Gurbani tells how to handle waggy tongues

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Hope all of you had a nice weekend.

I do not know about other communities but I know for sure that there are lot of waggy tongues our particular community. I am sure at some point in time of like all of us have been slandered at. I for one was confused how to react to it. Thanks to my Praji I was able to handle the situation with grace.

I am wiriting this to share with you a wonderful article on how to handle slander.

inMdau inMdau mo kau logu inMdau ]

Slander me, slander me — go ahead, people, slander me. Slander (being slandered)
is pleasing to God’s humble servant….(sggs 339)
click here to read this article

Have a blessed week

Akaal Sahee

Angad Singh

Mool Mantar

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Last week I was reading an article on the Mool Mantar. It is beautifully written, each word is explained very well.
MOOL-MANTRA

<> siqnwmu krqw purKu inrBau inrvYru
Akwl mUriq AjUnI sYBM gurpRswid ](sggs 1).

Both “Mool” (also spelt Mul) and “Mantra” are Sanskrit words — “Mool” simply meaning “Root” (or Source, Main, Chief, Primordial etc.), Mantra simply meaning “incantation” (or magic chant etc.). Hence Mool-Mantra means Root-Mantra. Just as the fragrance is boxed in the flower, and the light of the sun is hidden in the colors, similarly, the Essence of the Divine is summed up in the Mool-Mantra. Revealed by Baabaa Nanak, it’s the commencing or opening (first) composition of Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS). Hence it’s also called Manglaacharan (remembrance of God) or invocation. It also appears (in full or short form) before the commencement of most of the Raagas within the SGGS. The Mool-Mantra is said to encapsulates the Essence of Baabaa Nanak’s Message, thus it’s the heart of the Sikh-Thought. Bhaaee Gurdaas Jee in his Vaars (Vaar 3, Paurhee 49) provides us with more explanation of the Mool-Mantra.

Click here to continue reading this article

Have a good weekend

Akaal Sahee

Angad

Mosquito Ring Tone.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Read this..its really interesting!

Have a nice weekend

Akaal Sahee

More renditions of the Asa Di Vaar

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
In this post I just intend to share more renditions of the Asa Di Vaar.

Before I go on to add the links, I would like to mention two points.

1. “Tunde Asraje Ki Dhuni” – unfortunately today no one knows for certian what exactly the dhuni was.
2. In the Vaar shabads are added in which match the theme of a particular chakka.I am not aware how or when this tradition started.

Dr Gurnam Singh Ji – Surrey 2006

• Part 1
• Part 2

Bhai Nirmal Singh

• Part 1
• Part 2

Bhai Balbir Singh Ji

• Asa Di Var

Bhai Avtar Singh Ji

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Guru Ang Sang!
Angad Singh

Asa Di Vaar – The Ballad of Hope

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Today I would like to share with you about Asa Di Vaar – The Ballad of Hope

Asa-di-var—-means “A ballad of hope;” it is one of the basic sacred compositions for the Sikhs and is sung every morning in congregation in gurdwaras. The Var is an heroic ode which describes the brave deeds of a hero. It is generally sung to inspire armies going to battle or to inspire people with martial spirit. The Asa-di-var is to be sung in the Assa raga.

It consists of 24 stanzas (Pauris) and 44 Staves (Salokas) and was originated by Guru Nanak later, Guru Angad added another 15 staves of his own. In congregation, the musicians sing this var along with Chhants (quatrains) of Guru Ramdas. The stanzas express the ideas in general, while the staves clarify them by example and detail. Social and religious issues are then related, to ordinary life.

The Asa-di-var does not tell a story, its theme is: “How to become a spiritual person”-a devta.

In it, Guru Nanak also warns us against the rituals and tricks of priests and monks. The most important thing is how to build up one’s character and how to remove the obstacles that lay in the path of a disciple, the most important of which is the ego, selfishness or conceit. Even holy persons, who are outwardly very good and kind, often suffer from religious pride. Sometimes so-called religious people, commit heinous crimes through self-righteousness and bigotry.

It should be remembered that Ego in its pure essence is self-awareness or identity which when regulated is an essential, for it is the basis of one’s character or moral nature. When regulated by right motivation and active service, it is positive and beneficial. But if uncontrolled through self pride of position or riches, it becomes selfish and mean. The effects of the Ego are particularly contemptible and disastrous when disguised by the apparent holiness or tradition, which exploits ordinary people’s ignorance and credulity. The practice of humility and love are the most effective qualities for keeping people away from sin, far better than all recitations and rituals of religion.

To read the rest of this article

Download

Thanks to my brothers at http://www.keertan.org I have been able to upload a rare copy of the Asa Di Vaar sung by Bhai Lal Ji. Bhai Sahib is a direct descendent of Bhai Mardana Ji and was a Hazoori Ragi at the Harminder Sahib pre partition. He used to do kirtan till the time a ruling was passed that only Amritdhari Sikh men were allowed to do kirtan in Harminder Sahib. His son Bhai Ashiqle Ali still does kirtan.

Asa di Vaar – Bhai Lal Ji

If I am not wrong this was recorded some time in the 1960’s so the recording quality aint the best.

Have a good week ahead

Guru Ang Sang!

Angad Singh

Gosh!! Whats Happening??

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

These pictures were taken at Harminder Sahib when I went there on the 17th of June.Read the gurmukhi and then the english.

Kudos to the SGPC for having good intentions by putting sign boards in English so that people like me who have issues reading Gurmukhi are not totally lost. However, I wonder how ignorant/careless they are that they do not even want to insure that the translation even makes sense grammatically.

On reading such boards I wonder how much incorrect translation has aided in the decline of Sikhism. In addition if they are as careless and ignorant what about the Gurmukhi, is that perfect?

Some common incorrect translations:

Guru Granth Sahib ji – Holy book of the Sikhs. Since when did our guru sahib become a holy book? As a result Guru Sahib is not give the status of Guru. We may bow in front of it but we dont really regard it as the guru do we? When the Hukamnama is taken most of the sangat is in a hurry to rush out. Or when we go through a though time we start going to babas and such people.

Harminder Sahib- Golden Temple

Jathedar – Head Priest Vedanti is referred to as the Head priest since when did Sikhs have priests

Gyani – A Sikh Priest a better translation would be a person who knows about the Guru Granth Sahib or a Sikhism Teacher.

If I have missed out any please feel free to add them.

The point I am making is let stick to Gurmukhi as much as we can and avoid the translations as they are only as good as the translator. Also when we need to explain lets not try to get the message across without resorting to terms like ” the bible of the sikhs”, “preist”,etc. Lets make an effort to explain the correct meaning.

I did not learn Gumukhi as a kid so today I am still grappling with reading it takes time but seriously its worth the effort.

A good place to start is to read the Hukamnams or meanings of any shabads in Darpan written by Professor Sahib Singh Ji. I have not started doing that as yet but I am going to start on it before this month comes to an end.

Guru Ang Sang

Angad

Books for you!

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Today I intend to share with you 2 books. Bandagi Nama and Sundri. I was able to find softcopies of both these books so you can print then and read if you do not have access to the hard copies.

Bandagi Nama – communion with the devine is an amazing book that talks about the various stages of our spiritual growth. The author Raghu Bir Singh Bir shares his expirences and that is why when you read the book it feels like he is talking to you. Its a must read for everyone.
Sundari – well i have posted about this book so I shall not say much here. click here to get the details

Do read through the books and feel free to share your views

Guru Ang Sang

Angad Singh

Gurmat Sangeet: Bhai Davinder and Mohinder Partap Singh – entire collection

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!In my last post I spoke a little bit about the jatha of Bhai Mohinder and Davinder Partap Singh Ji. Amardeep ji gave me some information about them and I would like to share it with you.

Bhai Partap Singh, the father accompanied his three sons in this tour. He used to do keertan in Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib at Delhi before migrating to US with his sons. Now his son Bhai Davinder Partap Singh is the lead voice of the Jatha. In these recordings you can hear a shivering voice in the background and this is of their father Bhai Partap Singh.

They did keertan at Gurudwara Katong Sahib in Singapore for a whole week and the sangat consisted of barely 8-10 people on every day. One day I requested Bhai Sahib to play the Dilruba instead of the Violin (which he plays very well) and it was sad to hear him pour out his frustration at the attendance of sangat in Katong Gurudwara. His reply was that what difference would it make if he did play the Dilruba? After all the 8-10 who were regularly attending were already aware of Dilruba. I could understand his sense of frustration and agreed that I should only be a silent listener and enjoy the keertan the way they best felt to present.

Inspite of this frustration the jatha went on to sing their hearts out. In one of the tapes Bhai Mohinder Partap Singh Ji says it does not matter if people listen or not its our job to do kirtan the way the guru sahib has ordered us as we will continue to do so with his blessing.

In these recordings you will get a chance to listen to lovely puratan compositions. Some of them are played in the lesser know taals like Madh taal ( 9 beats), Char taal ki Savari( 11 beats), Jai taal( 13 beats) and Inder taal ( 19 beats). In addition to singing well, the jatha also made it a point to explain the shabad and the reet.

To download the collection please click here.Please download them and share them with the sangat.

Guru Fateh!
Angad Singh