ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SVAPAN N&#256&#7788AK</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>SVAPAN N&#256&#7788AK</i>, lit. dream play, is an allegorical poem in Braj, comprising 133 stanzas, by Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh, a leading figure in the Lahore Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257. Published in the supplement to the issue, dated 16 April 1887 of the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 A<u>kh</u>b&#257r</i>, a Punjabi newspaper of which Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh himself was the editor, the poem led to a defamation suit filed on 14 June 1887 against the author by Bed&#299 Udai Si&#7749gh, a nephew of the famed B&#257b&#257 Khem Si&#7749gh Bed&#299, leader of the rival Amritsar faction of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257. Although the author claimed that the poem was produced as a text book with the aim of improving the morals of young men as also of enriching Punjabi literature with the addition of a new category of writing, the composition clearly burlesques several of the men belonging to the Amritsar group. The plot, of the <i>Svapan N&#257&#7789ak</i> projects the archetypal war between the forces of truth and falsehood culminating in the ultimate triumph of virtue over vice. One of the protagonists of the poem is King Aha&#7749k&#257r (i.e. egotism and conceit) symbolizing R&#257j&#257 Bikram Si&#7749gh, ruler of Far&#299dko&#7789 state who was the patron of the Amritsar <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n to which one group of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 was affiliated. The princely group comprising B&#257b&#257 Khem Si&#7749gh Bed&#299, Mah&#257&#7749t Sumer Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789n&#257, Gi&#257n&#299 Badan Si&#7749gh of Far&#299dko&#7789, Gi&#257n&#299 Sant Si&#7749gh of Kap&#363rthal&#257 and others are all referred obliquely and satirically. Gi&#257n&#299 Jha&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh an employee of Far&#299dko&#7789 state, is given the appellation of Mittar Gh&#257t (Slaughterer of Friends) and Bed&#299 Udai Si&#7749gh who became the complainant in the defamation case, that of Kubudh Mrigesh (Stupid Lion). Khem Si&#7749gh Bed&#299 himself is referred to in the language of innuendo and given the name of Dambh&#299 Purohit (Hypocritical Priest). The King Aha&#7749k&#257r and his friends are pitted against Gurmukh&#299 Jan (i.e. righteous men), allegorically representing Lahore leader, Professor Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, and his friends.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The campaign is organized in accordance with a scheme hatched by Dambh&#299, the royal priest, and approved and blessed by King Aha&#7749k&#257r. As the battle begins, Badan Manohar (Body Handsome, ironical name for Gi&#257n&#299 Badan Si&#7749gh) arrays himself against Sat (truth) and Suhird (sincerity) representing Gurmukh Jan, who are assisted by two women called Bidy&#257 (knowledge) and Buddh&#299 (reason). The villain-hero flights for the annihilation of the Gurmukh Jan. According to the plan, Manmukh, translated in the court file as a Dev&#299l's disciple, was to murder the believers : Ignorance was to murder Knowledge. Likewise Folly was to thwart Reason while Kubuddh Mrigesh, the Stupid Lion, was to confound and ensnare the virtuous. The drama has its denouement in the inevitable rout of the forces of evil and the victory of the Truth, Knowledge and Reason.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A close reading of the poem, however, reveals that it has a complex matrix. It has a polemical end to serve, and here the poet's powers of caricature and lampoonery come into full play. The poem's concern with the larger issue of social and religious reform, the central thrust of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 movement, is unmistakable. In delineating his moral theme, with its personified abstractions, the poet uses a highly allusive diction bristling with puns on the names of the characters, their appearances and their habitual characteristics. The significance of the poem lies in preserving in its line some of the characters of the early days of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 and in the amusement it holds as a literary satire, almost without precedent in Punjabi literature. The defamation case decided by an English judge, W.A. Harris, is also a landmark in the cultural history of the Sikhs. While finding the complaint substantial, the judge decided to award Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh only a token punishment, obviously impressed by his learning and literary skill.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Dalj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 de Mo&#7693hi Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh J&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1951<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 Lahir</i>. Ludhiana,1974<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi,1983<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdit Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>