Charitar

Charitar ਚਰਿਤ੝ਰ ^s  is a Punjabi words which means "miracle", "wonder", "trick", "charm", "play", "fun" or "show".

This word is used in the Dasam Granth for the bani called Charitropakhyan which is a collection of over 400 tales of trickery, deception and play of mainly women but also a few men for wrongful purposes.

This Bani is based on the conversation between a wise adviser (minister or "manteree" ਮੰਤ੝ਰੀ ^s ) to Raja (king) Chitar Singh; the conversation is told by the minister in order to save his handsome son Hanuvant from the false accusations of one of the younger ranis (queens).

The minister tries to explain to the Raja that there is trickery in human behaviour and that one needs to analyse the situation carefully before drawing any conclusion.

Guru Gobind Singh gave these opakhyan (already told) stories to Sikhs as a guide to upholding morality; each tale has a moral principle behind it.