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Sikh sacred verse
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Poetry of the Sikh Gurus
The Sikh religion is lodged in Guru Nanak’s poetic matrix, which continues to bring about new potentialities and possibilities. In the collective memory of the Sikhs, their founder Guru Nanak born in 1469 within a religiously plural landscape of pre-partition Punjab had the revelation of Being Itself. His response to the singular infinite Reality was a poetic outburst. His successor Gurus used the pseudonym “Nanak” and reiterated his vision each in his own voice. Unlike Plato who found poetry too captivating and therefore banished the poets from his Republic, the Sikh Gurus utilized the poetic medium to awaken their followers with an appreciation for the infinite One. The poetry of the Sikh Gurus can be summed up as a reflexive phenomenon – simultaneously a celebration, articulation, understanding, interpretation, and application of Guru Nanak’s divine...
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References
Bhai Vir Singh (ed) (1977) Varan Bhai Gurdas. Khalsa Samachar, Amritsar, Var I: 32
Charles Wilkins (1962) College of the seeks (published in 1788) in Ganda Singh. Early European Accounts of the Sikhs. Calcutta, p 75
Singh N-GK (2012) Of sacred and secular desire. I.B. Tauris, London
For more details see Robin Rinehart (2011) Debating the Dasam Granth. Oxford University Press, and Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh (2005) The Birth of the Khalsa. SUNY
Gunindar Kaur (Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh) (1981) Physics and metaphysics of the Guru Granth Sahib. Sterling, New Delhi
Turner V (1969) The ritual process: structure and anti-structure. Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago, p 132
Bhai Gurdas, Var I: 38
Gadamer H-G (1989) Truth and method. Crossroad, New York, p 309
Singh H (1969) Guru Nanak and origins of the Sikh faith. Asia Publishing House, Bombay, p 206
Republic, Book X, 606
Misgeld D, Nicholson G (eds) (1992) Hans-Georg Gadamer on education, poetry, and history: applied hermeneutics. SUNY, Albany, p 27
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Singh, NG.K. (2017). Poetry of the Sikh Gurus. In: Mandair, AP.S. (eds) Sikhism. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0846-1_528
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0846-1_528
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