ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>S&#256DH&#362 SI&#7748GH PA&#7750&#7692IT (1840-1907)</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="SDHj,SIDGH,PAF IT,Person,Person"> <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">&#65279S&#256DH&#362 SI&#7748GH, PA&#7750&#7692IT (1840-1907), a schoolman of the Nirmal&#257 order, was born in the village of Saral&#299&#257&#7749, in Amritsar district, in 1840. From his very childhood, he developed an inclination for the company of holy men. This was cause of concern for his father, Sobh&#257 Si&#7749gh, and mother, Dev&#299, who feared that their son might not renounce the world and become a recluse. S&#257dh&#363 Si&#7749gh received instruction from a <i>sant</i> in his own village with whom he read the Sikh sacred texts. His thirst for knowledge eventually took him to the village of Girva&#7771&#299, in the modern district of Hoshi&#257rpur, where he joined the <i>&#7693er&#257</i> or school of Pa&#7751&#7693it Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh, a noted Nirmal&#257 scholar of the day. S&#257dh&#363 Si&#7749gh, then eighteen, resolved to give up the householder's life and dedicate himself to learning and to preaching the Sikh faith. In addition to Sikh theology, he studied Ved&#257nta and Vy&#257karana (grammar). Long years of labour under Pa&#7751&#7693it Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh made him an accomplished scholar and writer of Braj Bh&#257&#7779&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pa&#7751&#7693it S&#257dh&#363 Si&#7749gh spent most of his years at Girva&#7771&#299. For some time, he lived at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 with another celebrated Nirmal&#257 theologian, Pa&#7751&#7693it T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh Narotam, who had also been a pupil of Pa&#7751&#7693it Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh. It is said that, at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, he became the successor of Pa&#7751&#7693it T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh after the latter's death in 1948 Bk/AD1891. He was also the Shr&#299 Mahant, Abbot Senior, of the Nirmal Pañch&#257yat&#299 Akh&#257&#7771&#257 from 1905 till his death in 1907.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Two of Pa&#7751&#7693it S&#257dh&#363 Si&#7749gh's works which have survived are <i>Shr&#299 Mukhv&#257kya Sidh&#257nt Jyot&#299</i> and <i>Guru Sikhy&#257 Prabh&#257kar</i>. Both of these were lithographed in Chasm&#257-i-N&#363r Press, Lahore, in 1950 Bk/AD 1893, in a single volume, under the title <i>Guru Sikhy&#257 Prabh&#257kar</i>. The volume has, in addition to the Vigy&#257pana notice or introduction, one small chapter containing eulogy of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib and another in praise of Gur&#363 as accepted in Sikh tradition and in praise of his teacher, Pa&#7751&#7693it Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh. Then begins the first book <i>Shr&#299 Mukhv&#257kya Sidh&#257nt Jyot&#299</i>, which contains 1,100 difficult and obscure words selected by the author from the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib with their meanings given in Punjabi, or S&#257dh Bh&#257&#7779&#257 mixed with Punjabi. The vocables are arranged in alphabetical order of the first two letters of the words.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Next comes the main book <i>Guru Sikhy&#257 Prabh&#257kar</i>, which, much larger in size, consists of five sections. The work, as the title indicates, deals with the teachings of the Sikh Gur&#363s. A verse from the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib or the Dasam Granth, containing some principle of Sikhism or a point of instruction, is set down or explained in detail, sometimes with further textual quotation. The format, in which the original verses are at places printed in separate lines in older letters and at others as part of the running text, is far from clear. Further, the language, highly stylized, is too difficult for an average reader.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Part one of the book deals with subjects like the qualities of a <i>gursikh</i> (Sikh way of life), Divine will, and omniscience of God. In addition, moral values such as humility and selflessness are dilated upon, with appropriate quotation from the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Part two treats of metaphysical themes such as Brahman and <i>&#257tman(&#257tm&#257</i>, in Punjabi). There are additionally sub-sections on the qualities of a true yog&#299 and the order of <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. Part three is a large section, containing 212 sub-sections, each discussing a separate subject like N&#257m, various forms of <i>bhakt&#299</i>, grace and Advaita. Part four discusses the nature of Ultimate Reality according to Sikh thought. An important subject devoted to a whole section is the concept of <i>haumai</i> (self-centredness). The fifth part treats of subjects like <i>sahaj</i> (equipoise), <i>sahaj sam&#257dh&#299</i> (mystic trance, and contentment. An index of the subjects, dealt with in different sections, is given at the beginning. Pa&#7751&#7693it S&#257dh&#363 Si&#7749gh freely mixed verse with prose in his exposition. His poetry is in chaste Braj Bh&#257&#7779&#257, whereas his prose is mostly in S&#257dh Bh&#257&#7779&#257, overlaid with Sanskrit vocabulary.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Pr&#299tam Si&#7749gh, Mahant, <i>Nirmal Panth Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1953<BR> <li class="C1"> Di&#257l Si&#7749gh, Mahant, <i>Nirmal Panth Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1953<BR> <li class="C1"> Ganesh&#257 Si&#7749gh, Mahant, <i>Nirmal Bh&#363shan arth&#257t Itih&#257s Nirmal Bhekh</i>. Amritsar, 1957<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdev Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>