GOSHTAN MIHARVAN JI KIAN

GOSHTAN MIHARVAN JI KIAN, by Sodhi Hariji (d. 1696), is a biography of the author`s father, Sodhi Miharban, written in anecdotal style of the janam sdkhis. Biographical details, however, are sparse; the work mainly contains theological discourses of Sodhi Miharban and his interpretations of gurbdm, the sacred utterances of the Gurus. The author describes Miharban as an incarnation of Shukdeva, a mythological Hindu sage, who was reborn (as Miharban) with the sole aim of explaining the gurbdm. The exposition presented is however Hariji`s own and does not always conform to Sikh principles and beliefs.

There are 45 goshtis or discourses in all. A poetic composition at the end, a panegyric on Sodhi Miharban, probably by Hariji himself, is described as 46th goshfi in some manuscripts. The language of the Goshtdn generally is a mixture of Hindi and Punjabi, though at places one does come across good specimens of chaste Punjabi prose of the time. The work has not so far been published.

Two copies in manuscript form arc preserved, one each in Central Public Library of Patiala, (catalogue No. 2527) and Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar (catalogue No. 3510). The latter manuscript was, however, lost in cataclysmic events of 1984.

References :

1. Kirpal Singh, ed., Janam Sdkhi Para`nprd. Patiala, 1969