Sri Nanak Prakash


‘Sri Gur Partap Suraj Granth’ authored by ‘Kavi Churamani’ Bhai Santokh Singh ji, Doyen of Nirmala Sect, popularly known as ‘Suraj Parkash’ is a voluminous classical medieval source of Sikh History and Philosophy. Its ‘Katha’ (Religious Discourse) in almost all prominent Gurdwaras is the gauge of its authenticity and popularity among the Sikh masses. In verse, Bhai Sahib’s great classic writing ‘Sri Nanak Parkash’ is the first part of Sri Guru Partap Suraj Granth in which detailed history of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji is highlighted.

Bhai Santokh Singh's monumental work in Braj verse portraying in comprehensive detail the lives of the Ten Gurus of the Sikh faith and the career of Banda Singh Bahadur. Besides being an historical narrative of great significance, it is an outstanding creation in the style epic, and is the most voluminous of all poetic compositions in Hindi/Punjabi literature. Its language is Braj Bhasa which was the literary Hindi of that time though its script is Gurmukhi. Notwithstanding certain drawbacks which scholars with training in modern historiography may point out, it remains the most valuable source book on Sikh history of the period of the Gurus and, indeed, on the very roots of the entire Sikh tradition. For the massive flow of its poetry, the vast range of its figures and images and for the abundance of detail, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, Suraj Prakash in shorter, popular form, is worthy to rank with the classics in this genre.

Sri Nanak Prakash