Before I get into why learning Punjabi is so important, I wanted to first clarify the difference between Punjabi and Gurmukhi. The best way for me to put it is Punjabi is the spoken language and Gurmukhi is the words of our Gurus. If you need a reason to begin learning Punjabi you are told in Rehat Marayadha (code of conduct) to learn it but there’s a lot of reasons behind this and here are a few.
Understanding Gurbani
Firstly, the ability to understand Gurbani is one that I believe many people are losing touch with. People come to Gurdwara’s (Sikh temples) and read the English translation of what is being sung and believe that the understand what the message is. Although English translation is good for a basic understanding it doesn’t compare with the beauty of true Gurbani. In Gurbani it is written:
Saying that what is written is our guru and the Gurus are what is written now if you think about what you do when you add English (or any other language) into this system is instead of listening directly to the Guru what you’re doing is adding another person and saying to the ‘I want you to tell me what the Guru is saying’ and of course this is never going to be as meaningful or as powerful as if you had been told directly from the Guru.
Communication with the Guru is normally always done through Punjabi and Gurbani. You do Ardaas (prayer) which includes Punjabi and Gurbani and you receive Hukamnamaa (command) in Gurmukhi and being able to understand this is so important if you don’t want the message to be lost in translation. Hukamnamaa is one of the most powerful experiences that you can have and has changed the lives of countless people and opening the door to understand this can be the start of it changing your life too.
Guru Angad Dev Ji
Guru Angad Dev Ji himself spent time developing the Gurmukhi himself and turned it into one of the most logical and easiest languages to learn so it was easier for most people. Unlike English, the order of the Gurmukhi alphabet has a meaning and there are no true translation for a large part of the alphabet such as there are different types of T,D and N sounds.
On top of this Guru Angad Dev Ji spent time teaching Sikhs Gurmukhi themselves as they believed it was so important. Now doesn’t it seem right that if Guru Ji spent so much time on teaching and perfecting Gurmukhi that we can at least learn to read and understand it.
Mother tongue
Moreover, no matter where you are in the world being able to communicate with any Sikh is something I believe our Gurus wanted us to have. Now if you don’t agree with me think about the first thing that you say when you talk to a Sikh.
The only way for you to even say this Fateh correctly is to be able to speak the language it’s originally written in. Speaking and understanding is a fundamental part of being a Sikh and connecting with our Gurus, this is the same language our Guru spoke and being able to say the exact same words is something that we are very blessed to have.
I hope that this has not offended anybody, if it has I apologise. My only intention is to help you to connect with God. Please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions and I’ll be more than happy to answer.
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