The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (244 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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di
Granth, was completed in 1604 and installed at Amritsar but is now at Kart
rpur in the possession of the
Sodh
family.
Jealousy and conflict led to Arjan Dev, now known as the ‘True Emperor’, being charged with sedition as well as with creating communal dissension. He was subjected to prolonged torture. According to Sikh tradition he had to sit in a red hot cauldron and was bathed in boiling water. Before his death he appointed Hargobind to succeed him.
Gur
Arjan Dev's 2,216 hymns are the largest contribution to the
di Granth. In the spirit of his predecessors his verses proclaim the saving power of God's name (
n
m
), the blindness of sinful man, the greatness of God, and the need for constant devotion to God. Of his compositions, the greatest is the
Sukhman
.
Arjuna
.
In the
Mah
bh
rata
, the third, or middle,
P
ava
, a fabulous warrior best known for his skill as an archer, in many ways the hero
par excellence
of the epic. Son of
Kunt
by the god
Indra
, Arjuna wields the bow G
va, carries the monkey
Hanumat
on his battle standard, and rides a chariot drawn by white horses.
Arjuna's close friendship with
K
a
is central to the
Mah
bh
rata

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