A Petition for Protection

Benti Chaupai, also simply called Chaupai Sahib, is a petition for protection composed by Guru Gobind Singh and included in the Dasam Granth; among the daily Sikh prayers it is the one most often on Sikhs' lips in times of difficulty and danger. Its verses ask God for protection, for the removal of enemies and afflictions, and for refuge and support, appealing to the divine as the sole protector in whom the worshipper takes shelter. It is recited as part of the evening prayer Rehras and in the initiation ceremony, and is turned to individually whenever a Sikh seeks strength and safety. The composition gives voice to a confident dependence on God's protection characteristic of the tradition shaped by the tenth Guru, in a period of persecution and struggle, and its use both in the fixed daily office and as a spontaneous prayer in adversity has made it one of the most frequently recited of all Sikh compositions.

Some editions and communities include, and others omit, certain additional verses associated with the Chaupai found in variant manuscripts of the Dasam Granth, a difference that reflects the wider and still unsettled scholarly and community debate over the composition and canonical boundaries of that scripture as a whole. Whatever the manuscript question, the core petition for protection remains constant across versions in use today, and its place in the Rehras and the initiation liturgy is not itself contested.