Customer Reviews

The Adi Granth: Or The Holy Scriptures Of The Sikhs

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am a Sikh, and, as noted by others, this is a terrible translation of our holy scripture. I was torn between giving this a rating of 1 because of the terrible translation, or a 5 for it being at least somewhat of a representation of our holy scripture. I eventually decided to give it a 1 because lisa jones gave it a 5 for the same reason I would have, and because this is such a bad translation that I'm not so sure it is a good representation of our Sikh Philosophy, as I will describe. This traslation was done by a man, Trumpp, who, historically, had an unfavorable view of Sikhs. His goal, as noted in various historical references, was to engender the idea that Sikhism is just another sect of Hinduism and the Guru Granth is just another Hindu scripture. This is quite wrong so I would like to give you an example of how bad the translation is, and how Trumpp was trying to achieve his goal. To do so, you need go no further than the very first two words on the very first page.

The Sikh scripture starts with the words "Ek Oankar." In this edition, Trumpp translates this as "Om." However, this is only one third of the complete translation. Here is how Ek Oankar should be translated: Ek is literally the numeral 1, ie One God. This is the most important belief in Sikhism, and what makes it drastically different than Hinduism's polytheism. The second word, "Oankar," can also be transliterated as "Omkar." To translate this word you need to break it down into its two parts; "Om" and "kar." The first part; Om has three syllables A-U-M. In Hindu philosophy each of these syllables represents one of the Hindu manifestations of God; Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. The Second part; "kar" is the verb "To Do/Make." So Oankar means, in a very rough translation, "To make Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu." Now, when combined with the first word we get, also a rough translation: "The One that Made Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu." This is usually translated as "One Creator." Not quite Hindu is it? Here, Guru Nanak was emphasizing his belief in a truly monothseistic philosophy of meditating on the One that transcends all creation, and all human inventions of applying different faces (i.e. Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu) to understand the One God. If Trumpp can't even translate the first two words correctly then you know he got a lot of other things wrong as well. If you are interested in eastern philosophy then of course I recommend the Guru Granth, I am a Sikh after all. But, PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS TRANSLATION!!!!!!!!!! There are much better translations out there. Amazon, why are you still carrying this one? Free speech I suppose;)

Below is a better translation of the Mool Mantra, the first few lines in the Guru Granth. Sikhs believe that the Mool Mantra encompasses all of Sikh philosophy written in the Guru Granth, and the words Ek Oankar encompass all of the Mool Mantra, but Ek is all you need.

One Creator
True Name, Creator of Everything, Without Fear, Without Anger, Undying Image, Without Birth, Self-Illumined, Guru's Grace.

Meditate.

True in the Beginning. True in all the Ages. True Now. Nanak, This Will Always be True.

This is the ONE! This is the TRUTH! Prepare to be AMAZED! I challenge you to compare this to any other 'holy' book, you will be shocked at this masterpiece. It will change your life!

Firstly, I would like to say that one of the reveiwers has made some rather foolish remarks when he says that the SGGS (Sri Guru Granth Sahib) is a "minor religious work of little importance". Either this person hasn't read it (which is probably the case) or just isn't interested in logic, rationality and science and still wants to believe in the fairy tales that are contained in the illogical, irrational and unscientific 'holy' books he is recommending.

Also he has made a false claim about the SGGS being associated with 'Bhakti Yoga', which it is clearly not! As for the Bhagavad Gita, Rig Veda or Upanishads, they are NO match for the SGGS. I have been searching for many years to find an ideology or 'faith' that would make sense to me as I have always had a hunch that God or a 'higher power' does exist.

I am originally from a Christian background and gave up my faith as I realised how incompatible it was with science. Christianity was full of absurdities as are most 'religions' but not Sikhism. After spending many years reading various 'holy' books including the Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist ones, (Torah, Gita, Koran etc.) I almost gave up and decided that atheism was probably the best deal... That was until I got the LATEST English translation of the SGGS ...They have an independant and accurate version which is without bias. (Unlike this one)

This version by Trump, is not as good nor is it as accurate as the versions available today. Also one should note that it was written by Ernest Trump, an anti-Sikh Christian missionary working for the British govt. of India back in the 19th century. He is not an authority on Sikhism. It was him who claimed that Sikhism is just a blend of Hinduism and Islam, which is false, it has nothing to do with either. It is a totally new revealation, this can be proven by comparing the SGGS to the Hindu Gita or the Islamic Koran, it is better (scientifically) than both!

The SGGS is unlike all the other 'holy' books in that it reveals many amazing concepts like the creation of the universe very accurately, it talks of the many universes, galaxies, stars, life on other planets etc. It is the only holy book which agrees with modern science, including EVOLUTION! While all other religions including even Baha'i, are against science. It talks about the nature of God and his creation and our place in it. It is the ONLY holy book which says that ALL humans are created equal, women are TOTALLY equal to men (this really appealed to me, this religon is PERFECT for ALL women!), no one is higher or lower than the other. It promotes peoples right to free speech, free thought, democracy, freedom and encourages logical, rational and scientific thought. It encourages people to love and help eachother at all times regardless of their religon/race/sex/color etc. Emphasizes peace and harmony with all of nature. These are not vague twisted 'interpretaions' like the kind in other 'holy' books (Bible, Koran etc.) but direct plain language that anyone can understand.

Its a great shame that this amazing revealation has been around for 500 years and only now is it starting to make its way into the west. This is a holy book for all humanity, including scientists. All I can say is, prepare to be amazed!!! I certainly was. Don't take my word for it, see for yourself. This great holy book will finally open your eyes to the truth and change your life forever!

I give 5 Stars for the SGGS, but not for this version. Thanks.

UPDATE: Hi, I'd like to apologise to all the people who have been trying to contact me via Amazon.com, I did not even know how to use the Amazon 'message' system. I would just like to say that if anyone needs any assistance, please feel free to contact me, my new email is on my profile, thanks...

It is a well known fact that Mr. Trump had very little knowledge of Gurmukhi, so this book is not a scholarly work rather a poor quality work with bundle of lies, hearsays and inaccuracies in translations. If you are truly interested in reading English translations about Sikh Scripture, there are much more accurate books available about the Sikh Scriptures. Do not waste your money and time on this work. Mr. Trump was a person with questionable motives. This book does not serve the purpose of educating or enhancing your knowledge about one of the youngest and spiritual (faith and philosophies) ways of life

Trumpp's book is an historical curiosity. It is absolutely NOT factual..

Historical facts: This book was the result of a propaganda ploy during the 1880's by the British to increase the the British Raj's control over those in India who dared question British rule. It was written by a German, narrow-minded, Christian missionary named Dr. Ernest Trumpp solely as anti-Sikh propaganda; Trumpp's other writings declare this intent and discuss British officials and intellectuals funding his mission. His goal: to demonstrate the absolute superiority of Christianity while destroying the mystical hold of the 'degenerate' Sikh faith, especially among the military. In another part of the same plan, the British administrators directed a covert attempt to make the Golden Temple in Amritsar into an Anglican church after removing the Sikhs. It was stopped only at the last minute by an uprising of the Sikh populace. In still another part British officials of the Raj bribed or forcefully coerced Sikhs of the Akal Takhat to rewrite, and in some cases remove, entire stanzas from several Sikh prayers, especially those of Guru Gobind Singh. Trumpp declares how he personally demonstrated contempt for their 'false doctrine': while inside the Golden Temple, as elderly Sikh gyanis explained to him the meanings of the Sikh scriptures and respectfully pointed out passages in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib (Adi Granth), Trumpp struck a match on the temple's marble floor, lit a cigar, and deliberately blew smoke into their horrified faces, then blew smoke directly onto the scriptures to demonstrate utter contempt.

The amazing thing is that some of the wisdom and majesty of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib is still evident thru Trumpp's writings....

I am an American Sikh since 1972, an Amritdhari Sikh and ordained Sikh Minister since 1975.

This version of this book should not be on the list of greatiest religious books!Initially i was excited to find this text. Upon purchasing the book i discovered, from the authors introductory essays, an obvious lack of belief(even a hint of distaste) in the religion itself expressed by the author. Imagine an abject islamic scholar translating the torah. I would not trust the translations for the lack of heart behind the work. Try other more rare translations, perhaps The Holy Granth: Sri Guru Granth Sahib Vol. 1 thru 4 by ~ Kartar Singh Duggal

Thank you

Trumpp has an obvious bias against Sikhs that he in no way tries to hide. He frequently cites the text in his commentaries as "proof" that the Sikhs are polytheistic and worship female, Hindu deities. Any intelligent person who has ever studied Sikhism, even at an elementary level, knows this is not true.

I give this two stars because it is the only English translation - if it deserves to be called that - that I could find of the complete SGGS. if you can find something else, and can afford it, I would entirely recommend you get that. Otherwise, this should be a last resort.

i was born into a catholic based family. im a 21 yr old male mexican in hollywood. i found god through sikhism.
sikhism changed my life.
this book changed my life.

-rrm

Book arrived in timely fashion but quality was average as some of the pages were coming out of the binding.

Ernest Trump has done a good job of translating the holy book of the Sikhs, but even so, it will probably not have much of an effect. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib just can't compare to the Gita or other more well-known Indian scriptures. The book shows quite well what is meant by Bhakti-yoga, but few westerners will be impressed and few Punjabis will need it. Still, he has performed a valuable service by translating one of the world's minor religious classics into English.