There is no consensus on which Sakhis are most authentic or in line with Gurbani. There is no doubt that to some extent most of our history has been tampered with by anti panthic elements. Personally I believe Bhai Balas Janam Sakhis are most in line with Gurbani because the central message of each Sakhi is to Jap Naam.
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To explain above point. For example 100 people will narrate Bhai Lalo's sakhi in 100 different ways (just out of devotion). But what you should take home is the Sakhi's Moral - i.e. Earn Honest Livelihood.
If you read the secular intepretations by missionary scholars then yes the moral of the sakhi is to make an honest living, but if you read the actual sakhi then you will know the main message is to keep dietary Bibek which is an aid in Naam Jaap. IN this sakhi there is less emphasis on Malik Bhago who lived a manmat lifestyle and more emphasis on Bhai Lalo Ji who lived a gurmat lifestyle. However, the modern day interpretations stress on the character Malik Bhago more. The original sakhis main emphasis is on Naam Jaap. There is mention how Bhai Sahibs parshadey taste like AMrit because he would do naam jap while cooking and there is even mention that a Pathan ( mughal) started reciting WaaheGuru WaaheGuru automically when he ate Bhai Sahibs parshaday.
Nowdays sakhis are being intepreted by humanism/secluarism thinking and there is less emphasis on Naam. The other day I was at a Singhs house and started reading a new age intepretation of the Sakhi in which Sri Guru Ji went into the Kali Bein river. Th sakhi was written by Inni Kaur ( Journey with the Gurus). I was shocked with the secular apporach of this sakhi. They made Sri Guru Ji out to be an ordinary human being . Basically the sakhi mentioned Sri Guru Ji went to visit his sister he went to get a job and during the job interview he gave a good reference of his previous emplyer and thus he got the job and was able to keep the job because he was a hard worker. There is no mention of ones main work in life NAAM JAP. There is no mention of Sri Guru Ji receiving revelation while in the river instead there is only mention of Sri Guru Ji was fond of sitting next to rivers. THe sakhi makes out as though Sri Guru Ji was just flesh and bone and gives the audience the impression they too are just flesh and bone. As a human being I felt violated after reading this modern day version of this sakhi. When we read the puratan sakhis in its original format then we our jot feels closer to Sri GUru Jis charan. These sakhis teach us we are sikhs of the Guru, we are not just here to make a honest earning and live a ethical lifestyle. We are here to jap naam if we are doing naam jap then automatically we will prevent ourselves from dishonest or unethical living.
Kavi Santokh Singhs writings are highly based on oral traditions and Bhai Balas Janam Sakhis. There is less emphasis on Naam here and its obvious there are many sakhis which contradict Gurbani.Shaheed Bhai Mani Singhs " Sikha Di Bhagat Mala" is a renweal of the Janam Sakhis which were corrupted over the years, and in addition is an interpretation of Bhai Gurdas Jis vaars . These sakhis are short but quite good. The main emphasis is on adopting Gurmukh qualities. I have not found any contradictions in any of these Sakhis. History has also been narrated by Bhai Sahib in the book Gurbilas ( 6). Its obvious there has been tampering with this text but still it provides some good insights in the lifestyle of Gurmukhs in puratan times.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥
