Jo Bole So Nihal
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Bole So Nihal (Punjabi: ਜੋ ਬੋਲੇ ਸੋ ਨਿਹਾਲ, also transliterated Jo Bole So Nihaal; 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 jaikara, 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, 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 or slogan aptly 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!) In their hour of triumph, therefore, Sikhs remember sati sri akal instead of exulting in their own valour.
Sat Sri Akal, the slogan or war-cry expressing communal fervour and assent to or enthusiasm for a cause, 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 pronouncing Sat Sri Akal, thus pointing out the glory of God to each other. 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 form of 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 (whoever so pronounces shall prosper) 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 after Ik Onkar, it appears as a constituent of Satinamu (Reality Eternal). Akal also occurs in Mul Mantra in the phrase Akal Murati (Form Eternal), descriptive of the Absolute.
