techsingh ji
The cost of the volume is $245.00. Now what is my personal assessment? The volumes are bound versions of the Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa MD translation. Yes, it is the most widely used translation on the Internet. It is used on major web sites including srigranth, Search Gurbani, and sikhitothemax.
However, if you have been following any of our threads where translations are used and discussed, you will already know that the translation is not received in a positive way by those who have made study of Gurbani a lifelong endeavor.
The translation is one of the 5 approved by SGPC. It is also termed the "consensus translation." Personally, I fail to see that there is any consensus.
The translation deviates in many important ways from the Guru Granth Darpan of Professor Sahib Singh Ph.D., a significant contribution to the world of religious studies. Even I, a relative novice, have spotted many instances where the translation is simply wrong with respect to specific tuks. Words are translated according to the intuitive sense of Dr. Sant Singh ji; yet they distort the meaning of a tuk in a significant way. Recent findings in discussions this past month or so. Nirbau is not Nirvaana; and karam is not karma. Karams are not karmas of past deeds. Hari is not a "Lord." Many more examples like that. Entire interpretations shift, often giving a Christian or a Hindu bias. I would not spend that kind of money on it.
If you go to this link at Sikhnet http://www.sikhnet.com/pages/siri-guru-granth-sahib-english-translation-comparison you can read the comparison of 5 approved versions of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
I own the translation by Dr. Gurbachan Singh Talib, and it is good because it gives alternative translations that scholars have proffered. Its 4 heavily researched volumes cost $ 99.00. The drawback... it is English only and therefore I need at least two pothis to be able to cross check the Punjabi to the English. I do consider it worth the money spent because of the footnotes.
The translation by Dr. Manmohan Singh is well-received. This translation is my top Punjabi/English choice. The translation suffers from one drawback. The good scholar used phrases that would be familiar to Christian eyes and ears. Hence parts of his translation are disputed.
The translation by Pritam Singh Chahil is an updated version of that by Dr. Manmohan Singh. It is also very costly.
All translations so far fall short of the mark in one or another way. You essentially will need to make a cost/benefit decision. Most people who engage in vichaar at SPN use more than one translation, use pothis edited by various scholarly groups like Missionary College of Ludhiana, and can read Guru Granth Darpan in Punjabi or are learning to do so. If I absolutely had to purchase an English translation with Punjabi in Gurmukhi font, it would not be the bound volumes by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa MD for reasons I have mentioned. You are not getting as much as you deserve for the price you will pay.
