The Dasam Granth: The Second Scripture of the Sikhs Hardcover – 1 Aug. 2005

This Book is a good book and a great effort in translating the words of the 10th Guru of Sikhism.

This large book was first published in 2005 (2016), has 599 pages and 10 chapters. The 'Dasam Granth' means 'Book of the Tenth Guru' of the Sikhs - Sri Guru Gobind Singh, a great reformer, litterateur, spiritual leader and unparalleled warrior and who traced his lineage to Lord Rama. After the compilation of this book, by the Guru, it was called 'Chotta Granth' (the younger book), as compared to 'The Guru Granth sahib' (wadda Granth - the elder book). This book consists of religious compositions in the 1st Part and the other Part mostly comprises of mythological compositions. The work has an original, forceful and fearless expression. The translator into English is Dr Surinder Singh Kholi (1920 - 2003), who was the very 1st Professor of Punjabi literature at Punjab University, Chandigarh. It took 3 and 1/2 years to complete the translation, from 1993 to 1997.The book then describes the life of Guru Gobind Singh right from his birth at Patna on 22.12.1666, to his passing away, aged 42, on 7.10.1708. The Guru had named 'Guru Granth Sahib' as his successor - The God and the Guru are One - the Guru and the Sikh are One. The Guru belongs to God, therefore, the Sikh Khalsa belong to God. The book narrates the autobiography of the Guru in 'Bachittar Natak' (1666 to 1669), describing his ancestry, his meeting with the 'Lord', his birth and childhood and wars he had to battle with. Since the Guru passed away in 1708, his autobiography is not complete. Sri Gur Sobha (Chandar Sain) was a Jat Sikh and Guru's court -poet. In 1711, he wrote reliable biography of the Guru. But his story of the martyrdom of Guru's sons seems to be defective.In December 1704, when the Guru left Anandpur, the Dasam Granth was lost in Sutlej River. It is said that Bhai Mani Singh, a famous Sikh scholar, who had possibly seen the Guru's compositions, finished this work, when he was a high priest of Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, said to be completed in 1725 - 1726. Bhai Man Singh passed away in 1737. However, controversy started about the authenticity of Dasam Granth. Some scholars of 'Singh Sabha' think all compositions are prepared by the Guru himself, but others say that some are composed by the Guru and some composed by 52 court-poets of the Guru (other compositions are said NOT to be of the Guru, as they are NOT in accordance with the spirit of 'Guru Granth Sahib' and violate the Sikh discipline).This book is possibly going to be used for reference with its very detail and deep teachings.Some other books of interest are:-(1) The Sikh Religion, 6 Volumes, MacAuliffe, 1909 (2013)(2) History of the Sikhs, 2 Volumes, Khushwant Singh, 1962(3) History of the Sikh Gurus, 2 Volumes, Surjit Singh Gandhi, 2007(4) Zafernama, Guru Gobind Singh, 2011 (2015)Having born in Kenya, I found this book interesting.