ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SR&#298 GUR PRAT&#256P S&#362RAJ GRANTH</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>SR&#298 GUR PRAT&#256P S&#362RAJ GRANTH</i>, Bh&#257&#299 Santokh Si&#7749gh's monumental work in Braj verse portraying in comprehensive detail the lives of the Ten Gur&#363s of the Sikh faith and the career of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur. Besides being an historical narrative of great significance, it is an outstanding creation in the style epic, and is the most voluminous of all poetic compositions in Hindi/Punjabi literature. Its language is Braj Bh&#257&#7779&#257 which was the literary Hindi of that time though its script is Gurmukh&#299. Notwithstanding certain drawbacks which scholars with training in modern historiography may point out, it remains the most valuable source book on Sikh history of the period of the Gur&#363s and, indeed, on the very roots of the entire Sikh tradition. For the massive flow of its poetry, the vast range of its figures and images and for the abundance of detail, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth, S&#363raj Prak&#257sh</i> in shorter, popular form, is worthy to rank with the classics in this genre.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The title of the main work carries a symbolic meaning summed up in the cosmic metaphor of <i>s&#363raj</i>, i.e. the sun. The poet himself explains, "As the sun rises, the darkness of the night vanishes, thieves and <i>&#7789hugs</i> hide themselves, owls and bats go to slumber and the stars disappear, so with the advent of the Gur&#363s, the rays of their spiritual light spread all around dispelling the darkness of ignorance."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The work is divided into two parts. The first, <i>Sr&#299 Gur N&#257nak Prak&#257sh</i> in two sections, is the story of the life of Gur&#363 N&#257nak. The second, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj</i> proper, is divided into portions, <i>rut</i> (season), according to the twelve signs of the zodiac, sub-divided into chapters called <i>a&#7749&#347u</i> (rays). In the <i>Sr&#299 Gur N&#257nak Park&#257sh</i> portion, the style of the narrative tends to be more elaborate, with many a stanza given to homage to the Gur&#363s, the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib and to the patron deities of learning. The latter part, which deals with the lives of succeeding nine Gur&#363s and Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur, contains 51,829 verse pieces in 22 cantos. The expression here is less rhetoric. Both the parts are further sub-divided into numerous sections according to the episodes narrated, each named after the sun's course, viz. the twelve zodaical signs, the six seasons and the two solstices (winter and summer solstices) which in turn comprise 1151 sunbeams, each one comprising a chapter. The phrase and imagery in both the parts of the book generally require expert explanation. This has been provided, painstakingly and exhaustively, by Bh&#257&#299 V&#299r Si&#7749gh in a 14 volume annotated edition brought out in 1927-35. Bh&#257&#299 V&#299r Si&#7749gh has also added notes where necessary.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It is usual for <i>gi&#257n&#299s</i> (learned scholars) to hold serial discourses on the text of <i>S&#363raj Prak&#257sh</i> in <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i>, normally in the afternoons or evenings.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Jai Bhagw&#257n Goel<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>