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TRANSLATION OF GURBANI – SCHOLARS PLEASE WATCH YOUR WORDS
b/y fbyDk does not mean to write blackened essays (these are
meaningless words); it is a phrase which refers to evil deeds; thirdly
nkgD/ frohtkB ftZu d/yDk means looking into one’s own faults and not
‘under the collar’, as translated by the author.
The message of the couplet is : A wise person should not use his
intelligence to find faults with other persons, but he should strive to get rid
of his own shortcomings and weaknesses.
3 There is another interesting experience. It also stresses the need
of providing understandable and meaningful translation of gurbani
into other languages.
During a religious lecture by a Sikh to a non-Punjabi group of
Canadian Auto Workers Association (Ontario), a member asked,
“Can Sikhs eat rooster” The speaker could not understand the
purpose behind this unusual question. Showing a gurbani
translation book in his hand, the member explained his question,
“Here it is mentioned : Why should you kill a hen I want to know
if killing of a cock is permitted.”
The speaker recited the related hymn and explained it as below :
byd kqyb khhu mq JUTy JUTw jo n ibcwrY ]
jau sB mih eyku Kudwie khq hau qau ikau murgI mwrY ] 1 ]
mulW khhu inAwau KudweI ] qyry mn kw Brmu n jweI ] 1 ] rhwau ]
pkir jIau AwinAw dyh ibnwsI mwtI kau ibsimil kIAw ]
joiq srUp Anwhq lwgI khu hlwlu ikAw kIAw ]
– Guru Granth Sahib, p. 1350
The literal translation ‘why do you kill a hen’ of the line qau ikau
murgI mwrY is not wrong, but it ignores the text and fails to convey
the message.
The hymn mentions the futility of killing an animal in the name
of God by a Muslim (this meat is called halal). Kabir addresses a
Hindu and a Muslim each telling that the other’s books are false.
It advises them not to say that the books are false, but to know
that false is the statement of a person who does not study these
books and does not reflect on their message.
In the second part, the couplet questions the Mullan, “When you
say that the spirit of God vibrates in every living being, then why
do you kill an animal (the word hen is mentioned for the helpless
animal being sacrificed) for offering to God The animal becomes
dead (dirt) while the spirit is indestructible and prevalent
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