Prof. Sahib Singh (1892-1977) was a towering Sikh scholar and grammarian, best known for his ten-volume exegesis Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan and his pioneering work on Gurbani grammar (Gurbani Viakaran).
Portrait via Wikimedia Commons.
Courses
Gurmukhi & the Grammar of Gurbani
This course teaches how the Gurmukhi script and the grammar of Gurbani work together to unlock the correct meaning of the sacred word. Students learn the thirty-five letters, the vowel signs (ਲਗਾਂ ਮਾਤ੍ਰਾਂ), and the additional marks, and then study how a final vowel sign on a noun or verb changes meaning. The…
Introduction to Gurmat (Sikh Theology)
A rigorous yet accessible introduction to Gurmat, the theology of the Guru's teachings, covering the nature of the Divine, the Shabad Guru, the path of devotion, grace and effort, ethics and equality, and the meaning of liberation.
Reading Gurmukhi: The Script
A gentle beginner's introduction to the Gurmukhi script, the writing system in which the Guru Granth Sahib Ji and much Punjabi literature are recorded. This course traces the script's history and its association with Guru Angad Dev Ji, walks through the Painti (the thirty-five base letters) grouped by how they are…
Introduction to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
A college-level introduction to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the eternal living Guru of the Sikhs. The course examines how the scripture was compiled by Guru Arjan Dev Ji and completed under Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the community of voices it gathers (Gurus, Bhagats, and Bhatts), its arrangement by Raag, its script and…
Understanding the Mool Mantar
An academic, term-by-term study of the Mool Mantar, the foundational statement that opens Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at Ang 1. The course explains each phrase in plain English, situates it within classical and modern Sikh scholarship, and shows how these few words frame the whole of Gurbani and shape Sikh life.…
Reading Japji Sahib
An academic study of Japji Sahib, the foundational composition of Guru Nanak Dev Ji that opens Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji at Ang 1. This course examines the structure and themes of the bani rather than reproducing or paraphrasing its lines: the Mool Mantar and its naming of the Divine; the critique of empty ritual;…
Learning Punjabi Through Gurbani
An intermediate course that builds Punjabi vocabulary and reading comprehension through the language of Gurbani. You will learn high-frequency devotional words and their meanings, see how the older Sant Bhasha register differs from everyday modern Punjabi, grasp core grammar concepts at a conceptual level, and…
Gurbani Exegesis with Prof. Sahib Singh
An author-as-professor course about Prof. Sahib Singh (1892-1977), among the most influential interpreters of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The course studies who he was, the grammar-based method he built for reading Gurbani, his ten-volume Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan, his companion Gurbani Viakaran, his study of the…
Reading Larivaar and Pad-Ched: How Gurbani Is Written and Read
A graduate-level study of how Gurbani is set down on the page and how it is correctly read aloud. The course contrasts ਲੜੀਵਾਰ (larivaar), the unbroken running script with no spaces between words, against ਪਦ ਛੇਦ (pad-ched), the modern word-separated text. It examines the interpretive choices and risk
The Many Tongues of Gurbani: Sant Bhasha
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji does not speak in one single language. It moves freely between Punjabi, the devotional Braj of the Bhakti poets, Persian and Arabic terms, the heavy Sanskritic register often called Sahaskriti, and many regional dialects. This blended saintly speech is known as Sant Bhasha,