Preface Of The Book 'Thus Spake The Tenth Master' By Gopal Singh

The Dasam Granth, by the Tenth Master of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, is  a great poetic work, rich in spiritual conceptualization, philosophical vision and imaginative sublimity. The Tenth Guru carries the same poetic ministry as the preceding Gurus whose verse is incorporated in the Adi Granth. Of course, his style and language reflect his own unique personality and the social milieu as do the styles of the earlier pontiffs.

The Guru Granth symbolizes the philosophical heritage of India even as it retains its own unique vision, thought, true to style values and poetics. The Dasam Granth recasts and reinterprets the mythopoetic and spiritual vision of hoary and fabled India.

It is again characteristics of the Tenth Master that he could pour out unpremeditated verses in the thick of a battle. The onomatopoeic lines catch with superb ease the sounds of galloping steeds and clashing arms. He could not find time to bequeath to us a recension of his own compositions. His writings were collected after his ascension and in this way the treasure of the Dasam Granth has come down to us.

In human realization, the highest and purest conception of the Supreme Being has been realized in the Jap or the "Meditation". and in the Akal Ustat or "In praise of the Timeless Being". This reality transcends all phenomenal or sensory experience - 'it is not this, it is not this'. That unifying Reality, the reality that is the ground of all that exists, is immaculate, infinite, timeless, formless, uncreated unborn, without colour, garb, or symbols, the place or ritualistic dharma. That being is common to all, and exclusive to none, whether a person, a people or a being. He is the Dharma, the standard Dharma - dharmang dhuja. All dichotomies, inconsistencies, dualities and trinities are subsumed and dissolved in Him. This is the purest Reality which the Khalsa worships. This is the most persistent theme of the Dasam Granth.

The Bachitra Natak, or "the wondrous Drama", is autobiographical and brings out prominently, in the context of the great spectacle of the Creation since its origin, the of the House of Nanak in leading mankind to the realization of the Supreme Truth and Ultimate Reality. Truth and Justic must be vindicated and evil confronted, no matter what price is paid in terms of pain and suffering. This is the message of the Chandi Charitra, Shabad Hazare, or the "Hymns of the Presence", and the Swaiyyas or the "Hymns in Praise of the Timeless Being", are soulful outbursts of mystic and devotional dimensions.

The Zafarnama, or the "Epistle or Victory", reaffirms our faith in the spirit of man. It avers that a battle may be lost or won; the war against evil will not cease.

We are, thus, beholden to Dr. Gopal Singh who has made a work of such unique significance available to the English-speaking world. He has already made a great name for himself by translating the entire corpus of Guru Granth into English. It is, therefore, a matter of both pride and privilege that the Punjabi University is publishing his Selections from the Dasam Granth. I am sure, the volume will attract wide and significant notice.