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CHAPTER FIVE
Rana Surat Singh
Pather of Modern Punjabi Jr.iterature I 53
ToentertheimaginativeandpoeticworldofRana SUratSingh
is to encounterthe mind and soul of Bhai Vir Singh attheir
subtlest and most intimate. In this epic of more than twelve
thousand lines his genius and his ultimate concems are more
authenticallyexpressBdthananywhereelse. Inpoetryhe also
finds his true and lastilng metier. The grand design he creates
in Rana SUIat Singh reveals the uncanny leap of hils insight,
the sustainedpowerof his inspiration andthe mystic colour of
his experience. The poem is unique in Punjabi literature not
onlyfor its form a.nd size butalso for its artistic decor. Its figures
are fresh. Its mu:sic is enthralling. The architectural sweep of
its structure has an elevating quality. The pervading mood is
one of soulful yearning. In this scheme, human emotion is
depicted in a variety of shades. The consuming quest of the
soul has moments of intense pain, even tension, but never of
doubt. Rana SumtSingh, withits protractedsearch andpang,
is ultimately a poem of complete spiritual certiltude, of utter
harmonyandundifferentiation, of turiyapad, thefinal stageof
realization. It is JBhai Vir Singh's supreme creation.
The pangwasinthe heartofRani Raj Kaur. The epicis the
story ofthe Rani's heartache and its resolution. Like Subhagji
in Baba Naudh Singh, Raj Kaur becomes a widow at a young
age. She was the daughter of a Rajput hill-monarch luling in
one of the Himal.ayan principalities. Her father had embraced
Sikhism under the influence of Sadhu Singh, a Sikh of saintly
character, drivEm by state persecution to the safety of the
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