A Scholarly Treasure is now online
Literary works and research of Professor J B Goyal are published online.
There was a rich treasure of Hindi literary works available in Gurumukhi script in various manuscripts that was waiting to be discovered. The literary genius of these works of unknown to scholars.
Professor Jai Bhagwan Goyal discovered the first of these Gurumukhi manuscripts in 1960s and he was stuck by the enchanting genius of this literature. he started rediscovering these works and bringing before the Hindi and Punjabi world of letters . It was as though a treasure hidden in secret vaults was added to the great literary wealth and cultural heritage of the region.
Dr. Goyal rediscovered for the Hindi and Punjabi literary world a 19th century distinguished and celebrated poet, Bhai Santokh Singh. He was a Scholar poet who composed two monumental epics namely ‘Guru Nanak Prakash’ and ‘Guru Pratap Suraj’; and wrote a commentary on ‘Japu Ji’ and translated ‘Valmiki Ramayana’ in Braj Bhasha verse. The script of all his works being Gurumukhi, he remained beyond the reach of Hindi Scholars. The two very voluminous epic poems, consisting of about sixty thousand verses, based on the life and teachings of the ten Gurus, present vividly the cultural, political and social history of the age and imbibed with the spirit of spiritualism and heroism.
Professor Goyal did extensive work on compositions of Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Arjun Dev, Guru Teg Bahadur and the writings of Guru Gobind Singh. His work revealed to the world a ‘literary School’, which has an amalgam of devotion and heroism in the poetry of great Sikh gurus.
Through his scholarly discovery and rigorous research and publications, the poetic tradition in the manuscripts in Gurmukhi script became a part of the poetic and cultural tradition of the country. He highlighted the cultural, philosophical, social and religious contents of these compositions and has highlighted their contributions towards the composite Indian culture. While analyzing various poetic aspects of this poetic treasure trove of manuscripts, he showed the world sensibilities of humanism and heroism in the poetry of the age.
Dr.Goyal also threw new light on the period and place of the original of ‘Hindi Khariboli’ prose on the basis of authentic and strong evidence from these manuscript and old publications. He traced a 400-500 old tradition of ‘Khari boli’ prose in Punjab, whereas all the writers of history of Hindi literature held the view, that it is about 150 years old and it had originated in Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Goyal published 30 books and more than two hundred research papers covering a vast range of manuscripts and old publications.
Based on his studies of hundreds of manuscripts and old publications, Dr. Goyal established the fact that Braj Bhasha Hindi has been the principal literary language of Hindu and Sikh writers of Punjab from 16th to 19th centuries; though the script used was Gurumukhi.
Dr. Jai Bhagwan Goyal is now retired but continues his literary pursuits. He serves as Professor and Chairman Department of Hindi, Kurukshetra University and UGC Emeritus Fellow. Over 20 scholars have received their doctorate degrees under his guidance.
SGPC, Amritsar has also published four monographs written by Dr. Goyal on Bhai Santokh Singh in Hindi, Panjabi and English. Over a lakh copies were printed for free distribution all over the world.
All through his studies, Dr. Goyal’s endeavour in highlighting the cultural affinity of the country has been recognized by scholars as well as leaders.
According to Dr. Goyal this literary tradition of Punjab in Gumukhi script is glorious, rich and valuable. “ It is imbibed with a high spirit of spiritualism, heroism, nationalism, humanism and a sense of social equality & social justice. It is enshrined with sublime ethical and human values, such as truth, self-control, contentment, compassion, service.”
It was the merit of his work, the originality and authenticity, of his studies that his several books have been published by Punjab University, Panjabi University, Kurukshetra University, Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, Punjab Govt. Language department and SGPC, Amritsar. Some of his books were prescribed for M.A and M.Phill courses in several universities.
His research papers and literary articles have been published in almost are top/leading Hindi and Punjabi Research Journals and Magazines of the country and some National dailies.
Dr. Goyal’s articles have also been included in about a dozen important books including ‘Encyclopedia of Sikhism’; ‘Punjabi Encyclopedia’; ‘Hindi’ Patra Karita’; ‘Vividh Aayam’ and also commemoration volumes on Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh.
It was on the basis of his meritorious and highly applauded research work, that the university grant commission awarded him its highest academic position of ‘Emeritus Fellow’. This fellowship is awarded to a few senior (Retd.) professors, selected from amongst all the faculties of all the universities, for their distinguished, highly reputed and recognized contributions in their field of specialization. Probably Dr. Goyal is the only professor in Haryana to get this coveted position.
At 85 years of age, Professor Goyal continues his literary and scholarly pursuits toward Punjabi and Haryanvi literature.
“I had the honour of discovering and presenting to the world several literary gems. I want to now give these treasures to future generations so that there may always be cultural, social and human affinity among us all as has always been the tradition for hundreds of years.”
Literary works of Dr Goyal are being scanned and made available on website www.professorgoyal.com