The Adi Granth: Or The Holy Scriptures Of The Sikhs (Hardcover)

~ Ernest Trumpp (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Adi Granth is the most sacred book of the Sikhs. Literally meaning the 'First Book,' it is also reverentially called the Granth Sahib and is regarded as the authoritative scriptural work. The compilation of the Adi Granth was done by the fifth Sikh guru, Arjan, in AD 1603 and contains, besides his own writings, the compositions of the four predecessors, the gurus, Nanak, Angad, Amardas and Ramdas.

Subsequently, in AD 1705-6, additions were made to the Adi Granth by the tenth and the last guru, Godind Singh, who incorporated the hymns of the ninth guru, Teg Bahadur and enjoined that after him the Granth Sahib would take the place of the guru. In its final form, the Adi Granth contains the writings of the Sikh gurus, and also the banis of thirty-six Hindu and Muslim saints who lived between the twelfth and the seventeenth centuries.

It is needless to emphasize the importance of this great religious work which sets forth the ideal of the union of the human Soul with its Maker. This can be attained by following, scrupulously the highest ethical standards and abjuring egoism without, however, renouncing the worldly activities. Besides its great religious importance, the Adi Granth is an invaluable work from the standpoint of the historian and the linguist. It provides very useful data about the social and religious conditions of India during early and late medieval times.

For those interested in the development of the northern Indian languages and dialects, the Adi Granth is a veritable storehouse of information. Though the language of the Adi Granth is mainly Punjabi, Hindi and the cognate dialects, it is interspersed with Sanskrit, Marathi, Persian and Arabic words. It thus throws considerable light on the problem of the ancient Prakrts and Apabhramsa and shows how the vernacular languages of northern India evolved out of them.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 714 pages
• Publisher: Abm Komers (November 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8121502446
• ISBN-13: 978-8121502443
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #553,004 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible translation and here's why:, August 9, 2006

By	Fauja (TN USA) - See all my reviews

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.

48 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Holy book ever written! This is AMAZING!, June 2, 2002

By	Lisa Jones "PhD Physics" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

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...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is poor work with lot of inaccuracies in translation, look for a better book on this topic, March 2, 2009

By	Humble Being (Yuba City, CA) - See all my reviews

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