NANAK PRAKASH

NANAK PRAKASH, by Bhai Mahendranath Bose, is a biography of Guru Nanak in the Bengali language. The author was a follower of Keshabchandra Sen, and the followers of Sen used the word Bhai or Rev. Bhai for one another to convey a sense of close kinship and brotherhood. He had lived in the Punjab in 1871 in connection with his missionary work, and had learnt Punjabi and acquainted himself with Sikh literature. He planned to write a life sketch of Guru Nanak and began serializing his account in the Bengali journal Dharmatatva (July 1883). Interrupting the series, he started work on a book Nanak Prakash, the first part of which was published in 1885 and the second in 1893.

The Nanak Prakash is based mainly on RdldJanam Sdkhi, though the author was not unfamiliar with other versions of the Sdkhi literature. He had access to sources available in English as well. Of Trumpp`s work on the Guru Granth Sahib, published in 1877, he was sharply critical. The first part of Bose`s book covers the Guru`s life up to the eve of his preliminary uddsis or preaching tours; the second embraces all of his four major uddsisdnd his life at Kartarpur. According to the author. Guru Nanak preached what constituted the essence of Hinduism and Islam. Harmony was the keynote of his message. The book concludes with a brief account of the development of the Sikh community till 1708, the year Guru Gobind Singh, the last in the line of the ten spiritual teachers of the Sikhs, passed away. This portion is very sketchy and suffers from several chronological inaccuracies

References :

1. Himadri Banerjee, “Guru Nanak in Bengali Literature; The journal of Sikh Studies. Amritsar, August 1984
2. Kirpal Singh, Janam Sakhi Farampara. Patiala, 1969