e, ai, o, au, aṅ, and āṁ, that is, twelve letters. Whereas Prof. Sahib Singh considers ‘ayo’ to be indicative of a, i, u, and ‘aṅṅai’ to be indicative of aṅ, ah, that is, five letters.
   Bhai Vir Singh, Santhya Sri Guru Granth Sahib, (editor) Dr. Balbir Singh, part six, page 2722; Prof. Sahib Singh, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan, part three, page 467.


2. This composition has 18 stanzas. Some of them have more than one letter. Dr. Mohinder Kaur Gill considered only the first letters of these stanzas to be the order of the alphabet in this composition. The letters in the second line have been ignored. According to her, the alphabet order of this composition is as follows: a, s, b, j, bh, s, m, k, t, p, bh, v, jh, dh, g, h, r, t.
   Dr. Mahinder Kaur Gill, Adi Granth Rachna Rup, page 178.
   Hence, she totaled the number of letters in this composition as eighteen.


3. According to Dr. Balbir Singh Dil, twenty-three letters of the Gurmukhi script are found in this composition. The usage of ‘k’ and ‘g’ twice makes this number twenty-five: a, i, u, k, kh, g, gh, ṅ, n, ch, b, j, s, m, k, gh, d, p, bh, v, jh, dh, g, h, and r.
   Balbir Singh Dil, Amar Kavi Guru Amardas, Dr. Surinder Singh Kohli (director), page 170 (unpublished PhD dissertation).
   It is worth noting that the twenty-three or twenty-five letters of this composition that Dr. Balbir Singh Dil has shown are only those of the Gurmukhi script.


4. Surinder Singh Kohli considers this composition to have thirty-one letters: a, i, u, aṅ, ah, k, kh, g, gh, ṅ, ri, rī, li, lī, ch, b, j, s, m, k, t, th, gh, p, bh, v, jh, dh, g, h, and a.
   Surinder Singh Kohli, A Critical Study of Adi Granth, page 86.
   He did not include the letters ‘n’ and ‘d’ in this count, but these letters are also used in this composition.


5. Dr. Baljinder Singh has classified the letters of this composition based on the Gurmukhi and Devanagari scripts. According to him, the twenty-five letters o, a, i, s, h, k, kh, g, gh, ṅ, ch, j, jh, t, th, d, dh, n, p, b, bh, m, r, l, and v are from the Gurmukhi script, and the five letters ri, rī, larī, aṅ, and ah are from the Devanagari script.
   Dr. Baljinder Singh, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Dian Lipi-Adharit Bania: Mudhali Jankari, Gurmukhi: Virsa Te Vartman, Ramandeep Kaur (editor), page 148.


6. Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi is of the opinion that if in this composition, ‘ayo’ is considered as an indicator of o, a, i, and ‘aṅṅai’ a reference to ‘ṅ’ and ‘lalī’ to ‘l,’ even then eleven letters (kh, c, ñ, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ, ph, y, ṛ) have not been mentioned. Many scholars consider ‘kākhai ghaṅṅai’ to indicate the ‘kavarg’ group of letters (k, kh, g, gh, ṅ). However, other than ‘kh,’ the rest of the ‘kavarg’ letters are depicted independently. Thus, this recognition does not seem to be correct. The pronunciation of the remaining twenty-five letters is according to the Gurmukhi script.
   Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi, Bhav Prabodhani Tika Sri Guru Granth Sahib, part three, page 1384.

Our research indicates that a total of thirty-three letters have been used in this composition. Among these letters, there are various interpretations regarding the term ‘sidhaṅṅāiā.’ Scholars such as Bhai Vir Singh, Prof. Sahib Singh, and others believe that Pandits, in the past, would write it on a child’s board as a symbol of good fortune or a blessing, wishing the child success in their educational journey.

According to Dr. Gobind Nath Rajguru, ‘sidhaṅṅāiā’ is the name of alphabet. He explains that the sequence of letters s, dh, ṅ is found in many scripts. In Guru Nanak Sahib’s compositions ‘Patti’ and ‘Oankar,’ letters follows the same sequence of s, dh, ṅ. Although this sequence is not found in this composition by Guru Amardas Sahib, the Guru has still used the word ‘sidhaṅṅāiā’ in the context of the alphabet.
sidhaṅṅāiai simrahi nāhī nannai nā tudhu nām laïā. -Guru Granth Sahib 434.

The counting of the letters in this composition can be understood as follows: