Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha
Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha (1861-1938) was a great Sikh encyclopedist, author of the monumental Mahan Kosh and the tract Ham Hindu Nahin.
Portrait via Wikimedia Commons.
Courses
ਗ੍ਰਿਹਸਤ: The Sikh Householder Life as Spiritual Path
This course examines one of the most radical claims in the history of religion: that Guru Nanak Sahib rejected the ascetic flight from the world and proclaimed the householder's life — marriage, family, honest labour, child-rearing, and sanctified intimacy — as the supreme arena of spiritual realisation. Drawing on Gurbani, the Vaaran of Bhai Gurdas, and the encyclopaedic scholarship of Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, students trace how ਗ੍ਰਿਹਸਤ becomes not a concession to weakness but the golden mean between barren worldliness and barren renunciation. We study the theology of the husband-wife bond as ਧਨ-ਪੀਉ, the home as a living ਸੰਗਤ, the integration of ਨਾਮ ਜਪੋ, ਕਿਰਤ ਕਰੋ and ਵੰਡ ਛਕੋ, the milestones from birth to death, and the gift — never the compromise — that family life represents on the path to the One…
Sikh Ethics & the Householder Life
An academic study of the moral vision of Sikhi, organized around the ideal of the householder, the engaged grihast who pursues spiritual life within family, work, and society rather than through withdrawal from the world. The course examines the three pillars of Sikh living, the ethics of honest labor, the inner…
Sikh Life Ceremonies and Rites
A reverent survey of the ceremonies that mark a Sikh life from birth to death, grounded in the mainstream Sikh Rehat Maryada. The course examines the naming ceremony (Naam Karan), initiation into the Khalsa (Amrit Sanchar), the Sikh wedding (Anand Karaj) and the meaning of the four Laavan, and the funeral rites…
The Sikh Encyclopedic Tradition
This course introduces the encyclopedic and lexicographical legacy of Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, centered on his monumental reference work the ਮਹਾਨ ਕੋਸ਼. Students learn how this dictionary-encyclopedia was built, how it explains the vocabulary of ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ, and how to use it alongside his other works to study Sikh terms,…
Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha: The Great Encyclopedist
An advanced survey of the life, scholarship, and lasting influence of Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha (1861-1938), the towering lexicographer of the Singh Sabha era. This course examines his masterwork, the Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh, his widely read tract Ham Hindu Nahin, his lexicographical method, his collaboration…
A Reader's Guide to the Mahan Kosh
A practical, plain-English guide to using Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha's ਮਹਾਨ ਕੋਸ਼ (Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh). Students learn what this encyclopedic dictionary of Sikh literature is, how it is organised, how to look up a term step by step, why scholars treat it as a landmark reference, and how to use
Advanced Lexicography: Mahan Kosh and Sikh Dictionary Traditions
This course offers graduate-level analysis of Kahn Singh Nabha's Mahan Kosh (1930), the monumental Punjabi-Sikh encyclopedia-dictionary, situating it within South Asian and global lexicographic traditions. Students examine the methodological, theological, and political dimensions of Sikh dictionary-making from early manuscript glossaries through the Singh Sabha reform era. The course develops competency in critically evaluating lexicographic choices as acts of cultural and political construction.
Encyclopedic Traditions in Sikh Literature
This course examines the encyclopedic impulse in Sikh literature — the drive to collect, organize, and present comprehensive knowledge about the tradition — from early commentarial and biographical compendia through the monumental Mahan Kosh to contemporary digital reference projects. Students analyze encyclopedic texts as epistemological and political projects, examining how the organization and selection of knowledge reflects and constructs understanding of what Sikhism is. The course situates Sikh encyclopedic traditions within global comparative perspectives on encyclopedism as a cultural form.
