ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PREM SUM&#256RG</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>PREM SUM&#256RG</i>, lit. the true way to love (<i>prem</i>=love; <i>su</i>=good or true; <i>m&#257rag</i>=path ) is an anonymous work in old Punjabi evoking a model of Sikh way of life and of Sikh society. Written probably in the eighteenth century, it is a kind of <i>rahitn&#257m&#257</i> attempting to prescribe norms of behaviour, religious as well as social, private as well as public, for members of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Panth. It also provides a comprehensive model of Sikh polity with details concerning civil and military administration. Although known to earlier Sikh scholars, it was published for the first time in 1953 by the Sikh History Society, Amritsar, edited with an elaborate introduction by Bh&#257&#299 Ra&#7751dh&#299r Si&#7749gh, who accidentally in 1940 came by a partly mutilated manuscript, which he revised with the help of another manuscript preserved in the Punjab Public Library, Lahore. A second edition was brought out by New Book Company, Jalandhar, in 1965.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The work is divided into ten <i>dhi&#257os</i> (chapters) and each <i>dhi&#257o</i> is sub-divided into several <i>bachans</i> (utterances or topics). Chapter I opens with what may be called a prologue. It is in the form of an artistic device recalling the beginning of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's <i>Bachitra N&#257&#7789ak</i> where God addresses the Gur&#363 on the purpose for which he was being sent into the world of the mortals. That was to expunge evil and promote virtue. Following this mode, the author of <i>Prem Sum&#257rag</i> invests the code of conduct he is enunciating with divine sanction and intimates how important it was for the Sikhs to abide by it to realize the object for which the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 was created by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The daily routine prescribed for a Sikh consists in getting up early in the morning, taking a bath, reciting <i>Japu</i> and <i>J&#257p</i> five times in the morning, <i>J&#257pu</i> and <i>J&#257p</i> at noon, <i>Sodar, J&#257pu</i>, and <i>J&#257p</i> in the evening and, readings from the <i>Bachitra N&#257tak</i> and <i>K&#299rtan Sohil&#257</i> before going to bed. The stress is on constant remembrance of God, on honest work, mutual help and love. A Sikh must shun flirtation and adultery, greed, anger, theft, egocentricity, speaking ill of others, falsehood and even truth that harms others. He must always keep the arms by his side, work for his living, be hospitable, address fellow Sikhs as 'Si&#7749gh j&#299,' and resign himself, in all situations, to the Will of the Almighty. The book also lays down the method of <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 initiation and principles of social behaviour (3); rituals to be observed at child birth (4); rules regarding the selection of life partners, the age for marriage, permitting a widow to remarry (5); the kind of food a Sikh should partake of and the kind , especially intoxicants, that he must avoid, laying special emphasis on cleanliness (6); the dress and ornaments a Sikh should wear, the occupations he should pursue and those he must forbear from (7). Truth telling is prized most. He who perjures his oath shall "into the dark pit of hell be cast." He who renders false witness sins. Even kings cannot claim exemption from these moral norms.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Chapter VII describes death rites. The seventh <i>bachan</i> of this chapter says : "Do not cry; do not lament, do not abjure sleeping on beds; accept(His) <i>hukam</i> as true and be resigned. Do not attend the funeral of a <i>masand</i> or of the followers of <i>masands</i>, do not mix with them or with those Sikhs who observe tonsure. Feel not so restrained in respect of others, be they Hind&#363 or Musalm&#257n....&#8222</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Chapter VIII contains the author's views regarding Sikh polity. According to him, the ideal form of Sikh state is monarchy. Power was to be vested not in the Panth as a whole, but in a single ruler assisted by a sagacious minister. There were to be other pious and learned advisory councillors. The King, however, enjoyed absolute authority, without any check or restraint except for the voice of his own conscience. The foremost duty of the ruler was in fact to safeguard his own authority and to be always prepared to smother any challenge to it. The whole scheme of administration was drawn up on the model of medieval feudalism with its <i>mansabd&#257r&#299</i> and <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257r&#299</i> systems. The king, however, was personally to supervise the administration of justice. He must be accessible to all his subjects, and his decisions must be impartial and independent of any considerations of belief or religion. At the same time, he was to remember that he owed special responsibility to the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Panth. Gurmukh&#299 (Punjabi) was to be the official language of the State and all Sikh children were to be given instruction in the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 <i>rahit</i> or code of conduct. For the author the ideal Sikh State is an absolute, but benevolent, monarchy which points to the possibility of the work having been written after Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh had occupied Lahore in 1799. The oldest MS. of <i>Prem Sum&#257rag</i> so far discovered is dated 1801.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Chapter IX deals with miscellaneous matters such as rules of inheritance and distribution of property, debts and interest rate, slaves, animals, gardens and agricultural land. The last chapter may be regarded as an epilogue. It propounds the realization of <i>sahaj jog</i> (state of equipoise and contentment) as the ideal of human life. The path of <i>sahaj</i> is the most easy and at the same time the most difficult one. The seeker of <i>sahaj</i> must equip himself with <i>d&#257y&#257</i> (compassion), <i>sev&#257</i> (service), <i>bh&#257o</i> (love) and <i>bhagat&#299</i> (fervent devotion to God). In sum, complete submission to God's Will and indifference to both pain and pleasure was the essence of the "way of love."</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1">.Grewal, J.S., "Prem Sumarg : a Theory of Sikh Social Order," in <i>Proceedings Punjab History Conference</i>. Patiala,1965<BR> <li class="C1"> Mohan Singh, <i>Introduction to Punjabi Literature</i>. Amritsar, 1951<BR> <li class="C1"> Teja Singh, <i>The Religion of the Sikh Gurus</i>. Amritsar, 1957<BR> <li class="C1"> Nripinder Singh, <i>The Sikh Moral Tradition</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Park&#257sh Si&#7749gh Jamm&#363<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>