Previous

Next

Ask a Question

Summary of Question:	Can We Read Sggs Just As A Book?
Category:	Sikh Practices
Date Posted:	Saturday, 11/01/2003 4:49 AM MDT

Waheguru ji ka khalsa...

Waheguru ji ki fateh......
I have one question in my mind so i wanna ask ...
Can i read siri guru granth sahib as a book .....just as reading a book ?
i am thinking to take out a prints of ur SGGS (which is with the english tranlastion)and will keep in my cuboard.So i mean that i will be not doing any sewa of that book ,means no prakash and no sukhasan,just will read as a book while eating,during drinking my tea or during laying on couch and at bedtime,,(it will be like joodhay hath lagana)and not taking care as we take care of SGGS.
I am asking this because first of all i want to understand what its all written in our Guru Granth Sahib.What r the teachings and what our guru shaihaybaan wants to tell us about life ,god and sikhi.
second thing i want to know that if i am not able to take out the printouts, as it has numbers and numbers of pages,,and it wil be a quite lenghty proccess,,so can i get the same thing as line to line english translations of each line of Guru Granth Sahib Ji some where as a book written from same author who has done this work for sikhnet.
can u please tell me who has done this great work line to line translation in english of our SGGS,as it has made us to understand more properly and nicely and given ur more wisdom to understand our Guruji.Great Work!
May Waheguruji bless you all and keep you in Chardi Kalaa.
thanks in advance.....
Waheguru ji ka khalsa
Waheguru ji ki fateh
date:11/01/2003

********
REPLY
**********
Sat Nam. I think the SIkhnet translation is the best for line-by-line translations of all SGGS, although various nitnayms published do that for the daily banis and also Sukhmani.
The 8-volume english and punjabi translated version of SGGS by Manmohan Singh was, actually, done so people could STUDY SGGS. It is not the best translation, but I recall the format is mostly line by line with numbering to indicate which words were translated as what.

While many Sikhs, in the USA especially, use the 8-volumes AS the Guru in Gurdwara, it is possible to use it for study as well. This set is available by Sikh outfits and you can buy it online (go to www.sikhseek.com and look at 'books' sites.) Treat any printed Gurbani with respect, but if it is a matter of reading to know what's there versus not reading it at all, go ahead and study Gurbani as you describe. Cover your head when you read, keep the printouts in a notebook or folder to protect them and give it some basic respect, but if it is not something you are using to set up in a gurdwara or babaji's room, I think it is OK. Your INTENT is to understand Gurbani, not to disrespect Guruji. Looked at another way, religious scholars read SGGS or its translations without all the sukhasan and prakash activity; they are reading it for academic or comparative theology purposes.
Guru ang sang,
-DKK