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2Q/21\, February, 196:5.

Dr> Rattan8ingh has been awardea tb:epj"D. degree by the· PanjabUniversity in 1962 on "A Critii:a:1 StUdy cit iiie ;P1,1ranic Compositions in the DaSarti Granth," The c~ildidate his thQrQl!ghly discussed the. authenticity of, the Dasafu Graitth, aii important work of the later PanjabiPoetty aild after analy~iiig the arguments for .find against the anthenticity of' the work the candidate, with the help . 01' published and' unpublish'ed material on th~' 'subject; ,has enllnCiated his' fi'ndings' iN the roost convincing. and thought-provoking manner: His method ofresearoh is, <tri\l;lyticahnd fact-finding and it is a'matter of satisfaction that> the, candidate is al)ove all prejl!diCes; Many photo-plates have 'belm' appended' to' this volume for providing ready referenueS to the' argumellts.

This diss'eHati6n d~ak with'o~e' of tl\\;' most conti'()vertial' topics in the'wholeran!'(O'()fPanjabi literature "nd it" is 'extteili~iy' gratifying' th~f tftis' work has: been accoritpHsh'ed by iii" au~\>or at: fhedbSi:' of .th,ritendbus· labour arid stleiiti'!k disbrirnina,tlo\i' of a:high orMr. 'file tMsi~' is;th~'I<!Shlt' of v',,~f eiualF;~n'

. ;' ___ , ,_ _, _, ,:', '; _"" ,'_, .' :,,:.' _, ,J ,I :'

inv61vhig detailed ma-stery' of' 'almosf" tlii'- entire religious . :. \'~', -" - . ~

literature of the Sikhs on the one hand and of the Puranic Sanskrit Literature on the other. The'Dasam Granth is traditiona­lly attributed to the Tenth Pontif Guru Govind Singh ana much has beart' Wtlitcll' for' lorig years to prove the genuinety or otherwiSe';'· i6f''( lts" au.thorship.' In deciding the question the author has made himself singularly free from preconceived

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inh ·bitions, and has exercised extreme impartial care as behoves a critical literary approach.

The conglomeration of this extremely diverse material under the same cover presents a baffling problem. The present thesis is a successful probe into the mystery of the authorship and compilation {)f the several pieces, e.xtracts and fragments constituting the available corpus of this scripture. For this

purpose he has set before himself an ambitious programme of literary criticism based on an examination of th~ p~eserve,~

MSS and a comparative study of the puranic study of the puranic contents with their Sanskrit sources,

The major findings of this r~search work show that the contents of the puranic chapters of the Dasam Granth do not accord. with. the ideas and personality of Guru GovindSingh. that they were the compositions of his dar~"i poets like Ram, Sayam whose names occur in the stanzas or padas, that many of the puranic legends tally with their putanic sources but there are also numerous instances of variation arid difference and that several documents. like the letter of Bhai Mani' Singh and the Khas Patras are spurious (P. 129/139) and cannot be admitted as genuine to prove the authorship or antiquity of the puranie portions. Inspite of the above, the Dasam Granth is of an in-estimate .value for the history of Hindi Literature and of the development of the Sikh religion at a critical stage of its I;:IOwt\l at t,he time of Guru Govind Singh when a rapproach­ment to Hinduism was thecrying need of the hour.

. The thesis displays matur~judgement and patient industry: in the compiiation ;\\nd sifting of , evidence .. It is presented in an excellent literary style. an'd affords a delightful reading, This is in brief, the. assess~ent of , the thesis according to the External

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Examiners.

Hazari Prasad Dwivedi. Head pf Hindi Department .

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l.f;:l'a ti,!o1Vc!fFICl ;;!T til';;". orl;;!T fuarcJ1 ffi!T ;::r;:;' ir 'tRJ.i ilf1;" til»f; li<lT~OiJOT";;;!T '>ff.wo F,E! ClT3T 3; Fm' '3' <i';;rT »lfq'»f~l f~; <liJO"<; B CI<ll':J.3 .. (Authorship) arij' ilr:r »fTel, f~fer';;!flH ili,1;" B CI<l~~ iifBOll:! aeT~e '<'BT»f; fe<:l1. fS!31»f; <JO »8 ref! ka ii~l »fr;!aor iitr3' fuoT ii;::r-1J.l'hr (Thesis) ;;!' H<l3'<' urc Fi"w . Hli ~tI,feH wa~ f .. ar:r· = irao' fll»!' ;,a W t/31;'; ;::rT~: rn30T .. T'Hr3' rectoT. cr Hfer»fT, ClT3' I fuarcil ;;!T l(TlI3'l'3· art '!l;!' cr<l 31;' .. 1 J1'T<J~ »fT~, ~1j'; Fm'?i flffiT ~ ~3 \!01;'-t/3 ii~ H;; ~ '1330 gtl f .. " l(F!<l:3 ii;::r-l(iq fd»jI(j <:Ife»f' ~, t/3 't!HH <H,1;" B CIOfil?" MrqT fe<:l ,;jf3H ;;!T»I'" o;ff 5 I ii;::r R;;!T f .. ClTRr:rTB 5, »frtro~3~' 3W;? l(01'F.1 f .. " '>I'~e ore; fefl,WRgl1 ~T <If<J;;!T ~ I . -

fef! ii;::r-l(iil:! ;;!T f~iJO' l(e'Bl a'i! l(T(j1;'or ~ for H' <JiJ W 3 fuR olio ;;!T fO»!'o<lfq'»fT ~ fer HiJ ;;!1 iii'! ClaT I ii;::r ;;!Tfli<l1;" HiJ ~ ~, »f3 faor Brar-Ba;; ~fl ?i . il8' ClaoT 5 I fef! f'<tJ f"i'/ l(crra ;;!1»!; f .. »fCI3'lar3 9'''<OT'';, iorr .. ; »f3 f;;!r:rcl~ei i;~e'I . H<la ... l(T\.f30<;W ~;;!' I f~; <He; '3' ~ftJ3 »f~ HiJ ?i = FIlfr:rc ' :f<:l l1o!<':, f'<tJ '>fl'IHCl1;' f .. »fC/3T iii'! "ao ;? »ffl:!"T<ll O<Jr ~ ~ I T;!l:! l1<'i;;!1 RI3f'<C/ f;::r«l1»fTRT ;;!1 Rf3 ~lIBal:!T <:IT iii'! 5 I l1<la /7;Rrn3 l:!TaeT"; »f3 <:10 3 41Tl:!Tfa3 ii;::r l:!OH, flffTtl »f3 RTf<J3 ;5 '>ffO»fTfe ~ »f3 tit 3CI '>Ifo'>lTfe-l1ae ii;::r ;::rTal acrarT 3;;! 3CI f~ Wf<:l3 ;;!T 1£<:1 H"lir' lfw 0<:11' ~~ Her;;!T I ii;::r ii~l fef! ii<ffit1 g _J1'T<J_~<5 allB crfe»f; ;::r;:;' H' fef! CI'OtI f .. " l(f .. C!3 crfe»!' at ~;;!- _ ~- 'le ~ HTf<:l1;' f!! <l!g oifii;;! tRw ;::rl H<Jrart/ W f\:!lfT ;;fu»f' <:11;' H<l fRo 3 fO<J' »f~ <:Ie »los 3 »f .. al:! ~E <Hg wf<:la iii!

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