
Author: B S Gupta
Publisher: Punjabi University
Year: 1978
Language: English
Pages: 152
ISBN/UPC (if available): N/A
Description
The present work is a modest attempt to present a fresh interpretative study and a synthesized view of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s personality, work, vision and sacrifice. It is specifically written on the eve of the tercentenary of the holy martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur, yet it is more than a mere amalgam of the Guru’s life and teachings. It is devoted to the unfolding of the Guru’s creative personality, the nature and significance of his enlightened response to life and history, the hidden beauty and consistency of his poetic compositions and the philosophy implicit in them. These things are discussed not cursorily but in depth, and not in piecemeal isolation but as a whole.
The main flaw in the piecemeal approach is that it leads to conclusions which, as explained in the course of the study, fall short of a total estimate of the Guru’s moral, spiritual and historical greatness. Critical interpreters and historians who do not take into account such an integral view fail to penetrate to the deeper levels of the Guru’s response to life in his hymns as well as in his encounter with the historical situation. In order to enter into deeper meaning of his poetry and the fuller spirit and significance of his supreme sacrifice, a total view of the Guru’s life and writings is indispensable. Hence this work, an integrated study of the various facts of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s life, work, vision and martyrdom.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
CHAPTER
Guru Nanak: the Saint and Revolutionary
Guru Tegh Bahadur
The Epoch-Making sacrifice
Hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur
Slokas and Style
The Concept of God and His Name
The Guru’s Attitudes to World and Death
The Guru’s Ethics
Conclusion
Index