Dasam Granth

The Dasam Granth (Gurmukhi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ dasama gratha) is a collection of various poetic compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. It is differentiated from the Guru Granth Sahib due to its focus on martial themes and imagery, such as warfare, weaponry, and other warrior-matters, known collectively as bir ras (heroic strain of expression), as opposed to the Guru Granth Sahib's shanti ras (verses that inspire peace). According to Kamalroop Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann, the text was composed to prepare the Sikhs for warfare against their Mughal enemy.

The text previously enjoyed an equal status with the Adi Granth, or Guru Granth Sahib, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and were installed side by side on the same platform. The Dasam Granth lost favor during the colonial period when reformist Singh Sabha Movement scholars couldn't contextualise the reworkings of Puranic stories or the vast collection of 'Tales of Deceit' Sri Charitropakhyan. A section of Sikhs oppose the scripture and question its authenticity based upon its authorship.

The standard edition of the text contains 1,428 pages with 17,293 verses in 18 sections. These are set in the form of hymns and poems mostly in the Braj language (Old Western Hindi), with some parts in Avadhi, Punjabi, Hindi and Persian. The script is written almost entirely in Gurmukhi, except for the Guru Gobind Singh's letters to Aurangzeb—Zafarnama and the Hikaaitaan—written in the Persian alphabet.

The Dasam Granth contains hymns, from Hindu texts, which are a retelling of the feminine in the form of goddess Durga, an autobiography, letter to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, as well as reverential discussion of warriors and theology. The scripture was recited in full within Nirmala Sikhs in the contemporary era. Parts of it are retold from Hindu Puranas, for the benefit of the common man, who had no access to Hindu texts of the time. Compositions of the Dasam Granth include Jaap Sahib, Tav-Prasad Savaiye and Kabiyo Baach Benti Chaupai which are part of the Nitnem or daily prayers and also part of the Amrit Sanchar or initiation ceremony of Khalsa Sikhs.

Zafarnama and Hikayats in a different style and format appended to it in the mid 18th century. Other manuscripts are said to include the Patna Birs and the Mani Singh Vali Bir all originated in mid to late 18th century. One of the 1698 CE Patna Manuscripts includes various apocryphal writings such as the Ugradanti and Bhagauti Astotar.