meomorizing bani?

sangat jee daas was just wondering if there are any methods sangat uses to meomorize bani daas feels bad that i only have a few bania meomorised i know that with more abias they will become kant but i have heard that if you listen to a recording and read along it will become kant faster? is this true? can anyone share any experiences with meomorising bani or should i just do more abiaas?

thank you
Gagan Singh

Wrote the following article about memorizing Gurbani, sometime ago:

Everyone is different as far as memorizing Baani is concerned. I think, the baani that we have been reading in previous lives is the easiest to memorize and the new baanis that we start doing paath in this life are a bit harder to memorize.

It is very important to memorize Gurbani and it is written in the old rehitnaamas that the loving singhs of Guru Sahib, memorize as much baani as possible. If someone can post the original pankiti, that will be great.

Baba Harnaam Singh Rampur Khere waale, warned his close associates to memorize as much baani as possible. He said that a very bad time is coming up and Gurbani will become rare (Durlabh is the word he used).

Faithful Muslims, the diwaanay of Prophet Mohammad, out of love for Koran Shareef memorize the whole of Koran Sharif and such faithful Muslims are called Haafiz i.e. ones who “hifaz” the Koran”. Prophet Mohammad encouraged his followers to memorize Koran and this is the reason why Koran has stayed unchanged over so many years. At any given time, there are numerous haafiz of Koran.

Many Old time Pandits had 4 Vedas memorized and it is said that Vedas were put in writing only few thousand years ago

Father of Sardar Kahn Singh Nabha, had whole of Guru Granth Sahib jee memorized and he was an “Atee Akhand Paathee”. An Atee Akhand Paathee is such Khalsa who can do the whole of Siri Akhand Paath Sahib in one sitting without stopping. Once the Nabha-pat (King of Nabha) asked Bhai Sahib (S. Kahn Singh’s father) to recite whole of Siri Akhand Paath in one sitting. Bhai Sahib agreed and he did the whole Akhand Paath in one sitting. He was a great gursikh. His name was Baba Narayan Singh.

Baani is the aadhaar (foundation) of a Sikh and it is not possible to always read baani from Gutka or pothi. Sometimes we may be stuck in such situations where we may not have access to Gurbani. Are we going to stop doing paath then? In order to protect our Rehit, we must try our best to memorize Nitnem, Siri Sukhmani Sahib and Asa kee Vaar. This much Baani is a must to memorize because this is how much Baani we should strive to do paath of, everyday.

Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh jee had great amount of baani memorized. He wrote whole of Gurmat Bibek, without the help of any pothi as he was in jail at that time. All the parmaans (references) to Gurbani in that book were from his memory. There are about 500 quotes from Gurbani in this book of Bhai Sahib. It is amazing to see how much baani he had memorized. Bhai Sahib writes that after amrit, he used to do Sukhmani Sahib all the time. How could he have done it, if he had not had it memorized?

It is said that if we continue to memorize something as we get older, our mind stays stronger and fresh. After finishing studies, most people stop learning anything more and sensing this, our body acts to free up the cells in brain that are intended for memory. If we start to memorize baani, our mind will become more sharp and there is no limit to how much baani we can memorize.

The best way to memorize baani is to take baby-steps in memorizing it. Say, you want to memorize Siri Sukhmani Sahib. Give yourself one week to memorize one ashtpadi. Read that ashtpadi about 8-10 times a day and on day 4, start memorizing the the pauris one by one. You will be surprised how easily you will have it memorized. If we memorize one ashtpadi a week, we can have Siri Sukhmani Sahib memorized in less than 6 months. Can you imagine the benefits of having this baani memorized?

Similarly, it is imperative to memorize Siri Asa kee Vaar. If we don’t have this baani memorized, we just have to sit and listen to the kirtan but if we have it memorized we can sing and listen to baani. This is double laaha. Our rasna will get pure while singing this baani and we can keep our eyes closed to minimized distractions. Of course, we still have to listen to it.

Here is a summary of formula that worked for me:

1. Attempt to memorize one Ang of Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee at a time. One ang would be roughly equal to one ashtpadi (actually little less than that) of Siri Sukhmani Sahib. Give yourself at least a week and maximum two weeks to memorize this much baani.

2. Remember that a drop may seem very little but if poured consistently, drops can fill a bucket over time. Same way, be patient and memorize little by little and soon you can memorize a lot of baani.

3. The baani that you are going to memorize in a week or two, should be read at least 7-10 times a day. This will take you only 15 minutes or so. For the first 4 days don’t attempt to memorize it, just read it 7-10 times.

4. On the fourth day or the fifth day, or when you can do this baani in less than minute and a half (one ang or one ashtpadi), further divide this baani into 4 or 5 parts and memorize one part a day for next 3-4 days. By the end of the week, you should have this baani memorized.

5. Above all, do ardaas before Guru Sahib to have you memorize his baani.

There are many other ways to memorize baani but this is the way I know and have tested on myself. If anyone can benefit from this, I will be greatly thankful to Guru Sahib.

Daas,

Kulbir Singh

I can't say much on this Gagan Singh Veer

but i used to read sampooran anand sahib with my rehiraas in the evenings daily a few months ago.

This really helped me get my anand sahib memorized faster.

Do Ardaas, that's the most important part

VahegurooJeeKaaKhalsaa VahegurooJeeKeeFatheh

Guru Piyrio,

Waheguru ji ka khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh

This might sound little crazy but I strongly feels that memorizing or Kanth Gurbani is not individually controlled thing. Although one can work hard by any method to memorize and see whichever works, as one of them is mentioned above by Bhai Kulbir Singh jee. There is BhuJangi Singh of 3-4 years of age who almost have all 7 banis Kanth plus he can chorus with Keertan. Now which method he tried can any one tell????? It is all Guru Sahib’s mercy upon him. On the other hand daas is struggling since last decades to have better hold on Sri Jaap Sahib’s Bani. Not a single time in my entire past I felt that I have done Jaap Sahib without number of repeats. In past during school years daas could remember the difficult algebraic equations but never able to straight out the Shands of Sri Jaap Sahib. So, still on trying out different methods and above all seeking Guru Sahib’s kirpa is the ultimate and best approach because ਜਿਹੜਾ ਭਾਈ ਗੂੰਗੇ ਤੋਂ ਗੀਤਾ ਦੇ ਅਰਥ ਕਰਵਾ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ ਉਸਦੀ ਮਿਹਰ ਦੀ ਛੜੀ ਸਿਰ ਤੇ ਟਿਕ ਜਾਵੇ ਤਾਂ ਸਭ ਕੁਝ ਹੀ ਸੰਭਵ ਹੈ ਜਿਸਦੀ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤੀ ਤਾਂ ਭਾਗਾਂ ਵਾਲਿਆ ਨੂੰ ਹੀ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ ਪਰ ਅਰਦਾਸਿ ਵਾਲੀ ਕੁੰਜੀ ਤਾਂ ਹਰੇਕ ਸਿੱਖ ਦੇ ਹੱਥ ਵਿਚ ਹੀ ਹੈ, ਲਾਈ ਰੱਖੋ ਕਦੇ ਨਾ ਕਦੇ ਤਾਂ ਦਰ ਖੁਲੇਗਾ ਹੀ ਭਾਵੇਂ ਜੀਵਨ ਲਗ ਜਾਣ।

With Regards,
Daas,
JAsjit Singh

Vahiguroo....Bhai Jasjit Singh jeo, the same thoughts were in Chatrik's mind too.

Chota veer

i agree with my veerjis that it is kirpa that lets us memorize gurbani.

for me personally, i find that listening to the bani helps a lot, especially if the recitation is in a musical tone. our brains are wired such that we remember music better than words alone. think of all the shabads we remember, even after listening to their keertan only once or twice. the musical tone of the recitation will help us to remember the words better. this is just my personal experience/opinion.

One thing regarding Sri Jaap Sahib.

A Singh told me that he just started off with the first 10 pauris of the 2 nd chhand(namastuang akaaley namastuang kirpaaley) (because the first chhand: chakr chihan ar barn jaat ... is already kantth) and went on like this. He said by taking only small steps it will take time but it's a very simple and easy method. He said there are some pauris which are very saral(easy) and are already in our mind cause after doing this baani regularly in nitnem some pauris are already kantth. So just start off with little steps.

Start off with first 10 pauris today, then next 10 tomorrow, maybe 20 day after if u got more time.

Bhul Chuk maaf

damandeep singh that method is very good... when daas for some reason couldnt get sohila meomorized i did this... and thank you everyone very informative article bhai sahib

i found that doing paaht outloud and writing bani was really helpful in memorization - i guess saying, hearing, reading and writing is enough reinforcement to beat it into my head

Is it true that Bhai Sahib Jeevan Singh Ji has entire Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji kanth?

I have heard that Bhai Sahib Jeevan Singh jee has whole of Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee memorized but this is not confirmed. What I do know is that he has it pretty much Kanth.

Many years ago, in the mid 1990s, Bhai Sahib gave Santhiya of Mehingi Baani (Difficult Baani) like Bhagat Baani, at the Toronto Samagam. This daas too attended these Santhiya sessions. We all used to sit with Laridaar Pothis and Bhai Jeevan Singh and other senior Singhs like Dr Darshan Singh used to give Santhiya. Bhai SahibJeevan Singh was standing and did not have any pothi for reference but he was able to give us Santhiya without it. We were very surprised to see how he could give Santhiya orally, without looking at the Pothi for reference. From this incident, I believe that Bhai Sahib has whole of Siri Guru Granth Sahib jee pretty much Kanth or Gurbani is very Saral to him.

Kulbir Singh

From a previous news article.


Publication:Times Of India Chandigarh; Date:Oct 27, 2008; Section:North India; Page Number:4


These two octogenarians remember Guru Granth Sahib by heart
IP Singh |TNN

Jalandhar: When others are busy in the hustle-bustle of the celebrations of Guruta Gaddi Diwas, there are two octogenarians, with rare glow on their faces, who are quietly engaged in the recitation of Gurbani. The astonishing part is that they remember by heart almost the entire holy book spread over 1,430 pages. Just consider the vastness of the scripture. According to SGPC website, Guru Granth Sahib contains 5,894 hymns and the number of stanzas are 15,575.

The first one is Bhai Jiwan Singh, who lives near the Golden Temple and gets the oppotunity to listen to the continuous kirtan and the second one is Bhai Surat Singh, known as “Pooran ji”, who starts his daily routine of “path” just around midnight.

“It is not yet known about any other surviving member of the community who has been able to memorize the vast holy book. There were some more such persons but they were not alive,” says Balwinder Pal Singh, editor of a journal.

Remaining reticent and epitomizing humility the two prefer not to make any such claim or even discuss it but those who know them reveal their accomplishment. “Just read out one line from any hymn and both will complete it,” says Ranjodh Singh, co-editor of another journal, who knows the two quite well.

A revered spiritualist in the Sikh community, Bhai Jiwan Singh has travelled extensively around the world. However, for the last couple of years, as age took over him, he remains confined to his house.

“In which ever house he went kirtan started emanating,” says Jaswinder Singh Khalsa, an NRI living in UK, who is also chairman of the Sukrit Trust and owes change in his life to the spiritualist.

“He not just transformed lives but also played a role in starting several welfare projects,” reveals Harkirat Singh, former GM of Coal India and now trustee of Satnam Sarb Kalyan Trust, which was got started by Bhai Jiwan Singh.

About Pooran ji, who retired as district manager of the FCI, his son-in-law Kuljit Singh revealed that after retiring to his bed at around 7.30 pm he gets up at 10.45 pm. Then after a bath he goes to Darbar Sahib around 11.45 pm and just after midnight he along with some other devotees starts recitation of Gurbani at the “parikarma”. “Then he goes to the sanctum sanctorum when its doors open after 2 am and after listening to kirtan he returns. He remains engrossed in reciting “path” in the day also,” he disclosed, adding that “he can listen to kirtan for continuous 12 hours.”



FAITH ON MEMORY: Bhai Jiwan Singh; (right) Bhai Surat Singh


[epaper.timesofindia.com]

Another good way of memorising Sukhmani Sahib is to read one Ashpadhi 30 times a day and within 2-3 days you should have it memorised, then go on to the next Ashtpadhi.

I came across an interesting rehatnama about memorizing Gurbani recorded by Bhai Chaupa Singh Ji


ਜੋ ਬਾਣੀ ਕਁਠ ਕੀਤੀ ਨਾ ਵਿਚਾਰੇ , ਸੋ ਆਲਸੀ ਤਨਖਾਹੀਅ

Those whom have memorized bani without doing contemplation of the bani then they are apostates.

The following could be interpreted in various ways:


One can say it means one should do veechar via santhiya of the Shabad before attempting to memorize it. Thus placing bindis , pauses, etc when needed.

Others can say It means one who recites bani but does not contemplate on its meanings are tankhiya. Meaning reciting but not applying the teachings to ones life.

Either way the rehatnama could be understood as one should not memorize bani for the sake of memorizing Bani. Then it just becomes a ritual. Real anand of Bani comes from doing Khoj of GurShabad.

I think when we contemplate the meanings then memorization becomes much more easier and rewarding.


I always get confused as to how the meanings should be applied to memorization. For example, many Gursikhs have no problem in adding bindi. They use the logic that the word/meaning makes sense with the bindi added when reciting Bani. I agree with this logic, but then there are people say we cant add other letters to make the word make sense. I remember somebody referring to such practices as Manmat, they mentioned there could be meanings there that we dont understand.


in the following Pangti

ਗੰਗ ਜਮੁਨ ਤਹ ਬੇਣੀ ਸੰਗਮ ਸਾਤ ਸਮੁੰਦ ਸਮਾਵਾ ॥

It is clear the word ਤਹ is referring to three as in three rivers so it should be pronounced as Tre?

If we can add halant or bindi why cant we add other symbols. If we recite Bani through memory without adding the proper symbols according to ones effort in doing veechar then arent we "tankhiya". IM no santhiya expert Im just trying to learn how to recite certain words according to their meanings. I dont like making a ritual out of beloved Gurbani. For example, it doesnt make sense for me to recite Hukum Rajaee because the meaning changes and thus we are reciting only through memory and not taken meanings into consideration. Then memorizing Gurbani becomes a ritual.

Nobody is perfect in understanding what Gurbani means and how to recite Gurbani as orignally recited by GuruSahib but the least we can do is try. In JapJi Sahib I use to recite Dhru as Dhu. I was completely puzzled with the word Dhu, and a Veer Ji mentioned that the real word is Dhru but we shouldnt pronounce it as Dhru? But now I really feel like Im reciting Gurbani as a ritual by doing so. Why is it so wrong to say Dhru?

Im not trying to be critical on any kind of School of Thought in regards to Santhiya , I just want to determine the truth about reciting bani through memory and applying the meanings. I have not taken any santhiya lessons and do not know anything about the subject so I would appreciate it if someone can explain how we recite bani through memory and apply the meanings.

I know Bhai Joginder SIngh Jis Nitnem steek has explanations on when to pause in Gurbani, but is there any other book that explains where we add bindi, pauses, halant, etc in all of Gurbani?

Veer Sukhdeep Singh jeeo,

Quote

I came across an interesting rehatnama about memorizing Gurbani recorded by Bhai Chaupa Singh Ji
ਜੋ ਬਾਣੀ ਕਁਠ ਕੀਤੀ ਨਾ ਵਿਚਾਰੇ , ਸੋ ਆਲਸੀ ਤਨਖਾਹੀਅ
Those whom have memorized bani without doing contemplation of the bani then they are apostates.

The Hukam stated above is very significant. We must do Vichaar on the Baani we memorize. Why has it been emphasized? The reason is that we tend to not do Vichaar on Gurbani we memorize. We unconsciously read it and don't do Vichaar on it. If we do Vichaar on Baani we read from Kanth, the reward is unmeasurable.

Kulbir Singh

I was wondering in the following Sri Dasam Granth Pangti


Jo ey Katha Suneh ar Gaveh Dukh Paap ਤਹ nikat na aveh

Bishan Bhagat kee ey Phul hoee aadd byaad chhveh sakeh na Koee.




I was wonder does ਤਹ here mean three. Meaning 3 diseases (Aadh, Byadh, Upadh) because in the next sentence there is mention of Aadh and Byadh?

If so shouldnt we say treh nikat so the meaning doesnt change?

Quote

Jo ey Katha Suneh ar Gaveh Dukh Paap ਤਹ nikat na aveh
Bishan Bhagat kee ey Phul hoee aadd byaad chhveh sakeh na Koee.
I was wonder does ਤਹ here mean three. Meaning 3 diseases (Aadh, Byadh, Upadh) because in the next sentence there is mention of Aadh and Byadh?

ਜੋ ਇਹ ਕਥਾ ਸੁਨੈ ਅਰੁ ਗਾਵੈ॥ ਦੂਖ ਪਾਪ ਤਿਹ ਨਿਕਟ ਨ ਆਵੈ॥

The word ਤਿਹ is a pronoun which means ਤਿਸ just as the pronoun ਜਿਹ means ਜਿਸ. The pronoun ਤਿਹ has come as an answer to ਜੋ which appears in the previous pankiti. The meaning is: ਜੋ ਇਸ ਕਥਾ ਨੂੰ ਸੁਣਦਾ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਗਾਉਂਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਸ ਦੇ ਲਾਗੇ ਦੁਖ ਤੇ ਪਾਪ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਉਂਦੇ।

Kulbir Singh

yes you are right it does not seem proper to say

He who listen and sings the teachings will not suffer from, pain , sin and the three diseases. But perhaps Its not right to start a proceeding pangti with three pauses that would just seem odd.

I originally thought it was three becauseI have seen sometimes ਤਿਹ with an aunkar give the meaning of three. For example the the following referring to three qualities ( rajo, sato, tamo gun)

ਤਿਹੁ ਗੁਣ ਮਹਿ ਜਾ ਕਉ ਭਰਮਾਏ ॥
ਜਨਮਿ ਮਰੈ ਫਿਰਿ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਏ ॥

bhai kulbir singh, me and gsingh took santhiya from bhai bharpoor singh in surrey and he could also tell us our mistakes without looking at a pothi

asingh95 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bhai kulbir singh, me and gsingh took santhiya
> from bhai bharpoor singh in surrey and he could
> also tell us our mistakes without looking at a
> pothi

Also i remember last year at Khalsa Camp BC, whilst doing ਸੈਹਰ along the campsite, Bhai sahib asked me to take out a specific panna (# 728) on my iPhone Gurbani app and told me to follow along. I didn't understand what he meant but after a couple pannay, it was obvious he was reciting the whole raagaa of Sohee from Gurbaani from memory. I think they also have all memorized.. Bhai Jasjit Singh jee can attest on how sudh and fast their paath is, we were both amazed this past august and last April when they came for smagm here. I have 17hrs of an Akhand Paath Sahib from New Jersey during our Annual Smagm this past august recorded, in which Bhai Sahib did 3 rauls.. they are amazing to listen along with. Dhan Dhan Dhan Guru pyaare.

Quote
.. Bhai Jasjit Singh jee can attest on how sudh and fast their paath is

Bhai Bhagatjot Singh Jio, what this insect can attest jee. Daas don't know the Urra Arra of Shudh Uchaarn, not even eligible for Bhai Sahib Bharpoor Singh charan dhoori what to talk about aha there Gurbani reading russ. All I can say is Neech like me can sit for longer listenning hours while Bhai Sahib is doing paath. I wish we will have more than two Akhnad paaths in row on next year's Smagam and Paathis like Bhai Sahib would shower the Amrit russ on moorakhs like Daas.

As far as memorising the Gurbani topic is concerned, Daas's take is to ask no other than Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee and sit in Their lap to do the paath whatever you want to memorise and see the difference in days.

asingh95 what anand it was doing santhia with bhai sahib. They would sit there and close their eyes, to any random person it would look like they were sleeping. But any time we made a mistake (which was often) they would correct us. In the beginning of Sri Raag we were amazed, but slowly slowly we got used to it.

Another time during the May Smagam here, the Akhaand Paat Sahib was at their house, it was saturday afternoon, there were two akhaand paat sahibs going on at the same weekend at different locations, I had just come from doing raul at one of them, and went to Bhai Sahibs house to listen to the Akhaand Paat. After about 20 minutes, I had langar, some of the tastiest langar I had ever had, made in sarbloh of course. After langar I came back and sat down. While reading gurbani the paati singh made a mistake while doing pad chhed and got stuck, bhai sahib who had their eyes closed and looked like they were sleeping, quickly corrected the paati singh and even read 2-3 of the following lines to put the paati singh back on track, this incident happened a few times, throughout the entire akhaand paat sahib. Bhai Sahib surely has most if not all of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee meomorised.

Dhan Dhan Gursikh Pyarai.

Bhagotjot Singh ji

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

I think it would would be a good idea to upload the audio of paath done by bhai Bharpoor Singh ji onto ikatha.com. Do you have audio of nitnem banis done by bhai Bharpoor Singh ji?

Most paath available online paath audios are of samprdai background there is not much paath available from paathis of AKJ or viaakaran background. Probably the must shudh paath available of paath of sri Guru Granth Sahib ji is of giani Harbhajan Singh ji on ikatha.com. Does anyone have any more information on giani ji?

At the moment nitnem banis of bhai Jeevan Singh ji are available, it would be good to hear nitnem banis done by Gursikhs who have done sangat of bhai sahib or good paathis such as bhai Bharpoor Singh ji.