|
|
|
| Free E-magazine |
| Subscribe to our Free E-Magazine on Literature. |
| Learn More |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Home > Regional Literature > Punjabi Literature > Contribution of Sikh Gurus to Literature
| |
| | Contribution of Sikh Gurus to Literature
| |
| |
There follows a short chronology of ten Sikh Gurus:
Guru Nanak Dev Ji - (1469-1539) The founder of Sikhism who preached the brotherhood of man and equality of sexes. He travelled over vast distances including India, Tibet, Shri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, teaching his message of peace and love. He was a prolific poet who composed hymns and other compositions, which became the basis of Adi Granth.
A great poet and founder of a new religion who saw the invasion of Punjab by Baber, the first mogul king, and misery of his people as a result. He took up poetry to give a voice of protest against this cruel fate of Punjab. He championed the cause of the weak, the poor and women, and incorporated into his verses a new innovation of poetical form and expression.
He composed verses of great beauty about divinity; the human relationship with God and the salvation of individuals through philosophical teaching, which, though simple in appearance, spoke of great profundity. His composition Japji Sahib gives the essence of his teachings and is set in vigorous verses. It is used by the faithful as their daily meditation.
Guru Angad Dev Ji - (1539-1552) The guru who devised a new alphabet of Gurmukhi, thus giving people an identity, a faith and the beginnings of a new Punjabi sensibilty.
Guru Amar Das Ji - (1552-1574) He condemned and demolished the practice of Sati (widow burning) and divided Punjab into 22 districts of Sikh faith, appointing a learned preacher as the head of each.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji - (1581-1606) He organised Sikhism into a fresh mission and stated that no field of life whether temporal, social or political was to be excluded from the operation of mystic venerations and the divine light. He was the first Guru to be tortured by the Mogul Emperors of India and was later executed. He compiled Adi Granth as the sole scriptural authority for the Sikhs.
Guru Teg Bahadur - (1664-1675) This was a period when there was wholesale forced conversion of Hindus to Islam. The Pundits from all over India approached him for spiritual guidance. He challenged the Mogul emperor Aurangzeb and was tried and beheaded for championing the cause of the Hindus.
Guru Gobind Singh - (1675 -1708) The great warrior poet who founded the Khalsa panth and gave Sikhs their distinctive dress code.
His writings have universal appeal touching the tender strings of the heart and arousing courage for a life of purposeful action.
He wrote his Zafarnama in chaste Persian to the Mogul king Aurangzeb, reminding him of the teachings of the Quran, as opposed to plunders of his army against the weak and destitute of India.
Dasam Granth is anthology of his writings, a voluminous book of 1066 pages in gurmukhi. He gave Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs, its final form as a scriptural authority for the people to follow. He was the last guru of the Sikhs.
He is the perfect example of manhood, highly educated, chivalrous and generous in character. His mission was to transcend sectarianism, as he considered God as beyond religions and divisions of mankind, and thought castes, colours and nationalities meaningless.
| |
| |
|
