November 2003

Book Review: Japji, A Way to God Realization, authored by Dr. Sukhbir Singh Kapoor

Dr. Kapoor has very impressive educational credentials and also comes from an illustrious Sikh family of superb academicians. He is author of over two dozen books. He is the Vice Chancellor of the Sikh University, London .

The book under review is Titled “JAPJI: A Way to God Realization” with its First edition in 1991 and the current Second edition of 1999. This second edition in particular is intended as a daily prayer and to explain to the children and friends the meaning of this great hymn of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. This 88-page book in 8-1/2” by 10-1/2” is rather unwieldy for daily Morning Prayer.

Probably there are over 50 known books on JAPJI. Every one has its importance and good points. Dr. Kapoor has done a marvelous job in combining the good features of many for his targeted audience – the Sikh youth in Diaspora and sympathetic but non- Sikhs. You have to read the pages across two-page spread. There are four columns. First is original Punjabi text. The second column is Punjabi in Roman Script. Here I do see some problem in phonetics. He has kept the scheme very simple but the inherent difficulties of Punjabi Phonetics in Roman Script are there. A guideline to the phonetic scheme if given would be helpful.

The third column is “Notes” in place of “Footnotes.”  In this column the equivalent meaning in English are given of most words identified by superscript numerals both in Original Punjabi in column one as well as in Roman script in column two. Many authors have used this technique of giving meaning of key words previously, specially by Dr. Sahib Singh in his Punjabi Translation of entire Guru Granth Sahib in ten volumes.

Dr. Sahib Singh extends this innovation, by even explaining the difference in meaning of the similar sounding words but with slight different spellings, of course based on and with explanations with Grammatical Rules. It is understandable that Dr. Kapoor could not go to that fine level in English language meanings.

The fourth column is EXPLANATION. It is in three parts. First is Theme. Then come Literal meaning and lastly the Summary. The format is good. Japji Sahib has 38 Pauris, but in Guru Granth Sahib each and every Shabad has lines identified as Rahao (Pause), which gives the central idea of the Shabad. There are no “Pause” lines in Japji, but Dr. Kapoor has contrived this scheme to come up with the “Theme” of every Pauri. This way, in a very reasonable time, the daily Paath of Japji can be done with understanding of the meaning too. This is really a great service done by the methodology adopted by Dr. Kapoor.

Another very interesting and unique contribution of this book is that both the inside front and back covers have a visual representation of 38 Pauris (Steps) in Japji Sahib. Each step has been given a name based on the THEME. This is a very valuable visual representation of the Way (Path) to God Realization.

A good thing can always be made better. In that spirit, a few examples are as under:

(a)   In Sikhism the concept “Guru” is very central. The Mool Mantar ends with “Gurparsad” (meaning, the God can be realized with the grace/teachings of the Guru). These key words: Guru and his teachings and blessings have been given in column three in Notes. But some how have been omitted in THEME and SUMMARY in column four.

(b)   Similarly in Pauri number one, the SUMMARY ends in saying that the true goal of life, i.e comfort, complacency and contentment, misses the mark. The goal of life is Eternal Bliss in being one with God, which is much higher than comfort etc. (See the meaning of the word in American Heritage College Dictionary).

In Sikhism there are many unique concepts, which need to be elucidated by lengthy explanations, Dr. Sahib Singh has written many Essays, interspersed in his 10 volumes. A few Essays to bring out the pristine beauty and uniqueness of Guru Nanak’s Message in Japji would be a very appreciable addition to this good work.

Jasbir Singh Sethi
Houston
October 21, 2003

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