Parchian Sewa Das
Parchian Sewa Das, dated 1708 A.D. is probably the earliest available narration, in prose, of some sakhis (episodes) from the life of Guru Gobind Singh. Its date of completion coincides with the date of the Joti Jot (emerging witht the eternal) of Guru Gobind Singh and it seems to have been written at Hazur Sahib (Nander) itself. Thirty-eight of the fifty episodes (from episode 13 to ep. 50) contained in the work pertain to Guru Gobind Singh, but none of them describes the Creation of the Khalsa in 1699 as such in any form. There is, however, a passing but significant reference to it in the very first episode which after giving "a brief sample" of the Zafarnamah is concluded as follows:
"The letter contained the warning, ‘Beware, the Khalsa is born, the real idol-breaker Khalsa. Khalsa will punish you. You will not be spared."
"The name of the messenger who took this letter was Bhai Daya Singh. When Aurangzeb read this line of the letter, he looked at Bhai Daya Singh and asked, ‘Has the Khalsa taken birth’? ‘Yes, Sir, the Khalsa has appeared,’ replied Bhai Daya Singh. ‘It should not have appeared15. That is a novel nectar to be prepared with the use of a double at this time. I see doom ahead.’ Saying this, Aurangzeb’s face turned pale, and he died." [1].
Its episode No. 47 refers to a violation of Rehat, the Code of Socio-religious Conduct and discipline prescribed for the Khalsa, at Dadu Dwara - Guru’s salutation, Khalsa’s notice, Guru’s explanation and acceptance of the tankhah (i.e., punishment, in the Sikh parlance) awarded by the Khalsa.[2].
An article reprinted, in part from www.sikhreview.org/march2001/chronicle.htm
The references can also be found on the SikhNet page reprinting the article. Creation Of Khalsa as Described by Bhat Sarup singh Kaushish by Harnam Singh Shan, Dr. of .Litt. / Eminent scholar, former Prof. & Chair, Guru Nanak Studies, Punjab University, Chandigarh. On that occasion Lakwinder Singh posted the article with the references.
