Professor Darshan Singh Khalsa

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Professor (Prof.) Darshan Singh Khalsa
ProfessorDarshanSingh.jpg
Full Name : Prof. Darshan Singh Khalsa
Birth : 1940 [1]
Parents :
Spouse : Bibi Manjit Kaur
Children :
Death :
Other Info: Presently living Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Prof. Darshan Singh Khalsa (also referred to as Singh Sahib - his title when in seva at Shri Akal Takhat) is a well known Sikh keertani and a prolific author. An ex-Jathedar of the Shri Akal Takhat Sahib, he is married to Bibi Manjit Kaur. He currently resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As to his history, searching (Professor Darshan Singh Khalsa) on the internet, produces 150,000 articles mainly concerned with news articles, media or discussions on forums. Sangat usually refers to him as professor due to his teaching style of the Guru Granth Sahib ji.

Introduction

Prof. Darshan Singh Khalsa was born in November of 1940 in the village of Sur Singha of erstwhile Punjab. He has been doing keertan and katha sewa for the past 40 years. He remained at seva of Shri Akal Takhat Sahib during one of the most turbulent times of the 20th century for Sikhs, from 1987 - 1990. [1]

During the partition of India when West Pakistan was carved out of the Punjab, the threat of violence forced thousands of Sikh and Hindu families to leave their ancestral homes. Prof. Darshan Singh Khalsa was forced to move to India when he was eight years old. His grandfather was a great scholar and ragi who served as bhai sahib's teacher and guide. As a young child he was taught by his grandfather to memorize a multitude of topics and writings; such as Gurbani kirtan, sakhi's and katha. [2]

By the time he was he was nine years old, he had done his first kirtan. Over time, as sangat began to enjoy his style of kirtan he became inspired to learn more. [2]

Kirtan Seva & Philosophy

Darshan ragi-2.jpg

At a very young age he began to memorize gurbani quickly. He seemed to know so much that one could hear a new shabad from him daily without him having to reference the Guru Granth Sahib ji. Eventually, based on his abilities and level of interest in Gurbani, kirtan and katha became his way of life. His goal, at this point in his life, became to fully comprehend the Guru Granth Sahib ji, not only to have memorized it.

[2]

During the period of 1984 he realized that Gurbani taught him to stand up for the panth. He was bestowed the seva of Jathedar of Shri Akal Takhat because he had a dynamic voice and only required the authoritative foundation for expressing the panth's needs. His priority during that period was to maintain the foundation of the Guru Granth Sahib ji and that of the panth. [2]

He eventually stepped down from that seva; his major reasons for leaving were the aggressive politics and unfair dealings that lurked within those committees. For three years of his seva, he did not ever leave the country as he knew the panth was in need. Today he believes that a conflict against panth or the Guru Granth is also his conflict. This explains why he spends half of his year in Canada and the rest in India. [2]

Guru Granth Sahib Academy

To continue his seva (to bring the message of the Guru to the panth), he realized that the use of online media would be an appropriate solution. Ggs Web Academy was created in 2004; Sukhmani Sahib and Kabir ji's Bani have been taught ever since, through the use of the website: ggsacademy.com. [2]

Having moved from Punjab to Canada he has busied himself by founding, in the first floor of the large home, the Guru Granth Sahib Academy ggsacademy.com. In a recent article featured on sikhchic.com, by the wordsmith T. Sher Singh, Singh describes his joy over finding out that the former Jathedar, raagi and Sikhi Pracharak, who he had admired for a long time, in his words, “for his spirituality and intellectual discourse has moved from Punjab, crossed the proverbial Seven Seas, and plunked himself down in a quiet rural community…”. [3] Besides teaching classes on the interpretation of bani in person and over the internet, he performs in a small hall on the first floor each friday night and saturday morning. More information can be found here. [1]

Words such as; Gem, source of inspiration, lighthouse of Sikhi, 'icon', Panth Ratan" are used to describe Prof. Darshan Singh Khalsa in the comments written in response to Singh's article. [3]

One person, who gives his name as Rajinder (from San Francisco, U.S.A.), reminds us that (after the invasion of the Harmandir Sahib in 1984) when every politician, intellectual and gyani decided to keep quiet to save themselves from persecution by the Goverment of India, Prof. Darshan Singh stood tall and sang a very emotional shabad, "Jab baan lagyo, tabe ros jagyo" , in New Delhi.

The whole article, The Gift may be read at: Sikh Chic [3]

View's on Dasam Granth (Bachitar Natak)

He is against some portions of the Dasam Granth (previously referred to as the Bachitar Natak) [4]. He says that Dasam Granth is not Guru Gobind Singh ji's Bani (Guru's Word) Cite error Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag; $2, the controversial ragi Prof Darshan Singh and claim that he had used the translation of Charitar 21 by Dr. Jodh Singh, Professor of Sikhism, Punjabi University Patiala [5]. Dr. Jodh Singh, however, has issued a statement rebutting Ragi’s claims, and criticizing him of hiding a lie with another lie [5].

It should be reminded that while doing katha at a Gurdwara in Rochester, New York, Darshan Singh had told a story which according to him appears in Charitar 21 of Dasam Granth (Bachitar Natak, where Guru Gobind Singh Ji goes to the house of a Vesva (prostitute) who tries to lure him. Guru Gobind Singh Sahib starts thinking that if he establishes a relationship with the woman then the one who will be born out of that union will be called a Bharua (pimp), and if he doesn’t, then she will shout and get him beat up by the public. According to Prof. Darshan Singh, Guru Sahib leaves his slippers and robe and starts running. On this the people gather and catch Guru Sahib. Someone gets hold of his beard; someone removes his turban and starts beating Guru Sahib with his slippers”.[6]

The above statement by Prof. Darshan Singh caused a lot of uproar in the Sikh circles who demanded immediate action by Akal Takhat Sahib. [7]

In his statement, Dr Jodh Singh clarified that nowhere in Charitar 21, Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s name is mentioned. He also clarified that the story is about a Raja who goes to a wealthy woman who is inflicted by lust and who tries to lure him. But the Raja, keeping his high morals, doesn’t relent and manages to escape. Dr Jodh Singh also clarified that nowhere in the text of Charitar 21, word Bharua or Vesva, as told by Prof. Darshan Singh, has been used. He added that it’s from the example of high morality that the Raja sets in Charitar 21 that the Sikh Panth has picked up the deadliest bajjar kurahits of the prohibition of extramarital relationship.[5]

Dr Jodh Singh also criticized Prof. Darshan Singh for his change in decision to do keertan from Dasam Granth (Bachitar Natak, when he himself was doing its keertan and prachar until recently. The following recording from Sher-E-Punjab Radio discusses this issue of Prof. Darshan Singh having done keertan from Dasam Granth (Bachitar Natak before: http://ggsacademy.com/shabadvichar/gurmattopics/dasamgranth#dec5 - 2 - Why did kirtan from 'DG' before? [8]

A few decades ago Sirdar Kapur Singh had written a historic article on Charitar 21 called ‘Kissa Roop Kaur Da’ which was published in Gurmat Parkash. In that article too he had clarified that the story in Charitar 21 is not a biographical account of Guru Sahib.[5]

Prof. Darshan Singh related that Charitar with Guru Sahib’s life, he used words like ‘Vesva’ and ‘Bharua’. These words are not present in the original version nor in any translation of that Charitar.[5]

The controversial ragi has been bestowed with an hukamnama from Akal Takhat for the stories on Guru Gobind Singh ji. [7]

His views on nitnem bani's taken from Dasam Granth (Bachitar Natak are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEBQcUp72Xw

Featured Articles

Katha & Media

  • ggsacademy.com – The website of the Guru Granth Sahib Academy, Ontario, Canada, which contains many recordings by Prof. Darshan Singh Khalsa
  • sikhnet.com – Sikhnet has some recordings by Prof. Darshan Singh Khalsa

Pictures

SinghSahib-1-.jpg SinghSahib04-1-.jpg SinghSahib05-1-.jpg

References

More Topics

Readers are invited to add any info on the following:

  • Parents
  • Education
  • Marriage
  • Lifestyle
  • Style of Narration and its Impact
  • His Foreign Trips
  • His books
  • Achievements
  • Other comments