Damodar Gulati

Damodar Gulati (Gurmukhi: ਦਮੋਦਰ ਦਾਸ ਅਰੋੜਾ, Shahmukhi: (Punjabi)) also known as Damodar Das Arora, was a Punjabi Hindu poet. He hailed from Jhang. He lived during the reign of Mughal king Akbar.

Heer and Ranjha
He wrote the qissa Heer and Ranjha and was the first to put the story to pen, adapted from a preexisting and circulating legend. He claims to be the eye witness of this tale. His Qissa (story) is deemed the oldest and the first Heer Ranjha in Punjabi literature. He states in the poem that he is from Jhang—the home of Heer, one of the poem's two main characters. He wrote his rendition and the original tale of Heer Ranjha in the dialect of Sandal Bar, despite this fact after the lapse of five hundred years the language used in the story is nearer to modern Majhi dialect. An analysis by Najam Hussain Syed led him to believe that Damodar Gulati was not actually an eyewitness to the tale but rather he was using a storytelling technique that was misinterpreted as meaning he was simply an eyewitness. In reality, Gulati's position to the characters in the tale is similar to that of Sanjaya of the Mahabharata epic, who used paranormal powers to see what was happening at the battle of Kurukshetra.

Religious identity
On the matter of his religious identity, the majority of scholars describe him as a "Punjabi Hindu". Amaresh Dutta makes mention of Sufi and Sikh influence on Gulati.

Style
He does have also a peculiar style, at the end of a quaternary he repeats Aakkh Damodar means "Say Damodar": "Aakkh Damodar mein Akkhi ditha laggi hon Ladai

(Say Damodar I witnessed with my eyes the battle started )

Nak tey kan tinhan da wadhaiy jo chori, yari karaindey

Doja nak tinhan da wadhaiy jo haq pariaya lendey

Teja nak tinhan da wadhaiy jo koi wadhi khandey

Aakkh Damodar jinha sach sanjhatey sey bhashti jandey

(Amputate the ears and nose of those who commit theft and have extra marital affairs,

Second chop off the nose of those who usurp the right of others,

Third hack off the nose of those who accept bribe,

Say Damodar only those will go to paradise who recognize the truth)

Toun keyoun zori karna ain qazi dery Khuda tu naheen

Mera haq Ranjheeta ay,ho suneya subh lokai

ley key wadhi haq ganvain kadh kitab vakkhai

Aakkh Damodar Heer Akkhey qazi subh Sharah (shariah) takai.

(Why do you compel me, O,qazi don't you have fear of God,

Ranjheeta is mine, all the people know

You (qazi) have accepted bribe, infringed my right,showing the book (shariah)

Say Damodar, Heer tells qazi showed her the whole Shariah." Waris Shah later adapted Heer and Ranjha.

Particular importance is placed on finer details in the storytelling of Gulati's works.

Legacy
The Heer and Ranjha renditions of Waris Shah, Muqbal, and Charag Awan were all based on Damodar Gulati's original version.