PREM AMBODH POTHI

PREM AMBODH POTHI, lit. book of knowledge about loving devotion, attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, but not included in the Dasam Granth, comprises of the life stories in verse of some of the famous bhaktas or devotees. Written in AD 1693, the book has, besides the introductory chapter, sixteen sections, each devoted to a bhakta. In the first part of the book are described the lives of eleven bhaktas belonging to the period from 10th to 16th centuries: Kabir, Dhanna, Trilochan, Namdev, Jaidev, Ravidas, Miran Bai, Karaman Bai, Pipa, Sain and Sadhna.

Bhaktas of earlier periods Prahlad, Dhru, Sukdev and Balmiki are dealt with in the second part. The language of the Pothi is a mixture of Hindi and Punjabi and the verse measures commonly used are Dohira and Chaupai. The book is unpublished and among the known extant manuscripts with slight variation in titles are in the Central Public Library at Patiala, and the Languages Department, Punjab, Patiala.