Guru Granth Sahib

The Guru Granth Sahib (, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion.

The Adi Granth (), its first rendition, was compiled by the fifth guru, Guru Arjan (1564–1606). Its compilation was completed on 29 August 1604 and first installed inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar on 1 September 1604. Baba Buddha was appointed the first Granthi of the Golden Temple. Shortly afterwards Guru Hargobind added Ramkali Ki Vaar. Later, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, added hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur to the Adi Granth and affirmed the text as his successor on 6 October 1708. This second rendition became known as the Guru Granth Sahib and is also sometimes referred to as the Adi Granth.

The text consists of 1,430 angs (pages) and 5,894 shabads (line compositions), which are poetically rendered and set to a rhythmic ancient north Indian classical form of music. The bulk of the scripture is divided into 31 main rāgas, with each Granth rāga subdivided according to length and author. The hymns in the scripture are arranged primarily by the rāgas in which they are read. The Guru Granth Sahib is written in the Gurmukhi script in various languages including Punjabi, Lahnda, regional Prakrits, Apabhramsa, Sanskrit, Hindi languages (Braj Bhasha, Bangru, Awadhi, Old Hindi), Bhojpuri, Sindhi, Marathi, Marwari, Bengali, Persian and Arabic. Copies in these languages often have the generic title of Sant Bhasha.

The Guru Granth Sahib was composed predominantly by six Sikh gurus: Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur. It also contains the traditions and teachings of fourteen Hindu Bhakti movement sants (saints), such as Ramananda, Kabir and Namdev among others, and one Muslim Sufi saint: Sheikh Farid.

The vision in the Guru Granth Sahib is of a society based on divine freedom, mercy, love, belief in one god and justice without oppression of any kind. While the Granth acknowledges and respects the scriptures of Hinduism and Islam, it does not imply a moral reconciliation with either of these religions. It is installed in a Sikh gurdwara (temple). A Sikh typically prostrates before it on entering such a temple. The Granth is revered as eternal gurbānī and the spiritual authority in Sikhism.

Nomenclature

Due to Sikhs considering their scripture to be a "Living Guru", its pages are referred to as an ang (meaning "limb").

History

thumb|Folio from the Jalandhar recension of the Goindwal Pothi, dated to the late 16th century

Guru Nanak composed hymns, which were sung by his followers in rāga set to music. His successor, Guru Angad, opened centers and distributed these hymns. The community would sing the hymns and his agents collected donations. This tradition was continued by the third and fourth gurus as well. The fifth guru, Guru Arjan, discovered that Prithi Chand – his eldest brother and a competing claimant to the Sikh guruship – had a copy of an earlier pothi (palm-leaf manuscript) with hymns and was distributing hymns of the earlier gurus along with his own of hymns.

Guru Arjan began compiling an officially approved version of the sacred scripture for the Sikh community. He sent his associates across the Indian subcontinent to collect the circulating hymns of Sikh gurus and convinced Mohan, the son of Guru Amar Das, to give him the collection of the religious writings of the first three gurus in a humble manner by singing the hymns registered in Guru Granth Sahib, 248.

After Guru Gobind Singh and his followers evacuated Anandpur Sahib in 1704 due to Mughal and Pahari opposition, they left behind a corpus of literature, including manuscripts of the Ād Granth. Many of these manuscripts of the scripture were looted by the Pahari Rajas during their invasion of Anandpur. At-least some of these looted manuscripts made their way back into Sikh possession with purchases by the later Sikh-ruled polities, such as the Sikh Empire and the kingdom of Patiala.

While Guru Gobind Singh was in Nanded in the Deccan, he suffered a fatal injury and died on 6 October 1708. Shortly before his death, he proclaimed that the Ād Granth be the guru to succeed him, ending the tradition of a living (dehdhari) guruship, with the scripture being proclaimed the new guru for eternity. Sectoral groups after the death of Guru Gobind Singh attempted to continue the guruship in the form of a physical human but they were sidelined by the main faction, led by Mata Sundari and Bhai Mani Singh, whom supported Guru Gobind Singh's wish for the scripture to be the eternal-guru. Bhai Nand Lal also wrote supporting the Guru Granth tradition. No hymns were added by Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai and Guru Har Krishan. In the Sikh tradition, Guru Hargobind is credited for adding the rāga tunes for nine out of 22 Vars. The hymns of IX Guru Tegh Bahadur, after his beheading in Delhi, were added to the scripture by his son and successor Guru Gobind Singh. Prior to Guru Gobind Singh, three versions of the Adi Granth pothi with minor variations were in circulation at Sikh shrines across the Indian subcontinent.

The compositions of Guru Gobind Singh were not included in the Guru Granth Sahib and set into the Dasven Padsah ka Granth, which is more popularly known as the Dasam Granth.

Extensions of the Guru Granth Sahib

The Akali Nihang sect of Sikhs consider the Dasam Granth and the Sarbloh Granth as extensions of the Guru Granth Sahib. As such, they refer to these scriptures as Sri Dasam Guru Granth Sahib, and Sri Sarbloh Guru Granth Sahib. They call the Guru Granth Sahib, Aad Guru Granth Sahib. They also sometimes refer to the granths as "Durbar", such as Aad Guru Durbar. The Sarbloh Granth has another name, as Sri Manglacharan Purana. They believe that all three of these scriptures are authentic, written by the Gurus and are one of the same., written by Guru Gobind Singh. Within this composition, it praises various types of weapons from all over the world, including swords, saifs, curved swords (tulwars), arrows, guns, etc. There is a famous line within the composition which states,

ਅਸ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾਨ ਖੰਡੋ ਖੜਗ ਤੁਪਕ ਤਬਰ ਅਰੁ ਤੀਰ ॥ ਸੈਫ ਸਰੋਹੀ ਸੈਹਥੀ ਯਹੈ ਹਮਾਰੈ ਪੀਰ ॥੩॥

“As Kripan Khando Kharag, Tupak Tabar Ar Teer || Saif Sarohee Saithhee, Yehai Hamare Peer||3||”

The kirpan, the khanda, the scimitar, the axe, the rifle, and the arrow. The saif, the dagger, the spear: these indeed are our pirs (saints)!

(Shastar Naam Mala, Dasam Guru Granth Sahib)

For this reason, weapons are meant to be kept in front of the Guru Granth Sahib. A Salok Mahalla Satvan (7) and Dohra Mahalla Dasvan (10) have been attributed by some to the seventh and tenth gurus, respectively. Twenty-two of the thirty-one ragas contain the contributions of bhagats. as well as the number of hymns they contributed:

The first view held by scholars such as Balwant Singh Dhillon states that there was a consistent "mother tradition", where the hymns of Guru Nanak were carefully preserved as a single codex without any corruption or unauthorized changes, to which the later Gurus added additional hymns. The Sikh scripture developed in linear, pure form becoming first the Adi Granth and finally the closed version of the Guru Granth Sahib. According to this view, there was no pre-canonical diversity, the scripture developed in an organized and disciplined format, and it denies the existence of alternate hymns and texts that were cherished by Sikhs of an earlier era.

Composition

thumb|The end part of the handwritten Adi Granth by [[Pratap Singh Giani on the first floor of the Golden Temple|right]]

The entire Guru Granth Sahib is written in the Gurmukhi script, which was standardized by Guru Angad in the 16th century. According to Sikh tradition and the Mahman Prakash, an early Sikh manuscript, Guru Angad Dev had taught and spread Gurmukhi at the suggestion of Guru Nanak Dev who invented the Gurmukhi script. The word Gurmukhī translates to "from the mouth of the guru". It descended from the Laṇḍā scripts and was used from the outset for compiling Sikh scriptures. The Sikhs assign a high degree of sanctity to the Gurmukhī script. It is the official script for writing Punjabi in the Indian State of Punjab.

Gurus considered divine worship through shabad kirtan as the best means of attaining that state of bliss – vismad – which resulted in communion with God. The Guru Granth Sahib is divided by musical settings or rāgas into 1430 pages known as angs "limbs" in Sikh tradition. It can be categorized into three sections:

Introductory section consisting of the Mul Mantar, Japji Sahib, So Dhar (Rehras) and Sohila, composed by Guru Nanak;
Compositions of Sikh gurus, followed by those of the bhagats who know only God, collected according to the chronology of ragas or musical settings. (see below).
The post raga section containing Sanskrit Shaloka, the Gatha, Phunhe, and Chaubole compositions, Shaloka of Kabir, Shaloka of Farid, Savaiye by Guru and 11 Bhatts, Saloka of Guru Nanak, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ramdas, Guru Arjan, and Guru Tegh Bhaduar, Mundawani (closing), and Ragmala (the list of ragas).

The word raga refers to "color" here according to raga grammar the Gurus divided different scenarios one devotee is spiritually associated with the divine, for example the soul, referred to as female, may be separated, awaiting union, or united with the beloved. The emotion or mood produced by a combination or sequence of pitches. A rāga is composed of a series of melodic motifs, based upon a definite scale or mode of the seven svara psalmizations, that provide a basic structure around which the musician performs. Gurbani raags are not time dependent. The Ragmala (the final composition of the Granth) delineates how different ragas are related to each other.

Following is the list of all sixty rāgas under which Gurbani is written, in order of appearance with page numbers:

Asa (8)
Gujari (10)
Gauri Deepaki (12)
Dhanasri (13)
Gauri Poorabi (13)
Sri (14)
Majh (94)
Gauri Guarairee (151)
Gauri (151)
Gauri Dakhani (152)
Gauri Chaitee (154)
Gauri Bairagan (155)
Gauri Poorabi Deepaki (157)
Gauri Majh (172)
Gauri Malva (214)
Gauri Mala (214)
Gauri Sorath (330)
Asa Kafi (365)
Asavari (369)
Asa Asavari (409)
Devgandhari (527)
Bihagra (537)
Vadhans (557)
Vadhans Dakhani (580)
Sorath (595)
Jaitsri (696)
Todi (711)
Bairarri (719)
Tilang (721)
Tilang Kafi (726)
Suhee (728)
Suhee Kafi (751)
Suhee Lalit (793)
Bilaval (795)
Bilaval Dakhani (843)
Gound (859)
Bilaval Gound (874)
Ramkali (876)
Ramkali Dakhani (907)
Nut Narayan (975)
Nut (975)
Mali Gaura (984)
Maru (989)
Maru Kafi (1014)
Maru Dakhani (1033)
Tukhari (1107)
Kedara (1118)
Bhairo (1125)
Basant (1168)
Basant Hindol (1170)
Sarang (1197)
Malar (1254)
Kanra (1294)
Kaliyan (1319)
Kaliyan Bhopali (1321)
Parbhati Bibhas (1327)
Parbhati (1327)
Parbhati Dakhani (1344)
Bibhas Parbhati (1347)
Jaijavanti (1352

Other recurring composition styles

Each raga section contains the typical compositions of the Gurus in chronological order by Guru (who wrote in that raga) followed by the typical compositions of the bhagats at the end however some form of certain types of special compositions such as the common recurring Vaars (longer ballad type poems), Chhands (poems based on an annunciation metre), Ashtapadiyan (contemplative measure), Pehre (poems on the four parts of the day), Haftawaar or Var Sat (poems about the seven days of the week), Bara Maha (poems based on the twelve months of the year), Thhithi (astrological poems based on the fifteen lunar dates) themes are found near the end of the most raga sections.

Meaning and role in Sikhism

In 1708, Guru Gobind Singh conferred the title of "Guru of the Sikhs" upon the Adi Granth. The event was recorded in a Bhatt Vahi (a bard's scroll) by an eyewitness, Narbud Singh, who was a bard at the Rajput rulers' court associated with gurus. Sikhs since then have accepted the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture, as their eternal-living guru, as the embodiment of the ten Sikh Gurus, the highest religious and spiritual guide for Sikhs. It plays a central role in guiding the Sikh's way of life. As per Nikky-Guninder Singh Kaur, the Granth is revered by Sikhs both for being the actual physical body of the guru and also in an abstract sense as a metaphysical body of the collective works of the gurus.

Recitation

The Guru Granth Sahib is always the focal point in any gurdwara, seated on a raised platform known as a Takht (throne), while the congregation of devotees sits on the floor and prostrate before the guru as a sign of respect. The Guru Granth Sahib is given the greatest respect and honour. Sikhs cover their heads and remove their shoes while in the presence of this sacred scripture, their eternal living guru. The Guru Granth Sahib is normally carried on the head and as a sign of respect, never touched with unwashed hands or put on the floor. It is attended with all signs of royalty, with a canopy placed over it. A Chaur Sahib (fan whisk) is waved above the Guru Granth Sahib.

The Guru Granth Sahib is taken care of by a Granthi, who is responsible for reciting from the sacred hymns and leading Sikh prayers. The Granthi also acts as caretaker for the Guru Granth Sahib, keeping the scripture covered in clean cloths, known as rumala, to protect from heat and dust. The Guru Granth Sahib rests on a manji sahib under a rumala until brought out again.

Closing ritual called sukhasan (sukh means "comfort or rest", asan means "position"). At night, after a series of devotional kirtans and three part ardās, the Guru Granth Sahib is closed, carried on the head, placed into and then carried in a flower decorated, pillow-bed palki (palanquin), with chanting to its bedroom. Once it arrives there, the scripture is tucked into a bed.
Opening ritual called prakash which means "light". About dawn every day, the Guru Granth Sahib is taken out its bedroom, carried on the head, placed and carried in a flower-decorated palki with chanting, sometimes with bugles sounding its passage. It is brought to the sanctum. Then after ritual singing of a series of Var Asa kirtans and ardas, a random page is opened. The first complete verse on the left page is the mukhwak (or vak) of the day. It is read out loud, and then written out for the pilgrims to read over that day. These daily ritual ministrations and paying of homage for the scripture by Sikhs, states Myrvold, is not unique to Sikhism. It moulds "meanings, values and ideologies" and creates a framework for congregational worship, states Myrvold, that is found in all major faiths.

Translations

Ernest Trumpp, a German philologist, published the first philological study and a major but incomplete English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib in 1877, after an eight-year study of the text and field interviews with Sikh intelligentsia of his time. Trumpp included his criticism of the Sikh scripture in the preface and introductory sections, and stated "Sikhism is a waning religion, that will soon belong to history". Many in the Sikh community regarded these introductory remarks to his translation as extremely offensive. Nonetheless, according to Indologist Mark Juergensmeyer, Ernest Trumpp's years of scholarship, translations, and field notes and discussions with Sikhs at the Golden Temple remain valuable reference works for contemporary scholars. Akshaya Kumar holds Trumpp's translation to be "literal and mechanical" emphasizing preciseness and fastidiously retaining the words as well as the syntax of the original verses, avoiding any creative and inventive restatement to empathize with a believer. On the other hand, Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair noted the clear influence from the Brahmanical leanings of his Nirmala collaborators, among the British-supported Sikh class which had been long enjoying British patronage as they helped to keep "hostile" elements under control. For example, they induced Trumpp to omit the numeral "one" in the phrase Ik Oankar in his translation, Macauliffe's translation appeared embedded in the six-volume The Sikh Religion and was published by Oxford University Press in 1909. Macauliffe's translation was well received by the Sikh community, and they considered it closer to how they interpret their scripture. Post-colonial scholarship has questioned Macauliffe's accounting for and incorporation of Sikh traditions as "uncritical" and "dubious", though one that pleased the Sikh community.

Hukmī hovan ākār hukam na kahiā jāī. Hukmī hovan jīa hukam milai vadiāī. Hukmī utam nīch hukam likh dukh sukh pāīah. Iknā hukmī bakhsīs ik hukmī sadā bhavāīah. Hukmai andar sabh ko bāhar hukam na koe. Nānak hukmai je bujhai ta haumai kahai na koe. ॥2॥

<br />Gāvai ko tāṇ hovai kisai tāṇ. Gāvai ko dāt jāṇai nīsāṇ. Gāvai ko guṇ vadiāīā chār. Gāvai ko vidiā vikham vīchār. Gāvai ko sāj kare tan kheh. Gāvai ko jīa lai fir deh. Gāvai ko jāpai disai dūr. Gāvai ko vekhai hādrā hadūr. Kathnā kathī na āvai tot. Kath kath kathī kotī kot kot. Dedā de laide thak pāhi. Jugā jugantar khāhī khāhi. Hukmī hukam chalāe rāhu. Nānak vigsai veparvāhu. ||3||

|attr2=Transliteration

The first complete English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib, by Gopal Singh, was published in 1960. A revised version published in 1978 removed archaic English words such as "thee" and "thou". In 1962, an eight-volume translation into English and Punjabi by Manmohan Singh was published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. In the 2000s, a translation by Sant Singh Khalsa appeared on major Sikhism-related websites such as 3HO/Sikh Dharma Brotherhood's Sikhnet.com.

File:Title-page of 'The Ādi Granth - Or, the Holy Scriptures of the Sikhs' by Ernest Trumpp, 1877.jpg|Title-page of The Ādi Granth: Or, the Holy Scriptures of the Sikhs by Ernest Trumpp, 1877

File:English translation of the opening lines of Guru Nanak's Japji Sahib composition by Max Arthur MacAuliffe, published in 'The Sikh Religion - Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors' (volume 1), 1909.jpg|English translation of the opening lines of Guru Nanak's Japji Sahib composition by Max Arthur MacAuliffe, published in The Sikh Religion - Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors (volume 1), 1909

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Printing

The original Guru Granth Sahib is in the possession of the Sodhi family of Kartarpur village, and is placed at Gurdwara Thum Sahib. The Sodhis are descendants of Guru Arjan Dev and Kartarpur was founded by him in 1598. Since the early 20th century, it has been printed in a standard edition of 1430 Angs. Prior to the late nineteenth century, only handwritten copies were prepared. The first printed copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was made in 1864. Any copies of the Guru Granth Sahib deemed unfit to be read from are cremated, with a ceremony similar to that for cremating a deceased person. Such a cremation is called Agan Bheta. thumb|Title-page of a metal-type print of the Guru Granth Sahib based upon the Kartarpur Bir, by Rai Sahib Munshi Gulab Singh and Sons, published by the Mufidam Press, 1899

According to Namdhari Sikh literature, Diwan Buta Singh was the first person to print an edition of the Guru Granth Sahib, which was likely printed in 1868 or even earlier. Early printed editions of the Guru Granth Sahib from the late-19th century were not only printed in Gurmukhi script but also Perso-Arabic script, as evidenced by eighteen different editions of the scripture being printed in Perso-Arabic script at Lahore, Gujranwala, and Sialkot between the years 1871 and 1895.

Official versions of the Guru Granth Sahib are produced in Amritsar by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The SGPC printers are the only authorized worldwide publisher of the scripture, states the Sikh religious body Akal Takht. On 9 May 1998, the Akal Takht jathedar Ranjit Singh issued a hukamnama injunction which banned private publishing of the Guru Granth Sahib and gave sole rights to printing the scripture to the SGPC. However, some private printing firms ignored this order and continued to privately publish copies of the scripture. A subsidiary of the SGPC, the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, is the authorized printer and supplier of the Guru Granth Sahib to Sikhs outside of India. These facilities are a part of the Gurudwara Rakabganj in New Delhi. In 2007, the state of Punjab in India made it illegal for private firms to create copies of the scripture.

In September 2023, it was announced by the SGPC that a location in Tracy, California, USA under the purview of the Dharm Prachar Kendra of the Shiromani Committee will begin officially printing copies of the Guru Granth Sahib to cater to the demands of the Sikh diaspora living in North America.

Legacy

Pearl S. Buck, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938, stated the following about the scripture:

Notes

References

External links

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Panjab Digital Library
Sri Granth
Khoj Gurbani, several translations
DISR – German Informationcenter for Sikh Religion