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<p class="C1">&#65279PARAM&#256RTHA, a combination of <i>param</i>, i.e. the highest or the supreme, and <i>artha</i>, i.e. meaning or objective or purpose, is, in literature, the title generally applied to a work of exposition of a scriptural text. Unlike <i>&#7789&#299k&#257</i> which deals with the text in an elaborate and comprehensive way, the <i>param&#257rtha</i>, in contradistinction, refers only to the inner or central meaning of the text.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	In Sikh exegetical literature, the <i>param&#257rtha</i> tradition goes back to the Janam S&#257kh&#299s, the first-ever written accounts of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's life, which also contain elaborations and expositions of some of his compositions. The mode became an integral part of the hagiographical works of So&#7693h&#299 Manohar D&#257s Miharb&#257n (1581-1640), <i>Poth&#299 Sach Kha&#7751&#7693</i> and other writings of the family (<i>Poth&#299 Harj&#299</i>, and <i>poth&#299 Chaturbhuj</i>).It was presumed that the true meaning of the Gur&#363's hymns could be explained or understood only by placing them in the contexts in which they had been or could have been uttered. Thus a possible situation or setting befitting a hymn was conceived and in reference to it the <i>param&#257rtha</i> or meaning of the Gur&#363's words explained. The better known <i>param&#257rthas</i> that have come down from this school are those of <i>Japu, Pa&#7789&#7789&#299, Oa&#7749k&#257r, Siddha Go&#7779&#7789i and B&#257ra M&#257h&#257. Param&#257rtha</i> in Sikh letters gave place to <i>&#7789&#299k&#257</i>, annotation and commentary which gained vogue in the nineteenth century.</p>
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1">T&#257ran Si&#7749gh, <i>Gurb&#257&#7751&#299 d&#299&#257&#7749 Vi&#257khi&#257 Pran&#257l&#299&#257&#7749</i>. Patiala, 1980<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">T&#257ran Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR>
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