VARAN BHAI GURDAS is the title given to the collection of forty vars or "ballads" written in`Punjabi by Bhai Gurdas (d. 1636) much honoured in Sikh piety and learning. These forty vars comprise 913 pauris or stanzas, with a total of 6,444 lines. There is no internal or external evidence

BAIRAGIS, or Vairagis, are a sect of Hindu ascetics, eschewing colour or passion and detached from all worldly allurements. Founded by Sri Anand, the 12th spiritual descendant of Ramanand, the sect comprises a class of nomadic penitents, living a secluded life of extreme poverty, wearing minimum of clothing and

GULAB SINGH BAKHSHI (d. 1716), originally a tobacco seller Bania known by the name of Gulabu, impressed with Banda Singh`s armed victories, converted a Sikh, joined him as a soldier and rose to be paymaster of his army. He took part in various battles under his command. In the

KHUDA SINGH, BABA, alias JASVANT SINGH (1777-1861), a policeman turned saint, son of Bhai Nattha Singh, who cultivated a small piece of land in the village of Syamgarh, near Kurukshetra, was born in August 1777. The child was barely four days old when the village was attacked by dacoits,

PAHAFUE,, usually pronounced pahire, is the title shared by four of the Sikh hymns two by Guru Nanak and one each by Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjanrecorded consecutively in the Siri Rag portion of the Guru Granth Sahib. The term pahareis the plural of pahard, meaning a guard

SIDH GOSTI, i.e. dicourse or dialogue with the Siddhas or mystics adept in hatha yoga and possessing supernatural powers, is the title of one of Guru Nanak`s longer compositions recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib. A goshti (gostln) seeks to expound the respective doctrines of scholars or saints participating

Vuk, Kulwant Singh is an eminent short-story writer. His stories are fast-moving, well-trimmed and modern. His portrayal of the rural society of central Punjab is gripping with intellectual, rational and psychological approach. He has been able to delineate realistically men in the services with an urban middle class background

BHAG SINGH CHANDRA UDAYA, an undated manuscript preserved in the Punjab State Archives, Patiala, under accession No. M/773, deals with the life and achievements of Sardar Bhag Singh Ahluvalia (1745-1801), who succeeded Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluvalia as ruler of Kapurthala state in 1783. Its author, Ram Sukh Rao, was tutor

GURBILASBABA SAHIB SINGH BEDI, by Bhai Sobha Ram belonging to the Sevapanthi order, is a versified account of the life of Baba Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak. The voluminous work, four manuscript copies of which one each at the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Punjabi University, Patiala;

KRISHNA The One Krishna is the Chief among gods, the soul of their godliness. If one comprehends the secret, this soul is God Himself... (Var Asa, M. 2, p. 469) (The false Gurus) Sing of Gopis and Krishna, Sita and Rama, but not the Fearless and True Transcendental Lord

PARCHI (plural parchtdn), Punjabized form of the Sanskrit noun parichaya which means introduction, evidence or an anecdote bearing witness to the miraculous powers of a prophet or seer. The term was applied to the form of Punjabi writing developed in the seventeenth century to present the life stories of the

SIKH YUDDHER ITIHAS O MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH, by Barodakanta Mitra, is a brief narrative in Bengali of the fall of the Sikh kingdom and of the career of the deposed sovereign Duleep Singh. Published in Calcutta in AD 1893, the monograph made use of the official records and other primary