GANJ NAMAH

GANJ NAMAH (Treasure Book), by Bhai Nand Lal Goya, is a panegyric in Persian, partly verse and partly prose, in honour of the Ten Gurus. Bhai Nand Lal was a revered Sikh of the time of Guru Gobind Singh and a distinguished poet. The Ganj Namah renders homage to the Gurus whom the poet recalls in terms of deep personal devotion and veneration. The opening eleven couplets are an invocation to the Guru who raises men to the level of gods (3), to whom all gods and goddesses are slaves (4), and without whom there is only darkness in the world (5).

This is followed by ten sections, each devoted to one of the ten Gurus of the Sikhs. Each section has two subsections a paragraph or two in prose followed by a series of couplets.The number of couplets in different sections varies from four on Guru Amar Das to fifty-six on Guru Gobind Singh. Each section has at its head the formula, vahiguru jio sat / vahiguru ji hazar nazar hai (God is true and He is omnipresent). The book contains no biographical details and celebrates only the spiritual eminence of the Gurus.

The poet calls Guru Nanak the supreme dervish whom all gods and goddesses praise. Guru Nanak was sent by God Himself into this world so as to show mankind the way to Him. All his successors were one with him in spirit embodying the same message. The book concludes with the poet`s humble supplication to Guru Gobind Singh that his life may be dedicated to the Guru that he may forever remain attached to his feetBhai Nand Lal\’s father was in the service of Dara Shikoh, the son of Emperor Shah Jahan. It appears that when he was six years old, his father accompanied the Mughal prince to Gazni in 1639 where he had his education.

After the death of his parents, he moved to Multan and served in high positions with the local Governor. Later he moved to Agra in the service of prince Mu-azzam, the son of Emperor Aurangzeb. To avoid conversion to Islam, as desired by the emperor, he left Agra and moved to Anandpur Sahib. He was so impressed by the personality of Guru Gobind Singh that he stayed there for a number of years and a number of works in Persian and other languages.

One of these is Ganj Nama or Book of Treasures. Ganj Nama is written in Persian verse in praise of the ten Gurus. There are total of 160 verses in it. Verses from 104 to 160 are in praise of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

References:
1. Ganda Singh, ed., Bhai Nand Lal Granthavali. Malacca, 1968