RATAN DAM

RATAN DAM by Tahkan, a translation and adaptation into Braj of Acharya Amar Singh`s Amar Kosh, the famous Sanskrit lexicon. Tahkan was one of the several poets who kept Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) company. In preparing Ratan Dam, the poet consulted works other than Amar Kosh as well. The manuscript which has so far remained unpublished comprises twentyeight chapters. The only extant copy (No. 2421) is preserved in the Central State Library, Patiala.

It consists of 268 folios and is inscribed in Gurmukhi characters in the hand of one Panjab Singh.The copy was completed in Har 1914 Bk/JuneJuly 1857. The work begins with an explanation of the title (ratan = diamond; dam = string, a necklace) and contains more than 1,400 entries on a wide variety of themes including day, night, year, conscience, history, eras, sastras, four vamas, medicines and vegetation. Several entries from the original work have been dropped and several new titles introduced. There are also entries such as the one on ndik (hero) and ndikd (heroine) (54868) which transcend the strict lexicographical framework and go into many historical details.

References :

1. Padam, Piara Singh, Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji de Darbari Ratan. Paliala, 1976