Surender Pal Singh

Senior Research Associate

Surender Pal Singh is a Senior Research Associate at the Sikh Research Institute. He holds a Master’s degree in Religious Studies and English. 

He is the English Content Reviewer for The Guru Granth Sahib Project. He also develops curriculums, presentations, and research papers and delivers topical courses on Sikh theology and culture online. He is the lead instructor of the Gurbani 101 track at Sidak, an annual leadership development program by SikhRI. He is the co-author of the Gurbani linguistics book Guru Granth Sahib – Its Language and Grammar and the author of the Workbook Gurbani Language and Grammar. He has over twelve years of experience teaching Gurbani linguistics and twenty years of experience teaching Sikh theology and culture.

He currently resides with his family in Canada.

Videos

Tuesday
,
11
October
2022

Symbolism in the Guru Granth Sahib: The Fish

The symbolism of fish that cannot survive outside the water is often used to depict the nature of the relationship a human being is encouraged to have with IkOankar (1Force, Divine).

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Tuesday
,
4
October
2022

Symbolism in the Guru Granth Sahib: The Swan

The contrast of a Wisdom-oriented individual with a self-centered person is brought forth with the analogy of a swan and a crane.

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Tuesday
,
27
September
2022

Symbolism in the Guru Granth Sahib: The Dog

In The Guru Granth Sahib, a dog symbolizes faithfulness when domesticated and its propensity to eat filth as a stray animal. 

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Wednesday
,
14
September
2022

Symbolism in the Guru Granth Sahib: Introduction

The Guru Granth Sahib is a treasure trove of figurative expressions like imagery, symbolism, metaphors, and more. Contributors to The Guru Granth Sahib have entwined a range of such terms with their poetic revelations. 

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Thursday
,
19
May
2022

Explore Pahare l The Guru Granth Sahib Project

In this video Surenderpal shares about the newly launched annotation of two Sabads (Infinite-Wisdom) of Pahare by Guru Nanak Sahib in Sirirag. Sirirag is a rag (musical mode) that is serious in nature and thought-provoking.

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Sunday
,
13
February
2022

Barah Maha: Phalgun

The twelfth and final month of the calendar is Phalgun, which corresponds of mid-February to mid-March. Beaming with joy and blissful love, the human-bride is experiencing an inner state of fulfillment. Her consciousness is truly exuding everlasting Divine presence. This is a result of detaching herself from material and other loves, and allocating that love to the inculcated virtues. In doing so, she makes herself worthy to IkOankar, pleading to be graced with the Presence in her heart. Listen along to the beautiful enlightenment that the human-bride feels throughout Phalgun. Resonate with her discovery of the barriers to her connection with IkOankar.

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Podcasts

Monday
,
19
July
2021

Politics of the Sword Warrior Guru: Surender Pal Singh | The Sikh Cast

Follow Surender Pal Singh as he speaks about how, while serving as the Guru, Guru Teghbahadar Sahib visited far-off places and interacted with many individuals and communities. The Guru faced opposition not only on the external front but also on the home front. The Guru navigated through scheming and aggressions, many times violent, with grace and wisdom. This presentation explores the Guru’s interactions with people and communities and the underlying principles that governed the Guru’s politics of alliances.

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Articles

Thursday
,
1
September
2022

Sabad Structure in the Guru Granth Sahib

While reading the Guru Granth Sahib, we come across various Sabad structures and forms. Some small and others long. Some have two stanzas, others three, four, or more. What do these different stanzas tell us about a Sabad or its structure?

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Monday
,
19
July
2021

Politics of the Sword Warrior Guru

While serving as the Guru, Guru Teghbahadar Sahib visited far-off places and interacted with many individuals and communities. The Guru faced opposition not only on the external front but also on the home front. But, the Guru navigated through schemings and aggressions, often even violent, with grace and wisdom. This article explores Guru’s interactions with people and communities and the underlying principles governing Guru’s politics.

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Monday
,
21
September
2020

Maharani Jind Kaur: The Last Queen of Panjab

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839 left a big void in the rule of the Sikh kingdom, which led to the annexation of Panjab by the British. His throne was inherited by multiple claimant heirs, none of whom could survive the intrigues and the schemings of the succession war in the royal court. Maharani Jind Kaur’s story is the narrative of a brave woman, who through all the trials and tribulations of the succession war, with all her faults, proved her mettle as a regent to the young Maharaja Duleep Singh, while also maneuvering through the diplomatic chicaneries of the British to the extent that even the British were wary of her.

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Monday
,
29
May
2017

It Is the Gurgaddi Divas.

On Gurgaddi Divas we reflect on the lessons we continue to learn from Guru Harikrishan Sahib & Guru Eternal Guru Granth Sahib.

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Wednesday
,
13
December
2017

Professor Teja Singh

Honorably referred to as both Professor and Principal, Sardar Teja Singh is one of the shining stars in the Sikh literary world. He dominated the Sikh English writing scene for well over half of the earlier twentieth century.

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Presenting at Upcoming Events

Surender Pal Singh
 is not presenting at any upcoming events as of yet. Explore our upcoming events.