The Sikh Religion- Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors (Set of 6 Volumes in 3 Books)

It is a monumental work on the Sikh Religion, first ever published in 1909 and well acclaimed by the Sikh as well as European scholars.

The purpose of the author was to introduce the lofty ideals of the Gurus to the western world in their true spirit. Hence he translated the Sikh Scripture into English with the help of the renowned Sikh scholars of the times including Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha. It is regarded as an accurate version of the Sikh Scripture. The author translated the hymns in a simple and direct style as he believed it reflected more accurately the style of the hymns themselves.

Considered to be the most comprehensive work on the early Sikh tradition, it also gives a reliable account of the lives of the Gurus. It is quite remarkable that the bulk of author's evidence consists of original sources. Apart from the Sikh sources, he also used the well-known Persian works.

The result of the labour of love for 16 years, the work is undoubtedly a pioneer work in the Sikh studies and is still considered a dependable reference book to study the unexplored aspects of Sikhism.

Max Arthur Macauliffe (29.9.1837- 15.3.1913) was born at Newcastle West, County Limerick, Ireland. He was educated at Newcastle School, Limerick and at Springfield College and Queen's College, Galway. He received a broad humanistic education that allowed him to read the Greek and Latin Classics in original. He could also read French and Italian. In 1862, he was appointed to the Indian Civil Services and was assigned to Punjab. He arrived in Punjab in 1864. After 18 years of service, he was appointed a Deputy Commissioner in 1882. Two years later, he became a Divisional Judge. His deep understanding and sympathy for the people of Punjab and their religious traditions made him able and just civil servant.

His interest in Sikhism was sparked by attending a Diwali celebration in Amritsar. In 1893, he resigned his job to study Sikhism and devoted his remaining life to understand Gurbani. He found himself engaged by what he studied because in his words, "the sublimity of their style and the high standard of ethics which they inculcated were unmatched." He left for his heavenly abode in 1913 while reciting Japuji.

I BRING from the East what is practically an unknown religion. The Sikhs are distinguished throughout the world as a great military people, but there is little known even to professional scholars regarding their religion. I have often been asked by educated persons in countries which I have visited, and even in Inclia itself, what the Sikh religion was, and whether the Sikhs were Hindus, idolaters or Muhammadans. This ignorance is the result of the difficulty of the Indian dialects in which their sacred writings are contained.

Judaism has its Old Testament; Islam its Quran: Hinduism its Veds, Purans, and Shastars; Bud- hism its Tripitaka; the Parsi religion its Zen. avesta; and Confucianism its Analects, its Spring and Autumn, its Ancient Poems and its Book of Changes. The languages in which the holy writings of these religions are enshrined, though all difficult, are for the most part homogeneous, and after preliminary study with tutors can generally be mastered by the aid of grammars and dictionaries; but not so the mediaeval Indian dialects in which the sacred writings of the Sikh Gurus and Saints were composed. Hymns are found in Persian, mediaeval Prakrit, Hindi, Marathi, old Panjabi, Multani, and several local dialects. In several hymns the Sanskrit and Arabic vocabularies are freely drawn upon.

THE fifteenth century of the Christian era was period of singular mental and political activity. Both in Europe and India men shook off the torpor of ages, and their minds awoke to the consciousness of intellectual responsibility. For this result, it is true, important preparations had been made in the fourteenth century, when the Christian reformers, Walter Lollard and John Huss, preached and suffered death for their opinions; when the poetical literature of England assumed a tangible form from the genius of Chaucer and Gower; when the Musalmans in Europe penetrated into Thrace and Hungary; and when, after the overthrow and expulsion of Budhism from India by the astute and powerful Brahmans, there flourished the great exponents of Indian monotheism, the saint Kabir, and the enlightened Ramanand.

**Contents and Sample Pages**