Nirmal Gill’s ‘The Sacred Hymns of Guru Nanak’ interprets bani for the times

Roopinder Singh

Guru Nanak’s message is accessible through his bani, or his compositions. What Guru Nanak said was profound, direct and it transformed the socio-religious landscape, not only of the land of his birth, but far beyond. Indeed, now Sikhs recite his bani, and that of his successors, in homes and gurdwaras around the world.

The Guru’s language was simple and everyone understood it. However, language evolves, especially over centuries, and thus an explanation becomes necessary. There is an adequate body of work in the Punjabi language that fulfills this need, as do the explanatory kathas in various gurdwaras where audiences listen to learned kathakars who explain and place into context the teachings of the Gurus as enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib.

Immigration of Sikhs to distant lands took place ever since they found employment or opportunities in far-flung corners of the British Empire and beyond. Wherever they went, they took with them copies of Guru Granth Sahib and kept in touch with the bani of their Gurus.

Today, however, Sikh immigrants in the West have generations which have been brought up in an English-speaking environment. Sikhs outside Punjab too live in areas where Punjabi is not spoken. The author has this section of audience in mind when he seeks to provide a simple, accessible way of grasping the meaning of Guru Nanak’s bani in English. He has divided the book into five chapters: Creation of the Universe; The Concept of One God; Naam; Equality and Truthful Living; and Rejection of Ritualism and Hypocrisy. For each, he has selected appropriate verses that help the reader understand Guru Nanak’s message.

Guru Nanak’s bani has been translated into English since the 1800s. Early translations tended to be formal and often too literal. Guru Nanak’s quincentenary celebration in 1969 triggered much literature, including translations. Since then, there have been many more, each an attempt to portray the author’s understanding of the bani of the founder of Sikhism.

The format in this book is interesting. The original in Gurmukhi and the transcription in the Roman text under it are on one page. The author’s translation is on the facing page. This arrangement makes it easy for the reader to follow the original and understand it. While using the Roman text, the author eschews the use of traditional diacritical marks that are generally used to help with the correct pronunciation. In this section, he spells the words to reflect their pronunciation. Purists may also have issues with some non-standard spellings, as well as particular aspects of the translation, but it must be appreciated that the text is an easy read, which helps the uninitiated understand the Guru’s word. This is what the author set out to do. He wrote for the modern English-speaking Sikhs and they will benefit from his work.