GUR KĪRAT PRAKĀSH, by Vīr Siṅgh Bal, is a versified account of the lives of the first nine of the ten Gurūs or spiritual teachers of the Sikh panth. Written in Braj, Gurmukhī characters, the work was completed in 1891 Bk/ AD 1834. The manuscript, two copies of which are available one each in the Punjab State Archives at Paṭiālā (No. 682) and the Punjabi University at Paṭiālā, has since been published (Punjabi University, 1986) . The work is divided into ten chapters, here called hulās, each dealing with the life of one of the nine Gurūs. The opening chapter on Gurū Nānak comprises 414 chhands or stanzas, followed by one on Gurū Aṅgad (135 stanzas). The chapter on Gurū Hargobind is the longest, 593 stanzas. The ninth chapter on Gurū Tegh Bahādur (71 stanzas) and the tenth (45 stanzas), which deals with the life and work of the author, are the briefest. The book excludes the life of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh which forms part of the author's larger work Siṅgh Sāgar. The colophon at the end says that the author belonged to the village of Saṭhiālā in Amritsar district and spent a good part of his life at the court of the Paṭiālā ruler. It was here during the reign of Mahārājā Karam Siṅgh (1798-1845) that he completed this work.

Piārā Siṅgh Padam