[ p. 80 ]
What is called the Granth of the tenth Guru is only partially his composition. The greater portion of it was written by bards in hisemploy. The two works entitled Chandi Charitar and the Bhagauti ki War found in it are abridged translations by different hands[1] of the Durga Sapt Shati, or seven hundred sloks on the subject of Durga, an episode in the “Markandeya Puran’ on the contests of the goddess Durga with the demons who had made war on the gods.
The poet in the Guru’s employ, who translated this, states that he did it for amusement, but adds: ‘ The man who heareth or readeth this for any object shall assuredly obtain it.’ This line is an abstract of the eleventh and twelfth sloks of the ninety-second canto of the original. The translator then darkly refers to a special object of his own. ‘I have translated the book called the Durga Sapt Shati, the equal of which there is none. O Chandi, grant the object with which the poet has translated.’ The translator’s object, however, is not stated. Whether he imbibed some of the principles of Sikhism or not from the Guru cannot be ascertained, but it is clear that he was largely tinctured with Hinduism.
At the end of this translation is found the couplet :—
The saints who continually meditate on thee, O Chandi, Shall at last obtain salvation and find God as their reward.
[ p. 81 ]
This is not in the original Sanskrit, but the general sense may be inferred by a believer in Chandi from her own self-glorification in the ninety-second canto.
The first Chandi Charitar begins as follows: Ek oamkar, Sri Wahguru ji ki fatah. Ath Chandi Charitar ukt bilas—Now the tale (bilas) of the deeds of Chandi will be told (ukt). The second Chandi Charitar begins in the same way but without the words ukt bilas. The Bhagauti ki War begins as follows: Ek oamkar Sri Wahguru ji ki fatah ! Sri Bhagauti ji sahai! War Sri Bhagauti ji ki Patshahi das—There is one God. Victory to the holy Wahguru! We implore the favour of the holy Bhagauti (Sword)! The paean of the holy Bhagauti of the tenth Guru. It thus appears that the Bhagauti ki War was written by the tenth Guru himself.
The Hindus maintain that in the tenth Guru’s writings the word Bhagauti means Durga. In the two Chandi Charitars the word Bhagauti does not occur at all, and even in the Bhagauti ki War it is only found three times—once in the title of the composition, a second time in the first line, and a third time elsewhere. In the latter instance, Lai Bhagauti Durg shah, it is clear that the word Bhagauti means a sword—‘ The goddess Durga took up the sword.’ This is also attested by Gur Das. In the sixth pauri of his twenty-fifth War he refers to the manner in which the signification of words is often altered, and writes—Nam bhagauti loh gharaya —Man hath fashioned what is called the sword (bhagautt) from iron.
In further proof that Bhagauti does not mean Durga in the Sikh scriptures the following line in the Ad Granth is cited—Bhagautt mudra man mohya maya, the translation of which is—Men wear God’s marks while their minds are fascinated with mammon.
The following are the first two pauris of the “ War Sri Bhagauti ji ki.’
[ p. 82 ]
Having first remembered the Sword, meditate on Guru Nanak,
Then on Guru Angad, Amar Das, and Ram Das; may they assist me !
Remember Arjan, Har Gobind, and the holy Hari Rai ;
Meditate on the holy Hari Krishan, a sight of whom dispelled all sorrows.
Remember Teg Bahadur and the nine treasures shall come hastening to your homes.
Ye holy Gurus, everywhere assist us !
God having first fashioned the Sword created the whole world.
He created Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiv, and made them the sport of His omnipotence ;
He made the seas and mountains of the earth, and supported the firmament without pillars ;
He made the demons and the demigods, and excited dissension among them.
Having created Durga, O God, Thou didst destroy the demons.[3]
From Thee alone Ram received his power, and slew Rawan with his arrows.
From Thee alone Krishan received his power, seized = by the hair, and dashed him on the ground.
Very os munis and gods mortified their bodies for many ages,
But none of them found Thy limit.
The last line of the Bhagauti ki War is :—
He who sang this was not born again, that is, he obtained deliverance.
This line gives the meaning of the twenty-second slok of the ninety-second canto of the ‘ Markandeya Puran ’.
The train of thought by which the Guru made [ p. 83 ] God and the sword one was as follows: In the ‘Shastar Nam Mala’ is read :—
I first mention the word shatru (an enemy) and then the word daman (subduer).
Know that the words compounded mean the Lord of the world : be assured of this.
The meaning is—God subdues enemies, so does the sword ; therefore the sword is God, and God is the sword.
At that time it was the custom to recite on the eve of battle the praises and warlike deeds of the brave, so that the hearts even of cowards might be inspired with eagerness for the fray. On that account the tenth Guru maintained fifty-two bards to translate the Mahabharat, the Ramayan, and the gallant achievements of Ram, Krishan, Chandi, and others. It does not follow from this that the Guru worshipped those whose acts were thus celebrated; this was only done for the purpose of inciting to bravery, dispelling cowardice, and filling the hearts of his troops with valour to defend their faith. This the Guru himself declares in his translation of the tenth canto of the Bhagawat, in which are recounted the chivalrous exploits of Krishan. He says, ‘I have rendered in the vulgar dialect the tenth chapter of the Bhagawat with no other object than to inspire ardour for religious warfare.’
Secondly, the Guru himself specially translated the praises of Chandi so that they might be chanted for warlike purposes, and that even cowards on hearing her story might obtain courage and the hearts of the brave beat with fourfold enthusiasm. Such being the achievements of a woman, what ought not a brave man to accomplish ? The Guru maintained that if a man became a coward and turned away from the battle-field, he would not only become ashamed of himself, but also forfeit his advantages here and hereafter.
[ p. 84 ]
In the third place, the Guru desired that his Sikhs, on becoming acquainted with the Hindu sacred writings, might be able to form their own estimate of them and their inferiority to the compositions of the Gurus. Among the fifty-two bards employed by the Guru there must have been several who had suffered for their religion under the persecutions of Aurangzeb; and for their opinions the Guru cannot be held responsible.[4]
Any one even moderately acquainted with Hindi can tell from the internal evidence of style that these translations have been done by different persons. ↩︎
European readers not familiar with Indian words, and not interested in the Hindi translations of the Durga Sapt Shati (Devi Mahatamya) or their object, may omit the remainder of this chapter. ↩︎
This line shows that the Guru believed Durga to be a creation of God and not an independent divinity co-equal or co-powerful with Him and worthy of human worship. ↩︎
Bhai Dit Singh’s Durga Prabodh. ↩︎