Debating the Dasam Granth

This book explores a Sikh text attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. Controversy has long surrounded substantial portions of the text that relate tales from Hindu mythology and graphic stories about women who devise elaborate schemes to pursue illicit liaisons with men. Analysis of the Dasam Granth has largely centered on the issue of whether or not Guru Gobind Singh is the author of these controversial compositions, and why stories of conniving women would be included in a religious text. Debating the Dasam Granth explores these controversies about authorship and the stories of women but takes...

This book explores a Sikh text attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. Controversy has long surrounded substantial portions of the text that relate tales from Hindu mythology and graphic stories about women who devise elaborate schemes to pursue illicit liaisons with men. Analysis of the Dasam Granth has largely centered on the issue of whether or not Guru Gobind Singh is the author of these controversial compositions, and why stories of conniving women would be included in a religious text. Debating the Dasam Granth explores these controversies about authorship and the stories of women but takes the analysis of the Dasam Granth in a new direction through focusing on three key aspects of the text: the autobiographical narrative of Bachitra Natak, or “The Wondrous Drama”; several compositions that recount the battles of a goddess who slays demons; and the lengthy composition called Charitropakhian that details deceitful women. Rather than adding another entry to the authorship debate, this book situates these compositions in the broader context of Indian literature, explores how the different portions of the Dasam Granth relate to one another, and suggests why such a disparate group of compositions might have been compiled into a single text.