ਠਾਢਾ is pronounced ” taada” (with the t making the same sound as in talk”and d making the same sound as in dog.) 
 ਠਾਂਢਾ is the same but it has a bindi, which makes its pronunciation “taanda” – with a nasal sound.

The common mistake is to pronounce ਠਾਢਾ with a nasal sound, as if it had a bindi. This is probably because we’re more familiar with the word thandaa ( meaning cold) from Punjabi.   Sadly, we usually don’t know the meanings of the baani we read, so we may not actually be aware of when to pronounce a word with a bindi and when not to. Sometimes we just stick it wherever it sounds right. And if 1 person does it wrong, everyone who listens to him or learns from him could also start doing it wrong, and the mistake gets passed on. The difference in pronunciation represents a difference in meaning.

ਠਾਢਾ  means standing, to stand, still etc..

 whereas

 ਠਾਂਢਾ means cold, cool, soothing, peace etc.. as in:

ਹਰਿ ਕੇ ਨਾਮ ਕੀ ਗਤਿ ਠਾਂਢੀ ||
har kae naam kee gath t(h)aa(n)dtee ||
The Name of the Lord is cooling and soothing.

Switching the two words can totally change the meaning of the line being read.  It should be easy for us to be aware of the difference because ਠਾਂਢਾ  usually appears with a bindi when it means cool, and without when it means to stand. Sukhmani Sahib written by Guru Arjun Dev Ji contains both words:

ਕਲਿ ਤਾਤੀ ਠਾਂਢਾ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਉ ||
kal thaathee t(h)aandaa har naao ||
The Dark Age of Kali Yuga is so hot; the Lord’s Name is soothing and cool.

ਸਿਰ ਊਪਰਿ ਠਾਢਾ ਗੁਰੁ ਸੂਰਾ ||
sir oopar t(h)aadaa gur sooraa ||
The Brave and Powerful Guru stands over his head.

Another variation is ਠਾਢਿ, with a siharee, which appears both with and without a bindee.

ਤਪਤਿ ਮਾਹਿ ਠਾਢਿ ਵਰਤਾਈ ||
thapath maahi t(h)aadt varathaaee ||
In the burning heat, a soothing coolness prevails.

In this case one should pronounce it with a bindi, because it is being used to mean “cool/sooth”. Usually the context can help tell the meaning. If there is a word such as ਤਾਪੁ, or  ਤਪਤਿ, meaning heat/burning/fever, then thaand is referring to cool.

Here are some other lines where this mistake is commonly made:

Bhagat Kabir Ji (Aarti):

ਠਾਢਾ ਬ੍ਰਹਮਾ ਨਿਗਮ ਬੀਚਾਰੈ ਅਲਖੁ ਨ ਲਖਿਆ ਜਾਈ ||੧|| ਰਹਾਉ ||
t(h)aadaa brehamaa nigam beechaarai alakh na lakhiaa jaaee ||1|| rehaao ||
Standing at His Door, Brahma studies the Vedas, but he cannot see the Unseen Lord. ||1||Pause||

Bhagat Kabir Ji:

ਦਰਮਾਦੇ ਠਾਢੇ ਦਰਬਾਰਿ ||
dharamaadhae t(h)aadae darbaar ||
I stand humbly at Your Court.

Guru Raam Daas Ji:

ਮੰਗਤ ਜਨ ਦੀਨ ਖਰੇ ਦਰਿ ਠਾਢੇ ਅਤਿ ਤਰਸਨ ਕਉ ਦਾਨੁ ਦੀਜੈ ||
ma(n)gath jan deen kharae dar t(h)aadae ath tharasan ko daan deejai ||
The meek and humble beggars stand begging at Your Door. Please be generous and give to those who are yearning.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji (Dasam Granth Sahib):

ਠਾਢ ਭਯੋ ਮੈ ਜੋਰਿ ਕਰ ਬਚਨ ਕਹਾ ਸਿਰ ਨਿਆਇ ||
t(h)aad bhayo mai jor kar bachan kehaa sir niaae ||
I stood up with folded hands and bowing down my head, I said,

ਪੰਥ ਚਲੈ ਤਬ ਜਗਤ ਮੈ ਜਬ ਤੁਮ ਕਰਹੁ ਸਹਾਇ || ੩੦||
pa(n)thh chalai thab jagath mai jab thum karahu sahaae
“The Panth (the religious order of righteousness) will be established provided You support me.”

In the above shabads, the word is  thaada –  meaning stand, and should be pronounced without a bindi, just as it is written. If we make an active effort to understand the meanings of Gurbani, hopefully we can avoid other mistakes like this. As always, I appreciate any input/comments/discussion.

Bhul Chuk Muaf

Welcome to the New Sikhi section of www.VikramKhalsa.com!

        As some of you may know, the original Sikhi section of this website contained a list of links to information on Sikhi from all around the web. This collection featured over 1000 articles and pages about various Sikhi related topics from different websites,  organized by subject. The purpose of this section was to make it easy to for people find information on Sikhi from one location. I put that together in 2006 – since then, the amount of resources on the internet has increased exponentially and search engines have also improved dramatically, making this list unnecessary and irrelevant.

This section will now have a different purpose – it gives me a way to organize and express my thoughts and ideas about Sikhi, and provides a way for me to share things I learn with others.

I’d like to firstly make a disclaimer: I am not an authority on Sikhi, nor am I a knowledgeable gursikh or anything of the sort. Most of the words expressed here will be my thoughts and opinions based on the words of more knowledgeable and respected gursikhs, books, lectures, kathas, etc, and my limited interpretation of Gurbani. I will try my best to stay in line with Gurmat, but nobody is perfect. Therefore if I make any mistake or say something that hurts anybody, please do forgive me.  Any imperfection or flaw is my own, not Guru Sahib’s. My intent is only to share with others so that we can all progress further on this path. The content here will vary anywhere from Gurbani Veechar to Sikh Philosophy. Please do share your thoughts and input.  I’m sure that I will learn a lot from this experience and I hope everyone will find something here that is useful or new to them.

ਗੁਣਾ ਕਾ ਹੋਵੈ ਵਾਸੁਲਾ ਕਢਿ ਵਾਸੁ ਲਈਜੈ ||
One who has a basket of fragrant virtues, should enjoy its fragrance.

ਜੇ ਗੁਣ ਹੋਵਨਿ੍ਹ ਸਾਜਨਾ ਮਿਲਿ ਸਾਝ ਕਰੀਜੈ ||
If my friends have virtues, I will share in them.

ਸਾਝ ਕਰੀਜੈ ਗੁਣਹ ਕੇਰੀ ਛੋਡਿ ਅਵਗਣ ਚਲੀਐ ||
Let us form a partnership, and share our virtues; let us abandon our faults, and walk on the Path.

ਪਹਿਰੇ ਪਟੰਬਰ ਕਰਿ ਅਡੰਬਰ ਆਪਣਾ ਪਿੜੁ ਮਲੀਐ ||
Let us wear our virtues like silk clothes; let us decorate ourselves, and enter the arena.

ਜਿਥੈ ਜਾਇ ਬਹੀਐ ਭਲਾ ਕਹੀਐ ਝੋਲਿ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਪੀਜੈ ||
Let us speak of goodness, wherever we go and sit; let us skim off the Ambrosial Nectar, and drink it in.

ਗੁਣਾ ਕਾ ਹੋਵੈ ਵਾਸੁਲਾ ਕਢਿ ਵਾਸੁ ਲਈਜੈ ||੩||
One who has a basket of fragrant virtues, should enjoy its fragrance. ||3||

Having served me well over 2 years, the VSK Clay Wallet was finally nearing the end of its life cycle. Therefore, I once again set out on a quest to find the successor of my personal VSK wallet line; what material would be worthy?

Ah yes, Carbon Fiber.

Inspired by the designs on my car, I ordered some Carbon Fiber textured adhesive vinyl. This material, being very thin, needed some sort of stronger skeleton underneath. Naturally, I chose playing cards ( being a magician and all.)   The card stock base combined with a carbon fiber overlay resulted in a wallet that was extremely thin, light, and sturdy.   With the experience of many wallets behind me, I was able to plan the construction such that the wallet would be virtually seamless. I have to say this is probably my most favorite and “cleanest looking” wallet to date. Without further ado, here it is:

Do you own a VSK Shirt? Want to model it for us? Send us your best shot!

In preparation for the upcoming release of the new VSK Store, we are collecting and taking images of people wearing our shirts. These will posted on the store webpage along with the product description. Details below.

Nidhaan Singh wearing “Babbar Sher” Shirt

Send in a picture of yourself wearing a VSK shirt:
If you already own one of our shirts ( iKirtan, Satnam, CK, got lassi?, etc) you can have someone take a picture of you or your friends and submit it. The picture should preferably be taken outdoors in good lighting and with a high quality camera (DSLR recommended). No mirror shots please. All submissions should be sent to store@vikramkhalsa.com in highest resolution possible, along with your name and location. By submitting an image you give us the right to use that image on our website, if it is selected. Your name will only be used on the picture if you choose to have it displayed.

Since we want to have all the pictures collected soon, we don’t have time to ship a t-shirt to anyone. So this is for people who already have a shirt or those who can come in person for a shoot. If you own a good camera and would like to volunteer to take pictures of people, please let us know (it doesn’t matter where you are). In either case, send an email to store@vikramkhalsa.com to be a part of this.