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The Dasam Granth or Dasven Patshah Da Granth is a religious text containing many of the texts attributed to the tenth of the Sikh gurus, Guru Gobind Singh. It is primarily in Braj Bhasha with Avadhi, Hindi, Punjabi and Persian compositions too written almost all in Gurmukhi script, except, Fatehnama, Zafar Nama and Hikayat, which are in Persian script.[1]
The Dasam Granth is a separate religious text from the Guru Granth Sahib.[2]
Some compositions of the Dasam Granth such as Jaap Sahib, Tav-Prasad Savaiye and Benti Chaupai are part of the Nitnem or daily prayers and also part of the Amrit Sanchar or baptism ceremony.
There are three major views on the authorship of the Dasam Granth:[3]
In his religious court at Anandpur Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh had employed 52 poets, who translated several classical texts into Braj Bhasha. Most of the writing compiled at Anandpur Sahib was lost while the Guru's camp was crossing the Sirsa river before the Battle of Chamkaur. There were copiers available at Guru's place who made several copies of writings. Later, Bhai Mani Singh compiled all the available works under the title Dasam Granth. The traditional scholars claim that all the works in Dasam Granth were composed by the Guru himself, on the basis of Bhai Mani Singh's letter. However, some others dispute this claim, saying that the some of the compositions included in Dasam Granth (such as Charitropakhyan) are "out of tune" with other Sikh scriptures, and must have been composed by other poets.[4]
Following is in brief about Historical books after Demise of Guru Gobind Singh which mention that Compositions in present Dasam Granth was written by Guru Gobind Singh:
The length of the modern printed version of Dasam Granth has 1,428 pages[10][11]
It contains Jaap Sahib, the Akal Ustat or praise of the Creator and the Bachittar Natak, which gives an account of the Guru's parentage, his divine mission and the battles in which he had been engaged.
Next come three abridged compositions of the wars of Durga, called Chandi, with demons (Chandi Chritras: Chandi Chritra I, Chandi Chritra II, Chandi di Var).
Following this is the Gyan Parbodh, or awakening of knowledge; the Shabad Hazare; quatrains called sawayyas, which are hymns in praise of God and reprobation of idolatry and hypocrisy; the Shastar Nam Mala, a list of offensive and defensive weapons used in the Guru's time with special reference to the attributes of the Creator; the Kabiovach Bainti Chaupai, which will "absolve the suffering, pain or fear of the person, who will even once recite this Bani"; the Zafarnamah, containing the Tenth Guru's epistle to the emperor Aurangzeb; and hikayats, Persian language metrical tales.
Some birs also include following compositions:
The compositions within Dasam Granth plays huge role in Sikh Liturgy, which is prescribed by Sikh Rehat Maryada:
Chandi di Var is important prayer among Nihang Sikhs.
The Dasam Granth is written in rhymed poetry. It was designed to be heard, so there is considerable repetition, and a variety of meters to hold the attention. The language of most of the Dasam Granth is largely Braj Bhasha veering towards Sanskrit at one extreme and simple colloquial Hindi at the other, although conventional Hindi is used marginally. The Braj dialect is a variety of medieval Hindi with a mixture of Sanskrit and Arabic words. The Zafarnamah and the Hikayats are in Persian using Gurmukhi characters and several passages in other works are in Punjabi. The 'author(s)' not only used this melange of languages but also coined words half Arabic half Sanskrit. Some of this kind of writing has great power and beauty.
From A Short History of the Sikhs, Ganda Singh & Teja Singh:
"In Hindi he developed a style, which for martial cadence, variety of form and richness of imagination...has remained unsurpassed since his times. In lines ranging from monosyllabic verse to long and multiplied swayyas and kabits, we seem to hear the torrential flow of hill streams or the galloping sweep of cavalry on the march. His intellect quivers in emotion and breaks out against superstition and hypocrisy into humour, irony or banter. His emotion...is raised to the highest pitch of ecstasy when he communes with God."
From Sikhan de Raj di Vithya (History of the Sikh Rule):
"This Granth is very difficult, and is composed in the Gurmukhi dialect in several kinds of verses. In it there is the description of several weapons of warfare, the rules of warfare, the shortcomings in the character of men and women, and some information on worship and religious knowledge. The descriptions of scenes of battle are couched in extremely vigorous staccato rhyme often reduced to lines of one word each. The battles waged by Chandi encounters with the hill chiefs at Bhangani and Nadaun are among the most stirring that exist.
Giani Gian Singh claims that the full copy of the Dasam Granth was in possession of the Budha Dal, an 18th-century Sikh army, at the Battle of Kup and was lost during the Second Sikh Holocaust (1762)[16]
The earliest surviving full manuscript of the Dasam Granth dates to 1713,[12] although it appears not to have been publicly available. In 1721, Mata Sundri commissioned Bhai Mani Singh with compiling a volume of the Dasam Granth.[17] He completed his manuscript after collecting and sifting through material collected from a number of Sikhs. "Minor textual variation" exist between the early manuscripts.[12] During the 1890s the text was standardized into its current two-volume 1,428 page print version.[12]
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