NANAK SURAJODE JANAM SAKHI

NANAK SURAJODE JANAM SAKHI, by Ganesha Singh Bedi, is an account in verse of the life of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith. The metaphor of the rising sun (surajode=surya/suraj meaning sun and udaya/ ude meaning rising) in the title has been used for Guru Nanak whose birth as says Bhai Gurdas heralded daylight dispelling the darkness of night. The work, running into 560 pages in printed form, was completed in 1906 Bk/AD 1849 at Jammu and first published at the Raghunath Press, Jammu, under the patronage of Raja Hari Chand and reprinted in 1952 Bk/AD 1895 at the ChashmaiNur Press, Amritsar.It was also published in Devanagri script, in 1956 Bk/AD 1899 (Bharat Jivan Press, Kashi), under the patronage of Raja Bijai Chand of Bilaspur.

The book is divided into two partsfirst part comprising sixty-five sdkhis (anecdotes) and the second fifty-eight. The prologue alludes to the prophecy in the Skanda Purdna concerning the appearance of Guru Nanak in the kaliyug (the dark age) as an incarnation of God. Almost all the details of Guru Nanak`s life given in the Surajode coincide with those in the Bald Janam Sdkhi which is in prose.A few sdkhis included in this book, but which do not occur in the Bald text have been borrowed from Gidn Ratndvali and Bhai Santokh Singh`s Nanak Prakash. The language of the work is Sadh Bhakha, but the script is Gurmukhi.

Verses of Guru Nanak are frequently quoted in the text. Several different metres such as kabitt, dohird, nishdm and chaupal have been employed by the poet. The style is dramatic as every now and then the wirter uses the phrase: “Thus spake Bala Sandhu.” Bala Sandhu, supposed to have been a lifelong companion of Guru Nanak, was meant to be narrating these sdkhis in the presence of Guru Angad while Bhai Paira Mokha was recording them.

References :

1. Mani Singh, Bhai, Gian Ratnavali. Lahore, 1947Bk
2. Vir Singh, Bhai, ed., Puratan jnnam Sakhi. Amritsar, 1982
3. Kirpal Singh, Janam Sakhi Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Amritsar, 1962
4. Ganesha Singh, Mahant, Sri Guru Nanak Suryoday. Amritsar, 1895
5. Jagjit Singh, A Critical and Comparative Study of the Janam Sakhies of Guru Nanak Dev up to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century. Chandigarh, 1967