Sources and how this site works
What comes from where, how it gets here, and how to tell Gurbani, Babaji’s katha and our own writing apart.
Where the material comes from
| Source | Status | How it is connected |
|---|---|---|
| Babaji's YouTube channelBabaji's own | WorkingLast success 23 Oct 2026 | Public channel feed (newest 15). With a free YouTube Data API key in the YOUTUBE_API_KEY secret, the whole upload history. |
| Gurmatveechar.com, Babaji's katha folderBabaji's own | WorkingLast success 23 Oct 2026 | Reads the public folder listings once a day, one page per second, and records each recording's upload date once. |
| Programmes (Google Sheet)Dera | Not set up | A Google Sheet published as CSV, set as programmes_csv_url in config.json. |
| BaniDB (Gurbani check)Reference | WorkingLast success 23 Oct 2026 | Checks each quoted Gurbani line against its Ang in the BaniDB API (Khalis Foundation). Only the result is stored. |
| Facebook pageBabaji's own | Needs permission | Meta Graph API with a Page access token (pages_read_engagement), granted by a page admin. Not connected until a Page admin adds FACEBOOK_PAGE_ID and FACEBOOK_PAGE_TOKEN; see docs/SOURCES.md. Imported posts wait for approval. |
A source is shown as working only when its last automatic run succeeded. Status last checked 23 Oct 2026. No outside feeds are connected yet.
What each kind of text is
- Gurbani
- The Guru’s Word, shown in Gurmukhi with its Ang, bani and author. Each line is checked against BaniDB; lines not yet confirmed say so, and lines we are less sure of stay hidden until they pass.
- Translation, editorial
- Our own English renderings and transliterations, written for this site. They are not published translations; where a line is read in more than one way, we say so.
- Babaji’s katha
- Recordings and videos of Babaji. We link them to themes using their titles and the Angs they cover. We have not transcribed them, so we never summarise what Babaji said in them.
- Editorial introduction
- Introductions, comparisons and reflections written for this site with AI assistance. They are labelled on every page and held as awaiting review until a learned reader has checked them.
- Other teachers and makers
- Material by others, chosen by the Dera’s sevadars, always credited and linked rather than copied.
Comparisons with other traditions
Babaji’s katha includes Vedanta, Yoga, Buddhist and other classical texts. Where the site compares them with Gurbani, it names the tradition and text, explains both the connection and the difference, and keeps Gurmat as the frame. Similar words do not always mean the same thing.
Privacy
This site sets no cookies and uses no analytics. To remember where you stopped in a recording, your browser keeps your listening positions on your own device; they are never sent anywhere. Videos load from YouTube’s privacy-enhanced domain only when you press play.
Credits
Audio recordings are hosted by Gurmatveechar.com. Gurbani text is checked using BaniDB by the Khalis Foundation. Links to read a full Ang open SikhiToTheMax.