Surjit Hans
Courses
Bhai Nand Lal Goya: Life, Times, and Literary Legacy
A comprehensive intermediate study of ਭਾਈ ਨੰਦ ਲਾਲ ਜੀ "ਗੋਯਾ" (c. 1633-1713), the Persian-trained scholar of Ghazni who became one of the most beloved Sikhs of ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ and one of the ਪੰਜ ਵਿਦਵਾਨ of the Anandpur court. The course traces his youth on the Mughal frontier, his service at the imperial court of Bahadur Shah, his transformative arrival at Anandpur Sahib, and his Persian and Punjabi compositions — ਦੀਵਾਨ-ਏ-ਗੋਯਾ, ਜ਼ਿੰਦਗੀਨਾਮਾ, ਗੰਜਨਾਮਾ, ਤਨਖਾਹਨਾਮਾ and others — situating him as the bridge between the classical Persian literary tradition and Sikh theology.
Jot Bigas and Rah-i-Rast: Bhai Nand Lal's Punjabi Works
This intermediate course examines the two Punjabi compositions of ਭਾਈ ਨੰਦ ਲਾਲ ਗੋਯਾ, the celebrated court poet of ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ: the ਜੋਤਿ ਬਿਗਾਸ (Expansion of Divine Light) and the ਰਹਿਤਨਾਮਾ known as ਰਹਿ-ਇ-ਰਾਸਤ (The Straight Path). While ਭਾਈ ਨੰਦ ਲਾਲ is best remembered as a master of Persian verse, these two works reveal him writing in Punjabi for the Sikh ਸੰਗਤ, articulating the metaphysics of ਜੋਤਿ, the centrality of ਨਾਮ, devotion to the ਗੁਰੂ, and the ethical discipline of the ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ. Students will analyze the theological content, the contrast between his Persian and Punjabi registers, his place in the ਰਹਿਤਨਾਮਾ tradition, and his lasting contribution to early Sikh literature. The course situates these texts in the historical context of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries at ਅਨੰਦਪੁਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ.
Ghazaliyat of Bhai Nand Lal: Sikh Persian Poetry
An advanced literary and theological study of the ਗ਼ਜ਼ਲੀਆਤ (Ghazaliyat) of ਭਾਈ ਨੰਦ ਲਾਲ ਗੋਯਾ, the foremost Persian poet of the court of ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ. The course reads the Persian ghazal as a vessel for ਗੁਰਮਤਿ: students master the formal architecture of the ghazal (ਮਤਲਾ, ਰਦੀਫ਼, ਕਾਫ਼ੀਆ, ਮਕਤਾ, ਤਖ਼ੱਲੁਸ), trace how Goya transforms the Sufi vocabulary of divine love into devotion to the Guru as ਮਹਿਬੂਬ (Beloved), and situate his verse beside ਰੂਮੀ and ਹਾਫ਼ਿਜ਼. Special attention is given to how Goya names ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ within Persian imagery, the doctrine of ਫ਼ਨਾ (annihilation of the self) recast as merger in the Guru, and the place of his ਦੀਵਾਨ-ਏ-ਗੋਯਾ in the broader Sikh literary canon.
Zindagi Nama: Bhai Nand Lal's Autobiography in Verse
An advanced literary and devotional study of the Zindagi Nama (Book of Life), the great Persian masnavi of ਭਾਈ ਨੰਦ ਲਾਲ ਗੋਯਾ, court-poet of ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ. Reading the poem as a versified spiritual autobiography, the course traces Goya's journey from Persianate scholar of Ghazni and Multan to a ਗੁਰਸਿੱਖ at Anandpur Sahib, and examines how the masnavi form carries an interior account of the ਗੁਰੂ-ਸਿੱਖ relationship, ਨਾਮ ਸਿਮਰਨ, and the ethics of devotion. Students learn to read the Zindagi Nama both as world literature in the masnavi tradition and as a unique first-person witness to life in the Guru's court, while attending to its theology of ਅਕਾਲ ਪੁਰਖ, ਹੁਕਮ, and ਬੰਦਗੀ. Key concepts and terms are presented in Gurmukhi Unicode throughout.
