A first reading from the Guru Granth Sahib

A guided first reading

Begin with a short passage in Gurmukhi, an English sense, and one question from Japji Sahib. You can follow the source without needing to know every name or term first.

The opening you can return to

The Guru Granth Sahib is Sikh scripture. Its opening gives the reader an orientation before a long account or a narrative scene: one creative reality, truth, freedom from fear and enmity, and the Guru’s grace. The Gurmukhi below preserves the opening formula on Ang 1. An Ang is the conventional page reference used to locate a passage in this scripture.

ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

An English sense: One creative reality; truth is the Name; the creator, without fear or enmity, beyond time and birth, self-existent, known through the Guru’s grace.

This is a fresh, compact English rendering for orientation. It cannot carry every implication of the original words. The source note links two named interpreters so that you can compare a phrase across both and see for yourself that no single English sentence exhausts it.

Japji asks a question

After the opening, Japji’s first pauri, or stanza, tests several ways a person might seek truth. The stanza reaches this question and response:

ਕਿਵ ਸਚਿਆਰਾ ਹੋਈਐ ਕਿਵ ਕੂੜੈ ਤੁਟੈ ਪਾਲਿ ॥
ਹੁਕਮਿ ਰਜਾਈ ਚਲਣਾ ਨਾਨਕ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਨਾਲਿ ॥੧॥

An English sense: How does one become truthful; how does the barrier of falsehood break? Nanak’s response turns toward living in accordance with hukam, the divine order.

The response describes a way of living. It leaves the reader with a word to examine, one that keeps its full weight only inside its own setting. In the following pauri, the text says that no one stands outside hukam and connects understanding it with the ending of ego’s boast. Read pauris 1 and 2 together before deciding what “order” means here.

Three words to keep nearby

Naam

The Name. In the opening, sat naam joins the Name with truth. Keep that wording in view, and let “name” carry the weight of truth along with the work of a label.

Hukam

Divine order or command. The two source witnesses differ in English phrasing and explanation; this page uses “divine order” as a reading aid.

Pauri

A stanza in Japji. Its number helps you follow the argument even when an English translation chooses different wording.

Try a second reading

Read the question aloud in English, then return to the two Gurmukhi lines without trying to pronounce unfamiliar letters from guesswork. Ask what the question assumes is separating the person from truth. Then read the response and the next pauri in one of the linked translations. You do not need to agree on every interpretive choice before noticing how the argument moves.

This is a private study invitation, not a procedure for taking a religious Hukam. For the next step, open twelve selected passages from Japji Sahib. That guide offers selected readings in English with original Gurmukhi; it is not a complete translation of the Guru Granth Sahib.

What is available here

The library’s full Ang navigation leads to Devanagari transliteration with Hindi meanings. This page and the English Japji guide provide an English entrance. For an English translation alongside original Gurmukhi across the scripture, use the named external translation linked below. This distinction keeps the next click clear.