Sikh Intellectuals on Dasam Granth: Prof Darshan Singh, Dr Dhillion & Dalbir Singh Faridabad on Talk Show 'Reality Check' with Jasneet Singh.
It is an excellent scripture, and recited in full within Sikh gurdwaras in the contemporary era. Parts of it are popular and sacred among Sikhs, recited during Khalsa initiation and other daily devotional practices by devout Sikhs. Such compositions of the Dasam Granth include Jaap Sahib, Tav-Prasad Savaiye and Benti Chaupai which are part of the Nitnem or daily prayers and also part of the Amrit Sanchar or baptism ceremony of Khalsa Sikhs.
The Dasam Granth (Gurmukhi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ, lit. "the Book of the Tenth Guru"), also called the Dasven Patshah ka Granth, is a holy book in Sikhism with compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. It is considered as secondary to Sri Guru Granth Sahib jireligious text and a second scripture by the Panthic Sikhs. The standard edition of the text contains 1,428 pages with 17,293 verses in 18 sections. These are set in the form of hymns and poems mostly in the Braj language (Old western Hindi), with some parts in Avadhi, Punjabi, Hindi and Persian. The script is almost entirely the Gurmukhi script except for the letter of the Sikh Guru to Aurangzeb – Zafarnama, and the Hikayat in the Persian alphabet.
The Dasam Granth includes hymns, mythological tales from Hindu texts, a celebration of the feminine in the form of goddess Durga, erotic fables, an autobiography, letters to others such as the Mughal emperor, as well as reverential discussion of warriors and theology. It is a religious text, separate from the Guru Granth Sahib, one considered as Sikhism's second scripture in its history.
Professor Darshan Singh, the chief of the Akal Takht from 1986 to 1990, was excommunicated by a successor leading a group of five clerics eight years ago.
The professor, now an American citizen based in Canada, has been a vocal critic of the Dasam Granth, a collection of writings attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. He disputes its authorship, saying the compositions are grossly inconsistent with the philosophy of Guru Granth Sahib.
The Akal Takht pronounced Singh Sahib guilty of denigrating Guru Gobind Singh during a religious programme at a gurdwara in New York, a charge the scholar-singer vehemently rebutted as manipulated.
He, however, maintains portions of the Dasam Granth degrade women and promote promiscuity and idolatry.
In their ex-communication order, the jathedars commanded he be given no cooperation for any event in gurdwaras and religious congregations till he seeks forgiveness and is pardoned.
But that hasn't stopped the elderly professor from speaking and singing kirtan. Nor has it discouraged many of his ardent admirers from inviting him to gurdwara congregations from North America to Europe to India and elsewhere. Professor Singh's whirlwind participation belies his falling age.
And strangely enough, the scholar-singer gets a large audience wherever he goes despite his ‘ex-communication‘ by the now Hinduism-infested body. In this era of social media, many Sikhs of diverse age groups listen to him with rapt attention when he sings and explains the nuances of gurbani in his characteristic style.
It is an excellent scripture, and recited in full within Sikh gurdwaras in the contemporary era. Parts of it are popular and sacred among Sikhs, recited during Khalsa initiation and other daily devotional practices by devout Sikhs. Such compositions of the Dasam Granth include Jaap Sahib, Tav-Prasad Savaiye and Benti Chaupai which are part of the Nitnem or daily prayers and also part of the Amrit Sanchar or baptism ceremony of Khalsa Sikhs.
The Dasam Granth (Gurmukhi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ, lit. "the Book of the Tenth Guru"), also called the Dasven Patshah ka Granth, is a holy book in Sikhism with compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. It is considered as secondary to Sri Guru Granth Sahib jireligious text and a second scripture by the Panthic Sikhs. The standard edition of the text contains 1,428 pages with 17,293 verses in 18 sections. These are set in the form of hymns and poems mostly in the Braj language (Old western Hindi), with some parts in Avadhi, Punjabi, Hindi and Persian. The script is almost entirely the Gurmukhi script except for the letter of the Sikh Guru to Aurangzeb – Zafarnama, and the Hikayat in the Persian alphabet.
The Dasam Granth includes hymns, mythological tales from Hindu texts, a celebration of the feminine in the form of goddess Durga, erotic fables, an autobiography, letters to others such as the Mughal emperor, as well as reverential discussion of warriors and theology. It is a religious text, separate from the Guru Granth Sahib, one considered as Sikhism's second scripture in its history.
