Reading Paath help

[Guest Kaur1]

Hi all,

I want to read Jap Ji Sahib & Sukhmani Sahib Ji paath & I was wondering if it is ok to read paath but bit by bit & not in one go?

For example I will read 5 Saloks a day of Jap Ji sahib, so it will take me a few days to read Jap Ji sahib from start to finish & the same with Sukhmani Sahib.

It's just so I can try & understand fully what is being said.

[simran345]

Any paat u do is good, rather than nothing at all. maybe u could build it up slowly, i think its better u understand it, and take it in, rather than skimming through it fast and not understanding at all.

[Guest dasguruka]

Yes, you could start slowly. I started that way too. I only knew how to read Punjabi and slowly built up. One thing that is really helpful is to read some of the harder to read banis. Or Banis that you haven't been exposed to at all. Once you return to Japji Sahib or Sukhmani Sahib you'll realize that now they're relatively easy to read.

[luckysingh99]

That's good and it's fine to do that.

To get the message of the shabads can be difficult. You can read and then try and understand what it means which is what most people do. However, once you get the meaning and look at it or go into it again, it gets even deeper with a deeper message. This message has to be thought about carefully so that you can understand what the Guruji is really trying to tell you.

Most people don't go into it that deep and understand it more superficially.

The indepth analysis can be quite difficult because you can come out with so many different messages although the actual concept of the shabad wil still be the same.

For example, I have done some ashtpadhi translations of sukhmani, and that is the 8 lines of the shabad.

I would do this firstly by a word for word translation, not using the Guru granth translations we already have but using them as reference points. Then you can look at the teekas of Prof Sahib Singhji and Fareedkot teeka on srigranth.org,( I have also self taught myself gurmukhi as punjabi is not my 1st language being a 3rd generation westerner)

Then finally you can put it all together and try and get the personal message that comes to you.- This process would take 2 hours easily just for a single 8 line ashtpadhi, bearing in mind I used my own translations.

This way you also find out just how difficult it is to translate and also how easily the available translations can be misinterpreted.

When you actually ''feel'' the message in the words, that's when you know that is what the Guru is trying to tell s.

Sometimes if too much or too little emphasis is given to just a few single words in a line, then it can distort the whole message very easily.

This is where we have to take great care.

Waheguru

[Guest Kaur 1]

Thank u so much for your kind replies..

One last thing, I will read Jap Ji Sahib in the mornings, will it be ok for me to read Sukhmani Sahib at night as I am beginning with just reading Sukhmani Sahib bit by bit first to get an understanding?

[luckysingh99]

Yes,whenever you feel it suitable to be able to absorb it and to get immersed in the message.

For me, I can normally only do this learning with passion once the kids are asleep and that's in the evenings.