Author: Piar Singh
Publisher: Guru Nanak Dev University
Year: 1996
Language: English
Pages: 217
ISBN/UPC (if available): N/A
Description
With a comprehensive introduction and trilingual text, translation and annotations, this work is a distinct advancement over earlier similar attempts.
The Siddha Goshti, like the Japu Ji, is one of the most important compositions of Guru Nanak. It propounds the Sikh spiritual path as against the Yogis' who were interested more in establishing their hegemony over the gullible people.
The message of Guru Nanak, as it emerges from a closer study of his compositions, is that of a creed that is as rational as it is universal. It steers clear of Ambiguities and circumventions. Man's social commitment, with the consequent negation of a life or asceticism and renunciation is a very vital element of the Sikh view of life.
All this runs contrary to the approach of Siddhas and Yogis, who chose to shun the life of normal householders and sought to go in for a vast variety of esoteric practices - often cumbersome and devoid of any real significance to the life of people at large. What the Yogis and Siddhas professed to acquire were supernatural powers which they used more often for striking awe in the minds of people than doing anything worth the name to ameliorate their lot.
Guru Nanak's Siddha Goshti brings out the futility of their approach with a verve. Guru Naka's message, noted for its clarity and directness needs to be re-capitulated and re-emphasized. The author's present work tries to do that, and he has done his job admirably. His profound scholarship, his knowledge of Hindu lore, particularly of the Yogic cult and tradition, makes this work a distinct advancement over earlier similar attempts. His comprehensive Introduction tackles the problem, for the first time, in its varied aspects.