☀️ JOIN SPN MOBILE
Forums
New posts
Guru Granth Sahib
Composition, Arrangement & Layout
ਜਪੁ | Jup
ਸੋ ਦਰੁ | So Dar
ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
Ashtpadiyan (53-71)
Gurbani (71-74)
Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New resources
Latest activity
Videos
New media
New comments
Library
Latest reviews
Donate
Log in
Register
What's new
New posts
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Welcome to all New Sikh Philosophy Network Forums!
Explore Sikh Sikhi Sikhism...
Sign up
Log in
Discussions
Sikh History & Heritage
Professor Puran Singh: Scientist, Poet And Philosopher
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Tejwant Singh" data-source="post: 4284" data-attributes="member: 138"><p>Professor Puran Singh: Scientist, Poet and</p><p>Philosopher </p><p></p><p></p><p>Dr H.S.Virk</p><p></p><p>Puran Singh was born on 17 February 1881 in a small </p><p>village, Salhad, District Abbotabad, now in Pakistan. </p><p>After passing his F.A. examination in 1899 from DAV</p><p>College, Lahore, he sailed for Japan in 1900 and</p><p>joined as a special student of Pharmaceutical </p><p>Chemistry in Tokyo University. He was sponsored by</p><p>Bhagat Gokal Chand and the enlightened Sikh elite of</p><p>Rawalpindi for higher studies in Science and</p><p>Technology in Japan. Puran Singh was a highly</p><p>volatile and emotional young man. His thought and</p><p>personality were shaped by four climactic events in</p><p>early life: his Japanese experiences, his encounter</p><p>with Walt Whitman, his discipleship of Swami Ram</p><p>Tirath, and his meeting with Bhai Vir Singh, the great</p><p>sikh savant. </p><p> In Tokyo, Puran Singh studied Japanese and German</p><p>languages, since the medium of instruction for science</p><p>and technology was German. Japanese society was</p><p>passing through a phase of transition under Meiji</p><p>Revolution towards the end of nineteenth century. It</p><p>was opened to European Science and Technology and most</p><p>of the teaching faculty was hired from Europe and</p><p>America. Puran Singh was introduced to Walt Whitman</p><p>during his studentship in Japan in 1901 through an</p><p>American Professor teaching at Tokyo University. He</p><p>read ¡¥Leaves of Grass¡¦ and was so much infatuated</p><p>with Whitman¡¦s verse that it became the condition of</p><p>his poetic and craft.</p><p> Puran Singh had a multi-dimensional personality and</p><p>it will be impossible to sum up all his achievements</p><p>in this memorial lecture. I shall try to highlight</p><p>salient features of his personality. The list of his</p><p>literary works is given as Annexure I.</p><p></p><p>(A) Puran Singh as a Scientist</p><p> </p><p>There was hardly any opportunity for a foreign trained</p><p>scientist in the early twentieth century Punjab. To</p><p>pay off the debt of his parents for his education in</p><p>Japan, he set up a manufacturing unit in 1904 for the</p><p>preparation of essential oils in Lahore. After a</p><p>quarrel with his partners, he dismantled the whole</p><p>unit. In 1906, Puran Singh moved to Dehradun and set</p><p>up a soap factory at Doiwala. This unit was later</p><p>sold to a minister of Tehri-Garhwal state. In April</p><p>1907, he joined as Forest Chemist in the Forest</p><p>Research Institute (FRI) at Dehradun. He worked in</p><p>FRI till 1918 and made significant contributions to</p><p>research1-2 which were published in Indian Forester</p><p>and Forest Bulletin. He was the founder Head of</p><p>Chemistry of Forest Products in FRI and published 53</p><p>research articles dealing with: </p><p>(i) Studies on Essential Oils, </p><p>(ii) Studies on Fats and Oils,</p><p>(iii) Production of Tannins,</p><p>(iv) Production of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, and </p><p>(v) Promotion of essential oils, sugar and drug</p><p>industry in India.</p><p>Puran Singh was very keen to promote essential oil</p><p>industry in India. He worked on the isolation and</p><p>analysis of essential oils from eucalyptus globulus,</p><p>khus, geranium, winter-green, sandalwood and camphor</p><p>oil. After retirement, he established a Rosha Grass</p><p>farm at Chak No. 73/19 in district Sheikhupura (now in</p><p>Pakistan) but the project failed due to lack of</p><p>government support and the floods which devastated the</p><p>entire crop in 1928. Puran Singh was quite innovative</p><p>in research15-16. He improved the quality and</p><p>production of tannins in India, determined the oil</p><p>values of forest oilseeds, introduced drug yielding</p><p>plants in Indian forests, carried out calorimetric</p><p>tests of Indian woods and patented a novel technique</p><p>for decoloration of raw sugar, as crystal sugar was</p><p>reluctantly used by orthodox Indians due to use of</p><p>bone charcoal in its purification. His research</p><p>activity was disrupted due to his involvement in</p><p>revolutionary activities in Dehradun and thus a</p><p>brilliant scientific carreer came to an end, after he</p><p>took voluntary retirement in 1918, to avoid</p><p>harassment at the hands of imperialist Indian</p><p>government. His scientific papers are given as</p><p>Annexure II.</p><p></p><p>(B) Reminiscences of Japan</p><p> Puran Singh is emphatic about his love for Japan and</p><p>hate for the slave India. He left his ¡¥savage¡¦</p><p>Punjab when he was in his teens. He sums up his</p><p>impressions about Punjab after his return from Japan</p><p>as follows3: ¡§In the cities of Punjab it seemed all</p><p>life had turned into brick and mortar. The Hindu</p><p>system of caste had made even the plan of building new</p><p>houses and new cities miserable. I almost cried</p><p>amongst these heaps of dead bricks. Nature is crowded</p><p>out. Sunlight is shutout. There is no free</p><p>opportunity in the country for genius to shine¡¨. </p><p></p><p> Puran Singh was accorded a rousing welcome in Japan. </p><p>He was a brilliant student of Tokyo University, a</p><p>great orator, a revolutionary in the offing and a</p><p>handsome young man. He represented not only India but</p><p>also the land of Great Buddha, which made him a</p><p>privileged student. In his Japanese reminiscences3, </p><p>Puran Singh recounts his meetings with Japanese</p><p>friends, Buddhist monks, the great artist and writer</p><p>Okakura; his love and regard for Japanese flower</p><p>shows, Japanese tea ceremony, Geisha and the Japanese</p><p>housewife. He was so much infatuated with Japanese</p><p>life and culture that he became a Buddhist Bhiku in</p><p>Japan. He was all praise for the Japanese woman:</p><p>¡§The Japanese woman in her own racial dress is surely</p><p>not a denizen of this earth. She trails a heaven in</p><p>her garments¡K¡K¡K¡K . I have learnt all my Buddhism</p><p>from the Japanese women. Buddha and Guru Gobind Singh</p><p>both are the sacred inspirers of Japanese womanhood</p><p>and man-hood¡¨. ¡§The delicate waists of the Japanese</p><p>girls so artistically and so passionately caught</p><p>forever by their obies made me feel jealous as well as</p><p>pure in the contemplation that in the very clothes</p><p>were the bonds of eternal union with one¡¦s self¡¨.</p><p> Puran Singh is very critical and harsh in his</p><p>criticism of India of early twentieth century. If we</p><p>read between the lines, his critical remarks are</p><p>applicable to some extent to free India of 21st</p><p>century also. There has been hardly any revolutionary</p><p>change in social and cultural life of India after</p><p>independence: </p><p>¡§In India the Government official is dreaded like a</p><p>snake. All things official are suspected. People are</p><p>afraid and the officials adopt the attitude of</p><p>vain-glorious bullies¡¨. ¡§So I found in India that</p><p>humanity is generally brutalized and demoralized by</p><p>excessive idleness and non-development of material</p><p>resources. Ethics and aesthetics are but polite arts</p><p>of the idle rich. The richest houses are hovels, they</p><p>have no music of love, their hearts are empty, their</p><p>homes are as living graves. The wives labour like</p><p>galley slaves. The country is doomed, the people are</p><p>damned¡¨. ¡§Theological superstitions and communal</p><p>biases brutalise almost every Indian; even those of</p><p>great erudition and culture are stuck in the same</p><p>quagmire. The life in India on the whole is</p><p>hopelessly inartistic, filthy and barbarous as</p><p>compared with the life in Japan¡¨. </p><p>(C) Puran Singh-Walt Whitman Identity</p><p></p><p> Puran Singh- Whitman identity is so complete as to</p><p>almost suggest the idea of poetic reincarnation4. </p><p>Both had a similar philosophy of poetry and regarded</p><p>the poet as a person possessed in whom the utterance</p><p>became the message. It will be in order to trace</p><p>briefly the story of their affinities by drawing</p><p>parallels from their life and works.</p><p> Walt Whitman was motivated by reading Emerson in</p><p>1854. He admits, ¡§ I was simmering, simmering,</p><p>simmering, Emerson brought me to boil¡¨. Puran Singh</p><p>got the real inspiration after his meeting with Bhai</p><p>Vir Singh during the Sikh Educational Conference held</p><p>at Sialkot in 1912. </p><p> Walt Whitman feels that the scientists and the poets</p><p>are born of the same father- stuff and the poets have</p><p>to fuse science into poetry. Wordsworth defined</p><p>poetry as the impassioned expression which is the</p><p>countenance of all science. Puran Singh fully</p><p>realized the truth of it in his own life. For him,</p><p>poetry and science were not two opposite poles of</p><p>reality as is often believed. There is no apparent</p><p>contradiction between his scientific self and</p><p>literary self. He was a distinguished chemist by</p><p>profession as well as a creative genius in Punjabi</p><p>literature. We see the imprint of his scientific</p><p>career on his literary writings6:</p><p></p><p>(i) ¡§I am for the physics of the soul which is the</p><p>physics of the beauty of the body too¡¨.</p><p>(ii) ¡§The very radium of mind, has been slowly</p><p>allowed to degenerate into sinking lead¡¨.</p><p>(iii) ¡§Impertinent desires dim his faith and bend it</p><p>beyond the limits of elasticity¡¨.</p><p>(iv) ¡§We, too, if we rise not to our full moral</p><p>stature, shall soon become fossils, not Sikhs¡¨.</p><p>It is remarkable that Walt Whitman and Puran Singh</p><p>adopt not only the same style (free verse) but also</p><p>the same form and content for their muse. Both sing</p><p>of common people, ordinary things and God in the world</p><p>of men and matter. Both are singers of glory of their</p><p>native lands. While Whitman is more athletic and</p><p>sensuous in his songs, Puran singh is more feminine</p><p>and puritan in love. Puran Singh identifies the</p><p>Khalsa ideal of Guru Gobind Singh in the writings of</p><p>Walt Whitman7. He called him, ¡§A Guru Sikh born in</p><p>America to preach the Guru¡¦s ideal to the modern</p><p>mind¡¨.</p><p></p><p> (D) Commentary on the Poets of East and West10</p><p></p><p> Puran Singh, a unique synthesis of a poet,</p><p>philosopher and scientist, rose like a comet on the</p><p>firmament of modern Indian literature. After Tagore,</p><p>he was the first Punjabi poet whose works were</p><p>published in England during 1921-1926. Ernest and</p><p>Grace Rhys, the Irish scholars, introduced his book,</p><p>¡¥The Sisters of the Spinning Wheel¡¦ to the West. </p><p>It is divided into four sections: </p><p>(i) Poems from the Land of Five Rives</p><p>(ii) Poems of a Sikh</p><p>(iii) Poems of Simrin, and </p><p>(iv) Readings from Guru Granth.</p><p> ¡¥The Spirit of Oriental Poetry¡¦ is another</p><p>master-piece of Puran Singh published by Kegan Paul,</p><p>Trench, Trubner and Co. in England in 1926. It</p><p>established him as a poetic genius in India and</p><p>abroad. Puran Singh demonstrated his mastery of world</p><p>literature in this book11 by an inter-comparison of: </p><p>(i) The Poetry of the West,</p><p>(ii) The Poetry of Japan,</p><p>(iii) The Poetry of Persia ,and </p><p>(iv) Modern Indian Poetry. </p><p>He translated Jayadeva¡¦s Gita Govinda from original</p><p>Sanskrit into lyrical English verse. The folk songs</p><p>of Punjab, the poetry of Shrinagar and Vairagam also</p><p>find a prominent place here.</p><p> Puran Singh defines the poet of the East as a Bhakta,</p><p>the disciple of the Divine. According to him, ¡§Our</p><p>idea of the poet is that of a man who can, by the mere</p><p>opening of his own eyes, enables others to see the</p><p>Divine, whose one glance can be our whole knowledge. </p><p>Whatsoever weighs down the inner self and seeks to</p><p>imprison it in illusion is foreign to the spirit of</p><p>poetry. It is irreligious. True poetry must free us.</p><p>There is no freedom in sorrow and renunciation,</p><p>however perfect. Freedom lies in the full realization</p><p>of the Divine within our own soul¡¨.</p><p> Puran Singh¡¦s commentary on the poets of East and</p><p>West shows his rare insight and critical approach in</p><p>view of his above definition of the poet. Some of his</p><p>comments on the great poets of the East and West are</p><p>as follows:</p><p></p><p> (i) ¡§Shakespeare¡¦s imagination</p><p>could not go beyond the lower spirit-world from </p><p>which ghosts come to graveyards at night and fly away</p><p>at the breaking of the dawn. This great dramatist was</p><p>not able to pierce Reality beyond the</p><p>surface-movements of an ego fettered by its own</p><p>desires. Life is an infinite paradise. They who</p><p>write tragedies are not yet enlightened. The function</p><p>of poetry is to help us win our own paradise¡¨.</p><p></p><p> (ii ) ¡§Tennyson devotes much time</p><p>to seeking that his verses rhyme well. I cannot</p><p>endure him for his fault of being faultless. He is a</p><p>wonder-palace of English literature, a great</p><p>aristocrat and great artist, but nothing more¡¨.</p><p></p><p>(iii) ¡§Wordsworth exhausted himself in the delight of</p><p>preaching the evident moral of beauty. He is more</p><p>preacher than poet, and often redundant and</p><p>exasperating in his sermons. He is , however the</p><p>true naturalist:¡¨</p><p></p><p> (iv) ¡§William Blake is the poet of our hearts.</p><p>He has the spiritual vision and he is </p><p> a companion of the soul¡¨.</p><p></p><p> (v) ¡§ Carlyle¡¦s ringing prose-poetry pierces</p><p>the soul, it has in it the flutter of a bird wounded</p><p>by an arrow from the unseen¡¨.</p><p></p><p>(vi) ¡§ It was Goethe who first saw the loftiness of a</p><p>truly Eastern intuition, and perceived the gleams that</p><p>hide in the hearts of the seers of ¡¥Simrin¡¦. In</p><p>true devotion to Truth, and lifetimes of imagination,</p><p>Goethe is a modern prophet. The literature created by</p><p>him is nearest in its effect to the Bible¡¨. </p><p></p><p> (vii)¡§ Rabindra Nath Tagore is a beautiful</p><p>illusion of many minds and resembles none in</p><p>particular. Like Tennyson, his originality is of the</p><p>lion eating other people¡¦s flesh and making it his</p><p>own. The Upanishadas feed him and Upanishadas come</p><p>out of him. His vague and mystic suggestiveness is</p><p>good preaching, but he creates no life, he pleases and</p><p>enthralls, but there it ends. His poetry has not</p><p>enough blood to inspire in another something like</p><p>itself. Tagore is not so bold a thinker on spiritual</p><p>matters as Vivekananda or Rama Krishna Paramahansa¡¨.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>(viii) ¡§The poems of Sarojini Naidu are full of the</p><p>sweetness of life¡¦s romance. In </p><p>her poetry, she is more Persian and Urduic in her</p><p>style than Bengali. It is a pity she has cast in her</p><p>lot with that class who love to remain all their life</p><p>mere school boys and girls and treat the world as a</p><p>debating club where poems can be read, songs sung and</p><p>politics discussed endlessly. We have lost a crystal</p><p>stream of passionate verse in the dryness of Indian</p><p>politics¡¨.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>(E) A Poet of Sikh Spiritual Consciousness (Surta)12</p><p></p><p> It is extremely difficult to classify or categorise</p><p>the poetry created by Puran Singh. The resemblance</p><p>between Walt Whitman and Puran Singh as persons and</p><p>poets is so striking that one cannot resist the</p><p>temptation to call them ¡¥mirror images¡¦ of each</p><p>other. Both were poets of free verse (vers libre). </p><p>Puran Singh¡¦s Punjabi verse is classified under</p><p>three headings:</p><p>(i) Khule Maidan (The Open Wide Plains),</p><p>(ii) Khule Ghund (The Open Veils), and</p><p>(iii) Khule Asmani Rang (The Wide Blue Skies).</p><p>The common strain of all three titles is Khule, which</p><p>means in Punjabi, at once open and wide and spacious. </p><p>In fact, the poems of Puran Singh reflect the</p><p>amplitude of his soul. Puran Singh covered diverse</p><p>fields in Punjabi poetry (Annexure IV). He</p><p>re-interpreted the epic tale of Puran Nath Yogi in his</p><p>own characteristic style. His poems on ¡¥Punjab¡¦ are</p><p>considered to be the most patriotic in Punjabi</p><p>literature. Some of his poems covering this theme</p><p>are: Punjab nu kookan main (I call my Punjab), Punjab</p><p>de darya (Rivers of Punjab), Javan Punjab de (The</p><p>Youth of Punjab). However, I find a subliminal</p><p>theme12 running in the poetry of Puran Singh, which I</p><p>call ¡¥Sikh Spiritual Consciousness¡¦. A beautiful</p><p>essay on ¡¥Surta-Soul Consciousness¡¦ explains this</p><p>concept in the book, ¡¥The Spirit Born People¡¦</p><p>written by Puran Singh in the form of lecture notes </p><p>to be delivered to the Sikh youth of Punjab13.</p><p> Puran Singh elaborates the concept of Surta in his</p><p>two poems in Khule Ghund:</p><p>(i) Surt ate Hankar (Consciousness and Ego), and </p><p>(ii) Guru Avatar Surat.</p><p>Surta determines the state of mind and consciousness</p><p>and it has to be kept tuned to the Guru¡¦s Shabad. </p><p>Puran Singh illustrates the rise and fall of Surta by</p><p>quoting examples from world history in his essary13. </p><p>According to him, the Sikh history is a mere</p><p>reflection of Sikh Surta. The Sikhs will become</p><p>fossils if the Surta is dead.</p><p></p><p>(F) Puran Singh¡¦s Views on Sikh Gurus14</p><p>As usual, the world is too inert, too late, to welcome</p><p>is prophets who bring an altogether new message. So</p><p>it has been with the Sikh Gurus. The Hindus just</p><p>condescended with a superior air to say that the Sikhs</p><p>are of them-¡¥born out of them¡¦. Culturally and</p><p>academically and even racially this was not wrong, but</p><p>inspirationally, it was an attempt to thwart all the</p><p>potentialities of the Guru¡¦s universal message.</p><p>After Buddha, it was Guru Nanak who for the first time</p><p>championed the cause of the masses in caste-ridden</p><p>India. The rich aristocracy and the degraded priests</p><p>of Hindus and Muslims did not listen to the Guru, but</p><p>the oppressed people followed him with joy. He made a</p><p>whole people throb with love and life. For more than</p><p>a century and a half his message was secretly flaming</p><p>in the bosom of the people when the genius of Guru</p><p>Gobind Singh gave them the eternal shape of the</p><p>Disciples, the Khalsa.</p><p>Guru Gobind Singh is the Guru of the modern times. </p><p>Assuredly Guru Gobind Singh is the Guru of the modern</p><p>times. Assuredly the slaves of India have not</p><p>understood Him so far and are not capable of</p><p>understanding His genius. The shadow of his large</p><p>personality falls far away above the head of</p><p>centuries, and the so-called best intellectuals of</p><p>India, when they spread out their mind to understand</p><p>the Guru, get bruised by mere thorns and give Him up</p><p>as something not as spiritual as Guru Nanak. It they</p><p>cannot see Guru Gobind Singh as the highest, brightest</p><p>culmination of Guru Nanak, assuredly they do not</p><p>understand that King of revolution of religious</p><p>thought, the great Guru Nanak.</p><p>The world of thought has yet to understand the Ten</p><p>Gurus in the splendour of their thought which has been</p><p>misunderstood due to the Brahmanical language they had</p><p>to employ to express themselves and to the Brahmanical</p><p>environment which always has been inimical to the true</p><p>progress of man.</p><p> The Guru Granth of the Sikhs is the most authentic</p><p>account of the Guru¡¦s soul. It is a pity that some</p><p>Sikh enthusiasts and half-baked scholars, perverted by</p><p>the thought of the age, have tampered with the</p><p>meanings they themselves wish to give it. But the</p><p>authentic word of Guru Granth can never be lost to the</p><p>world. And as the Bible is translated into different</p><p>languages, so Guru Granth will have to be put by poets</p><p>of different nations into their own language direct</p><p>from their own souls. Life alone can translate life.</p><p> The Guru Granth is the history of the Sikh soul, and</p><p>its translation is to come through the great figure of</p><p>the social reconstruction of human society as the</p><p>Khalsa, where shall reign love, and not hatred. </p><p>Without the Word of the Guru, and the ideal, the</p><p>Khalsa, which stands for the sovereign society, there</p><p>is no key to the heart of Guru Nanak and his anthems</p><p>for the liberation of man. Its interpretation lies in</p><p>our human soul, not in the meanings of this life</p><p>creative music. The destruction by the Guru of the</p><p>Brahmanical Citadels of superstition (as in Guru</p><p>Nanak¡¦s Asa-Ki-Var or in the great Kabits and</p><p>Sawayyas of the Tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh, or in</p><p>the Vars of Bhai Gurdas, the great exponent of Sikh</p><p>ideals), is symbolic of the destruction of all lies on</p><p>which human society might be wrongly founded and</p><p>misguided. Guru Nanak is universal, but he is mostly</p><p>the Prophet of the future. Freedom of the human mind</p><p>and soul is the Guru¡¦s passion.</p><p> The Guru did not eschew politics-in fact he made the</p><p>liberation of the people the cause of the assertion of</p><p>his heroism; but surely, if the Sikh lives on the</p><p>surface only, like the Englishman, for mere politics,</p><p>votes and such inanities, one straying from the</p><p>Guru¡¦s path forthwith becomes a tratitor to his case.</p><p>All freedom is but a spiritual tradition of the life</p><p>of the Khalsa: if the Khalsa spirit is dead, all</p><p>freedom fails. The Khalsa is the son of the Guru who</p><p>brings everywhere his Heaven and its delectable</p><p>freedoms. </p><p></p><p>(G) Puran Singh¡¦s Concept of Khalsa Democracy14</p><p></p><p>The Sikhs are creations of the Guru¡¦s universal love.</p><p>They are by their very birth of His spirit citizens of</p><p>the world. The world of thought has yet to understand</p><p>the Ten Gurus in the splendour of their thought which</p><p>has been misunderstood due to Brahmanical environment</p><p>which always has been inimical to the true cultural</p><p>progress of man.</p><p> The Khalsa is the ideal, future international state</p><p>of man: it is an absolute monarchy of the kingdom of</p><p>heaven for each and every man, the absolute democracy,</p><p>distribution of bread and raiment of the kingdom of</p><p>labour on this earth-all in one. It is democracy of</p><p>feeling all on this physical plane of life, where most</p><p>misery is due to man¡¦s callousness to man. It is</p><p>brotherhood of the souls where intensity of feeling</p><p>burns out all differences.</p><p> In the realms of the soul, each is to have his own</p><p>measure of the Guru¡¦s joy and sorrow and love and</p><p>feeling and spiritual delight, according to his</p><p>individual capacity. This will constitute the measure</p><p>of the real aristocracy of each one¡¦s genius; but</p><p>bread and raiment, the barest necessities of the</p><p>physical body shall, in this kingdom of love for the</p><p>Guru, never be denied to any one. If the Guru¡¦s</p><p>ideal state, or even an approach to it, is ever made</p><p>by man, no one will thenceforward die of hunger or go</p><p>naked. Death cannot be prevented, innate differences</p><p>cannot be destroyed; but physical privation will be</p><p>prevented here on this earth by man himself. Let </p><p>mountains be high, flowers small and grass low, but</p><p>all shall be clothed with the beauty of God and fed</p><p>with His abundance. The true vindication of the</p><p>Khalsa commonwealth and its ideals as announced by</p><p>Guru Gobind Singh, have yet to appear in terms of the</p><p>practice of those ideals by those having faith in the</p><p>Guru. The modern world, is, however, busy evolving</p><p>its version of the Guru¡¦s Khalsa state out of social</p><p>chaos. This much be said at once, that the Khalsa is</p><p>more than a mere republic of votes of little men who</p><p>must be influenced to give votes. It is more than the</p><p>Soviet, which aims at the change of political</p><p>environment and Law, to bring the Heaven of equal</p><p>distribution on earth, because without the</p><p>transmutation of the animal substance of man, of</p><p>selfishness into sympathy, there can be no true</p><p>socialism.</p><p> The Guru Khalsa state is based on the essential</p><p>goodness of humanity, which longs to share the mystery</p><p>and secret of the Creator, and longs to love the</p><p>Beautiful one living in His creation. The Guru thus</p><p>admits man to an inner kingdom of the soul, where each</p><p>and every person receives such abundance of pleasure</p><p>and the beauty of His Love, that selfishness dies</p><p>itself. Inspiration to the higher life drives out the</p><p>lower. Each one, according to his worth and capacity</p><p>to contain, has enough of the inner rapture of the</p><p>beauty of God in him, so that he lives quite happy and</p><p>contented without interfering in anyone¡¦s affairs or</p><p>robbing any of his rightful freedom to increase his</p><p>own pleasures. This endless self-sacrifice in utter</p><p>gladness of a new realization is the sign and symptom </p><p>of the true ¡¥Nam¡¦ culture of the Guru. No one can</p><p>be man of truly human society, who has not obtained</p><p>this divine spark which puts the self at rest, which</p><p>thereby imbibes a nobility from God to leave</p><p>everything along and gaze at Him with unending repture</p><p>and renunciation. Man need to be truly and inwardly a</p><p>divine aristocrat to be truly democratic in this</p><p>world.</p><p> In the constitution of the Khalsa commonwealth, the</p><p>greatest act of genius of Guru Gobind Singh was when</p><p>he transferred the divine sovereignty vested in him to</p><p>the God-inspired people, the Khalsa. When speaking of</p><p>the people, the Guru speaks of the people whose</p><p>personality is transmuted into the divine personality</p><p>of self-less being. As the chemist talks of pure</p><p>elements just as they occur in nature, the Guru refers</p><p>to the ¡¥pure¡¦ of the cosmic Spirit and not as they</p><p>are found with their blind animal instincts. In this</p><p>one act lies our history and the future history of</p><p>human progress.</p><p> In the Khalsa constitution, the people inspired by</p><p>the natural goodness of humanity, by the spontaneous</p><p>Divinity of God, by the Guru¡¦s mystic presence in all</p><p>beings, are made supreme. They are the embodiment of</p><p>Law and Justice fulfilled for ever in the love of</p><p>Man. This state has but the Guru as personal God. In</p><p>this state, the law of man¡¦s natural goodness is the</p><p>only law.</p><p> Puran Singh is emphatic in his criticism of democracy</p><p>of mere votes and elections. ¡§Great men are true</p><p>representatives of the people. So they have been in</p><p>all ages, for true greatness is always representative.</p><p>But the giants are gone and now the tiny dwarfs</p><p>flutter and shake their wings. They have not the soul</p><p>in them to take any responsibility. They have</p><p>misunderstood democracy. By the introduction of the</p><p>idea of democracy into politics, perhaps, that tall,</p><p>Himalayan kind of human personality has been made</p><p>impossible. All have become sand grains in one great</p><p>level desert. All ideals are in the melting pot and</p><p>from the great liquid will crystallize the New Ideals.</p><p>Then the world tired of these dwarfs will cry for</p><p>its old Himalayan giants again. Down with Democracy</p><p>will they cry as they once cried Down with Kingship.</p><p> Puran Singh seems to contradict Mahatma Gandhi:</p><p>¡§There is no such thing as Swaraj, self-government:</p><p>we are always governed best by a noble man, not by</p><p>ourselves if we are not so noble. The rest are mere</p><p>words, votes, democracy.¡¨</p><p> Democracy, the dream of modern civilization was</p><p>established in this part of Asia in the exact modern</p><p>sense in the realization of the spirit of Man. And</p><p>the mortal fallacies which poison the human thought</p><p>among the Soviets, were avoided by the Khalsa. The</p><p>Khalsa made democracy its daily practice, driven by</p><p>the inner feeling that is reborn of the spirit of the</p><p>Guru, that all men are brothers. Democracy is not</p><p>conceived as a social system, but as true inner</p><p>spirit-born feeling. Democracy is the moral feeling</p><p>that naturally wells up in the Informed Ones.</p><p> The humblest brick-lifter has equal rights of joy and</p><p>life with the king. A labourer who feels richer than</p><p>a king and a king who feels poorer than a</p><p>labourer-this is democracy of the spirit. The</p><p>alternations of the outer conditions of life, even</p><p>political resolutions cannot secure the equal</p><p>distribution of land and wealth and labour; they</p><p>cannot transmute human nature. Unless the change be</p><p>wrought within, the volcanoes will burst forth again,</p><p>and the lava shall flow as before, and all our</p><p>leveling of conditions will be in vain. The Guru</p><p>visualized this and leaving the outer surfaces of</p><p>human nature untouched, changed the inner springs of</p><p>action.</p><p> Guru Gobind Singh was neither a Caesar nor an</p><p>Aurangzeb. He was the true king of the people and a</p><p>comrade of the people. In the truest representative</p><p>spirit, Guru Gobind Singh founded the true democracy</p><p>of the people in which there were no dead votes or</p><p>votes won by mental persuation or interested coercion.</p><p>Democracy was a feeling in the bosom of the Khalsa</p><p>and it gave an organic cohesion to the people who</p><p>founded both society and state on the law of love, on</p><p>Justice and Truth , not an impersonal system of the</p><p>will of the blinded mob-representation by sympathy and</p><p>not by dead votes. The Khalsa-state is an Ideal;</p><p>Sikhs may die, it does not. It is immortal. </p><p>(H) Genesis of Hindu-Sikh Divide14</p><p> It might seem that owing to the hostility of an</p><p>environment, and the not unoften deliberate attempts</p><p>of the Hindu society to obliterate the Sikh ideals,</p><p>Sikhs tend to deny any relationship with Hindu</p><p>society. The Sikh may deny him or not, the Hindu has</p><p>already denied the Sikh. The great Hindu culture and</p><p>its innate influence on Sikh culture, however, cannot</p><p>be denied. It would be to deny one¡¦s parentage. Such</p><p>denials add nothing to the stature of the Sikh. All</p><p>that is lofty and noble must be and is fully reflected</p><p>in the soul of Sikhism, for matter of that, not Hindu</p><p>culture alone, but all human culture itself. The Sikh</p><p>is rather spiritualistic in his consciousness than</p><p>metaphysical.</p><p>The songs of the Ten Gurus and the lives of</p><p>unparalled martyrdom have created a new race-emotion</p><p>in the Punjab; the Sikhs are a new nation in its</p><p>inspiration and its remarkable cohesion of the masses.</p><p>The brief Sikh history and tradition inspire the</p><p>Punjab peasants as no manner of religious `fervour did</p><p>before, which goes to show that the Sikh has a</p><p>tradition and culture of his own which the Hindu has</p><p>been unwilling to receive, though he wishes at times</p><p>to pat him on the back as a kind of off-spring. It is</p><p>unfair of the Hindus to condemn the Sikhs for their</p><p>attempts to cut themselves away from the mass of</p><p>Hindudom. They make it a grievance that the Sikhs wish</p><p>to make their church stand apart.</p><p> In view of the political solidarity of India it is</p><p>mischievous for any one to suggest that we are not of</p><p>the Hindu and not equally of the Muslims. It is</p><p>mischievous to multiply the points of difference with</p><p>the Hindu, which are not fundamental.</p><p>The Gurus have shown to Hindus the way to freedom of</p><p>mind and soul and also to political freedom. The</p><p>Hindus, out of the spirit of vain intellectual pride</p><p>have withheld themselves from the resurgence that</p><p>Sikhism would bring. For the Hindus, the way to</p><p>survival and freedom is the Guru¡¦s way. Unless they</p><p>accept Guru Granth as their new Gita, the old</p><p>scriptures and the stories from Ramayana and</p><p>Mahabharata can no longer inspire new life into the</p><p>mass of people whose backbone has been crushed by</p><p>systematic metaphysical and theological burdens. </p><p>Political slavery has been the result of their</p><p>metaphysical mentality.</p><p>The Hindus in the Punjab have much to answer for. </p><p>They find more in Bhagavat Gita and the old Vedas than</p><p>in Guru Granth. They relate themselves to the bards</p><p>of Vedas more than the Gurus. </p><p>The Hindus failed Guru Gobind Singh: but Guru Gobind</p><p>Singh has not failed them. They have not understood</p><p>him; he understood them. As they have grown so</p><p>apathetic, almost antagonistic to the message of the</p><p>Gurus, it is essential that the basic unique character</p><p>of Sikh culture should now be expressed.</p><p>(I) Physics of Spirituality14</p><p> In the scheme of human progress there is such a</p><p>thing as the physics of spirituality; the Hindu has</p><p>ignored it, the Western races have realized it. </p><p>Because of their comprehensive vision, the Khalsa</p><p>shall have the spiritual and temporal sovereignty and</p><p>all shall submit to it, soon or late. Only those</p><p>shall be saved, who gather under this flag. The</p><p>Hindus, so far, have not seen the significance of the</p><p>Guru¡¦s creation, the Khalsa. Great Hindu</p><p>philosophers like Tilak, Aurobindo and Tagore are</p><p>reinterpreting the Gita and the Upanishads in order to</p><p>come abreast with modern Western thought and</p><p>scientific conclusions. But they do not see that more</p><p>than four hundred years ago, their own country-men,</p><p>the Sikh Gurus, actually worked all these modern</p><p>tendencies into the constitution of the mind and</p><p>society of this unhappy land, by creating the Khalsa. </p><p>Their lives gave birth to a new country in this old</p><p>one, and peopled it with a new race, with a universal</p><p>religion of faith in man, and fired it with the</p><p>spiritual passion for progress. Out of the Gurus came</p><p>a daring, colonizing race, lovers of land and</p><p>agriculture, ready to start a new page of life at</p><p>every turn. And of all the older texts the Sikh texts</p><p>alone need not be tortured to come abreast with modern</p><p>developments: they have woven the philosophy of the</p><p>ancient scriptures in an organic whole. The Sikh</p><p>life is the vindication of natural manhood and</p><p>womanhood.</p><p> Some modern typical Hindus are trying to interpret</p><p>Upanishads and the Gita in modern modes. But such</p><p>attempts are against the traditional faith that has</p><p>gathered round these books. And, however easily they</p><p>may be interpreted in the modern modes, they have</p><p>never shown the great reactivity that is attributed to</p><p>them. In the past the teaching of the Gita has never</p><p>been harnessed to action nor the Upanishads to love of</p><p>the people. There has been no phenomena of</p><p>transmutation of personality by a higher Being¡¦s</p><p>personal touch on any large scale, as in Sikh history.</p><p>The Upanishads are examples of mental splendour,</p><p>unique and truly glorious. But without Buddhism and</p><p>now without Sikhism in India, and without the modern</p><p>spirit of the West, which lives and works and attains</p><p>to knowledge by the experimental method, which is, as</p><p>I term it, ¡¥ physics of spirituality¡¦, the</p><p>Upanishads and Bhagavat Gita could never have been so</p><p>interpreted. On the other hand, from my close and</p><p>devoted study of the Guru¡¦s hymns, I assert that many</p><p>revolutionary tendencies are found in the Sikh</p><p>thought, song and life. No texts need be turned upside</p><p>down for it. It was atrocious not to have seen this,</p><p>and to have ignored Sikh history, from the main</p><p>features of the hostility of the racial environment in</p><p>which Sikhism took its birth. The Sikh believes in</p><p>one great culture of man which is yet to come. There</p><p>is more future and past in Sikhism while there is all</p><p>the emphasis on the past in Hinduism. </p><p></p><p></p><p>References</p><p>1. Life and Works of Puran Singh by H.S. Virk, Indian</p><p>Journal History of Sciences, Vol. 28, pp. 277-285</p><p>(1993).</p><p>2. Professor Puran Singh (1881-1931): Founder of</p><p>Chemistry of forest products in India by H.S. Virk,</p><p>Current Science, Vol. 74, pp.1023-24 (1998).</p><p>3. On Paths of Life by Puran Singh, Punjabi</p><p>University, Patiala (1982) p. 129.</p><p>4. ¡§Puran Singh: Toward A Whitmanesque Vision¡¨.</p><p>Studies in Punjabi Poetry by Darshan Singh Maini,</p><p>Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, (1979).</p><p>5. Puran Singh di Vartak, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi</p><p>(1967), p. 14.</p><p>6. Spirit of the Sikh: Part II ( Vol. 1), Punjabi</p><p>University, Patiala (1980),p. 117.</p><p>7. Walt Whitman and The Sikh Inspiration by Puran</p><p>Singh. Punjabi University, Patiala (1982).</p><p>8. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman</p><p>9. Puran Singh: Jeevani ate Kavita (Life and Poetical</p><p>Works). Edited by M.S. Randhawa, Sahitya Akademi, New</p><p>Delhi (1976).</p><p>10. Puran Singh¡¦s Commentary on the Poets of East and</p><p>West by H.S. Virk, in ¡¥Advance¡¦ (March-April ,</p><p>1992), Chandigarh.</p><p>11. The Spirit of Oriental Poetry by Puran Singh.</p><p>Punjabi University, Patiala (1969).</p><p>12 . Puran Singh-A Poet of Sikh Spiritual</p><p>Consciousness by H.S. Virk, in Khoj Patrika (Special</p><p>Issue on Puran Singh) Edited by Rattan Singh Jaggi,</p><p>Punjabi University, Patiala (1981). </p><p>13. The Spirit Born People by Puran Singh. Punjabi</p><p>University, Patiala (1976).</p><p>14. Puran Singh¡¦s Views on Sikh Gurus, Sikhs and the</p><p>Khalsa Raj by H.S. Virk, in Journal of Sikh Studies,</p><p>Vol. XI, No. II, (1984), p. 116-125.</p><p>15. ¡¥Vigyani Puran Singh¡¦ by H.S. Virk, in</p><p>Professor Puran Singh¡VIk Shardhanjli, Edited by</p><p>Amarjit Singh, Punjabi University, Patiala (1978).</p><p>16. Sade Vigyani, Scientific Essays by H.S. Virk,</p><p>Centre for Promotion of Science, Guru Nanak Dev </p><p>University, Amritsar (1990). </p><p></p><p></p><p>Annexure I : LITERARY WORKS OF PURAN SINGH</p><p> English</p><p>1. The Spirit of Oriental Poetry</p><p>2. The Temple Tulips</p><p>3. The Sisters of the Spinning Wheel</p><p>4. Unstrung Beads </p><p>5. The Bride of the Sky-A poetic drama</p><p>6. Parkasina-A Buddhist Princess (A novel)</p><p>7. Spirit Born People</p><p>8. Spirit of the Sikh : Part I & Part II (Vol. I and</p><p>II)</p><p>9. On Paths of Life (An autobiography)</p><p>10. Book of Ten Masters</p><p>11. Guru Gobind Singh-Reflections and Offerings</p><p>12. Walt Whitman and Sikh Inspiration</p><p>13. Swami Rama Tirath</p><p>Punjabi</p><p>14. Khule Lekh</p><p>15. Khule Ghund</p><p>16. Khule Asmani Rang</p><p>17. Khule Maidan</p><p>Translation</p><p>18. Resurrection-Leo Tolstoy</p><p>19. Hero and Hero Worship-Carlyle</p><p>20. Poems of Joy-Walt Whitman</p><p>21. Essay on the Poet-Emerson</p><p>Annexure II: Published Scientific Work of Professor</p><p>Puran Singh</p><p>1. A note on the analysis of cutch and preparation of</p><p>pure catechin by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Mem,</p><p>(1908), Vol. 1, Pt 1.</p><p>2. Note on the Utilisation of Khair Forests in Eastern</p><p>Bengal and Assam by Puran Singh, Forest</p><p>Pamphlet,(1908), No. 1.</p><p>3. Note on the Manufacture of Ngai Camphor by Puran</p><p>Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1908), Vol. 1, Pt III.</p><p>4. A paper on the Future of Cutch and Katha</p><p>Manufacture by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1909),</p><p>Vol. XXXV, No.2.,Pt I.</p><p>5. A note on the Manufacture of Pure Shellac by Puran</p><p>Singh, Indian Forest Mem. (Chemistry Series) Vol.</p><p>XXXV, No. 2.,Pt II.</p><p>6. A Chemical Investigation of the Constituents of</p><p>Burmese Varnish (Melanorrhoea usitata, Sup). By Puran</p><p>Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1909).</p><p>7. Paper on some tanning materials and the manufacture</p><p>of tannin extracts in India (Read at All-India</p><p>Industrial Conference in India held in Dec. 1909) by</p><p>Puran Singh.</p><p>8. Report on the bleaching of some Indian coloured</p><p>Woods by Puran Singh, Appendix. to Indian Forest</p><p>Mem., (1909), Vo. II, Pt 1.</p><p>9. Analytical Constants of Shellac, Lac, Resin and Lac</p><p>Wax by Puran Singh, J. Soc. Chem. Ind., (1910), Vol.</p><p>XXIX, p. 1435.</p><p>10. Note on Calorimetric Tests of some Indian woods by</p><p>Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin, (1911), No. 1.</p><p>11. Memorandum on the oil-value of Sandal Wood by</p><p>Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin, (1911), No. 6.</p><p>12. Note on the Chemistry and Trade Forms of Lac by</p><p>Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin, (1911), No. 7</p><p>13. A Preliminary note on the use of Nickel Hydroxide</p><p>in Tannin estimation by Puran Singh . Soc. Chem.</p><p>Ind., (1911), Vol. XXX, No. 15.</p><p>14. Note on the best season for collecting Myrobalans</p><p>as tanning material by Puran Singh. Indian Forester </p><p>(1911); Vol. XXXVII, No. 9.</p><p>15. Method of distinguishing powellized and the</p><p>unpowellized woods by Puran Singh, Indian Forester </p><p>(1911), Vol. XXXVII, No 10.</p><p>16. Note on Resin-value of Podeophyllum emodi and the</p><p>best season for collecting it by Puran Singh, Forest</p><p>Bulletin (1912), No.9. </p><p>17. Podophyllum emodi by Puran Singh, Indian Forester</p><p>(1912), Vol. XXXVIII, Nos. 4 and 7.</p><p>18. A short preliminary note on the suitability of</p><p>dead wood of Acacia catechu for Katha making by Puran</p><p>Singh. Indian Forester (1912), Vol. XXXVIII, No. 4.</p><p>19. A short Note on the earth eating habits of the</p><p>Indian deer by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1912),</p><p>No. 7.</p><p>20. Note on the preparation of tannin extract with</p><p>special reference to those prepared from the bark of</p><p>Mangrove (Rhizophora muocronata) by Puran Singh,</p><p>Indian Forest Res, (1912), Vol.III, Pt IV.</p><p>21. Note on Distillation and Composition of Turpentine</p><p>oil from chir Resin and clarification of Indian Resin</p><p>by Puran Singh. Indian Forest Rec. (1912), Vo. IV, Pt</p><p>1.</p><p>22. Note on Turpentine of Pinus khasya, Pinus merkusii</p><p>and Pinus excelsa by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin,</p><p>(1913), No. 24.</p><p>23. The Cultivation of drugs in Indian Forests by</p><p>Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No.</p><p>3.</p><p>24. Memorandum on the oil value of some Forest oil</p><p>seeds by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol.</p><p>XXXIX, No. 6.</p><p>25. Analysis of Gutta made from latex of Palaquium</p><p>ellipticum by Puran Singh. Indian Forester (1913),</p><p>Vol. XXXIX, No. 8.</p><p>26. The composition of Ceara Rubber from Coorg by</p><p>Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No.</p><p>8.</p><p>27. Indian Oak barks as materials for manufacture of</p><p>tannin extract by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913),</p><p>Vol. XXXIX, No. 9.</p><p>28. Terminalia tomentosa bark as a material for the</p><p>manufacture of tannin extract by Puran Singh, Indian</p><p>Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 9.</p><p>29. Some mineral salts as Fish Poison by Puran Singh,</p><p>Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 11.</p><p>30. A further note on the Calorimetric test of some</p><p>Indian woods from Belgaum (Bombay) by Puran Singh,</p><p>Indian Forester (1914), Vol. XL. No. 3.</p><p>31. Preservation of the Latex of Ficus religiosa by</p><p>Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1914), Vol. XL, No. 9.</p><p>32. A Plea for the distillation of the Pine Needle oil</p><p>in India by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1914), Vol.</p><p>XL, No. 10.</p><p>33. Nickel Tannates by Puran Singh. J. Soc. Chem. Ind.</p><p>(1914), Vol. XXXIII, No. 4.</p><p>34. The Cus-Cus Oil in India by Puran Singh, Chem.</p><p>Drugg. (1914), Vol. LXXXV.</p><p>35. A Further Note on the best season for collecting</p><p>Myrabalans as Tanning material by Puran Singh, Indian</p><p>Forester (1915), Vol. XLI, No. 1.</p><p>36. Note on Arwal (Cassia auriculata) Benth from</p><p>Marwar by Puran Singh. Indian Forester (1915), Vol.</p><p>XLI, No. 1.</p><p>37. A Further Note on the Oil value of some Sandal</p><p>woods from Madras by Puran Singh, Indian Forester </p><p>(1915), Vol. XLI, No. 8.</p><p>38. The Camphor content of Cinnamomum camphora grown</p><p>at Dehra-Dun by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1915),</p><p>Vol. XLI, No. 8.</p><p>39. Note on the effect of Age on the Catechin content</p><p>of the wood of Acacia catechu by Puran Singh, Indian</p><p>Forester (1915), Vol. XLI, No. 12.</p><p>40. Note on Indian Sumach (Rhus continus Linn.) by</p><p>Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin (1915)., No. 31.</p><p>41. Note on the Addition of fat to tannin extract by</p><p>Puran Singh, J. Soc. Chem. Ind. (1915), Vol. XXXIV,</p><p>No. 5.</p><p>42. Note on the Differentiation of Inn and Kanyin</p><p>Species of Dipterocarpus timber of Burma by Puran</p><p>Singh, Indian Forester (1916), Vol. XLII, No. 5.</p><p>43. Note on the constants of Indian Geranium oil</p><p>(Motia) by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1916),</p><p>Vol. V, Pt. VII.</p><p>44. Note on the Burmese Myrabalans or Panga Fruits as</p><p>tanning material by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin </p><p>(1916), No. 32.</p><p>45. A note on the use of Nickel Hydroxide in tannin</p><p>estimation by Puran Singh and T.P. Ghose, J. Soc.</p><p>Chem. Ind. (1916), Vol. XXXV, No. 3, p. 159.</p><p>46. (i) Note on the Eucalyptus Oil Industry in</p><p>the Nilgris.</p><p>(ii) Note on the Distillation of Geranium Oil in the</p><p>Nilgris.</p><p>(iii) Note on the manufacture of Wintergreen Oil in</p><p>India by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1917), Vol.</p><p>V, Pt VIII.</p><p>47. Note on the Galls of Pistacia integessina by Puran</p><p>Singh. Indian Forester (1917), Vol. XLII, No. 8.</p><p>48. Charcoal Briquettes by R.S. Pearson and Puran</p><p>Singh, Indian Forester (1918), Vol. XLIV, No.3.</p><p>49. Effect of Storage on some Tanning Materials by</p><p>Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1918), Vol. XLIV, No. 3.</p><p>50. A Preliminary Note on the manufacture of wood-tar</p><p>by Puran Singh, Indian Forester(1918), Vol. XLIV, No.</p><p>4.</p><p>51. Walnut Bar by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1918),</p><p>Vol. XLIV, No. 8.</p><p>52. A Note on the Economic Values of Chinese Tallow</p><p>Tree by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1918), Vol.</p><p>XLIV, No. 9.</p><p>53. Note on the Preparation of Turpentine, Rosin and</p><p>Gum from Boswellia serrata (Roxb.) gum-oleo-resin by</p><p>R.S. Pearson and Puran Singh, Indian Forest Rec.</p><p>(1918) Vol. VI, Pt VI.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Annexure III : Gems of Thought from Professor Puran</p><p>Singh</p><p></p><p>Culture: True culture is that which does not make him</p><p>a Sikh or Mohammadan or Hindu or Christian, but a man.</p><p>Education: True education is that which does not make</p><p>him Indian or English or Japanese or American but man.</p><p>Art: Art is contemplation of the Beautiful by the</p><p>artist. This contemplation lifts us above ourselves,</p><p>above body and mind, and elevates our consciousness;</p><p>it beautifies our vision.</p><p>History: History and biography are both lies, so far</p><p>as these matters are concerned. Who can report the</p><p>soul correctly, which till today remains unrevealed</p><p>and undescribed, for it is always a surprise and a</p><p>revelation. Only fools concern themselves with what</p><p>they call historical events. The greatest events are</p><p>of the soul and they are revealed in one¡¦s own surta.</p><p>Knowledge: True knowledge is not knowing, but being.</p><p>Knowing is always wrong, being is always right.</p><p>Intellect: Intellectual interpretations exhaust</p><p>genius, it is self-spending of consciousness.</p><p>Intellectual Analysis: Beware of the magic of</p><p>Brahmanical Philosophic analysis of everything, even</p><p>the most secret and complex infinites of faith, life</p><p>and love. It killed them, it shall kill you. </p><p>Analysis is the opposite pole of feeling. I worship</p><p>my mother, I love my wife, but what would they be if I</p><p>wished to know them by analysis.</p><p>Superman: The superman is a state of consciousness</p><p>(surta) not a person.</p><p>Surta: Surta is the thread which keeps us linked with</p><p>the spiritual realms.</p><p>Woman: Woman shall be the second best God or God of</p><p>the intellectual on earth.</p><p>Bread, Woman and Bridegroom: Man the animal, cannot</p><p>live without Bread. Man, the mind, cannot be without</p><p>woman. And man, the soul, is dead without the Guru.</p><p>Bread Affairs: The bread affairs engross all political</p><p>activity of man, and the true progress of man is to</p><p>make it so simple as the provision of sunlight by the</p><p>sun.</p><p>Work: Work makes us spiritual. Let us therefore give</p><p>up all other worship of God but work.</p><p>Ideal State: The habit of working for works¡¦ sake is</p><p>the foundation on which the Ideal state can be</p><p>founded. And that undetermined Ideal State is yet to</p><p>come into being, where all the optimum physical needs</p><p>of man necessary to keep the soul-plant of man in</p><p>vigorous growth are equitably provided.</p><p>Swaraj: There is no such thing as Swaraj,</p><p>self-government: we are always governed best by a</p><p>noble man, not by ourselves, if we are not so noble. </p><p>The rest are mere words, votes, democracy.</p><p>Patriotism: Patriotism was a foolish clannishness. In</p><p>these days man with a patriotic feeling is a brute,</p><p>because patriotism makes him blind to the larger</p><p>interest of the family of man.</p><p>Simrin: Simrin is always cosmic.</p><p>Sadh Sangat: How disgraceful for us that we call a</p><p>mere assemblage of uninspired men a Sadh-Sangat.</p><p>God Realisation: The more we subordinate the Physical</p><p>life to the intellectual and the intellectual to the</p><p>intuitional and spiritual, the more we ascend to God.</p><p>Religiosity: Religiosity has been the curse of the</p><p>world and the worst bondage for the mind of man.</p><p>Guru Grantha: The whole of Guru Grantha is the voice</p><p>of a wedded woman or a maiden pining in love of the</p><p>Beautiful.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tejwant Singh, post: 4284, member: 138"] Professor Puran Singh: Scientist, Poet and Philosopher Dr H.S.Virk Puran Singh was born on 17 February 1881 in a small village, Salhad, District Abbotabad, now in Pakistan. After passing his F.A. examination in 1899 from DAV College, Lahore, he sailed for Japan in 1900 and joined as a special student of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in Tokyo University. He was sponsored by Bhagat Gokal Chand and the enlightened Sikh elite of Rawalpindi for higher studies in Science and Technology in Japan. Puran Singh was a highly volatile and emotional young man. His thought and personality were shaped by four climactic events in early life: his Japanese experiences, his encounter with Walt Whitman, his discipleship of Swami Ram Tirath, and his meeting with Bhai Vir Singh, the great sikh savant. In Tokyo, Puran Singh studied Japanese and German languages, since the medium of instruction for science and technology was German. Japanese society was passing through a phase of transition under Meiji Revolution towards the end of nineteenth century. It was opened to European Science and Technology and most of the teaching faculty was hired from Europe and America. Puran Singh was introduced to Walt Whitman during his studentship in Japan in 1901 through an American Professor teaching at Tokyo University. He read ¡¥Leaves of Grass¡¦ and was so much infatuated with Whitman¡¦s verse that it became the condition of his poetic and craft. Puran Singh had a multi-dimensional personality and it will be impossible to sum up all his achievements in this memorial lecture. I shall try to highlight salient features of his personality. The list of his literary works is given as Annexure I. (A) Puran Singh as a Scientist There was hardly any opportunity for a foreign trained scientist in the early twentieth century Punjab. To pay off the debt of his parents for his education in Japan, he set up a manufacturing unit in 1904 for the preparation of essential oils in Lahore. After a quarrel with his partners, he dismantled the whole unit. In 1906, Puran Singh moved to Dehradun and set up a soap factory at Doiwala. This unit was later sold to a minister of Tehri-Garhwal state. In April 1907, he joined as Forest Chemist in the Forest Research Institute (FRI) at Dehradun. He worked in FRI till 1918 and made significant contributions to research1-2 which were published in Indian Forester and Forest Bulletin. He was the founder Head of Chemistry of Forest Products in FRI and published 53 research articles dealing with: (i) Studies on Essential Oils, (ii) Studies on Fats and Oils, (iii) Production of Tannins, (iv) Production of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, and (v) Promotion of essential oils, sugar and drug industry in India. Puran Singh was very keen to promote essential oil industry in India. He worked on the isolation and analysis of essential oils from eucalyptus globulus, khus, geranium, winter-green, sandalwood and camphor oil. After retirement, he established a Rosha Grass farm at Chak No. 73/19 in district Sheikhupura (now in Pakistan) but the project failed due to lack of government support and the floods which devastated the entire crop in 1928. Puran Singh was quite innovative in research15-16. He improved the quality and production of tannins in India, determined the oil values of forest oilseeds, introduced drug yielding plants in Indian forests, carried out calorimetric tests of Indian woods and patented a novel technique for decoloration of raw sugar, as crystal sugar was reluctantly used by orthodox Indians due to use of bone charcoal in its purification. His research activity was disrupted due to his involvement in revolutionary activities in Dehradun and thus a brilliant scientific carreer came to an end, after he took voluntary retirement in 1918, to avoid harassment at the hands of imperialist Indian government. His scientific papers are given as Annexure II. (B) Reminiscences of Japan Puran Singh is emphatic about his love for Japan and hate for the slave India. He left his ¡¥savage¡¦ Punjab when he was in his teens. He sums up his impressions about Punjab after his return from Japan as follows3: ¡§In the cities of Punjab it seemed all life had turned into brick and mortar. The Hindu system of caste had made even the plan of building new houses and new cities miserable. I almost cried amongst these heaps of dead bricks. Nature is crowded out. Sunlight is shutout. There is no free opportunity in the country for genius to shine¡¨. Puran Singh was accorded a rousing welcome in Japan. He was a brilliant student of Tokyo University, a great orator, a revolutionary in the offing and a handsome young man. He represented not only India but also the land of Great Buddha, which made him a privileged student. In his Japanese reminiscences3, Puran Singh recounts his meetings with Japanese friends, Buddhist monks, the great artist and writer Okakura; his love and regard for Japanese flower shows, Japanese tea ceremony, Geisha and the Japanese housewife. He was so much infatuated with Japanese life and culture that he became a Buddhist Bhiku in Japan. He was all praise for the Japanese woman: ¡§The Japanese woman in her own racial dress is surely not a denizen of this earth. She trails a heaven in her garments¡K¡K¡K¡K . I have learnt all my Buddhism from the Japanese women. Buddha and Guru Gobind Singh both are the sacred inspirers of Japanese womanhood and man-hood¡¨. ¡§The delicate waists of the Japanese girls so artistically and so passionately caught forever by their obies made me feel jealous as well as pure in the contemplation that in the very clothes were the bonds of eternal union with one¡¦s self¡¨. Puran Singh is very critical and harsh in his criticism of India of early twentieth century. If we read between the lines, his critical remarks are applicable to some extent to free India of 21st century also. There has been hardly any revolutionary change in social and cultural life of India after independence: ¡§In India the Government official is dreaded like a snake. All things official are suspected. People are afraid and the officials adopt the attitude of vain-glorious bullies¡¨. ¡§So I found in India that humanity is generally brutalized and demoralized by excessive idleness and non-development of material resources. Ethics and aesthetics are but polite arts of the idle rich. The richest houses are hovels, they have no music of love, their hearts are empty, their homes are as living graves. The wives labour like galley slaves. The country is doomed, the people are damned¡¨. ¡§Theological superstitions and communal biases brutalise almost every Indian; even those of great erudition and culture are stuck in the same quagmire. The life in India on the whole is hopelessly inartistic, filthy and barbarous as compared with the life in Japan¡¨. (C) Puran Singh-Walt Whitman Identity Puran Singh- Whitman identity is so complete as to almost suggest the idea of poetic reincarnation4. Both had a similar philosophy of poetry and regarded the poet as a person possessed in whom the utterance became the message. It will be in order to trace briefly the story of their affinities by drawing parallels from their life and works. Walt Whitman was motivated by reading Emerson in 1854. He admits, ¡§ I was simmering, simmering, simmering, Emerson brought me to boil¡¨. Puran Singh got the real inspiration after his meeting with Bhai Vir Singh during the Sikh Educational Conference held at Sialkot in 1912. Walt Whitman feels that the scientists and the poets are born of the same father- stuff and the poets have to fuse science into poetry. Wordsworth defined poetry as the impassioned expression which is the countenance of all science. Puran Singh fully realized the truth of it in his own life. For him, poetry and science were not two opposite poles of reality as is often believed. There is no apparent contradiction between his scientific self and literary self. He was a distinguished chemist by profession as well as a creative genius in Punjabi literature. We see the imprint of his scientific career on his literary writings6: (i) ¡§I am for the physics of the soul which is the physics of the beauty of the body too¡¨. (ii) ¡§The very radium of mind, has been slowly allowed to degenerate into sinking lead¡¨. (iii) ¡§Impertinent desires dim his faith and bend it beyond the limits of elasticity¡¨. (iv) ¡§We, too, if we rise not to our full moral stature, shall soon become fossils, not Sikhs¡¨. It is remarkable that Walt Whitman and Puran Singh adopt not only the same style (free verse) but also the same form and content for their muse. Both sing of common people, ordinary things and God in the world of men and matter. Both are singers of glory of their native lands. While Whitman is more athletic and sensuous in his songs, Puran singh is more feminine and puritan in love. Puran Singh identifies the Khalsa ideal of Guru Gobind Singh in the writings of Walt Whitman7. He called him, ¡§A Guru Sikh born in America to preach the Guru¡¦s ideal to the modern mind¡¨. (D) Commentary on the Poets of East and West10 Puran Singh, a unique synthesis of a poet, philosopher and scientist, rose like a comet on the firmament of modern Indian literature. After Tagore, he was the first Punjabi poet whose works were published in England during 1921-1926. Ernest and Grace Rhys, the Irish scholars, introduced his book, ¡¥The Sisters of the Spinning Wheel¡¦ to the West. It is divided into four sections: (i) Poems from the Land of Five Rives (ii) Poems of a Sikh (iii) Poems of Simrin, and (iv) Readings from Guru Granth. ¡¥The Spirit of Oriental Poetry¡¦ is another master-piece of Puran Singh published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. in England in 1926. It established him as a poetic genius in India and abroad. Puran Singh demonstrated his mastery of world literature in this book11 by an inter-comparison of: (i) The Poetry of the West, (ii) The Poetry of Japan, (iii) The Poetry of Persia ,and (iv) Modern Indian Poetry. He translated Jayadeva¡¦s Gita Govinda from original Sanskrit into lyrical English verse. The folk songs of Punjab, the poetry of Shrinagar and Vairagam also find a prominent place here. Puran Singh defines the poet of the East as a Bhakta, the disciple of the Divine. According to him, ¡§Our idea of the poet is that of a man who can, by the mere opening of his own eyes, enables others to see the Divine, whose one glance can be our whole knowledge. Whatsoever weighs down the inner self and seeks to imprison it in illusion is foreign to the spirit of poetry. It is irreligious. True poetry must free us. There is no freedom in sorrow and renunciation, however perfect. Freedom lies in the full realization of the Divine within our own soul¡¨. Puran Singh¡¦s commentary on the poets of East and West shows his rare insight and critical approach in view of his above definition of the poet. Some of his comments on the great poets of the East and West are as follows: (i) ¡§Shakespeare¡¦s imagination could not go beyond the lower spirit-world from which ghosts come to graveyards at night and fly away at the breaking of the dawn. This great dramatist was not able to pierce Reality beyond the surface-movements of an ego fettered by its own desires. Life is an infinite paradise. They who write tragedies are not yet enlightened. The function of poetry is to help us win our own paradise¡¨. (ii ) ¡§Tennyson devotes much time to seeking that his verses rhyme well. I cannot endure him for his fault of being faultless. He is a wonder-palace of English literature, a great aristocrat and great artist, but nothing more¡¨. (iii) ¡§Wordsworth exhausted himself in the delight of preaching the evident moral of beauty. He is more preacher than poet, and often redundant and exasperating in his sermons. He is , however the true naturalist:¡¨ (iv) ¡§William Blake is the poet of our hearts. He has the spiritual vision and he is a companion of the soul¡¨. (v) ¡§ Carlyle¡¦s ringing prose-poetry pierces the soul, it has in it the flutter of a bird wounded by an arrow from the unseen¡¨. (vi) ¡§ It was Goethe who first saw the loftiness of a truly Eastern intuition, and perceived the gleams that hide in the hearts of the seers of ¡¥Simrin¡¦. In true devotion to Truth, and lifetimes of imagination, Goethe is a modern prophet. The literature created by him is nearest in its effect to the Bible¡¨. (vii)¡§ Rabindra Nath Tagore is a beautiful illusion of many minds and resembles none in particular. Like Tennyson, his originality is of the lion eating other people¡¦s flesh and making it his own. The Upanishadas feed him and Upanishadas come out of him. His vague and mystic suggestiveness is good preaching, but he creates no life, he pleases and enthralls, but there it ends. His poetry has not enough blood to inspire in another something like itself. Tagore is not so bold a thinker on spiritual matters as Vivekananda or Rama Krishna Paramahansa¡¨. (viii) ¡§The poems of Sarojini Naidu are full of the sweetness of life¡¦s romance. In her poetry, she is more Persian and Urduic in her style than Bengali. It is a pity she has cast in her lot with that class who love to remain all their life mere school boys and girls and treat the world as a debating club where poems can be read, songs sung and politics discussed endlessly. We have lost a crystal stream of passionate verse in the dryness of Indian politics¡¨. (E) A Poet of Sikh Spiritual Consciousness (Surta)12 It is extremely difficult to classify or categorise the poetry created by Puran Singh. The resemblance between Walt Whitman and Puran Singh as persons and poets is so striking that one cannot resist the temptation to call them ¡¥mirror images¡¦ of each other. Both were poets of free verse (vers libre). Puran Singh¡¦s Punjabi verse is classified under three headings: (i) Khule Maidan (The Open Wide Plains), (ii) Khule Ghund (The Open Veils), and (iii) Khule Asmani Rang (The Wide Blue Skies). The common strain of all three titles is Khule, which means in Punjabi, at once open and wide and spacious. In fact, the poems of Puran Singh reflect the amplitude of his soul. Puran Singh covered diverse fields in Punjabi poetry (Annexure IV). He re-interpreted the epic tale of Puran Nath Yogi in his own characteristic style. His poems on ¡¥Punjab¡¦ are considered to be the most patriotic in Punjabi literature. Some of his poems covering this theme are: Punjab nu kookan main (I call my Punjab), Punjab de darya (Rivers of Punjab), Javan Punjab de (The Youth of Punjab). However, I find a subliminal theme12 running in the poetry of Puran Singh, which I call ¡¥Sikh Spiritual Consciousness¡¦. A beautiful essay on ¡¥Surta-Soul Consciousness¡¦ explains this concept in the book, ¡¥The Spirit Born People¡¦ written by Puran Singh in the form of lecture notes to be delivered to the Sikh youth of Punjab13. Puran Singh elaborates the concept of Surta in his two poems in Khule Ghund: (i) Surt ate Hankar (Consciousness and Ego), and (ii) Guru Avatar Surat. Surta determines the state of mind and consciousness and it has to be kept tuned to the Guru¡¦s Shabad. Puran Singh illustrates the rise and fall of Surta by quoting examples from world history in his essary13. According to him, the Sikh history is a mere reflection of Sikh Surta. The Sikhs will become fossils if the Surta is dead. (F) Puran Singh¡¦s Views on Sikh Gurus14 As usual, the world is too inert, too late, to welcome is prophets who bring an altogether new message. So it has been with the Sikh Gurus. The Hindus just condescended with a superior air to say that the Sikhs are of them-¡¥born out of them¡¦. Culturally and academically and even racially this was not wrong, but inspirationally, it was an attempt to thwart all the potentialities of the Guru¡¦s universal message. After Buddha, it was Guru Nanak who for the first time championed the cause of the masses in caste-ridden India. The rich aristocracy and the degraded priests of Hindus and Muslims did not listen to the Guru, but the oppressed people followed him with joy. He made a whole people throb with love and life. For more than a century and a half his message was secretly flaming in the bosom of the people when the genius of Guru Gobind Singh gave them the eternal shape of the Disciples, the Khalsa. Guru Gobind Singh is the Guru of the modern times. Assuredly Guru Gobind Singh is the Guru of the modern times. Assuredly the slaves of India have not understood Him so far and are not capable of understanding His genius. The shadow of his large personality falls far away above the head of centuries, and the so-called best intellectuals of India, when they spread out their mind to understand the Guru, get bruised by mere thorns and give Him up as something not as spiritual as Guru Nanak. It they cannot see Guru Gobind Singh as the highest, brightest culmination of Guru Nanak, assuredly they do not understand that King of revolution of religious thought, the great Guru Nanak. The world of thought has yet to understand the Ten Gurus in the splendour of their thought which has been misunderstood due to the Brahmanical language they had to employ to express themselves and to the Brahmanical environment which always has been inimical to the true progress of man. The Guru Granth of the Sikhs is the most authentic account of the Guru¡¦s soul. It is a pity that some Sikh enthusiasts and half-baked scholars, perverted by the thought of the age, have tampered with the meanings they themselves wish to give it. But the authentic word of Guru Granth can never be lost to the world. And as the Bible is translated into different languages, so Guru Granth will have to be put by poets of different nations into their own language direct from their own souls. Life alone can translate life. The Guru Granth is the history of the Sikh soul, and its translation is to come through the great figure of the social reconstruction of human society as the Khalsa, where shall reign love, and not hatred. Without the Word of the Guru, and the ideal, the Khalsa, which stands for the sovereign society, there is no key to the heart of Guru Nanak and his anthems for the liberation of man. Its interpretation lies in our human soul, not in the meanings of this life creative music. The destruction by the Guru of the Brahmanical Citadels of superstition (as in Guru Nanak¡¦s Asa-Ki-Var or in the great Kabits and Sawayyas of the Tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh, or in the Vars of Bhai Gurdas, the great exponent of Sikh ideals), is symbolic of the destruction of all lies on which human society might be wrongly founded and misguided. Guru Nanak is universal, but he is mostly the Prophet of the future. Freedom of the human mind and soul is the Guru¡¦s passion. The Guru did not eschew politics-in fact he made the liberation of the people the cause of the assertion of his heroism; but surely, if the Sikh lives on the surface only, like the Englishman, for mere politics, votes and such inanities, one straying from the Guru¡¦s path forthwith becomes a tratitor to his case. All freedom is but a spiritual tradition of the life of the Khalsa: if the Khalsa spirit is dead, all freedom fails. The Khalsa is the son of the Guru who brings everywhere his Heaven and its delectable freedoms. (G) Puran Singh¡¦s Concept of Khalsa Democracy14 The Sikhs are creations of the Guru¡¦s universal love. They are by their very birth of His spirit citizens of the world. The world of thought has yet to understand the Ten Gurus in the splendour of their thought which has been misunderstood due to Brahmanical environment which always has been inimical to the true cultural progress of man. The Khalsa is the ideal, future international state of man: it is an absolute monarchy of the kingdom of heaven for each and every man, the absolute democracy, distribution of bread and raiment of the kingdom of labour on this earth-all in one. It is democracy of feeling all on this physical plane of life, where most misery is due to man¡¦s callousness to man. It is brotherhood of the souls where intensity of feeling burns out all differences. In the realms of the soul, each is to have his own measure of the Guru¡¦s joy and sorrow and love and feeling and spiritual delight, according to his individual capacity. This will constitute the measure of the real aristocracy of each one¡¦s genius; but bread and raiment, the barest necessities of the physical body shall, in this kingdom of love for the Guru, never be denied to any one. If the Guru¡¦s ideal state, or even an approach to it, is ever made by man, no one will thenceforward die of hunger or go naked. Death cannot be prevented, innate differences cannot be destroyed; but physical privation will be prevented here on this earth by man himself. Let mountains be high, flowers small and grass low, but all shall be clothed with the beauty of God and fed with His abundance. The true vindication of the Khalsa commonwealth and its ideals as announced by Guru Gobind Singh, have yet to appear in terms of the practice of those ideals by those having faith in the Guru. The modern world, is, however, busy evolving its version of the Guru¡¦s Khalsa state out of social chaos. This much be said at once, that the Khalsa is more than a mere republic of votes of little men who must be influenced to give votes. It is more than the Soviet, which aims at the change of political environment and Law, to bring the Heaven of equal distribution on earth, because without the transmutation of the animal substance of man, of selfishness into sympathy, there can be no true socialism. The Guru Khalsa state is based on the essential goodness of humanity, which longs to share the mystery and secret of the Creator, and longs to love the Beautiful one living in His creation. The Guru thus admits man to an inner kingdom of the soul, where each and every person receives such abundance of pleasure and the beauty of His Love, that selfishness dies itself. Inspiration to the higher life drives out the lower. Each one, according to his worth and capacity to contain, has enough of the inner rapture of the beauty of God in him, so that he lives quite happy and contented without interfering in anyone¡¦s affairs or robbing any of his rightful freedom to increase his own pleasures. This endless self-sacrifice in utter gladness of a new realization is the sign and symptom of the true ¡¥Nam¡¦ culture of the Guru. No one can be man of truly human society, who has not obtained this divine spark which puts the self at rest, which thereby imbibes a nobility from God to leave everything along and gaze at Him with unending repture and renunciation. Man need to be truly and inwardly a divine aristocrat to be truly democratic in this world. In the constitution of the Khalsa commonwealth, the greatest act of genius of Guru Gobind Singh was when he transferred the divine sovereignty vested in him to the God-inspired people, the Khalsa. When speaking of the people, the Guru speaks of the people whose personality is transmuted into the divine personality of self-less being. As the chemist talks of pure elements just as they occur in nature, the Guru refers to the ¡¥pure¡¦ of the cosmic Spirit and not as they are found with their blind animal instincts. In this one act lies our history and the future history of human progress. In the Khalsa constitution, the people inspired by the natural goodness of humanity, by the spontaneous Divinity of God, by the Guru¡¦s mystic presence in all beings, are made supreme. They are the embodiment of Law and Justice fulfilled for ever in the love of Man. This state has but the Guru as personal God. In this state, the law of man¡¦s natural goodness is the only law. Puran Singh is emphatic in his criticism of democracy of mere votes and elections. ¡§Great men are true representatives of the people. So they have been in all ages, for true greatness is always representative. But the giants are gone and now the tiny dwarfs flutter and shake their wings. They have not the soul in them to take any responsibility. They have misunderstood democracy. By the introduction of the idea of democracy into politics, perhaps, that tall, Himalayan kind of human personality has been made impossible. All have become sand grains in one great level desert. All ideals are in the melting pot and from the great liquid will crystallize the New Ideals. Then the world tired of these dwarfs will cry for its old Himalayan giants again. Down with Democracy will they cry as they once cried Down with Kingship. Puran Singh seems to contradict Mahatma Gandhi: ¡§There is no such thing as Swaraj, self-government: we are always governed best by a noble man, not by ourselves if we are not so noble. The rest are mere words, votes, democracy.¡¨ Democracy, the dream of modern civilization was established in this part of Asia in the exact modern sense in the realization of the spirit of Man. And the mortal fallacies which poison the human thought among the Soviets, were avoided by the Khalsa. The Khalsa made democracy its daily practice, driven by the inner feeling that is reborn of the spirit of the Guru, that all men are brothers. Democracy is not conceived as a social system, but as true inner spirit-born feeling. Democracy is the moral feeling that naturally wells up in the Informed Ones. The humblest brick-lifter has equal rights of joy and life with the king. A labourer who feels richer than a king and a king who feels poorer than a labourer-this is democracy of the spirit. The alternations of the outer conditions of life, even political resolutions cannot secure the equal distribution of land and wealth and labour; they cannot transmute human nature. Unless the change be wrought within, the volcanoes will burst forth again, and the lava shall flow as before, and all our leveling of conditions will be in vain. The Guru visualized this and leaving the outer surfaces of human nature untouched, changed the inner springs of action. Guru Gobind Singh was neither a Caesar nor an Aurangzeb. He was the true king of the people and a comrade of the people. In the truest representative spirit, Guru Gobind Singh founded the true democracy of the people in which there were no dead votes or votes won by mental persuation or interested coercion. Democracy was a feeling in the bosom of the Khalsa and it gave an organic cohesion to the people who founded both society and state on the law of love, on Justice and Truth , not an impersonal system of the will of the blinded mob-representation by sympathy and not by dead votes. The Khalsa-state is an Ideal; Sikhs may die, it does not. It is immortal. (H) Genesis of Hindu-Sikh Divide14 It might seem that owing to the hostility of an environment, and the not unoften deliberate attempts of the Hindu society to obliterate the Sikh ideals, Sikhs tend to deny any relationship with Hindu society. The Sikh may deny him or not, the Hindu has already denied the Sikh. The great Hindu culture and its innate influence on Sikh culture, however, cannot be denied. It would be to deny one¡¦s parentage. Such denials add nothing to the stature of the Sikh. All that is lofty and noble must be and is fully reflected in the soul of Sikhism, for matter of that, not Hindu culture alone, but all human culture itself. The Sikh is rather spiritualistic in his consciousness than metaphysical. The songs of the Ten Gurus and the lives of unparalled martyrdom have created a new race-emotion in the Punjab; the Sikhs are a new nation in its inspiration and its remarkable cohesion of the masses. The brief Sikh history and tradition inspire the Punjab peasants as no manner of religious `fervour did before, which goes to show that the Sikh has a tradition and culture of his own which the Hindu has been unwilling to receive, though he wishes at times to pat him on the back as a kind of off-spring. It is unfair of the Hindus to condemn the Sikhs for their attempts to cut themselves away from the mass of Hindudom. They make it a grievance that the Sikhs wish to make their church stand apart. In view of the political solidarity of India it is mischievous for any one to suggest that we are not of the Hindu and not equally of the Muslims. It is mischievous to multiply the points of difference with the Hindu, which are not fundamental. The Gurus have shown to Hindus the way to freedom of mind and soul and also to political freedom. The Hindus, out of the spirit of vain intellectual pride have withheld themselves from the resurgence that Sikhism would bring. For the Hindus, the way to survival and freedom is the Guru¡¦s way. Unless they accept Guru Granth as their new Gita, the old scriptures and the stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata can no longer inspire new life into the mass of people whose backbone has been crushed by systematic metaphysical and theological burdens. Political slavery has been the result of their metaphysical mentality. The Hindus in the Punjab have much to answer for. They find more in Bhagavat Gita and the old Vedas than in Guru Granth. They relate themselves to the bards of Vedas more than the Gurus. The Hindus failed Guru Gobind Singh: but Guru Gobind Singh has not failed them. They have not understood him; he understood them. As they have grown so apathetic, almost antagonistic to the message of the Gurus, it is essential that the basic unique character of Sikh culture should now be expressed. (I) Physics of Spirituality14 In the scheme of human progress there is such a thing as the physics of spirituality; the Hindu has ignored it, the Western races have realized it. Because of their comprehensive vision, the Khalsa shall have the spiritual and temporal sovereignty and all shall submit to it, soon or late. Only those shall be saved, who gather under this flag. The Hindus, so far, have not seen the significance of the Guru¡¦s creation, the Khalsa. Great Hindu philosophers like Tilak, Aurobindo and Tagore are reinterpreting the Gita and the Upanishads in order to come abreast with modern Western thought and scientific conclusions. But they do not see that more than four hundred years ago, their own country-men, the Sikh Gurus, actually worked all these modern tendencies into the constitution of the mind and society of this unhappy land, by creating the Khalsa. Their lives gave birth to a new country in this old one, and peopled it with a new race, with a universal religion of faith in man, and fired it with the spiritual passion for progress. Out of the Gurus came a daring, colonizing race, lovers of land and agriculture, ready to start a new page of life at every turn. And of all the older texts the Sikh texts alone need not be tortured to come abreast with modern developments: they have woven the philosophy of the ancient scriptures in an organic whole. The Sikh life is the vindication of natural manhood and womanhood. Some modern typical Hindus are trying to interpret Upanishads and the Gita in modern modes. But such attempts are against the traditional faith that has gathered round these books. And, however easily they may be interpreted in the modern modes, they have never shown the great reactivity that is attributed to them. In the past the teaching of the Gita has never been harnessed to action nor the Upanishads to love of the people. There has been no phenomena of transmutation of personality by a higher Being¡¦s personal touch on any large scale, as in Sikh history. The Upanishads are examples of mental splendour, unique and truly glorious. But without Buddhism and now without Sikhism in India, and without the modern spirit of the West, which lives and works and attains to knowledge by the experimental method, which is, as I term it, ¡¥ physics of spirituality¡¦, the Upanishads and Bhagavat Gita could never have been so interpreted. On the other hand, from my close and devoted study of the Guru¡¦s hymns, I assert that many revolutionary tendencies are found in the Sikh thought, song and life. No texts need be turned upside down for it. It was atrocious not to have seen this, and to have ignored Sikh history, from the main features of the hostility of the racial environment in which Sikhism took its birth. The Sikh believes in one great culture of man which is yet to come. There is more future and past in Sikhism while there is all the emphasis on the past in Hinduism. References 1. Life and Works of Puran Singh by H.S. Virk, Indian Journal History of Sciences, Vol. 28, pp. 277-285 (1993). 2. Professor Puran Singh (1881-1931): Founder of Chemistry of forest products in India by H.S. Virk, Current Science, Vol. 74, pp.1023-24 (1998). 3. On Paths of Life by Puran Singh, Punjabi University, Patiala (1982) p. 129. 4. ¡§Puran Singh: Toward A Whitmanesque Vision¡¨. Studies in Punjabi Poetry by Darshan Singh Maini, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, (1979). 5. Puran Singh di Vartak, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (1967), p. 14. 6. Spirit of the Sikh: Part II ( Vol. 1), Punjabi University, Patiala (1980),p. 117. 7. Walt Whitman and The Sikh Inspiration by Puran Singh. Punjabi University, Patiala (1982). 8. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman 9. Puran Singh: Jeevani ate Kavita (Life and Poetical Works). Edited by M.S. Randhawa, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (1976). 10. Puran Singh¡¦s Commentary on the Poets of East and West by H.S. Virk, in ¡¥Advance¡¦ (March-April , 1992), Chandigarh. 11. The Spirit of Oriental Poetry by Puran Singh. Punjabi University, Patiala (1969). 12 . Puran Singh-A Poet of Sikh Spiritual Consciousness by H.S. Virk, in Khoj Patrika (Special Issue on Puran Singh) Edited by Rattan Singh Jaggi, Punjabi University, Patiala (1981). 13. The Spirit Born People by Puran Singh. Punjabi University, Patiala (1976). 14. Puran Singh¡¦s Views on Sikh Gurus, Sikhs and the Khalsa Raj by H.S. Virk, in Journal of Sikh Studies, Vol. XI, No. II, (1984), p. 116-125. 15. ¡¥Vigyani Puran Singh¡¦ by H.S. Virk, in Professor Puran Singh¡VIk Shardhanjli, Edited by Amarjit Singh, Punjabi University, Patiala (1978). 16. Sade Vigyani, Scientific Essays by H.S. Virk, Centre for Promotion of Science, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (1990). Annexure I : LITERARY WORKS OF PURAN SINGH English 1. The Spirit of Oriental Poetry 2. The Temple Tulips 3. The Sisters of the Spinning Wheel 4. Unstrung Beads 5. The Bride of the Sky-A poetic drama 6. Parkasina-A Buddhist Princess (A novel) 7. Spirit Born People 8. Spirit of the Sikh : Part I & Part II (Vol. I and II) 9. On Paths of Life (An autobiography) 10. Book of Ten Masters 11. Guru Gobind Singh-Reflections and Offerings 12. Walt Whitman and Sikh Inspiration 13. Swami Rama Tirath Punjabi 14. Khule Lekh 15. Khule Ghund 16. Khule Asmani Rang 17. Khule Maidan Translation 18. Resurrection-Leo Tolstoy 19. Hero and Hero Worship-Carlyle 20. Poems of Joy-Walt Whitman 21. Essay on the Poet-Emerson Annexure II: Published Scientific Work of Professor Puran Singh 1. A note on the analysis of cutch and preparation of pure catechin by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Mem, (1908), Vol. 1, Pt 1. 2. Note on the Utilisation of Khair Forests in Eastern Bengal and Assam by Puran Singh, Forest Pamphlet,(1908), No. 1. 3. Note on the Manufacture of Ngai Camphor by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1908), Vol. 1, Pt III. 4. A paper on the Future of Cutch and Katha Manufacture by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1909), Vol. XXXV, No.2.,Pt I. 5. A note on the Manufacture of Pure Shellac by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Mem. (Chemistry Series) Vol. XXXV, No. 2.,Pt II. 6. A Chemical Investigation of the Constituents of Burmese Varnish (Melanorrhoea usitata, Sup). By Puran Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1909). 7. Paper on some tanning materials and the manufacture of tannin extracts in India (Read at All-India Industrial Conference in India held in Dec. 1909) by Puran Singh. 8. Report on the bleaching of some Indian coloured Woods by Puran Singh, Appendix. to Indian Forest Mem., (1909), Vo. II, Pt 1. 9. Analytical Constants of Shellac, Lac, Resin and Lac Wax by Puran Singh, J. Soc. Chem. Ind., (1910), Vol. XXIX, p. 1435. 10. Note on Calorimetric Tests of some Indian woods by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin, (1911), No. 1. 11. Memorandum on the oil-value of Sandal Wood by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin, (1911), No. 6. 12. Note on the Chemistry and Trade Forms of Lac by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin, (1911), No. 7 13. A Preliminary note on the use of Nickel Hydroxide in Tannin estimation by Puran Singh . Soc. Chem. Ind., (1911), Vol. XXX, No. 15. 14. Note on the best season for collecting Myrobalans as tanning material by Puran Singh. Indian Forester (1911); Vol. XXXVII, No. 9. 15. Method of distinguishing powellized and the unpowellized woods by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1911), Vol. XXXVII, No 10. 16. Note on Resin-value of Podeophyllum emodi and the best season for collecting it by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin (1912), No.9. 17. Podophyllum emodi by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1912), Vol. XXXVIII, Nos. 4 and 7. 18. A short preliminary note on the suitability of dead wood of Acacia catechu for Katha making by Puran Singh. Indian Forester (1912), Vol. XXXVIII, No. 4. 19. A short Note on the earth eating habits of the Indian deer by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1912), No. 7. 20. Note on the preparation of tannin extract with special reference to those prepared from the bark of Mangrove (Rhizophora muocronata) by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Res, (1912), Vol.III, Pt IV. 21. Note on Distillation and Composition of Turpentine oil from chir Resin and clarification of Indian Resin by Puran Singh. Indian Forest Rec. (1912), Vo. IV, Pt 1. 22. Note on Turpentine of Pinus khasya, Pinus merkusii and Pinus excelsa by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin, (1913), No. 24. 23. The Cultivation of drugs in Indian Forests by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 3. 24. Memorandum on the oil value of some Forest oil seeds by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 6. 25. Analysis of Gutta made from latex of Palaquium ellipticum by Puran Singh. Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 8. 26. The composition of Ceara Rubber from Coorg by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 8. 27. Indian Oak barks as materials for manufacture of tannin extract by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 9. 28. Terminalia tomentosa bark as a material for the manufacture of tannin extract by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 9. 29. Some mineral salts as Fish Poison by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1913), Vol. XXXIX, No. 11. 30. A further note on the Calorimetric test of some Indian woods from Belgaum (Bombay) by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1914), Vol. XL. No. 3. 31. Preservation of the Latex of Ficus religiosa by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1914), Vol. XL, No. 9. 32. A Plea for the distillation of the Pine Needle oil in India by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1914), Vol. XL, No. 10. 33. Nickel Tannates by Puran Singh. J. Soc. Chem. Ind. (1914), Vol. XXXIII, No. 4. 34. The Cus-Cus Oil in India by Puran Singh, Chem. Drugg. (1914), Vol. LXXXV. 35. A Further Note on the best season for collecting Myrabalans as Tanning material by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1915), Vol. XLI, No. 1. 36. Note on Arwal (Cassia auriculata) Benth from Marwar by Puran Singh. Indian Forester (1915), Vol. XLI, No. 1. 37. A Further Note on the Oil value of some Sandal woods from Madras by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1915), Vol. XLI, No. 8. 38. The Camphor content of Cinnamomum camphora grown at Dehra-Dun by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1915), Vol. XLI, No. 8. 39. Note on the effect of Age on the Catechin content of the wood of Acacia catechu by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1915), Vol. XLI, No. 12. 40. Note on Indian Sumach (Rhus continus Linn.) by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin (1915)., No. 31. 41. Note on the Addition of fat to tannin extract by Puran Singh, J. Soc. Chem. Ind. (1915), Vol. XXXIV, No. 5. 42. Note on the Differentiation of Inn and Kanyin Species of Dipterocarpus timber of Burma by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1916), Vol. XLII, No. 5. 43. Note on the constants of Indian Geranium oil (Motia) by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1916), Vol. V, Pt. VII. 44. Note on the Burmese Myrabalans or Panga Fruits as tanning material by Puran Singh, Forest Bulletin (1916), No. 32. 45. A note on the use of Nickel Hydroxide in tannin estimation by Puran Singh and T.P. Ghose, J. Soc. Chem. Ind. (1916), Vol. XXXV, No. 3, p. 159. 46. (i) Note on the Eucalyptus Oil Industry in the Nilgris. (ii) Note on the Distillation of Geranium Oil in the Nilgris. (iii) Note on the manufacture of Wintergreen Oil in India by Puran Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1917), Vol. V, Pt VIII. 47. Note on the Galls of Pistacia integessina by Puran Singh. Indian Forester (1917), Vol. XLII, No. 8. 48. Charcoal Briquettes by R.S. Pearson and Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1918), Vol. XLIV, No.3. 49. Effect of Storage on some Tanning Materials by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1918), Vol. XLIV, No. 3. 50. A Preliminary Note on the manufacture of wood-tar by Puran Singh, Indian Forester(1918), Vol. XLIV, No. 4. 51. Walnut Bar by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1918), Vol. XLIV, No. 8. 52. A Note on the Economic Values of Chinese Tallow Tree by Puran Singh, Indian Forester (1918), Vol. XLIV, No. 9. 53. Note on the Preparation of Turpentine, Rosin and Gum from Boswellia serrata (Roxb.) gum-oleo-resin by R.S. Pearson and Puran Singh, Indian Forest Rec. (1918) Vol. VI, Pt VI. Annexure III : Gems of Thought from Professor Puran Singh Culture: True culture is that which does not make him a Sikh or Mohammadan or Hindu or Christian, but a man. Education: True education is that which does not make him Indian or English or Japanese or American but man. Art: Art is contemplation of the Beautiful by the artist. This contemplation lifts us above ourselves, above body and mind, and elevates our consciousness; it beautifies our vision. History: History and biography are both lies, so far as these matters are concerned. Who can report the soul correctly, which till today remains unrevealed and undescribed, for it is always a surprise and a revelation. Only fools concern themselves with what they call historical events. The greatest events are of the soul and they are revealed in one¡¦s own surta. Knowledge: True knowledge is not knowing, but being. Knowing is always wrong, being is always right. Intellect: Intellectual interpretations exhaust genius, it is self-spending of consciousness. Intellectual Analysis: Beware of the magic of Brahmanical Philosophic analysis of everything, even the most secret and complex infinites of faith, life and love. It killed them, it shall kill you. Analysis is the opposite pole of feeling. I worship my mother, I love my wife, but what would they be if I wished to know them by analysis. Superman: The superman is a state of consciousness (surta) not a person. Surta: Surta is the thread which keeps us linked with the spiritual realms. Woman: Woman shall be the second best God or God of the intellectual on earth. Bread, Woman and Bridegroom: Man the animal, cannot live without Bread. Man, the mind, cannot be without woman. And man, the soul, is dead without the Guru. Bread Affairs: The bread affairs engross all political activity of man, and the true progress of man is to make it so simple as the provision of sunlight by the sun. Work: Work makes us spiritual. Let us therefore give up all other worship of God but work. Ideal State: The habit of working for works¡¦ sake is the foundation on which the Ideal state can be founded. And that undetermined Ideal State is yet to come into being, where all the optimum physical needs of man necessary to keep the soul-plant of man in vigorous growth are equitably provided. Swaraj: There is no such thing as Swaraj, self-government: we are always governed best by a noble man, not by ourselves, if we are not so noble. The rest are mere words, votes, democracy. Patriotism: Patriotism was a foolish clannishness. In these days man with a patriotic feeling is a brute, because patriotism makes him blind to the larger interest of the family of man. Simrin: Simrin is always cosmic. Sadh Sangat: How disgraceful for us that we call a mere assemblage of uninspired men a Sadh-Sangat. God Realisation: The more we subordinate the Physical life to the intellectual and the intellectual to the intuitional and spiritual, the more we ascend to God. Religiosity: Religiosity has been the curse of the world and the worst bondage for the mind of man. Guru Grantha: The whole of Guru Grantha is the voice of a wedded woman or a maiden pining in love of the Beautiful. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Discussions
Sikh History & Heritage
Professor Puran Singh: Scientist, Poet And Philosopher
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
Accept
Learn more…
Top