CHANDI CHARITRA, title of two compositions by Guru Gobind Singh in his Dasam Granth, the Book of the Tenth Master, describing in Braj verse the exploits of goddess Chandi or Durga. One of these compositions is known as Chandi Charitra Ukti Bilas whereas the second has no qualifying extension to its title except in the manuscript of the Dasam Granth preserved in the toshakhana at Takht Sri Harimandar Sahib at Patna, which is designated Chandi Charitra Trambi Mahatam. The former work is divided into eight cantos, the last one being incomplete, and comprises 233 couplets and quatrains, employing seven different metres, with Savaiyya and Dohara predominating. The latter, also of eight cantos, contains 262 couplets and quatrains, mostly employing Bhujangprayat and Rasaval measures.
Aris Daya Singh (1894 - 1946) was popular writer of devotional and didactic verses. He belonged to a backard rural family of farm labourers called Mazhabi Sikhs. Having been thrased by his poor father, Santa Singh, because of his pursuit of learning, left home and started living as a recluse; learnt Punjabi, Hindi, anskrit, Urdu, Persian and Arabic: and studied scriptures of the Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims from their traditional teachers at their respective places of worship and instruction. He began writing poetry while in teens and published his maiden book, Fanah da Makan (Abode of Mortality), in 1914: followed by his most popular work, Zindagi Bilas (Discourse on Life), in 1915.
Discover Bhai Mani Singh's legacy, a Rajput warrior and Sikh martyr, in Seva Singh's epic 19th-century verse biography, Shahid Bilas.
Discover the life of Giani Thakar Singh, a prolific Sikh scholar who excelled in expounding sacred texts and significantly contributed to Sikh teachings.
