According to Bhai gurdas Guru Nanak had a debate with the sidhs in the last year of his life. Karminder Singh states that both sidh gosht and Japji were both completed within the last year of his life since puree 28 & 29 of Japji Sahib are a summary of sidh gosht
This is a very interesting observation. I have listened to some of Dr. Karminder Singh's presentations; they are indeed very thoughtful and insightful, and often presented with more like mathematical precision in the sense of logical reasoning. I would appreciate if you can share his reasoning in saying purees 28 and 29 are a summary of Sidh ghost. I do not beleieve purees 28 and 29 to be a summary of Sidh Ghost; to me it appears that Sidh Ghost is an ELABORATION of purees 28 and 29 ( not the converse as you note).
My reasoning is as follows:
To start with, I am of the opinion that we must probe any academic inquiry of SGGS that is presented to us through so called blogs and scientific papers with some critical and thoughtful oversight. Although the study of SGGS with an academic lens is a preferred mode of inquiry but caution must be exercised since the the spiritual discourse in SGGS is not laid out in an academic format; rather it is presented to us as an astounding master piece of artistic expression through poetry in raags. Yes, there are other spiritual writings across the globe that are also written in poetic forms but I do not know if any of those are written in raags with specific musical scales ( Ghar) as in Gurbani. Those who are familiar with music will attest to the fact that singing in raags is relatively easy compared to composing something in raags as is done in Gurbani.
The presence of this artistic expression in Gurbani places another layer through which any academic inquiry must tread through, which is often missing. When an accomplished painter or poet is expressing something through his painting or poetry, he tries to project his feelings, emotions, thoughts and insights into his painting or poetry. He tries his best to give an objective form to his subjective feelings, ideas and thoughts. It is inconceivable that an accomplished painter will paint half of his painting and then go and work on another painting and then later come back to finish off the rest of the first painting. Artist expressions are often spontaneous and always continuous not disjointed -- it is not the same with academic research and writings, which can be edited, revised and updated over time as new information comes to light.
With respect to Jap Ji sahib - a profound artistic expression; it is inconceivable that Guru Nanak Sahib would have written jap ji in bits and pieces - paurees 28 and 29 after his Sidh Ghost later in life and other parts of Jap ji sahib earlier in life. Unless someone can establish that the cardinal question which Guru Nanak Sahib posed at the outset of Jap Ji sahib ( Kiv saachiara hoeeai Kiv Koorai thuttai paal) was also written later in life, it is not reasonable to say that Jap Ji sahib was written later in life simply because pauree 28 and 29 appears to be summary of Sidh Ghost. It is more reasonable to say that the entire Japji sahib was written at the same time when he posed Kiv saachiara hoeeai Kiv Koorai thuttai paal - more likely earlier in his life to to chalk out a path for his spiritual journey ahead. in my view Sidh ghost is an elaboration of pauree 28 and 29 and not the other way around as you note.
