ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>CHA&#7750&#7692&#298 CHARITRA</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="CHAF *,CHARITRA"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279CHA&#7750&#7692&#298 CHARITRA, title of two compositions by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh in his <i>Dasam Granth</i>, the Book of the Tenth Master, describing in Braj verse the exploits of goddess Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 or Durg&#257. One of these compositions is known as <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 Charitra Ukti Bil&#257s</i> whereas the second has no qualifying extension to its title except in the manuscript of the <i>Dasam Granth</i> preserved in the tosh&#257<u>kh</u>&#257n&#257 at Ta<u>kh</u>t Sr&#299 Harimandar S&#257hib at Pa&#7789n&#257, which is designated <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 Charitra Tramb&#299 Mah&#257tam</i>. The former work is divided into eight cantos, the last one being incomplete, and comprises 233 couplets and ' quatrains, employing seven different metres, with Savaiyy&#257 and Dohar&#257 predominating. The latter, also of eight cantos, contains 262 couplets and quatrains, mostly employing Bhuja&#7749g-pray&#257t and Ras&#257val measures. In the former, the source of the story mentioned is <i>Satsa&#299</i> or <i>Durg&#257 Saptasat&#299</i> which is a portion of <i>M&#257rka&#7751&#7693eya-pur&#257&#7751a</i>, from chapters 81 to 94. There is no internal evidence to confirm the source of the story in the latter work, and although some attribute it to <i>Dev&#299 Bh&#257gavat P&#363ra&#7751a (skandh</i> 5, chapters 2 to 35), a closer study of the two texts points towards one source, i. e. <i>M&#257rka&#7751&#7693eya-pur&#257&#7751a</i>. Both the works were composed at Anandpur S&#257hib, sometime before AD 1698, the year when the <i>Bachitra N&#257&#7789ak</i> was completed. The concluding lines of the last canto of <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 Charitra Ukti Bil&#257s</i> as included in the <i>Dasam Granth</i> manuscript preserved at Pa&#7789n&#257, however, mention 1752 Bk / AD 1695 as the year of the composition of this work.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In these compositions, Cha&#7751&#7693&#299, the goddess of <i>Mark&#257&#7751&#7693eya-pur&#257&#7751a</i>, takes on a more dynamic character. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh reoriented the old story imparting to the exploits of Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 a contemporary relevance. The <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 Charitra Ukti Bil&#257s</i> describes, in a forceful style, the battles of goddess Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 with a number of demon leaders, such as K&#257i&#7789abha, Mahikh&#257sur (Mahi&#7779&#257sur), Dh&#363mra and Lochana. The valiant Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 slays all of them and emerges victorious. The battle-scenes are portrayed with a wealth of poetic imagery. The last - incomplete - canto contains an invocation to God addressed as &#346iv&#257. The second <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 Charitra</i> treats of the same events and battles, though in minuter detail and in a somewhat different mode of expression. The main point of these works, along with their more popular Punjabi counterpart <i>V&#257r Sr&#299 Bh&#257gaut&#299 J&#299 K&#299</i> commonly known as <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 d&#299 V&#257r</i>, lies in their virile temper evoked by a succession of powerful and eloquent similes and by a dignified echoic music of the richest timbre. These poems were designed by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh to create among the people a spirit of chivalry and dignity.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ashta, Dharam Pal, <i>The Poetry of the Dasam Granth</i>. Delhi, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> Loehlin, C. H. , <i>The Granth of Guru Gobind Singh and the Khalsa Brotherhood</i>. Lucknow, 1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagg&#299, Ratan Si&#7749gh, <i>Dasam Granth Parichaya</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Rattan Si&#7749gh Jagg&#299<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>