Akal Ustat 2
AKAL USTATI
In Oriental imagery His praise is likened to milk, buttermilk, moonlight on the Yamuna, crystal mirrors, swans, cranes, the Ganges, until finally: His splendour appeareth everywhere, He is the treasury of favour, His light dazzleth. His glory is perfect. The sky and the earth repeat His Name. (verse 271) The Guru commences his great work on praise with an invocation to the All Steel, i.e. God. He ends with the hope of human brotherhood as men throughout the world seek the One God and sing His praises. The Ustati overflows with many of the of quoted verses and stanzas of Guru Gobind Singh. It presents a mixture of devotional lyrics and philosophical reflections. It is composed in a style which is a blend of grandeur and beauty. Diction and style of Guru Gobind Singh are unique: no resemblance of these is available in Hindi or PUNJABI literature.
The main source of his vocabulary, in this text, is Sanskrit, though in some of his other compositions the Guru has made free use of PersoArabic words. He uses Sanskrit words in their tadbhav form and has experimented with formation of new words and compounds. Akal Ustati, like the JAPU, is a treasury of adjectival vocabulary. Many of these adjectives are of fresh coinage. A rich variety of poetic metres has been used. Some of the metres like kabitt, savaiyya and dirgh naraj are characterized by lengthy verse forms, while some others like tomar and padhari by short ones consisting of no more than two or three words.
References
1. Loehlin, C.H., The Granth of Guru Gobind Singh and the KHALSA Brotherhood. Lucknow, 1971
2. Ashta, Dharam Pal, The Poetry of the Dasam Granth. Delhi, 1959
3. Padam, Piara Singh, Dasam Granth Darshan. PATIALA, 1968
4. Jaggi, Rattan Singh, Dasam Granth Parichaya. Delhi, 1990
Courtesy of Sikh Encylopaedia
