jaikaara

my 2 cents, do the Paath after the morning Nitnem Banis. You would yourself get the feeling of the time best suitable to you. Also you will also feel tphat the Bani has to be followed by additional Banis as per one's energy. I myself have wasted a lot of time over the timings and so on, Bani will never harm you as we all know.
At this time you or me or anyone who doesnt have any awastha is a abhyasi - a student . We are bound to make mistakes while learning . So lets just assume we are toddlers who will fall time and again while walking. 
My personal experience says , Hukumae Andar Sabko - you will get the message inside. Just have the sraddha and pyaar, rest will all come. 

Jappde raho ji , along with Brahm Kavach understanding the meaning you could do Bhagouti Ashtotar which also praises Bhagouthi ji ...if you understand the verses then there is prem and bhagti just as when you do jaap of Mool Mantar sahib your focus on Akaal increases and turns into pyaar for the Ustat of Akaal

you said it ! It is Waheguruji who has given that boon of progeny to the woman. Why would Waheguru want women to stop remembering Naam. 
Of what i heard that sounds logical, those days there were no sanitary pads. The level of hygiene was obviously not as good as now. Periods are accompanied with cramps and severe bleeding in many women thus giving a feeling of weakness and fatigue. The system of 'resting' during those days gave women a small vacation and other family members would take over. However, to make things understandable specially to men who at times would force women for their urges, the word 'sin/paap'  has got attached. This word did act like a red signal, allowing women to rest. As time progressed this rule did act as a hindrance too.

When you have accepted Ek Oankaar, when you have accepted the Gurus you are a Sikh. I too am born in a Hindu family and grew up in a liberal atmosphere. My dad was happy for me when i started the path to understand Sikhi and had brought me Sukhmani Sahib gutka. 
A Sikh is not born inspite of being born in  a Sikh family. He has to start walking on the path. As time goes i would want to see myself as a Khalsa some day. Till then we have to keep practicing , am not even good at Nitnem. A long way to go . 
Akaal 
 
 

When you have accepted Ek Oankaar, when you have accepted the Gurus you are a Sikh. I too am born in a Hindu family and grew up in a liberal atmosphere. My dad was happy for me when i started the path to understand Sikhi and had brought me Sukhmani Sahib gutka. 
A Sikh is not born inspite of being born in  a Sikh family. He has to start walking on the path. As time goes i would want to see myself as a Khalsa some day. Till then we have to keep practicing , am not even good at Nitnem. A long way to go . 
Akaal 
 
 

Ya I can understand.. since u have grown up in such environment. But don't worry. "Jin upai medni sei de adhaar" .. path n Simran are food for soul.. he himself gives u hunger n himself provides food.Its all his game. 
As u have mentioned before that,the day u don't connect.. u get uneasy, irritated etc. So he will make u do it himself.. just carry on with the flow n be amazed on how he plays.... 

Definately...
Baba will bless me with more Sumat!

maybe more Simran could help 

Jappde raho ji , along with Brahm Kavach understanding the meaning you could do Bhagouti Ashtotar which also praises Bhagouthi ji ...if you understand the verses then there is prem and bhagti just as when you do jaap of Mool Mantar sahib your focus on Akaal increases and turns into pyaar for the Ustat of Akaal

you said it ! It is Waheguruji who has given that boon of progeny to the woman. Why would Waheguru want women to stop remembering Naam. 
Of what i heard that sounds logical, those days there were no sanitary pads. The level of hygiene was obviously not as good as now. Periods are accompanied with cramps and severe bleeding in many women thus giving a feeling of weakness and fatigue. The system of 'resting' during those days gave women a small vacation and other family members would take over. However, to make things understandable specially to men who at times would force women for their urges, the word 'sin/paap'  has got attached. This word did act like a red signal, allowing women to rest. As time progressed this rule did act as a hindrance too.

you said it ! It is Waheguruji who has given that boon of progeny to the woman. Why would Waheguru want women to stop remembering Naam. 
Of what i heard that sounds logical, those days there were no sanitary pads. The level of hygiene was obviously not as good as now. Periods are accompanied with cramps and severe bleeding in many women thus giving a feeling of weakness and fatigue. The system of 'resting' during those days gave women a small vacation and other family members would take over. However, to make things understandable specially to men who at times would force women for their urges, the word 'sin/paap'  has got attached. This word did act like a red signal, allowing women to rest. As time progressed this rule did act as a hindrance too.

Absolutely!  N thanks to our Gurbani that makes things clear for us..  Guru Sahib says that unclean is 'Not' the woman with periods it's that every person who is filled with an unclean mann- filth of paap. 
Gurbani has answers to everything in life. It's amazing!! 

Yes darling that's wat I mean. .. 
And I really don't understand why sinful??  I mean is it something bad or wrong we are doing intentionally??  It's something natural..  If it's wrong then he's at fault he's committing sin not me. 
I have mentioned it before..  This is something that a woman should be proud of...  As it makes her productive...  BTW Simran is food for soul.  Do we stop eating during periods?? Rather since we r physically not that active during these days,  we can put in more time for Waheguru ji  Haina?? 

You know I was reading this old Panjabi A Level book and it was essentially saying that Sanskrit came from Panjab (or the Vedas was written in Panjab), and if the geographical location of the language was used to label it - it would be called old Panjabi. Interesting idea. 
So what do you think are the main differences (contents wise) between the Markendaya versions and the ones in the Dasam Granth? 

Here's a Romanized version of the SaptShati Chandi Paath :
 
http://www.anandamayi.org/ashram/Durga.pdf

Here's a Romanized version of the SaptShati Chandi Paath :
 
http://www.anandamayi.org/ashram/Durga.pdf

What language was that in bro?

Chandi is the jagatmata, the energy from which the universe was created. Durga is an expansion of chandi, she is present within all. She is the power or shakti of Akal Purakh. Chandi is merely one among her many names. She is the one that helps us move, think, grow, talk, etc. Lakshmi, Sarswati and Parvati are merely representations of her satto, rajo and tamo qualities, respectively. In reality, chandi is the feminine shakti form of Akal Purukh, hence they are the same. Many believe that Chandi di vaar, Shastar naam mala, etc. are about Durga, in reality guru ji is praising the divine shakti, as discussed above, that resides in Durga, Kali, shastar, astar, rakatbeej, etc. not just Durga alone. 
Just like how Lakshmi is the personification of Vishnu ji's shakti, likewise Sarswati and parvati are of Brahma and Mahesh, respectively. Even so is Chandi/ Bhagauti/ Maya the personification of Vaheguru's Shakti. If you read chandi di vaar, it says "Khanda prithmai saaj kai, jin sai(n)saar oopaiya. Brahma bisan saaj(eh) kudrat da khel rachaa(ai) baNaa(ai)aa." This tells that at the beginning of the creation, Vaheguru created the Khanda (referring to Chandi, feminine Shakti form of Akal Purukh), from which shakti the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh came into being. Now it makes sense that guru ji wrote such banis so that we could plead the mercy of Chandi so that she may reside in us and shastars so that we may gain victory on the field of battle. Those who are familiar with Chandi di Vaar may understand this, "taitho(n) hi bal raam l(ai) naal baNaa da(h)sir ghaa(ai)yaa, taitho(n) hi bal krisan l(ai) Kans kesi(n) paka(rh) giraa(ai)yaa." this is referring to the shakti of Akal Purukh, Chandi. Bal=shakti, hence Ram and Krishan also took shakti from Akal Purukh in order to defeat Ravan and Kans, respectively. 
Even though no one can describe Chandi as she is beyond description, may this help in getting a vague idea of Jagatmata Chandika.

thats very true , i used to do Paath of SaptaShati Chandi composed by Rishi Markandey during Navraate prior to being absorbed in Sikhi. 
Sapstahati Chandi is a detailed description of the whole event. Guru Maharaaj has laid stress on the War(Jangh )part and described in Bir Ras. This description is very unique, in a very high energy flow. 
There is a reason behind this, Punjab was influenced by the Shakt tradition before getting influenced by the Vaishnav tradition. Even if you look at the names of the different cities or places such as Chandigarh, Ambala,  Jallandhar(the rakshas whom the Shakti had slain) .

There is influence of this martial Goddess even in regular day to day conversation. For example , some lady gets angry they say ohnu Chandi aa gayi. This also means that opposite to how the Shakti is worshiped in the North as a kind Mother and addressed as Maiya and the worship is done in the Satvic way, Punjab , Bengal, Northeastern states worship the Shakti in Bir Ras. 
 
 

thats very true , i used to do Paath of SaptaShati Chandi composed by Rishi Markandey during Navraate prior to being absorbed in Sikhi. 
Sapstahati Chandi is a detailed description of the whole event. Guru Maharaaj has laid stress on the War(Jangh )part and described in Bir Ras. This description is very unique, in a very high energy flow. 
There is a reason behind this, Punjab was influenced by the Shakt tradition before getting influenced by the Vaishnav tradition. Even if you look at the names of the different cities or places such as Chandigarh, Ambala,  Jallandhar(the rakshas whom the Shakti had slain) .

There is influence of this martial Goddess even in regular day to day conversation. For example , some lady gets angry they say ohnu Chandi aa gayi. This also means that opposite to how the Shakti is worshiped in the North as a kind Mother and addressed as Maiya and the worship is done in the Satvic way, Punjab , Bengal, Northeastern states worship the Shakti in Bir Ras. 
 
 

No. There are differences to the style of writing as well. One is a translation based on the Devi wars from Markendey Puran. The other is in Guru Sahibs own words.

If all my friends usually go to KFC and I decide one day that I want to eat McD's then can I be blamed having a 'bad impact on community relations'?
Maybe Prof Kunjahi should ask his fellow muslims to stop imposing their dietary laws on others.

I agree with this as well. This was a question I asked the bastion of "puratan-ness" Nihang Niddar Singh, about why the Nihangs failed to take action on Mahants who were raping devotees?

what do you think he said?

And as for getting thrown out of Sri Akal Bunga, Im a little perplexed as to how shastar-dhari soorme goit thrown out by some Sikhs, with a gathering of "low-castes" behind them, most of whom had never handled a sword in their lifes.

Still as with Jaikara, I still respect the Nihang Samprdaye, probably more than other sampardayes, but I have always felt like they shouldnt be afraid to come out and say that we made mistakes in our past. Acting like they have never done anything wrong just makes it worse.

You know in South Africa how they had a truth and reconciliation conference a few years ago? Thats probably what we need in Panjab for all the Sikhs and samprdayes to get together and discuss ours and others thoughts as to what happened in our past.

Lol I'd want one of the above in a aloo parontha style, haha

Just wait, in a few years we will have menu cards with:

Jatt with sour cream and onion.

Tarkhan with barbecue.

Khatri with mustard.

Rajput with tomato and basil.

Chamar with salt and vinegar.

Brahman with salt and pepper.