By Prof. Dr Harnam Singh Shan
Published by Dept. of Languages, Punjabi University, Patiala
Pages : 224; Illustrations : 37; Price : Rs. 167/-


Guru Granth Sahib di Koshkari, that is, Lexicography of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is a critical study and comprehensive survey in Punjabi of all the attempts made in the past (since Guru Gobind Singh's times right upto the date of its production in 1994) at explaining and giving the meanings of the difficult words of the Sikh Scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, by way of etymology, denomination linguistics, philology, commentaries, expositions and interpretations, etc., compiled from time to time, mostly unknown so far even to the scholars of the line. As such, the volume, which is meant to cover this so far untrodden ground, has visibly attained a historic character. It is based on original sources and first-hand information, and carries very rare findings leading to new discoveries. It, thus, stands out as an exceptional and, I would rather assert, a monumental achievement, and is, therefore, very welcome and highly commendable.

The work starts with the initiation of explaining, annotating and interpreting the text of the Holy Book by Guru Gobind Singh himself, followed by Bhai Mani Singh, great scholar and martyr, when he was installed as high priest at Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, and his pupils later on. The tradition, comprising wordbooks and vocabularies of synonyms, has been amazingly traced and excellently handled as it continued in the eighteenth century. It is then brought forward into the nineteenth century when we are introduced to Priya Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji ke, prepared in 1848 A.D. by Bhai Sham (Shyam) Singh and printed in a huge volume at Amritsar in 1906. We are then led to the work of Dr Ernest Trumpp (1828-1885), German Scholar of Sikhism, who came to be the first translator of a substantial portion of Guru Granth Sahib into English. It was again he, according to Professor Shan, who was able to detect and procure, during his academic tour of Punjab in 1871-72, copies of three earlier glossaries which explained, interpreted and gave the meanings of the difficult Indian, Arabic and Persian vocabulary of Guru Granth Sahib.

Dr Shan has been able to discover these valuable unpublished documents, alongwith Trumpp's incomplete manuscript, entitled Grammar to the Adi Granth, 1873, the first-ever work on that very important aspect of the Sacred Volume, in the State Library and the University Library of Munich (Germany). These have been duly described and illustrated by him in his work under review.

In the following chapters, the course and growth of similar, mostly unknown and unprobed works by various glossographers, named and unnamed, have been similarly searched and traced in several Indian and foreign libraries (particularly of England, Germany, France, U.S.A., and Pakistan), as well as many private collections at home and abroad. These have also been described and profusely illustrated by photos taken out of their respective pages. A detailed and graphic account has also been given of anonymous and undated glossaries, commentaries and dictionaries compiled by the scholarly men of the faith from time to time. Extracts, to serve as illustrations of their scope and style, etc., have also been added.

Quite a good number of similar works with their authors named and dates of their compilation indicated, produced mainly during the nineteenth century, have also come to be described in detail. Mention has also been made of a number of those lexicons which stand dated, but do not bear the names of their respective authors. Then come published and unpublished translations (into various languages), exegesis, glossaries and dictionaries of the Scripture written in the earlier styles. Works prepared in the question-answer form have also been dealt with. The question is put and the reply comes in the form of a quotation from Gurbani, the sacred compositions of the Gurus, explaining the meaning of the relevant word.

Under the study and survey of the lexicographical material produced in the twentieth century, we come across the description of a pagewise dictionary also, authored by Sodhi Teja Singh and entitled Sri Gurbani Kosh. It was published during 1932-33 in two parts.

The lexicography of Guru Granth Sahib now gets more and more developed, modernised and organised under the influence of Western methodology with the advent of the printing press and impact of the Singh Sabha Movement. Dr Shan has gone deep into the history, subject-matter, system and styles of those modern attempts in good detail.

We are then introduced to a number of works prepared and published by various institutions and departments (like the Khalsa Tract Society, S.G.P.C., Patiala State, Faridkot State, Chief Khalsa Diwan, Khalsa Samachar, Gur-Sewak Sabha, Punjabi University, Panjab University and Bhasha Vibhag of Punjab Government), which have been dealt with quite at length.

Some of the basic and monumental works produced by them and described and evaluated by Dr Harnam Singh Shan in their historical perspective include, in a chronological order, Giani Chanda Singh's Priyas Farsi Padan De (1889), Pandit Tara Singh Narotam's Guru Grarath Kosh (2 Vols., 1895-98), Sant Parkash's Priyas Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji De (2 Vols., 1898), Giani Hazara Singh-cum-Bhai Vir Singh's Sri Guru Granth Kosh (1899), Dr Charan Singh's Bani Beora (1904), Akali Kaur Singh's Sri Guru Shabad Rattan Prakash (1923), Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha's Guru Shabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh (1930), Prof. Teja Singh's Shabdarath Sri Guru Granth Sahib (4 Vols., 1936), Prof. Sahib Singh's Darpan Sri Guru Granth Sahib (10 Vols., 1961-64) and Dr Balbir Singh's Nirukat Guru Granth Sahib (1972-75).

Some similar works of some of the latter contemporaries, such as Sardar Gurbakhsh Singh Kesri's dictionary of numericals (Sankhya Kosh, 1961), Giani Abad Ulla's Arabic-Persian-Urdu Vocabulary (Guru Granth aur Urdu, 1966), Giani Kirpal Singh's thesaurus (Samarth Kosh, 1969), Dr Gurcharan Singh's Word-concordance (Adi Granth Shabad-anukram-nika, 2 parts, 1971), Dr Christopher Shackle's A Guru Nanak Glossary (1981) and Dr Surinder Singh Kohli's A Conceptual Encyclopaedia of Guru Granth Sahib (1992), have also been properly treated and critically assessed in this very useful compendium of authentic and documented information of the subject. Dr Shan himself figures as an author of one of the categories of the genre called dictionaries of thoughts, mentioned and illustrated therein.

The meticulous way by which all that varied, scattered and unprobed material has been searched, collected, sifted, studied, classified, analysed, evaluated and described under fifteen revealing and appropriate heads and numerous sub-heads, is quite logical, ingenious and masterly.

One very important feature of this first-work-of-its-kind is that besides carrying a lot of new and factual information on the subject, it also includes as many as 37 pictures, taken out of the very rare published and unpublished glossaries, dictionaries and lexicons, that go a long way in supplementing and illustrating their theme and authenticating the existence and importance of our rich and varied lexicographical heritage.

Without going into more details, I would rather come to a close with the observation that the work under review does strike as collossal, remarkable and memorable. It can confidently be referred to as a rare achievement of the single-minded, laborious and devoted research work on the part of Dr Harnam Singh Shan which has resulted into the writing of this not only the first but also the landmark work of this so far ignored genre. It is, thus, a distinct contribution to the study and survey of the Panjabi lexicography, in general, and that of the Sacred Sikh Scripture, in particular; for which its eminent author deserves high appreciation.

I am, however, obliged to point out, in the end, that the printing and production of this highly meritorious work leaves much to be desired. For this deficiency, its printer and publisher, and not the author, are to be blamed.