Guru Granth Sahib

The Guru Granth Sahib (Template:Lang-pa) — Granth is Punjabi for book; Sahib is Hindi meaning master, from Arabic, meaning companion, friend, owner, or master — is more than a holy book of the Sikhs. The Sikhs treat this Granth (holy book) as a living Guru. The holy text spans 1430 pages and contains the actual words spoken by the founders of the Sikh religion and various other Saints from other religions including Hinduism and Islam.

The Adi Granth is often — incorrectly — used to refer to the Guru Granth Sahib. The Adi Granth only forms the portion of the Granth which Guru Arjan compiled in 1604. This term is often used interchangeably so it is important to note the context within which it is used.

The Granth was made a guru by the last of the living Sikh Masters, Guru Gobind Singh in 1708. Guru Gobind Singh said before his demise that the Sikhs were to treat the Granth as their next Guru:

Punjabi: ਸੱਬ ਸਿੱਖਣ ਕੋ ਹੁਕਮ ਹੈ ਗੁਰੂ ਮਾਨਯੋ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ

Transliteration: Sab sikhan kō hukam hai gurū mānyō granth

English: All Sikhs are commanded to take the Granth as Guru

When one visits a Sikh Temple or Gurdwara the Granth forms the main part of the Darbar Sahib or Main Hall. The Holy Book is placed on a raised platform and covered in finery. The platform is always covered by an ornate canopy. The original text of the Granth is written in the Gurmukhi script and contains many languages including Punjabi, Sanskrit and Persian.

The holy text comprises over 5000 Shabhads or hymns which are poetically constructed; and set to classical form of music rendition Ragas; can be set to predetermined musical Talas (rhythmic beats) and have a definite message for the whole of humanity.

Below an extract from page 15 of Guru Granth Sahib:

ਨਾਨਕ ਕਾਗਦ ਲਖ ਮਣਾ ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਕੀਚੈ ਭਾਉ ॥

ਮਸੂ ਤੋਟਿ ਨ ਆਵਈ ਲੇਖਣਿ ਪਉਣੁ ਚਲਾਉ ॥

ਭੀ ਤੇਰੀ ਕੀਮਤਿ ਨਾ ਪਵੈ ਹਉ ਕੇਵਡੁ ਆਖਾ ਨਾਉ ॥੪॥੨॥

nānak kāgad lakh manā pari pari kīcai bhā'u

masū tōti na āva'ī lēkhani pa'unu calā'u

bhī tērī kīmati nā pavai ha'u kēvadu ākhā nā'u ||4||2||

O Nanak, if I had hundreds of thousands of stacks of paper, and if I were to read and recite and embrace love for the Lord,

and if ink were never to fail me, and if my pen were able to move like the wind

-even so, I could not estimate Your Value. How can I describe the Greatness of Your Name? ||4||2||

File:Dictation of the Guru Granth Saheb.jpg

Guru Arjan dictating the Adi Granth to Bhai Gurdas.

This is what Max Arthur Macauliffe wrote about the authenticity of the Guru's teaching:

"The Sikh religion differs as regards the authenticity of its dogmas from most other theological systems. Many of the great teachers the world has known, have not left a line of their own composition and we only know what they taught through tradition or second-hand information. If Pythagoras wrote of his tenets, his writings have not descended to us. We know the teachings of Socrates only through the writings of Plato and Xenophanes. Buddha has left no written memorial of his teaching. Kungfu-tze, known to Europeans as Confucius, left no documents in which he detailed the principles of his moral and social system. The founder of Christianity did not reduce his doctrines to writing and for them we are obliged to trust to the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Arabian Prophet did not himself reduce to writing the chapters of the Qur'an; they were written or compiled by his adherents and followers. But the compositions of the Sikh Gurus are preserved and we know at first hand what they taught."

Printing

The first printed copy of the Adi Granth was made in 1864. Since the early 20th century the standard Guru Granth Sahib has been a standard edition with 1430 pages; thus a text can be safely referred to by page number.

The Granth is printed in an authorised printing press in the basement of the Gurdwara Ramsar in Amritsar. Any resulting printer's waste that has any of the sacred text on, is cremated at Goindval. ^[1]

References

^ Eleanor Nesbitt, "Sikhism: a very short introduction", ISBN 0-19-280601-7, Oxford University Press, pp. 40-41

External links

[1] Eleanor Nesbitt, "Sikhism: a very short introduction", ISBN 0-19-280601-7, Oxford University Press, pp. 40-41

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