We looked on the Internet for ways of getting Gurbani downloaded onto PDAs (which wasn't much of a problem) but getting the Gurmukhi fonts to display correctly was. In order to get Gurmukhi or other fonts to display you need to use a program like "Wordsmith" which will convert the fonts properly for use and allow you to view the Banis. Follow the below steps to download the Banis on your PDA. (This should work with Palm, Handspring and Sony Clie handheld computers.)
| INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS |
| 1. Download "Wordsmith" to your computer - This program is needed on your PDA to view the Gurbani files. You can download the trial version free and use it forever for viewing the Banis. You only have to pay for it if you want to use it for editing documents more than 200 times. Most people won't be editing Bani files so this will do fine. 2. Install Wordsmith - Once you have downloaded Wordsmith, install it on your computer by double clicking on the install file. 3. Synchronize with PDA - After installing Wordsmith on your computer, it will ask you to synchronize with your PDA so that the Wordsmith program gets installed on the PDA. You need to have the Wordsmith program on your PDA to view the Bani files. 4. Download Bani files - Now that Wordsmith is installed on your computer and your PDA you are ready to download the Bani files (see bottom of page). Select the Banis that you would like to have on your PDA and download to your computer. 5. Download the 3 GurbaniAkhar and Arial fonts to your computer. They are needed to view the Gurmukhi text on your PDA.  Gurbani Akhar Heavy Gurbani Akhar Light Gurbani Akhar Thick Arial 6. Transfer files to your PDA. Once you have all the Bani files that you downloaded along with the 4 font files on your computer, use the "Palm Desktop" software or your PDA Synchronizing software to transfer the files to your PDA. Using the Palm Desktop software you would click on the "Install" icon on the left hand side (or the "Install Tool"). Then click the "add" button, and select the Bani and font files on your computer. Once you have added the files to the install window click done. Then synchronize your PDA and the files will be copied onto your PDA.7. Viewing Banis with Wordsmith - Now go to your PDA and look for the program "WordSmith". Start the program. You should see a list of Banis that are available to view. Click on one of the banis to view it. You're all set! You can make the text size larger or smaller in Wordsmith by selecting all the bani text and changing the font size. |
| DOWNLOAD BANI FILES - Palm OS Format (for Wordsmith program) |
| A variety of options for the Banis have been provided. Since there is limited viewing space on a PDA it is best to choose the Bani files that best suits your needs. Some people just read the Gurmukhi. Some cannot read Gurmukhi but want to recite the Banis in Gurmukhi, so follow the "Romanized" pronunciation guides. Others might like the Romanized version along with the English translation. You can experiment and find which Bani format is easiest for you. To download a bani file right click with your mouse on the links below and select menu option "Save Target As". |
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(English translation: Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa, MD; Phonetic transliteration: Kulbir Singh Thind, MD)