A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.

APP. XII WAH GURU AND DEG, TEGH, FATH 347

APPENDIX XII
THE EXCLAMATION WAH GURU AND THE EXPRESSION
DEG, TEGH, FATH
THE proper exclamation of community of faith of the
Sikhs as a sect is simply, ' Wah Guri! ' that is, O Guri! or
Hail Guru! The lengthened exclamations of 'Wah! Guru
ki Fath! ' and ' Wah! Gurfi ka Khalsa! ' (Hail! Virtue
or power of the Guru! or Hail! Gurfu and Victory! and
Hail to the state or church of the Guri!) are not authoritative, although the former has become customary, and its
use, as completing the idea embraced in ' Deg ' and ' Tgh '
(see ante, Appendix IX) naturally arose out of the notions
diffused by Gobind, if he did not ordain it as the proper
salutation of believers.
Many of the chapters or books into which the-Adi Granth
is divided, begin with the expression 'Eko Unkar, Sat
Guru Prasd ', which may be interpreted to mean, 'The
One God, and the grace of the blessed Gurfi'. Some of the
chapters of the Daswen Padshah ka Granth begin with 'Eko
Unkar, Wah Gurfi ki Fath ', that is, 'The One God and the
power of the Gurfi'.
The Sikh author of the Gur Ratnawali gives the following
fanciful and trivial origin of the salutation Wah Guru!
Wasdev, the exclamation of the first age, or Satyug;
Har Har, the exclamation of the second age;
Gobind Gobind, the exclamation of the third age;
Ram Ram, the exclamation of the fourth age, or Kalyug;
whence Wah Gurfu in the fifth age, or under the new
dispensation.
APPENDIX XIII
THE SIKH DEVOTION TO STEEL, AND THE TERM
'SACHCHA PADSHAH'
FOR allusions to this devotion to steel see Malcolm,
Sketch, pp. 48, 117 n., 182 n.
The meaning given in the text to the principle inculcated
seems to be the true one. Throughout India the implements
of any calling are in a manner worshipped, or, in Western
moderation of phrase, they are blessed or consecrated. This
is especially noticeable among merchants, who annually
perform religious ceremonies before a heap of gold; among