Dasam Granth: Difference between revisions

Dasam Granth

A sacred book of writings attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs.

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.

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 emporor Aurangzeb; and Hikayats, several metrical tales in the Persian language.

The Dasam Granth was compiled by Bhai Mani Singh Ji, a companion and disciple of the Guru, after the tenth Guru's death. Bhai Mani Singh spent nine years at this task, by getting copies from other disciples and filling in some of the gaps by memory.

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 possesion of Gulab Singh Sethi of New Delhi); and the volumes at the Gurdwaras at Patna and Sangrur. The current 'authorised' version in circulation, closely follows the edition ascribed to Bhai Mani Singh.

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. Shaster 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)

Language and Literary Quality

The language of most of the Dasam Granth is largely [[ wikipedia:Braj|Braj]] veering towards Sanskrit at one extreme and simple colloquial Hindi at the other. The Zafarnama and the Hikayats are in Persian 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.

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:

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 achievments;
• 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.

The Controversy

The writings within the Dasam Granth have not been fully accepted by all Sikhs, for they do not fit into, or appear not to, a rigid interpretation of Sikh religion (In particular the Tria Charitar and Hikayats Sections).

At one stage it was decided to divide the book. Bhai Mehtab Singh of Mirankot (who was charged by the Panth to capture or assassinate Massa Ranghar who had then planted himself in the holy Golden Temple at Amritsar and was desecrating its sanctity) suggested to the leaders of his community that if he came back victorious in his mission, the book should be preserved in one volume, otherwise it may divided into two. Mehtab Singh was successful in putting Massa Ranghar to an ignoble death and hence the volume was preserved as it now is. This, however, as the Sikh savant, Bhai Kahan Singh points out, is a most arbitrary way of settling a point of such literary and theological significance. Moreover, a single man's point of view should not have prevailed - especially of a military hero, or even a Jathedar in search of martyrdom, in preference to the viewpoint of the theologians and scholars who were still discussing the point.

From 1892 to 1897, eminent scholars assembled at Akal Takht, Amritsar, to study the various printed Dasam Granths and prepare the authoritative version. They consulted as many as 32 editions before preparing the version that is currently in circulation. Among these scholars were Bhai Manna Singh Hakim, Bhai Narain Singh, Bhai Thakur Singh, Bhai Sant Singh (son of Giani Gian Singh), Bhai Bishan Singh, Sant Gopal Das Udasi and Mahant Amir Singh. In this process, they determined that the Dasam Granth is entirely the work of Guru Gobind Singh.

Further reexaminations and reviews took place in 1931, under the ageis of The Darbar Sahib Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. It vindicated the earlier conclusions and published its findings in a book.

However, the controversy continues as there is reluctance to fully accept the entire text of the Dasam Granth. Therefore, scholars appealed to Baba Virsa Singh, a highly revered spiritual teacher of Sikh background, to gather scholars to clarify the doubts about Dasam Granth. A seminar was held on January 3rd and 4th, 1999, at the Gobind Sadan Institute in New Delhi, India.

On February 20th, 2000, at Gobind Sadan, Baba 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.

Dasam Granth Birs

The following accounts of various Dasam Granth Birs are taken from the works of Dr.Rattan Singh Jaggi, the only scholar who claims to have examined these four Birs from the point of view of probing their history and origin. Dr.Jaggi's investigations appear to challenge the authenticity of the Dasam Granth and it's history, however it is to be noted that a Punjabi translation of the Dasam Granth by Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi and Dr. Gursharan Kaur Jaggi has been published by the Gobind Sadan Institute.

Gyani Gyan Singh has given in his Panth Parkash (published by Bhasha Vibhag, Punjab, 1970) recognition to four Birs (pp. 321-322), and Bhai Kahan Singh's Mahan Kosh, out of these four, to two (p.616). These four Birs are : First, the one associated with the name of Bhai Mani Singh; second, deposited at present in the gurdwara Moti Bagh, Patiala, third, deposited in the Dewan Khana, Sangrur; fourth, deposited in Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Patna.

Dr. Ratan Singh Jaggi is the only scholar who claims to have examined these four Birs from the point of view of probing their history and origin. He has examined many other Birs, besides the four ones referred to above, but he does not consider them to be very old. (Dasam Granth de Karitartav, p. 91). The following accounts of the Birs are from Dr.Jaggi's book, Dasam Granth de Karitartav.

The Bhai Mani Singh Bir

The first Bir, associated with the name of Bhai Mani Singh, was in the custody of Raja Gulab Singh Sethi, Hanuman Road, New Delhi. When Dr. Jaggi interviewed him on 5.12.1959. According to Raja Gulab Singh, an unnamed soldier armyman (sainik) happened to get this Bir in the loot when Multan was conquered by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in A.D. 1818. Afterwards, this sainik was one of the contingent of 800 men the Maharaja sent to Hyderabad (Deccan), and the sainik took the Bir along with him. He and his descendents came to settle permanently at Hazur Sahib (Deccan), and the Bir remained with them till Raja Gulab Singh bought it from these descendents in 1944-45 (Karitartav, p. 92).

The authorship of the bir is unknown, as also the place of time of its compilation. In a corner of a page there is slanting postscript, recording 1713 AD as the date of it. Jaggi’s examination shows it to be a suspicious interpolation: The ink and writing of this entry are different from that of the original Bir. The handwriting and shape of letters is also comparatively crude. Its introduction in slanting lines in a corner proves its belated character.

With regards to the internal evidence, Jaggi finds that the writer of the Bir does not seem to be a good scribe, or have a good knowledge of Gurmukhi or the Punjabi language and as a result finds it difficult to connect this Bir with Bhai Sahib. On the other hand, the scribe is a Hindi-knowing person who is distinctly interested in distorting the Sikh doctrines and mixing up Sikh literature with Puranic literature. And this is exactly what he has done. The Bir comprises both the Bani of the Gurus and that of the Dasam Granth. Gurbani has not been recorded as in the Guru Granth, i.e. Raagwise. It is done Guru-wise and Bhagat Bani is mostly at the end of the combined volume. It shows conclusively that the scribe is a non-Sikh who, without any knowledge of the prescribed method of writing Gurbani, is out to do the heretical distortion of mixing-up Dhur Ki Bani with Puranic myths about worship of Devis and Avtars. For, no Sikh, and much less Gurmukh like Bhai Sahib, could ever plan to combine the two Granths and flout the sacred sequence of Gurbani laid down by the Gurus. The shape of writing and its language suggest that the distortion was done long after the demise of Bhai Sahib, when the Sikh world was engaged in a life and death struggle with the Empire and the invaders.

Thus, the lack of any history of the manuscript for over 200 years, its internal evidence of interpolation, shape of words and language, together with the heretical change of method in writing Gurbani, and its mix-up with Puranic and Avtar-worship literature, conclusively exclude the possibility of the Bir being a production of Sikh quarters.

Moti Bagh Bir

The original source of the second Bir (i.e. of Gurdwara Moti Bagh) is traced by Gyani Gyan Singh to Bhai Sukha Singh, Granthi of Gurdwara, Patna. According to his Panth Parkash (pp. 321-322), Bhai Sukha Singh composed, or compiled, or created (rachi) this Bir in Samat 1832 (A.D. 1775). Afterwards, his son Charat Singh added five leaves to it, imitating the handwriting of Guru Gobind Singh. He claimed these leaves to be in the Guru's own handwriting ostensibly for monetary considerations. From Charat Singh this amended Bir passed on to Baba Hakim Singh, and from Hakim Singh to Gurdwara Moti Bagh.

An 85-year old man, Bedi Natha Singh who claimed to be a descendent of Baba Hakim Singh and was a resident of village Raghu Majra (Patiala), told Dr. Jaggi in Oct. 1959 that it was in fact Nahar Singh who got the Bir from Charat Singh, and presented it to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The Maharaja got the Bir installed in his private Gurdwara and put Nahar Singh in charge of it on the death of the Maharaja, Nahar Singh brought the Bir to his home, from where it passed on to Baba Hakim Singh, who was the son-in-law of Nahar Singh's grandson. Baba Hakim Singh presented the Bir to Maharaja Mahendra Singh of Patiala (A.D. 1862-1876), and the Maharaja got the Bir installed in Gurdwara Moti Bagh (Karitartav, p. 94). The story has no corroboration whatsoever.

Dr.Jaggi's examinations show that the bir has been compiled by more than one person. He opines that the age of the paper and the character of words and writing show that it could not have been compiled earlier than a hundred years after the demise of the Tenth Guru.

Sangrur Bir

All the information that Dr. Jaggi could get about the third important Bir, which is in the custody of Gurdwara Dewan Khana, Sangrur, was from granthi Bhai Nandan Singh. He told Dr. Jaggi that this Bir was presented to Maharaja Sarup Singh of Jind (A.D. 1837-1864) by a Pathan at Delhi in 1857, when the Maharaja went there to help the British in the mutiny (Karitartav, p. 95).

The Bir was in two parts, pages 1 to 600 contained Gurbani from the Guru Granth and pages 601 to 1166 the chapters from the Dasam Granth. The first part stands lost. Its history beyond 1857 is unknown.

Patna Bir

The fourth important Bir is stored, along with some other manuscripts in the store-house attached to Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Patna, Bihar. Nobody has been able to give any information regarding the history of this or other Birs there (Karitertav, p. 97).

The writing is simple except that red ink has also been used. Dr.Jaggi feels that the condition of the paper, shape of words, writing, etc. suggest that it is a production of the 19th century.

Letter from Bhai Mani Singh to Mata Sundari Ji

There exists a letter from Bhai Mani Singh to Mata Sundari Ji which suggest that the Banis of the Dasam Granth are indeed genuine Banis of Guru Gobind Singh. The English translation is as follows:

A copy of the original letter

The above letter in clear punjabi typeface

May the Almighty help us.

Mani Singh makes his humble prostration at the holy feet of his venerable mother. Further news is that the climate of this place has aggravated my rheumatism and my health deteriorates fast. I will have to listen to the healing parable of the tertian fever. But my illness has caused no slackness in the performance of the holy service of the Hari Mandir (Golden Temple). The Khalsa no more hods away over the country and its power has waned. The Sikhs have migrated to the mountain retreats. The Malechhas reign supreme in the country. There is no security for the (Sikh) children and women in any habitation. They are hunted out and killed. The opposing states have also joined hands with them. The Hindalis spy on the Sikhs. All (the Sikhs) have deserted the Chak (The earliest name of Amritsar). The Mutsaddis (priests) have also fled. So far the Immortal Lord protects me. Tomorrow is uncertain. What is ordained by the Lord shall prevail. The adopted son of Binod Singh has passed away. Among the books I sent per Jhanda Singh, there is one entitled "303 Chritra Upakhyans" by the Lord (Guru Gobind Singh). Give that to Sihan Singh in the Mahal (Matia Mahal in the interior of Delhi City). So far there is no trace of the book "Nam Mala". I found the first part of "Krishna Avtar" but not the second. I shall send it when available. There is a rumour in the country that Banda (Bahadur) has made his good escape from the Emperor's jail. May the Guru protect him. The Guru's family (the descendants of the Guru) at Khandur have sent five tolas of gold as a gift for your son's bride(an adopted son of Mata Ji, as all of her four sons were martyred already). Recover seventeen rupees from Jhanda Singh ; I gave him five rupees to meet the expenses of the journey…(?) These expenses will be incurred by him. The Mutsaddis have not yet settled accounts, otherwise I would have sent a draft from the city (presumably Lahore) . If my health improves I shall come in the month of Kartik.

Baisakh 22

Signed - Mani Singh, Guruchak, Bunga

P.S. Reply in bamboo stick. (as being confidential)

Many scholars refer to the line, "Among the books I sent per Jhanda Singh, there is one entitled '303 Chritra Upakhyans' by the Lord (Guru Gobind Singh)" as the strongest evidence that the Dasam Granth is entirely the work of Guru Gobind Singh. Khushwant Singh suggests that this is a mistake in translation:

"Both Dr.Ashta and Dr.Trilochan Singh have translated Sahib de 303 Chritra Upakhyans as "written" by the Master, which the original does not warrant. The word "de" does not necessarily mean "written by"; it can mean "of" or "belonging to" and probably referred to a volumne which belonged to the Guru. Besides, in the Tria Chritra Upakhyans as it exists in the Dasam Granth today, the number of tales is not 303 but 404. What Mani Singh had sent with the letter was certainly not the tales that are incorporated in the Dasam Granth of today."

The Dasam Granth ascribed to Bhai Mani Singh, states that over 125,000 verses were composed in the court of Guru Gobind Singh, in particular, on page 615 of the manuscript, it states:

Khushwant Singh on account of this suggests that the Granth in question forms only one-tenth of the total and that the word Dasam in fact refers to the one-tenth quantity and not to the tenth Guru.

Dr.Rattan Singh Jaggi, a Dasam Granth origin scholar, on examining the letter finds it to be unreliable. He suggests that the method of writing separate words, as in the letter, was not at all in vogue in the time of Bhai Mani Singh; nor is the practice visible in the contemporary manuscripts (the Hukamnamas of Guru Gobind Singh and Banda Bahadur have the words joined together without leaving any blank spaces in between them. This method of writing continued to be followed right upto A.D. 1867, as shown by a copy of the newspaper 'Akhbar Sri Darbar Sahib' published in that year). The words or language used also relate to a later period: the use of Bindi, Matras and shape of letters are comparatively modern. Dr.Jaggi also suggests that the words used are rather unsophisticated and could not have been from a learned Gurmukh like Bhai Sahib. Further speculation is cast by the fact that the letter was never heard of in the 18th or 19th centuries and its appearance is only a mid 20th century phenomenon.

Resources

1897 Report on the Dasam Granth Findings (Punjabi) Pt.1 of 4

1897 Report on the Dasam Granth Findings (Punjabi) Pt.2 of 4

1897 Report on the Dasam Granth Findings (Punjabi) Pt.3 of 4

1897 Report on the Dasam Granth Findings (Punjabi) Pt.4 of 4

References

• Macauliffe, M.A (1909). The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus Sacred Writings and Authors. Low Price Publications. ISBN 8175361328.
• Singh, Khushwant (1963). A History of the Sikhs: 1469-1839 Vol.1 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195673085.
• Singh, Dalip (1999). Sikhism in the Words of the Guru. Lok Sahit Prakashan. ISBN B0000CPD3S.
• Singh, Dr.Gopal (1998). A History of the Sikh People. Allied Publishers. ISBN 8170231396.
• Singh, Daljeet (August 1994). "Dasam Granth - A Historical Study". The Sikh Review ': .
• Singh, Jagjit (August 1994). "Fictional Identity of 'Dasam Granth'". The Sikh Review ': .
• Loehlin, C.H (1971). The Granth of Guru Gobind Singh and The Khalsa Brotherhood. Lucknow Publishing House. ISBN.

External Links

• Read the Dasam Granth
• Gobind Sadan Institute