Being published on the auspicious occasion of the birth of the Khalsa, the final in the four-volume series entitled Select Sikh Scriptures is exclusively devoted to Sri. Guru Gobind Singh, the creator of the Khalsa who moulded the followers of Guru Nanak into a people fired with the spirit of righteousness and imbued to resist evil, if necessary, by sword. The selection is based upon Dasam Granth, the compilation said to have been undertaken by Bhai Mani Singh at the command of Mata Sundri after the passing away of her spouse. Of late, there has been a well-meaning controversy about the authenticity of the entire text of Dasam Granth as it has travelled to us. An assiduous attempt has, therefore, been made to include in the present volume only those Banis whose veracity is beyond doubt. It contains major works like Jaap Saheb, Bachitar Natak, Chandi Ki Var, Zafar Nama, Shabd Hazare in full and select sheaves of Swaiyyas, Kabits and Chhands, the poetic moulds in which the Master excelled. Guru Gobind Singh wrote at an ecstatic pitch; in Jaap Saheb alone he has some 950 names for divine entity. The text of the original in Hindi, Braj, Sanskrit and Persian is transcreated by Kartar Singh Duggal, an eminent litterateur, trying as far as possible to do full justice to the original which is both lyrical and searching, intense and rarefied.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR K.S. Duggal
Kartar singh (K.S.) Duggal, born in 1917, begin wiriting while still a student. He is an author of repute in Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, and English. His works have been translated into many other languages, and are used in literature classes in a larger number of colleges and universities throughout the world. His published works include twenty-one collections of short stories, seven novels, seven plays, and two collections of poetry. He has received numerous awards and prizes for his writing, including the Ghalib Award for Urdu Dhama (1976), the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1981), the Fellowship of the Punjabi Sahitya Academy (1983), and the Bhartya Bhasha Parishad Award (1985). His short story, “Come Back My Master†is included in the Greatest Short Stories of the World. He was recognized by both the Punjabi government (1962) and the Delhi Administration (1976) as a distinquished man-of-letters and awarded a “Robe of Honour.†His collection of short stories, ik Cbbit Chanam Di, won the Sahita Academi award in 1965. Mr. Duggal also served as Director of the All-India Radio from 1942 to 1966, as Director of the National Book Trust form 1966-1973, and was an Advisor (Information) to the Planning Commission from 1973 to 1976. He has worked to encourage and promote literature and the arts throughout his life. He also served as a columnist for The Indian Express. The Tribune, and The Indian Book Industry, as a commentator or books, author, radio, and television programs and the contemporary publishing scene in India.
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