The Philosophical Perspective on Sikh View of Martyrdom

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About the Book The book, The Philosophical Perspective on Sikh View of Martyrdom is the first philosophical interpretation of the concept of martyrdom based on the primary sacred scriptures of the Sikhs and authenticated from the supreme sacrifices of the Gurus and the Sikh martyrs. The concept is traced from the Greek and the Islamic traditions and developed its sui generis character. The cultural interpretation of the Sikh concept of martyrdom is the fruit of the author's creative and original reflections. The book will cleanse dross of misunderstandings of the concept. It is an analytical interpretation in the coeval context. It is an Endeavour to churn out the hidden meanings of the ciphers, which are locked up in The Guru Granth.

Objectives, critical and comprehensive tools of interpretation are used for understanding the philosophical import of Sikhism. It resuscitates the revealed illuminations of the Gurus and the Bhakats. The ecstasies of the contributors are reinterpreted within the context of The Guru Granth in the modern philosophical terms. It is a synthesis of medievalism and the present without digressing from the spirit of the Sikh faith. The interpretations are in conformity with the medieval and the coeval cultural. contexts. No doubt, the methodology has the impact of the Western critical and hermeneutical techniques, but the paradigm of the interpretations is cast in the dynamic philosophical model of Sikhism. It ensconces eternity and temporality, and restores historicity of human action and societal realities which were lost in the medieval religious dogmas and bigotry.

The ideal man of the Sikh faith, the martyr (marjivada), is an embodiment of the Akalpurakh. The khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh is always ready to stake his life for eradicating evil in the world.

About the Author Professor Nirbhai Singh (b. 1935) specialized in Philosophy of Sikhism and comparative scriptural philosophies and religious traditions. He retired as Professor and Head, Department of Philosophy, Punjabi University, Patiala. He enjoys reputation as an original radical thinker of Sikhism and has sound understanding of the Western philosophies. His works are radical departures from the existing exegetical explanations of The Guru Granth. He has to his credit more than half a dozen original research works of high erudition. His innovative books are Bhagat Namadev in the Guru Granth, Philosophy of Sikhism, Sikh Dynamic Vision, The Sikh Vision of Heroic Life and Death, et al.

For the second time, the HRD Ministery, New Delhi has nominated him as member of the apex Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) of India. He had been a Senior Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla and Senior Fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi. Besides, he has contributed more than fifty research papers to the leading research journals and periodicals.

He was editor of the prestigious journals: The Journal of Religious Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, and The Humanities and Sciences, Shimla. He also presented research papers in the National and International Seminars/ Conferences in different universities of India.

Preface I may make it abundantly clear that the present book aims at resuscitating the ciphers of The Guru Granth and their philosophical significations. The concepts are gasping in the hands of the exegetes and the politicians. The present work is the outcome of my dedicated analytical research conducted at IIAS, Shimla, as Senior Fellow from October 1998 to December 2000. The central theme entails from the Sikh voluntarism, which I tried to probe at Shimla. In the meanwhile, I was stunned to read Louis E. Fenech's book, Martyrdom in The Sikh Tradition.... It aroused my curiosity to know philosophical perspective on the Sikh view of martyrdom. I expected that the custodians of the Sikh faith would come forward to controvert his contention. His contention is that the concept of martyrdom evolved in the course of Sikh history. His observation is based on lopsided understanding of the eternal message of The Guru Granth. Keeping this idea in mind, the book is written for those scholars who are groping in the dark chamber (Platonic cave) of ignorance without taking proper cognizance of contextual and syntactical interpretation of the ciphers, enshrined in the sacred scriptures. The book is written for cleansing the slipshod interpretations of the sacred scriptures. The present work is a rational dedication for purging cobwebs of literal and exegetical explanations of The Sikh Canon. The discerning reader will appreciate the logical space of the necessary truth that is created in the book. It will help in removing the dust of opacity and finding the hidden meanings of The Guru Granth. The philosophical hermeneutics will weed out sectarian exegetical explanations.

**Contents and Sample Pages**