Jo Bole So Nihal

"Jo Bole So Nihaal" or "Bole So Nihal" ( _pa. ਜੋ ਬੋਲੇ ਸੋ ਨਿਹਾਲ, meaning "Blessed is the One") is part of the traditional greeting used by the followers of the Sikh religion.

"Jo Bole So Nihal...Sat Sri Akal" is the Sikh slogan or "jaikara" (literally shout of victory, triumph or exultation). It is divided in two parts or phrases. The first, "bole so nihal" or "jo bole so nihal", is a statement meaning "whoever utters (the phrase following) shall be happy, shall be fulfilled," and the second part "sat sri akal" ("Eternal is the Holy/Great Timeless Lord"). This slogan, first popularized by Guru Gobind Singh, Nanak X, has become, besides being a popular mode of expressing ebullient religious fervour or a mood of joy and celebration, an integral part of Sikh liturgy and is shouted at the end of "ardas" or prayer and said in "sangat" or holy congregation. One of the Sikhs in the "sangat", particularly the one leading "ardas", shouts the first phrase, "jo bole so nihal", in response to which the entire congregation, including in most cases the leading Sikh himself, utter in unison "sati sri akal" in a long-drawn full-throated shout. The "jaikara" expresses the Sikh belief that all victory ("Jaya" or "jai") belongs to God, "Waheguru", a belief that is also expressed in the Sikh salutation "Vahiguru ji ka Khalsa, Vahiguru ji ki Fateh" ("Khalsa is of God and to God belongs the victory", or "Hail the Guru’s Khalsa! Hail the Guru’s victory!")

"Sat Sri Akal" has been so used through the 300-year history of the Sikh people, since the creation of the Khalsa. In a normal situation, when two Sikhs meet they exchange greetings by saying "Sat Sri Akal". Although it is now the customary Sikh greeting, it does not have the sanction of history or orthodoxy. "Vahiguru ji ka Khalsa Vahiguru ji ki Fateh", the other salutation, is generally used only by people punctilious in the observance of proper form. Those addressing a Sikh religious congregation will, as a rule, greet the audience with the salutation, "Vahiguru ji ka Khalsa Vahiguru ji ki Fateh". "Sat Sri Akal" shouted in unison responding to the call "jo bole so nihal" is a call to action, or expression of ecstatic joy or an invocation for Divine aid or succour. While "sat" or "sati" (Sanskrit "satya") means ‘true’, ‘good’, ‘abiding’, ‘real’ and ‘eternal’, "sri" is an honorific denoting beauty, glory, grace or majesty.

"Sati" has the sanction of Guru Nanak’s Mul Mantra in the Japu where it appears, after Ik Onkar, as a constituent of "Satinamu" (Reality Eternal). Akal also occurs in Mul Mantra in the phrase "Akal Murati" (Form Eternal), descriptive of the Absolute.

External links

* [http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/history-of-sikhism/8191-sikh-jaikara-boleh-so-nihaal-what.html What does it mean?]
* [http://www.sikhnet.com/ Sikhnet.com]