Guru Granth Sahib is the eternal Guru of the Sikhs. It was vested in addition to the Khalsa Panth itself with the status of the Guru by Guru Gobind Singh, in order to provide eternal, unchanging guiding principles for the Khalsa, and indeed, for all humanity. In this chapter, we study Guru Granth Sahib, the guiding light beneath which the Khalsa operates.
Origins of Guru Granth Sahib
The first compilation of Guru Granth Sahib included the Gurbani of the first five Gurus, hymns composed by fifteen Bhagats, and contributions by other holy writers. It was compiled by Guru Arjun Dev Ji in 1604 and was transcribed by Bhai Gurdas. Guru Granth Sahib was enthroned in the Harimandar Sahib (sometimes referred to as the Golden Temple) in Amritsar. The final form of Guru Granth Sahib was edited by Guru Gobind Singh at Damdama Sahib in 1706 and transcribed by Bhai Mani Singh. The Gurbani composed by the ninth Nanak was also included in this final version. Copies of this sacred compilation were sent to all the major Sikh centers in India.
Guru Granth Sahib, in its first form, was named Pothi Sahib, or Sacred Scripture. When Guru Gobind Singh, before his death at Nanded, formally invested the Guruship in Gurbani, the name Guru Granth Sahib became popular. Later, the word Adi was used as a prefix for this Granth Sahib. Adi means the first or previous, and it refers to the fact that there is another Granth, or Sacred Book, called the Dasam Granth Sahib. The latter is said to contain the hymns of Guru Gobind Singh along with other writings. However, the title 'Guru' is given only to Guru Granth Sahib (Adi Granth), and not to the Dasam Granth. Furthermore, the authenticity of Guru Granth Sahib is unquestioned by any serious Sikh scholar, but consensus regarding the authenticity of the Dasam Granth has not been established. The Dasam Granth was also not ratified by any Guru. Therefore, it has much less importance than Guru Granth Sahib.
Organization of Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib contains nearly 6,000 hymns. Major contributions are from Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Guru Arjun Dev Ji.
Gurbani is grouped into 31 Ragas. Each Raga is classified into the Chowpadey, the Ashtpadi, and the Chhand. Within each of these sections, Gurbani is arranged in chronological order, so that the writings of the First Guru appear first, and so on.
In Guru Granth Sahib, preceding the Gurbani classified according to Ragas, are three compositions: Jap, Sodar, and Sohila. A Sikh should read Jap in the morning, Sodar in the evening, and Sohila before going to bed.
The basic Sikh concepts of God are described in the 'Mangla Charan', which is written in abbreviated form or in full form at the beginning of each Raga, and is repeated within the Raga where there is a change in the musical mode or where the writer changes. Var, wherever present, forms the last part of the Gurbani in a Raga.
After the Vars appears the Bhagat Bani, or the hymns of the Bhagats (holy men). These Bhagats include Kabir, a 'low caste' weaver; Farid, a Muslim fakir; Nam Dev, a 'low caste' calico-printer; Ravi Das, an 'untouchable' shoemaker; and Dhanna, a cultivator. Jaidev, Trilochan, Rama Nand, Pipa, Sain, and Surdas are some other Bhagats whose hymns are include in Guru Granth Sahib. The hymns of these Bhagats were incorporated into Guru Granth Sahib because they all speak of one God and the brotherhood of humankind. Hence, Guru Granth Sahib was not a document intended for study by Sikhs alone, but rather a Spiritual Scripture from which all humankind could equally benefit.
There are two other unique parts to Gurbani. The Var in Ramkali Raga is an account of the services of the first five Gurus. It was written by Satta and Balwand, two musicians of the Guru period. The Bhatt Bani is written by a group of Bhatts, who were well educated and recognized as professional exponents of scriptures. Bhatts visited Goindwal during the ministry of Guru Arjun Dev. They found in the Guru and Gurbani the peace and solace they had sought all their lives. These impressions are mentioned by them in their hymns.
At the very end of Guru Granth Sahib are two concluding Shabads by Guru Arjun Dev Ji. The first explains that the compilation contains Amrit Nam, the praise of the Lord. In the second hymn, the Guru thanks the Almighty for having gotten the sacred job of compiling Guru Granth Sahib done by him. The Guru prays to God for Amrit Nam.
Language of Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurmukhi script. The language, which is most often Sant Bhasha, is very close to Panjabi. It is well understood all over northern and northwest India and was popular among spiritual seekers. Persian and some local dialects have also been used. Many hymns contain words of different languages and dialects, depending upon the mother tongue of the writer or the language of the region where they were composed. Guru Nanak Dev Ji taught that no one particular language is holier than any other for praising God. A person can pray in any language and worship God by any name, as long as he or she is sincere.
Integrity of Guru Granth Sahib
In addition to being compiled and ratified by the Gurus themselves, Guru Granth Sahib has several unique characteristics which ensure its authenticity, two of which will be described here. First, it was written in the most popular languages of that time and region of the world. In other words, it was not intended as an archaic book written in a holy language only decipherable by the scholarly elite - rather, it was written so it could be read (and understood) by the common people. Therefore, it metaphorically relates several mythological stories popularly known by the people, in order to use them as examples to demonstrate inconsistencies in previous conceptions of God and to expound upon the virtues of God. Thus, by releasing the knowledge of Guru Granth Sahib to all society, the chance for religious elites to manipulate the text was eliminated.
Second, Guru Granth Sahib is written in poetic verse. The rhyme and meter make it impossible to insert foreign material or to remove passages without upsetting the flow of the whole document. As people study Guru Granth Sahib, many even become familiar with the unique and subtle writing styles of the authors.
Because of these characteristics, Sikhs do not regard Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji as simply a holy book. Rather, it contains the first-hand, complete, and unadulterated message of their spiritual leaders. Therefore, it is considered to embody the living spirit of the Gurus. The paper, cover, and ink do indeed just form a book, but the pure message that book records in written form is the Guru of the Sikhs. Complete honors and respect must be given to that message, for it is the foundation of Sikh life.
Teachings of Guru Granth Sahib
Some of the many important lessons one learns by reading Gurbani are summarized below:
God is the Lord of the whole universe. He/She alone is the Father/Mother of all of us. While the universe is moving and changing according to His Will, He alone is unchanged, beyond time, neither born nor susceptible to death. He is forever self-existent. (SGGS, 1)
All people are God's children. No community or religion has a monopoly on Him or His blessings to claim that God is theirs alone and other communities will be sent to hell. (SGGS, 97, 658)
All will be judged by their deeds alone. Anyone who loves God achieves the mission of life. We will not be judged by the name of the faith we adopt. There is only one faith: sincere love. Anybody, from any community or faith who loves God, can realize Him and achieve the purpose of life. No person is born a sinner. Rather, life has been gifted to us by God to enjoy singing His virtues. To love God, one must love His children, that is, all human beings. Every person is His manifestation and every person has His reflection within him or her. (SGGS, 8, 12, 13)
God Himself is all-powerful. It is wrong to believe there exists any being other than God who can challenge His power. Do not worry about Satan, Brahma, Inder, and others - these poor, mythological fellows consider it fortunate to have a chance to sing God's praises standing at His door. (SGGS, 6, 463)
Heaven and hell are not physically real places. Consider the place where we love God and sing His virtues as heaven, and consider the person entrapped by egotism as living in hell on this very earth. (SGGS, 749, 1369)
No given day is holier than any other. Every day when one practices righteousness is a good day. Every day is valuable. Prayers and sacredness are not reserved for any particular day, but rather for all days. Those who worship specific days or dates, or cycles of the moon considering them to be auspicious or inauspicious, are naive and ill-informed. (SGGS, 843)
Comments on Guru Granth Sahib
The comments below, all from non-Sikhs, reflect the experiences a diverse group of people had while studying Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
Pearl S. Buck, a Nobel Laureate: "I have studied the scriptures of the great religions, but I do not find elsewhere the same power of appeal to the heart and mind as I find here in these volumes. They are compact in spite of their length and are a revelation of the concept of God to the recognition and indeed the insistence upon the practical needs of the human body. There is something strangely modern about these scriptures and this puzzled me until I learned that they are in fact comparatively modern, compiled as late as the sixteenth century when explorers were beginning to discover the globe, upon which we all live, is a single entity divided only by arbitrary lines of our own making. Perhaps this sense of unity is the source of power I find in these volumes. They speak to a person of any religion or of none. They speak for the human heart and the searching mind."
Reverend H.L. Bradshaw, a Christian academic from the United States: "The religion preached by Guru Nanak is the faith of the New Age. It completely supplants and fulfills all the former dispensations of older religions. Books must be written proving this. The other religions contain the truth, but Sikhism contains the fullness of truth.
"The Guru Granth Sahib of all the world religious scriptures, alone states that there are innumerable worlds and universes other than our own. The previous scriptures were all concerned only with this world and its spiritual counterpart. To imply that they spoke of other worlds as does the Guru Granth Sahib, is to stretch their obvious meanings out of context. The Sikh religion is truly the answer to the problems of modern man."
Dorothy Field, an eminent author: "The religion of the Sikhs is one of the most interesting at present existing in India, possibly indeed in the whole world. The religion is also one which should appeal to the occidental mind. It is essentially a practical religion. If judged from the pragmatical standpoint which is a favorite point of view in some quarters, it would rank almost first in the world."
Dr. W.O. Cole of the United Kingdom, a scholar: "Theologically, I cannot answer the question what drew me to the study of Sikhism. You may call it the purpose of God. But to be more specific, the unique concept of universality and the system of Langar in Sikhism are the two features that attract me towards the study of Sikhism. Langar is the exclusive feature of Sikhism and found nowhere else in the world. Sikhism is the only religion which welcomes each and everyone to its langar without any discrimination of caste, creed, color, or sex."
Max Arthur Macauliffe, a British scholar writing about the authenticity of Guru Granth Sahib: "Unlike the scriptures of other creeds, they do not contain love stories or accounts of wars waged for selfish considerations. They contain sublime truths, the study of which cannot but elevate the reader spiritually, morally, and socially. There is not the least tinge of sectarianism in them. They teach the highest and purest principles that serve to bind man to man and inspire the believer with an ambition to serve his fellow men, to sacrifice all and die for their sake.
"Now there is here presented a religion totally unaffected by Semitic or Christian influences. Based on the concept of the unity of God, it rejected Hindu formalities and adopted an independent ethical system, ritual, and standards which were totally opposed to the theological beliefs of Guru Nanak’s age and country. It would be difficult to point to a religion of greater originality or to a more comprehensive ethical system."
