Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 5.djvu/13

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LIFE OF GURU GOBIND SINGH, THE TENTH AND LAST GURU^[1]

Chapter I

An account of the early years of Guru Gobind Rai has already been given in the life of Guru Teg Bahadur. Guru Gobind Rai, after his father's death, continued with even more diligence than before to prepare himself for his great mission. He procured a supply of sharp-pointed arrows from Lahore, and practised archery with great industry. The Guru's principal companions and bodyguard at

↑ The main authorities for the life of Guru Gobind Singh are the Vichitar Nāfak, or Wonderful Drama, composed by the Guru himself; the Gur Bilās, by Bhāi Sukha Singh; and the Sūraj Parkdāsh, by Bhāi Santokh Singh.
The Vichitar Nātak is a metrical composition divided into fourteen chapters, and written in archaic Hindi with a large admixture of Sanskrit in the Gurumukhi character. The date is probably about A. D. 1692.
Bhāi Sukha Singh, the author of the Gur Bilās, was born in A. D. 1766 in Anandpur, where Guru Gobind Singh long had his residence. He became a pupil of Bhāis Bhagwān Singh and Thākur Singh, and was subsequently a gyāni or expounder of the Granth Sāhib at Kesgarh, where the tenth Guru first administered his baptism. Bhāi Sukha Singh completed the Gur Bilās in A. D. 1797, and died in A. D. 1838. His work is also in old Hindi in the Gurumukhi character.
The author has also consulted with advantage Bhāi Gyān Singh's Panth Parkāsh.
There is a book called the Sau Sākhi which professes to be a conversation between Sāhib Singh and Gurbakhsh Singh on the sayings and doings of the tenth Guru. It is held in high estimation by the Kūkas—followers of the late Bhāi Rām Singh of Bhaini, in the Ludhiāna district of the Panjāb—and is relied on by them as the main authority for their heresy. Santokh Singh sometimes gives Bhāi Gurbakhsh Singh's communications to Sāhib Singh as the basis of his history of the Gurus from the time of Guru Angad, but he makes no mention of the Sau Sākhi. There appears nothing to establish its authenticity.

[1] The main authorities for the life of Guru Gobind Singh are the Vichitar Nāfak, or Wonderful Drama, composed by the Guru himself; the Gur Bilās, by Bhāi Sukha Singh; and the Sūraj Parkdāsh, by Bhāi Santokh Singh.
The Vichitar Nātak is a metrical composition divided into fourteen chapters, and written in archaic Hindi with a large admixture of Sanskrit in the Gurumukhi character. The date is probably about A. D. 1692.
Bhāi Sukha Singh, the author of the Gur Bilās, was born in A. D. 1766 in Anandpur, where Guru Gobind Singh long had his residence. He became a pupil of Bhāis Bhagwān Singh and Thākur Singh, and was subsequently a gyāni or expounder of the Granth Sāhib at Kesgarh, where the tenth Guru first administered his baptism. Bhāi Sukha Singh completed the Gur Bilās in A. D. 1797, and died in A. D. 1838. His work is also in old Hindi in the Gurumukhi character.
The author has also consulted with advantage Bhāi Gyān Singh's Panth Parkāsh.
There is a book called the Sau Sākhi which professes to be a conversation between Sāhib Singh and Gurbakhsh Singh on the sayings and doings of the tenth Guru. It is held in high estimation by the Kūkas—followers of the late Bhāi Rām Singh of Bhaini, in the Ludhiāna district of the Panjāb—and is relied on by them as the main authority for their heresy. Santokh Singh sometimes gives Bhāi Gurbakhsh Singh's communications to Sāhib Singh as the basis of his history of the Gurus from the time of Guru Angad, but he makes no mention of the Sau Sākhi. There appears nothing to establish its authenticity.

[1]