ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>T&#256R&#256 SI&#7748GH NAROTAM PA&#7750&#7692IT (1822-1891)</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="TR,SIDGH,NAROTAM,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">&#65279T&#256R&#256 SI&#7748GH NAROTAM, PA&#7750&#7692IT (1822-1891), a renowned scholar of the Nirmal&#257 school, was born in the village of K&#257lm&#257, near Q&#257d&#299&#257&#7749, in Gurd&#257spur district of the Punjab. Very little is known about his early life except that, under the influence of his father, who was a devout Sikh, he started attending religious <i>d&#299v&#257ns</i> while still very young. When he was about twenty years old, he left his village and came to the <i>&#7693er&#257</i> or hermitage of a Nirmal&#257 saint, Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh at Kur&#257l&#257, Hoshi&#257rpur district. Sant Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh initiated him into the Nirmal&#257 order and taught him the Sikh texts. For further learning T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh went to Amritsar and thence to K&#257sh&#299 (V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299) where he studied Sanskrit and Vedic literature. He spent some time at the village of N&#257d&#299&#257 in the S&#257nt&#299pur area of Bengal. The Arddha Kumbha fair in the year 1861 took him to Haridv&#257r. By then his fame as a scholar had spread far and wide, and Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Narinder Si&#7749gh (1824-1862), the ruler of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, extended his patronage to him. Accepting the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's invitation, T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh came to Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 and made the Nirmal&#257 <i>&#7693er&#257</i>, Dharam Dhuj&#257, his permanent seat. Here he immersed himself in his scholarly work. He wrote copiously and taught several groups of scholars. His most distinguished pupil was historiographer Gi&#257n&#299 Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh. After the death of Mahant R&#257m Si&#7749gh Kuber&#299&#257 in 1875, T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh was appointed Sr&#299 Mahant or the chief of the Nirmal Pañch&#257yat&#299 Akh&#257&#7771&#257 at Kankhal (Haridv&#257r), the central organization of the Nirmal&#257 sect.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Among Pa&#7751&#7693it T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh's works may be mentioned <i>V&#257higur&#363 &#346abd&#257rth</i> (1862), <i>&#7788&#299k&#257 Bhagat B&#257&#7751&#299 K&#257</i> (1872), <i>&#7788&#299k&#257 Gur&#363 Bh&#257v D&#299pik&#257</i> (1879), <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi</i> (1883), <i>Granth Sr&#299 Gurumat Nir&#7751aya S&#257gar</i> (1877), <i>&#346abda Sur Ko&#347</i> (1866), <i>Ak&#257l M&#363rati Pradar&#347an</i> (1878), <i>Gur&#363 Va&#7749s Taru Darpa&#7751</i> (1878), <i>Granth Guru Gir&#257rth Ko&#347</i> (1889), <i>Pr&#299khi&#257 Prakara&#7751</i> (1890), and <i>&#7788&#299k&#257 Sr&#299 R&#257ga</i> (1885). It is also said that he wrote a commentary on the entire Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib which seems to have been lost.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh's work can be divided into four categories-- exegetical, lexicographical, theological and doctrinal. In his exegetical and doctrinal writings, he conforms to the Nirmal&#257 school of interpretation, presenting Sikh thought from within his Vedantic orientation. He believed that the <i>gurmat</i>, doctrinally, is an amalgam of the doctrines of &#346a&#7749kara and R&#257m&#257nuja, with the exception that in <i>gurmat, bhakti</i> preponderates over <i>jñ&#257na</i> and action. He added that <i>bhakti</i> too is based on <i>jñ&#257na</i> only. He asserted that Gur&#363 N&#257nak was an incarnation of Vi&#7779&#7751&#363 and that Gur&#363 N&#257nak conformed to the path of the Vedas and did not deviate from that path anywhere except in idol-worship which he rejected firmly. He held that the <i>V&#257higur&#363</i> is another name of Vi&#7779&#7751&#363 only and it could not refer to the <i>nirgu&#7751a</i> concept of God. <i>Mukt&#299</i> in his view was a bodiless state. According to him, <i>b&#257&#7751&#299</i> included in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib was a revelation like the Veda. His expression was highly Sanskritized in the manner of the Nirmal&#257 school. He was deeply learned in the Vedic, &#346&#257stric and Pur&#257&#7751ic lore and quoted from it profusely.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh Narotam died at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 in 1891. He was given a state funeral under the orders of the ruler, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 R&#257jinder Si&#7749gh.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Shergill, Surindar Si&#7749gh, <i>Pa&#7751&#7693it T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh Narotam : J&#299van te Rachna</i>.Patiala, 1985<BR> <li class="C1"> Narotam, T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi</i>. Kankhal, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Su&#257mi, Mun&#299 Arjan Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Nirmal Pañchy&#257t&#299 Akh&#257&#7771&#257</i>. Kankhal, 1952<BR> <li class="C1"> Di&#257l Si&#7749gh, Mahant, <i>Nirmal Panth Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1953<BR> <li class="C1"> Pr&#299tam Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>Nirmal Samprad&#257i</i>. Amritsar, 1981<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Rattan Si&#7749gh Jagg&#299<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>