DASAM GRANTH

Totally confused at the Dasam Granth controversy between Prof. Darshan singh ji Khalsa & Akal Takht Sahib, I thought of understanding the Dasam Granth. As a net savy person, it was easy for me to surf the net. Therefore while surfing various sources on net, I reached sikhiwiki and found as below :

Dasam granth consists of Jaap (meditation), Akal ustat (praises of God) , Bachitar natak( autobiography of the Guru) , Chandi charitar I & II (the character of goddess Chandi) , Chandi di var (a ballad to describe goddess Durga), Gian Prabodh (the awakening of knowledge) , Chobis Avtar (24 incarnations of Vishnu) , Brahm avtar (incarnation of Brahma), Rudar avtar (incarnation of Shiv) , Shabad hazare (ten shabads), Swayyae (33 stanzas) , Khalsa mahima (the praises of the Khalsa) , Shastar nam mala ( a list of weapons) , Charitropakhyan / Triya Charitar (the character of women) , Zafarnama (epistle of victory, a letter written to Emperor Aurangzeb), & Hikayats (stories).

Charitropakhyan :

Charitropakhyan also called Triya Charitar,is a long composition of women's tales in verse, which forms over one third of the Dasam Granth, having 404 distinct chapters. A school of opinion, however, exists which asserts that Chritropakhyan and some other compositions included in the Dasam Granth are not by the Guru sahib, but by some of the poets of the Guru sahib’s Court. What is clear is that most of 404 tales give a moral message rather than being intended as a piece of actual history.

The chapters are of wondrous variety, being sensual, romantic, humourous, philosophical, valiant and entertaining. Many stories also deal with the darker side of human nature, such as incest, magic of myth, the mystical nature of legend, homosexuality, adultery, etc. These stories were collected from Punjabi folklore, Indian folklore and classical traditional texts.

They also arise from foreign sources, personal experiences of the Tenth Guru and others miscellaneous sources. Many scandalous stories floating about the society of the time, imaginary stories, urban legends etc., also found their way into Treh Chrittar. In some cases, multiple tales are mishmashed together to produce a wonderful new concoction of stories.

According to Bhai Mani Singh, who in the Bhagat Mala has said, “The Charitar acts as a warning so that the devout do not get trapped in women's intrigues and machinations.’’

In the Dasam Granth a title is given at the end of each tale. Thirty two of a total of 404 Tales are thus labelled "Tales of Intrigue." The remaining 372 Tales are labelled as "The Wiles of Women." However, while most of these are about lustful, deceitful women, there are some 74 tales of the bravery and intelligence of women. In this mixture of tales of various sorts, there are ten "moral stories" of the folly of gambling, drinking, and opium eating.

Claims that the Poets at the Guru's Court wrote sections of the Charitropakhyan :

In the early 1970s, Santokh Singh (a Sikh scholar) from Chandigarh wrote a letter to the Shromani Gurudwara Parbandak Committee (S.G.P.C.) quering the authenticity of the Dasam Granth as being of Guru Gobind Singh ji's hand.

On 3rd August 1973, he received a reply from the S.G.P.C. stating: ‘Chritter Pkhyan which are entered in the Dasam Granth, they are not the work of Guru Gobind Singh ji. They are ancient mythological stories of Hinduism.’(‘Dasam Granth Bareh Chonveh Lekh’ by Principle Harbhajan Singh, P.122-123)

The above reply was sanctioned by the then S.G.P.C. Jathedar (commander) of the Akal Takht, Sadhu Singh Bhaura, Chet Singh (Head Granthi of Golden Temple), Kirpal Singh Granthi and Sohan Singh (Granthi of Golden Temple).

Source : sikhiwiki

with best regards
B S Vohra



SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com

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