[www.panthic.org]

Waheguru ji ka khalsa
Waheguru ji ki fateh

Khalsa jio,

Bhai Sahib's great contribution will be remembered in time to come. One thing is very clear that only self less seva contributes to good deeds. Bhai did the seva keeping khalsa panth on top. Bhai Sahib showed an extra ordinary example in this time of panth that how a Sikh can be a Sikh who is SANJHA to all. Not only Akhand Kirtani Jatha but every common Sikh should learn and follow foot steps of Bhai Sahib that how to work for the chardi kala of panth with a common platform of Gurbani and keertan. Guru Sahib and his takhat Sri Akaal Takhat Sahib are supreme to every Sikh regardless of the difference in certain beliefs. Although Bhai Sahib deserved more but still this good step of honor by SGPC and other Sikh organizations. Many of today's youth might not know who was he. Recently Singh shared with us that today's youth knows Bhai Tejinder Pal Singh Dula and even consider that he is good kirtania than Talwara ji but when he told them that Talwara ji is the father of Bhai Dula ji they got big surprise. May Guru Sahib send more souls like him to the panth.

Guru Mehar Karay

Waheguru ji ka khalsa
Waheguru ji ki fateh

This daas wrote this article on Bhai Talwara jee at the time of his Akal Chalaana. The article is still relevant today:


As per bhaana of Vaheguru, Bhai Joginder Singh jee Talwara has passed away to the next world. His passing away is a big loss to panth today. He single-handedly worked as an institution for the chardi kala of Panth.

There is no doubt that at present time there is no scholar of Bhai Talwara jee’s level in panth today. Bhai Talwara jee was not only a scholar but also had a very good gursikhee jeevan.


BHAI SAHIB’S BOOKS


LIFE OF GURU AMARDAAS JEE

The first book I read by Talwara jee was the life story of Guru Amardaas jee. I was very impressed reading this book. It was a book written in very simple Punjabi yet it was very well-researched book. The best quality of this book was that this book had a perfect balance between love/faith for Guru jee (shardha) and historical facts. We see books written by some modern scholars and wonder what purpose do such books serve. These books are basically written to satisfy the communist minded people who have no love and faith for Siri Guru jee. On the other hand we have books written based on emotions and shardha alone. Such books lack historical evidence and as such don’t go too far. The book written by Bhai Talwara jee on Guru Amardaas jee’s life is a well-researched book based on facts and is also full of love and devotion for Guru jee.


GURU TEGH BAHADUR SAHIB JEE’S BAANI

Bhai Sahib’s first book on Gurbani is his translation of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib jee’s baani. This book is first of it’s kind. It is fully based on Gurbani Viyaakaran (grammar). Bhai Sahib even went as far as consulting old saroops of Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee to correct the wrong spellings in the printed saroops of Guru Granth Sahib jee.

In the introduction of this book, Bhai Sahib painfully describes the current condition of the printed saroops of Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee. He begs before Khalsa Panth to do something to correct the wrong spellings in Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee.

In the end of this book he very beautifully summarizes the Gurbani Grammar. I remember that when I first started to learn Gurbani Viyaakaran, this book particularly helped me understand the viyakaran of Gurbani.



SALOK SEHASKRITI

The next book I read of Bhai Sahib was his translation of Salok Sahaskriti. Bhai Sahib chose the hardest baani in Guru Granth Sahib jee to translate and he did a beautiful job in doing so. This book contains some differences between his translation and Professor Sahib Singh jee’s translation. It should be mentioned here that Professor Sahib Singh was a master and a Pandit of Sanskrit and it is hard to question his translations but at some places they both differ and it is very hard for the reader to pick the correct translation or the correct padd-chhed.


BHATT BAANI

One of the best translations from Bhai Talwara jee is for Bhatt Baani. The introduction of this book is a must read for everyone. Bhai Talwara jee did a beautiful job in bringing forth the Gurmat principle that our Guru Sahibaan were not ordinary human beings or merely prophets. Bhai Talwara jee writes that our Guru Sahibaan were the Guru-form of Vaheguru. In other words, our Guru Sahibaan were Vaheguru himself. He used the Bhatt Baani to beautifully explain this very fundamental concept of Gurmat.

Bhai Talwara jee was of firm belief that before Guru Nanak Dev jee no one attained Param-padd i.e. the ultimate spiritual position i.e. Sach Khand. Only through Guru Nanak such state is possible to attain. When Giani Gurditt Singh jee, another great Sikh scholar, wrote the second part of “History of Guru Granth Sahib jee”, Bhai Talwara jee wrote a detailed introduction to this book. This book meticulously and beyond doubt proves that all the bhagats whose baani is in Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee were Sikhs of Guru Nanak Dev jee. Before Giani jee and Bhai Talwara jee, great Sikh scholars like Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh jee, Pandit Kartar Singh Daakha, Pandit Tara Singh Narotam and Sardar Nihaal Singh Soori proved and believed that the bhagats were Sikhs of Guru Nanak Dev jee.

There is a long list of Bhai Sahib jee’s books and we will attempt to list all of them in the coming days. All his books are of high scholarly level and fit for beginners in learning Gurbani and advanced students of baani.


GURBANI VIYAKARAN

From what I know after reading his books, he had a very good command on the grammar of Gurbani. His books are all based on Gurbani grammar. To get full understanding of his in-depth knowledge of Gurbani, we will have to wait for his in-print book on Grammar, that will be out in few months but I can say this with full confidence that no one else in panth today had the kind of in-depth understanding that he had about Gurbani Viyakaran.

I personally spoke to him only a few times to gain understanding of some concepts of Gurbani. Recently (days before he was hospitalized) I called him and asked him to explain me the difference between "Karam Kaarak" and "Sampradaan Kaarak". I told him that many times I get mixed up and cannot differentiate between these the two kaaraks. He agreed that it is hard to differentiate between these two kaaraks and gave me the following example to understand the difference:

“Main sapp maariya”

In this sentence “Sapp” (snake) is used in Karam Kaarak.

He then gave me another example to where both Sampradaan Kaarak and Karam Kaarak are used together:

“Main sapp noo dudh piyaaia||

In this sentence “Sapp” is a noun in Sampradaan Kaarak while “dudh” (milk) is a noun in Karam Kaarak.

I then asked him when his book on Gurbani Viyakaran (grammar) was coming out. He mentioned that he had given a copy of this book to some professor in USA to write introduction to this book. He said that once he gets it back from him, he would publish it. He said that the book was complete.

I am looking forward to getting Bhai Talwara jee’s book on viyakaran.

One thing that you notice in his books is that Bhai Talwara jee never attacks anyone to make his point. He simply states his opinion and almost never attacks other scholars as some other scholars like Giani Harbans Singh have done in their books.

Bhai Talwara jee was a very strong voice in the centre of Sikh Panth – Siri Akaal Takhat Sahib. He was highly respected in the Sikh scholarly circles. His loss will be felt greatly by the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and above all by the Khalsa Panth.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

i didnt know that Dula ji is his son..wow...like father like son..Both Blessed with Guru Jis Kirpa.
Putting Bhai Jis portrait in the Sikh gallery is a small step compared to his real sewa for the panth - (as Bhai kulbir Singh ji has written)..Gurbani and Viakaran based arrths.