ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>POTH&#298 SACH KHA&#7750&#7692</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 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">&#65279<i>POTH&#298 SACH KHA&#7750&#7692</i>, by So&#7693h&#299 Miharb&#257n (also written as Miharv&#257n),is the first of the six <i>poth&#299s</i> or volumes which are said to have comprised the first detailed <i>janam s&#257kh&#299</i> or biography of Gur&#363 N&#257nak. So&#7693h&#299 Miharb&#257n (1581-1640) was the son of B&#257b&#257 Prith&#299 Chand and grandson of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s, N&#257nak IV. Of the six <i>poth&#299s</i> he is believed to have written only three are extant today. They are <i>Poth&#299 Sach Kha&#7751&#7693, Poth&#299 Harij&#299</i> and <i>Chaturbhuj Poth&#299. Poth&#299 Sach Kha&#7751&#7693</i> is available in manuscript form, both individually and bound together with the other two <i>poth&#299s</i>. Gur&#363 N&#257nak Dev University, Amritsar, has a manuscript copy of <i>Poth&#299 Sach Kha&#7751&#7693</i> (accession No 83; undated) and another of all the three <i>poth&#299s</i> bound together (accession No. 954). The Sikh History Research Department of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, also has a manuscript copy (accession No. 927) of the three <i>poth&#299s</i> bound together. Another manuscript copy existed in the Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar, which got lost in the cataclysmic events of 1984. The manuscript at the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, is a copy made in 1885 Bk/AD1828 from another manuscript bearing 1837 Bk/ AD) 1780 as its date, whereas the one at Gur&#363 N&#257nak Dev University, Amritsar (accession No. 954) is a copy dated 1837 Bk/AD 1780. The first manuscript of these <i>poth&#299s</i> came to light when <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, acquired it. The manuscript was then edited and published (1962) in two volumes under the title <i>Janam S&#257kh&#299 Sr&#299 Gur&#363 N&#257nak Dev J&#299</i>, with a lengthy introduction bringing out its literary, historical, linguistic and exegetical significance.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The colophon at the end of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College manuscript states that the six <i>poth&#299s</i> together comprised 575 <i>go&#7779&#7789is</i>. The <i>Poth&#299 Sach Kha&#7751&#7693</i>, which originally had 167 <i>go&#7779&#7789is</i>, has here a total of 153 : the fact of the loss of <i>go&#7779&#7789is</i> was noted by the copyist as well. Maybe, they had been lost by the time the manuscript reached him. The colophon does not give any date of composition of the first copy of <i>Poth&#299 Sach Kha&#7751&#7693</i>, though this information is available about the other two volumes, <i>Poth&#299 Harij&#299</i> and <i>Chaturbhuj Poth&#299</i>, which, according to the copyist were completed in 1707 Bk/AD 1650 and Bk1708/AB 1651, respectively. Evidetldy, <i>Pothi Sach Kha&#7751&#7693</i> which comprises as much matter as the other two put together, might have taken two to three years to complete. According to Harij&#299, <i>Go&#7779&#7789 Sr&#299 Satgur&#363 Miharb&#257n J&#299 k&#299</i>, the <i>go&#7779&#7789is</i> pertaining to all the Gur&#363s and Bhaktas, were composed during the lifetime of Miharb&#257n. The copyist seems to suggest that the basic or original copy of these <i>poth&#299s</i> was prepared at Muhammad&#299pur at the behest of Har&#299j&#299 and Chaturbhuj and that the whole corpus comprised discourses given by Miharb&#257n and put to pen by one Keshod&#257s Br&#257hma&#7751 (<i>vachani sr&#299 gur&#363 miharv&#257n de likh&#257&#299 j&#299 likh&#299 bh&#257&#299 kesod&#257s br&#257hmanu sevaku Gur&#363 d&#257...gul&#257m chatur bhoj k&#257...gur&#363 de hukam n&#257li poth&#299 sodh&#299</i>).</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Pi&#257r Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>&#256di S&#257kh&#299&#257&#7749</i>. Ludhiana, 1983<BR> <li class="C1"> A Critical Survey of Seventeenth Century Punjabi Prose" (unpublished thesis). Chandigarh, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> McLeod, W.H., <i>Guru N&#257nak and the Sikh Religion</i>. Oxford, 1968<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Pi&#257r Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>