ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SASTRA N&#256M M&#256L&#256 PUR&#256&#7750</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background:#EAF1F7 url('../images/gtbh.jpg') no-repeat fixed 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>SASTRA N&#256M M&#256L&#256 PUR&#256&#7750</i> is a versified composition, included in the <i>Dasam Granth</i>. It is acknowledged to be the work of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. The poem lists weapons of war, which are praised as protectors and deliverers. It runs to 1318 verses and covers 98 pages in the <i>Dasam Granth</i> (24-point 1934 edition). P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 10 is mentioned, although the usual inscription Sr&#299 Mukhv&#257k, i.e. from the Gur&#363's own lips, is absent. The <i>Sastra N&#257m M&#257l&#257</i>, was completed in mid-1687, thus making it one of the earlier compositions, possibly a prelude to the clash of arms that took place at Bha&#7749g&#257&#7751&#299 the following year.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The opening section of 27 verses is an invocation to Sr&#299 Bhagaut&#299 j&#299 for assistance. Here the Sword (<i>Bhagaut&#299</i>), is personified as God. God subdues enemies, so does the sword; therefore the sword is God, and God is the sword. In the following arsenal, the weapons of the day are presented under fanciful names, such as for the arrow, bow-roarer, skin-piercer, deer-slayer, K&#7771&#7779&#7751a finisher; for the mace, skull-smasher; for the combat-lasso, death-noose ; the gun is the enemy of the army, the tiger-foe, the enemy of treachery. Many of the weapons are listed in the form of riddles so dear to the Punjabi heart. These are often abstruse, and must be resolved in devious ways :</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For example :</p> <blockquote class="C1"> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Think hard and take the word <i>tara&#7749ga&#7751&#299</i> (stream)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; They say <i>j&#257 char</i> (grass-eater),</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then think of the word <i>n&#257ik</i> (lord),</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the end say the word <i>&#347atr&#363</i> (enemy)----</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lo ! Good friend, you have thought of the word meaning <i>tupak</i> (gun). </p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (verse 811)</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The reasoning seems to be that each thing mentioned is the enemy of its predecessor; the grass-eater is the deer (<i>j&#257</i> is what is produced by the moisture of the stream; <i>char</i> is to graze) ; the lord and master (<i>n&#257ik</i>) of the deer is the tiger; the enemy (<i>&#347atr&#363</i>) of the tiger is the gun (<i>tupak</i>).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;About 25 verses deal with swords of various types, followed by verses concerning spears and quoit (<i>chakra</i>). There are 178 verses (75-252) on the bow and arrow; on the noose, or combat-lasso, 208 (253-460) ; on the gun or musket, 858 (461-1318), indicating, possibly, an interest in the more modern weapons.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Time and again the weapons are referred to as the instruments of God's deliverance, and they are addressed as personifications of God. This is sometimes shown in their very names, as when the dagger is called <i>sri&#7779&#7789e&#347</i>, Lord of Creation. Adoration is reserved for the weapons only when they are used by the righteous. Thus, what might have been merely a gory account of destructive weapons becomes a sharpening of the moral purpose in waging war.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The language of <i>Sastra N&#257m M&#257l&#257</i> is Braj, with much lower frequency of Perso-Arabic words than in most of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's other compositions. Sanskrit vocabulary, in <i>tatsama</i> form, is in abundance. The style is fanciful, and the reader is amazed by the opulence of linguistic innovation.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Loehlin, C.H., <i>The Granth of Gur&#363 Gobind Singh and the Khalsa Brotherhood</i>. Lucknow,1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Ashta, Dharam Pal, <i>The Poetry of the Dasam Granth</i>. Delhi, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> Padam, Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Dasam Granth Darshan</i>. Patiala, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagg&#299, Rattan Si&#7749gh, <i>Dasam Granth Par&#299chaya</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Ra&#7751dh&#299r Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>&#346abad&#257rth Dasam Granth S&#257hib</i>. Patiala, 1973<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">C. H. Loehlin<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>