Suraj Prakash (Gurmukhi: ਸੂਰਜ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼), also called Gurpartāp Sūraj Granth (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਤਾਪ ਸੂਰਜ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ lit. "The Sun-like Illumination of the Guru's Glory"), is a popular and monumental hagiographic text about Sikh Gurus written by Kavi Santokh Singh (1787–1843) and published in 1843 CE. It consists of life legends performed by Sikh Gurus and historic Sikhs such as Baba Banda Bahadur in 51,820 verses (60,000 when including Nanak Prakash). Most modern writing on the Sikh Gurus finds its basis from this text.

Overview

The Suraj Prakash is written in Braj Bhasha language in Gurmukhi script, with significant use of Sanskrit words. Generally when spoken about it includes the author's previous work on Guru Nanak, the Nanak Prakash (1824). In total the text has 1281 chapters spread across twenty two sections. Jvala Singh explains and comments on the structure of the text: ! Section !! Guru

Sources

Kavi Santokh Singh constructs his text by utilizing a broad range of source material including: Above all, Kavi Santokh Singh writes that he has written the history according and pursuant to Guru Granth Sahib - ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਕਥਾ ਮੈਂ ਰੀਤਾ (I have written these stories according to the Guru Granth).

Reception

By the 1880s the text had received widespread appraisal and became the foundation, "go-to" source, to draw from. The renown Patna Sahib Mahant and Braj poet, Sumer Singh (1847-1903), writes, “[T]here is no other text which is equivalent, understand it as the treasure trove of the guru’s praise, the exalted Santokh Singh received great admiration for creating this vessel to liberate all the Singhs”. However according to W. H. McLeod the Suraj Prakash contains "somewhat higher proportion" of Sikh history, but it is mostly ahistorical mythology and untrustworthy source of Sikh history. Max Arthur Macauliffe extensively but selectively used the Suraj Prakash, in cooperation with Kahn Singh Nabha, for his six-volume The Sikh Religion series that presented Sikh scriptures and history to the Western world in early 20th-century. While Macauliffe used it extensively in his Sikh Gurus and history sections, he added that the Suraj Prakash is of doubtful trustworthiness, because the education and heritage of its author Santokh Singh was "largely tinctured with Hinduism". Vir Singh however notes that Suraj Prakash essentially became the foundation for historical texts written in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Suraj Parkash is a popular text in the Sikh community, profusely poetic, and it is sometimes recited in a katha form. Vir Singh in his introduction to his printed publication of Suraj Prakash writes:

Scholarly analysis

Scholars such as W. H. McLeod and Max Arthur Macauliffe found fault in the text due to mythological components. Others viewed the material included as Vedantic doctrines of Udasis and Nirmalas. The text also incorporates some ideas of the Hindalis considered heretical by Khalsa Sikhs. According to Pashaura Singh this may have been the result of the traditional Sikh schools in Amritsar of the 18th– and 19th–century including Vedanta with standard Sikh teachings. The text since McLeod and Macauliffee's critique has been understudied; Anne Murphy writes, "this is not a text that has been used a great deal by historians, probably due to its reputation for being “Hinduized”— somewhat unfairly, perhaps, given the prevalence of “mythological” elements within other comparable texts that are referred to more often." Bhai Vir Singh remarks that the mythology and Puranic references within Suraj Prakash are utilized as metaphors, in a way to explain the deeds, role, and powers of the Gurus. Bhai Vir Singh writes that in the context of texts related to spiritual personalities, like the Gurus, stories including miracles (karāmāt) are used to "open the locks of the heart" of the listener/reader, in a way that purely scientific historical literature could not do. The text has been criticized as being "Hinduized", however it clearly articulates the Khalsa as the 'Third' (ਤੀਜਾ / ਤੀਸਰ ਪੰਥ), distinct from the Hindu and Turk (Islamic) duality. The confusion pertains to 18th century texts like Gurbilas as well, Murphy notes the problem related to context:

Vir Singh's printed version

Suraj Parkash was first edited by Vir Singh 1926-1935 in 14 volumes, with Punjabi footnotes. Jvala Singh in his work argues that Vir Singh’s publication of the text in 1935, safe guarded the text from attack by iron-cladding the text within a western critical apparatus The critical apparatus included a lengthy 250 page introduction, explanatory footnotes, and additional historical resources supplementing the text, softening the attacks and shaping the audience's expectations, reactions and modes of appreciation of the text. Jvala Singh suggests Vir Singh is pushing back against Max Arthur Macauliffe and other Singh Sabha intellectuals who attack the text and author.

Translations

The Suraj Prakash is currently being translated in a podcast format by Jvala Singh on the Suraj Podcast, which is a chapter by chapter translation and summary.