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