The Dasam Granth (Punjabi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ, dasama grantha) is a scripture of Sikhism, containing texts composed by 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh and his assembly of scholars. The Dasam Granth is believed to have been compiled after the Guru's demise by Bhai Mani Singh between the years 1730 AD and 1732 AD. Bhai Mani Singh tried to assemble all of the Guru's works from many different sources. Hand written copy of Dasam Granth Sahib is still available in Gurdwara Mehta - Dam Dami Taksal. Baba Deep Singh Ji shaheed has acknowledged each and every writing of Sri Dasam Granth.^[1] “Punjabi” redirects here. ... Many religions and spiritual movements hold certain written texts (or series of spoken legends not traditionally written down) to be sacred. ... Sikhism (IPA: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is a religion that began in fifteenth century Northern India with the teachings of Nanak and nine successive human gurus. ... For other uses, see Guru (disambiguation). ... A traditional portrait of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. ... Bhai Mani Singh Bhai Mani Singh a great Sikh scholar and illustrious Martyr, came, according to Bhai Kesar Singh ji Chhibbar, his contemporary, of a Kamboj family, but according to Giani Gian Singh Dullat [1822-1921], author of Panth Parkash, of a Dullat Jatt family of Kamboval village (now extinct...

Structure

Overview

The Dasam Granth contains 1428 pages and is the collection of the writings of the 10th Patshah, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. It contains his Jaap Sahib, the Akal Ustat or praise of the Creator, the Vachitar Natak or Wonderful Drama, in which the Guru gives an account of his parentage, his divine mission, and the battles in which he had been engaged. Jaap Sahib is the morning prayer of the Sikhs. ... Akal Ustat is is the name given to the second Bani in the second holy scriptures of the Sikhs called the Dasam Granth. ...

Then come three abridged translations of the Devi Mahatamya, an episode in the Markandeya Puran, in praise of Durga the Goddess of war (Chandi Chritras: Chandi Chritra I, Chandi Chritra II, Chandi Ki Var).

Then follow the Gyan Parbodh, or awakening of knowledge; Chobis Avatar - accounts of twenty-four incarnations of the Vishnu, according to the Hindus, and Brahrnavatar and Rudravtdr, selected because of their warlike character; the Shabad Hazare; quatrains called Sawaiyas, which are religious hymns in praise of God and reprobation of idolatry and hypocrisy; the Khalsa Mahima, or words in praise of the Khalsa; the Shastar Nam Mala, a list of offensive and defensive weapons used in the Guru's time, with special reference to the attributes of the Creator; the Tria Charitar, or tales illustrating the qualities, but principally the deceit of women; the Kabiovach Bainti Chaupai will "absolve the suffering, pain or fear of the person, who will even once recite this Bani"; the Zafarnama, containing the tenth Guru's epistle to the emperor Aurangzeb; and Hikayats, several metrical tales in the Persian language. Zafarnama means the Notification of Victory and is the name given to the letter sent by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1705 to the Emperor of India, Aurangzeb. ...

The Dasam Granth is said to have been compiled by Bhai Mani Singh Ji, a companion and disciple of the Guru, after the tenth Guru's death. It is understood that Bhai Mani Singh spent nine years at this task, by getting copies from other disciples and filling in some of the gaps from memory. Bhai Mani Singh Bhai Mani Singh a great Sikh scholar and illustrious Martyr, came, according to Bhai Kesar Singh ji Chhibbar, his contemporary, of a Kamboj family, but according to Giani Gian Singh Dullat [1822-1921], author of Panth Parkash, of a Dullat Jatt family of Kamboval village (now extinct... Bhai Mani Singh Bhai Mani Singh a great Sikh scholar and illustrious Martyr, came, according to Bhai Kesar Singh ji Chhibbar, his contemporary, of a Kamboj family, but according to Giani Gian Singh Dullat [1822-1921], author of Panth Parkash, of a Dullat Jatt family of Kamboval village (now extinct...

There are many compilations in existence and many are still being discovered. There are three 'main' well known editions: One edition said to have been written by Bhai Mani Singh in his own hand (in the possession of Gulab Singh Sethi of New Delhi); and the volumes at the Gurdwaras at Patna and Sangrur. The current version in circulation; closely follows the edition ascribed to Bhai Mani Singh. Bhai Mani Singh Bhai Mani Singh a great Sikh scholar and illustrious Martyr, came, according to Bhai Kesar Singh ji Chhibbar, his contemporary, of a Kamboj family, but according to Giani Gian Singh Dullat [1822-1921], author of Panth Parkash, of a Dullat Jatt family of Kamboval village (now extinct...

Contents

The Contents of the Dasam Granth are:

• 1. Jaap (meditation)
  2. Akal Ustat (praises of God)
  3. Bachitar Natak (autobiography of the Guru)
  4. Chandi Charitar I & II (the character of goddess Chandi)
  5. Chandi di Var (a ballad to describe goddess Durga)
  6. Gian Prabodh (the awakening of knowledge)
  7. Chaubis Avtar (24 incarnations of Vishnu)
  8. Brahm Avtar (incarnation of Brahma)
  9. Rudar Avtar (incarnation of Shiv)
  10. Shabad Hazare (ten shabads)
  11. Swayyae (33 stanzas)
  12. Khalsa Mehma (the praises of the Khalsa)
  13. Shastar Nam Mala (a list of weapons)
  14. Triya Charitar (the character of women)
  15. Zafarnama (epistle of victory, a letter written to Emperor Aurangzeb)
  16. Hikayats. (stories)

Jaap Sahib is the morning prayer of the Sikhs. ... Akal Ustat is is the name given to the second Bani in the second holy scriptures of the Sikhs called the Dasam Granth. ... Bichitra Natak (or Bachittar/Vichitra) ( Resplendent Drama) is the autobiography of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru. ... Deh Shiva Var Mohe A celebrated and widely quoted hymn be written by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. ... Chandi di Var (the Ode to Chandi), also known as Var Sri Bhagauti Ji (the ode to Goddess) is a composition by Guru Gobind Singh included in 5th Chapter of Dasam Granth. ... Zafarnama means the Notification of Victory and is the name given to the letter sent by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1705 to the Emperor of India, Aurangzeb. ...

Language and Literary Quality

The Dasam Granth is all rhymed poetry. It was designed to be heard, so there is considerable repetition, and a variety of meters to hold the attention. The language of most of the Dasam Granth is largely Braj veering towards Sanskrit at one extreme and simple colloquial Hindi at the other. The Braj dialect is a variety of medieval Hindi with a mixture of Sanskrit, Persiona, and Arabic words. The Zafarnama and the Hikayats are in Persian using Gurmukhi characters and several passages in other works are in Punjabi. The 'author(s)' not only used this melange of languages but also coined words half Arabic half Sanskrit (and sometimes words without any meaning just to create a musical effect). Some of this kind of writing has great power and beauty. Sanskrit ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken all over India in varying degrees and extensively in northern and central India, is one of the 22 official languages of India and is also used for central government administrative purposes , along with English. ... Zafarnama means the Notification of Victory and is the name given to the letter sent by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1705 to the Emperor of India, Aurangzeb. ... Look up Persian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Punjabi (also Panjabi; in GurmukhÄ«, PanjābÄ« in ShāhmukhÄ«) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ...

Most of the poetry of the Dasam Granth is hardly intelligible to the modern Punjabi reader without the aid of a commentary. Experts tell us that the Guru's poetry is of the highest order:

From A Short History of the Sikhs, Ganda Singh & Teja Singh:

"In Hindi he developed a style, which for martial cadence, variety of form and richness of imagination...has remained unsurpassed since his times. In lines ranging from monosyllabic verse to long and multiplied swayyas and kabits, we seem to hear the torrential flow of hill streams or the galloping sweep of cavalry on the march. His intellect quivers in emotion and breaks out against superstition and hypocrisy into humour, irony or banter. His emotion...is raised to the highest pitch of ecstasy when he communes with God."

From Sikhan de Raj di Vithya (History of the Sikh Rule):

"This Granth is very difficult, and is composed in the Hindi dialect in several kinds of verses. In it there is the teaching of several of the Shastars, the rules of warfare, the wiles and tricks of women, and some information on worship and religious knowledge. From that it is evident that Gobind Singh was very clever in writing poetry."

The descriptions of scenes of battle are couched in extremely vigorous staccato rhyme often reduced to lines of one word each. The battles waged by Chandi and the Guru's encounters with the hill chiefs at Bhangani and Nadaun are among the most stirring that exist.

The scenes of nature and love, particularly in the Krishna Avatar, are haunting in their loveliness:

 Beside the sparkling waters of the river, On the bank in silver moonlight bathed Were strewn jasmine pearls as if to make a bed And blossoms twined overhead to make a bower. Krishna took Radha by the hand, tilted up her face And gazed upon her beauty. Then clasped The damsel fair in his dark arms As a black shade eclipses the moon. Spoke Krishna: "Maiden fair, I sent not for thee. I am as a deer wounded by the hunter's dart. Thy love-lorn eyes have pierced my heart. Beloved mine! Thy wrath's burning fire Hath singed my limbs but I wished not to depart. I came not at thy command, but to soothe My burns before the warmth of they love. 

Purpose of the Dasam Granth

A Punjabi historian of the last century explains the Guru's purpose as follows (from Sikhan da Raj di Vithya)

"The Guru discovered that from reading the Ad Granth the Sikhs became feeble-hearted. Therefore (said the Guru), I myself will prepare such a Granth that the Sikhs from reading it will learn the art of ruling, the use of weapons, and other skills so that they will become fit for warfare; so from that very day he began the compositions of a huge volume, and when it was completed on Sunday, on the eighth day of the new moon in the month of Bhadon 1753 Bikrami (1696) he named it "The Granth of the Tenth Soverign."

At the end of the Krishan Avtar, the following stanza of the Guru is written (verse 2491):

I have rendered in the vernacular the tenth chapter of the Bhagavat with no other purpose than to arouse desire for a holy war (a righteous war of the Lord).

Macauliffe gives three reasons for the translations from Hindu mythology and the Hindu epics:

• to dispel cowardice and incite to bravery by filling the mind with heroic examples;
• by showing what a brave woman (the goddess Chandi) could achieve in battle to spur brave men on to surpass her achievements;
• that his Sikhs might see the inferiority of the Hindu sacred writings and so appreciate those of their own Gurus more.

This militant purpose should not say that the Guru was a vengeful militarist. His wars were wars of defense; and his own poetry as well as his conduct shows a longing for peace and harmonious fellowship, which sometimes extended even to his former enemies.

Controversy

M.A. McAuliffe, the British Deputy Commissioner of Punjab, was the first scholar to raise questions about the Dasam Granth. He states^[2]:

"It seems, at any rate politic to place before the Sikh soldiery their Guru’s prophecies in favor of the English and the texts of their sacred writings which foster their loyalty."

He along with some Sikh scholars, help create the Tat Khalsa movement ^[3]. This included Giani Gian Singh who expressed in his book the Panth Prakash published in 1880 AD that the style expression in some of the works does not match that of the Guru^{[citation needed]}. Sarup Das Bhalla also expressed similar views in his book Mahima Prakash. Tat Khalsa (the True Khalsa) Singh Sabha organization was founded in Lahore in 1879 to rival the earlier Sanatan Singh Sabha. ...

From 1892 to 1897, scholars assembled at the Akal Takht, Amritsar, to study the various printed Dasam Granths and prepare the authoritative version. They concluded that the Dasam Granth was entirely the work of Guru Gobind Singh. Further re-examinations and reviews took place in 1931, under the aegis of the Darbar Sahib Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee they too vindicated the earlier conclusion (agreeing that it was indeed the work of the Guru) and its findings have since been published. However Orthodox Sikhs make the claim that so called "Hindu" influence amongst Sikhs was very high at the time due to Udasi and Nirmala mahants (although Udasis and Nirmala are not "Hindu") so this report has no official stance. Following were the members of the 1895-1897 Sodhak Committee (along with their credentials) that SGPC formed for analysis of Dasam Granth^[4] The Akal Takht (Punjabi: , ) is the second holiest shrine of the Sikhs. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (Punjabi: ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ ਕਮੇਟੀ) is a Sikh religious organisation responsible for the upkeep of gurdwaras. ...

1. Mana Singh Hakim, known for correct recitation
2. Bhai Narain Singh, Teacher
3. Bhai Thakar Singh, Clerk Municipal Committee
4. Bhai Hajura Singh, Secretary Lakar Mandi
5. Dharam Singh, Famous for Chhabil Sewa
6. Bhai Sant Singh, Gurmukhi Teacher
7. Bhai Darbara Singh with education of Giani
8. Jaidial Singh, Middle pass
9. Gurdial Singh, Gurmukh Person
10. Kishan Singh Ji, Rice Dealer
11. Naran Singh, Thakur Singh Rice Dealer,
12. Makhan Singh, Sweet Maker

On 20 February 2000, at Gobind Sadan, Virsa Singh released the first complete Punjabi translation of the writings of Guru Gobind Singh, plus other scholarly works about the life and teachings of Guru Gobind Singh. is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... “Punjabi” redirects here. ...

"Jaap Sahib" "Tawprasad Sawayeya" and "Kabiobach Bainty Chawpaye" are compulsory for reciting in nitnem of a Khalsa (baptised Sikh) every morning. Khalsa which means Pure is the name given by Guru Gobind Singh to all Sikhs who have been baptised or initiated by taking Amrit in a ceremony called Amrit Sanchar. ... Religions Sikhism Scriptures Guru Granth Sahib Languages English, Punjabi] A Sikh (English: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is an adherent to Sikhism. ...

Audio

• Jasbir Singh (Paonta Sahib Waley) - Shabad Gurbani from Sri Dasam Granth Sahib Ji 1
• Jasbir Singh (Paonta Sahib Waley) - Shabad Gurbani from Sri Dasam Granth Sahib Ji 2

References

External links

• http://www.allpunjabi.com/songs/11795/Sri_Dasam_Granth_Sahib_Paath_P.html Listen Dasam Granth Sahib
• Writings, Audio and Video related to Sri Dasam Granth
• Video Lectures by Sikh Scholars and Academicians on the Banee of Sri Dasam Granth
• Video: Dr. Jodh Singh, Editor-in-Chief encyclopedia of Sikhism, who has translated Sri Dasam Granth into English and Hindi talks about Charitropakhyaan
• Compilation of Dasam Granth -A scientific Analysis
• Read the Dasam Granth
• Gobind Sadan Institute
• Read Sri Dasam Granth Sahib
• Sikh Research and Education Center - Disseminating Gurmat philosophy and the spirit of Sikhism
• Dasam Granth
• Vieos

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