The Guru’s “Hukam” is the message or order to the Sadh Sangat. It is taken by reading aloud to the congregation. Any person may serve as the Guru Granthi and take the Hukam. After the Sangat recites Aagi-aa Bha-ee Akaal Kee, and Bolay so Nihaal, the Guru Granthi sits behind the palki (where the Guru resides), and carefully removes the ramalas (silk clothes) covering the Guru.

The Granthi reading the Hukam meditatively opens to a random page in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib to find the Hukam. Traditionally, the Hukam is the first Shabad on the left-hand page, so that the beginning of the Hukam usually starts on the preceding page. The first two and the last two sentences are repeated.

The reader’s voice is loud and clear and the pace slow, so that everyone in the Gurdwara is able to hear the Hukam. The Guru’s Hukam is read in the original Gurmukhi. Immediately after, the translation is read out loud in the common language of the people of the Gurdwara’s congregation.

Watch a Video of the Hukam Being Taken in Gurdwara on YouTube! 

Through the Hukam, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the Living Guru of the Sikhs, speaks to the whole Sikh congregation assembled in Gurdwara. For Sikhs, the Guru’s Bani is a living vibration, an Infinite sound current that transforms the listener. In this way, the Guru’s bani is a reality, not a ritual.

In many Gurdwaras, after the Hukam is taken and the Guru is covered again, the Sangat sings:

Sabh Sikhan ko hukam hai, Guru manio Granth

Watch a Sangat reciting “Sabh Sikhan ko Hukam Hai” after the Hukam on YouTube Here 

Then the ragis may lead the sangat in chanting any words in praise of the Infinite, while the Guruparshad is being served.

~Resource: Victory & Virtue: Ceremonies & Code of Conduct of Sikh Dharma (2001) by the Office of the Bhai Sahiba of Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere