Guru Granth Sahib Ji and other Important Sikh Literature

Compilation of the Adi Granth

The fifth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjan Dev Ji consolidated the teachings of the genuine writings and teachings of the Sikh Gurus in a book, which acted as a holy book for the disciples of Sikh faith. It is also considered as the most significant achievement for Sikh religion as a separate faith from Hinduism at that time.

Guru sent invitations to the leaders of various Bhakti and Sufi saints to help him with the best compositions of their founder masters, so that a standard scripture may be prepared. It is believed that the Guru also sent a Sikh named Piara to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to bring Paransangli, which was composed by Guru Nanak there in that country.

After these preliminaries, the Guru selected a solitary place under the shade of a Peepal tree on the banks of Ramsar, to the south-east of Amritsar. The hymns of the holy book were finally scribed by Bhai Gurdas Bhalla (nephew of Guru Amardas Ji), as dictated by Guru Arjan. The work was finally completed in 1604 and was installed in the Harmandir Sahib. Bhai Buddha was appointed the first Granthi. This day is known as Guru Granth Sahib Parkash Utsav. The first composition in the Guru Granth Sahib is Mool Mantar by Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

In the final shape, it came to be known as Pothi Sahib (or Adi Granth), which included:

1. Hymns of the first five Gurus. Guru Arjan’s contribution was the largest with 2218 hymns.
2. Hymns of 15 Bhagats (devotees) and saints, both Hindus and Muslims. The most prominent among them were Bhagat Kabir, Baba Farid, Nam Dev, Ravidas, and Dhanna.
3. The panegyrics of Guru Arjan and his predecessors, as composed by poets like Sana, Balwand, Mardana, and Sunder.
4. Verses of 11 Bhattas (Bards).

Later on, the hymns of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, were added by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. During his stay at Talwandi Sabo, also known as Guru ki Kashi, he included the verses by Guru Teg Bahadur Ji at appropriate places in Adi Granth with Bhai Mani Singh as the scribe. This version of the ‘Adi Granth’ is also known as ‘Damdami Bir’. This book then came to be known as Guru Granth Sahib and this scripture was bestowed the ‘Guruship’ by him before his death in October 1708 at Nanded. This day is celebrated as ‘Gur Gaddi Diwas”. It contains 1430 pages and contains 5894 hymns.

Arrangement of Guru Granth Sahib Ji

The Granth is mostly arranged in thirty-one Ragas (musical measures). Under each Raga, the hymns are arranged in the following order:

1. Chupada: Hymns of four verses
2. Ashtapadi: Hymns of eight verses
3. Long poems
4. Chants: Verses of six lines
5. Short poems
6. Vars
7. Poems of Bhagats

Three parts of Guru Granth Sahib

The book closes with an epilogue called Munda-wani, followed by the ‘Raga Mala’, containing a list of Ragas and Raginis. Although the total number of Ragas and Raginis are 84, the Gurus have used only 31. Guru Granth Sahib is divided into three parts:

1. Nitnem di Bani (Pages 1 to 13)
2. Raga Badh Bani (Pages 14 to 1352)
3. Raga Mukt Bani (Pages 1353 to 1430)

Nitnem di Bani

This part is in the beginning of Sri Guru Granth Sahib under which there are three verses of Jap, Sodara and Sohila. Among common Sikhs they are called Japji, Rehras and Kirtan-Sohila. The form of Japji has been fixed by Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the Shabads of the other two have been chosen by Guru Arjan Dev Ji. The time of recitation of these three verses is also fixed in Sikh tradition as Japji in the morning, Rehras in the evening and Kirtan-Sohila at bedtime.

1. Mool Mantra: The Guru Granth Sahib Ji begins with the word ‘Ek Onkar’. From this Word to the tenth Word “Gur-parshad” is called the Mool Mantra. It comes at the beginning of Japji. It occurs 567 times in Guru Granth Sahib.
2. Japji: This composition has a total of 38 Pauris.
3. Sodar. Two word-pairs are compiled under this heading, namely ‘Sodar’ and the other is ‘So Purakh’. Five and four Shabads have been added to them respectively.
4. Sohila: There are five Shabads under this heading, which were collectively named as Sohila by Guru Arjan Dev Ji. It is now referred to as ‘Kirtan Sohila’ in the Gutkas of Nitnern. In it, the first three Shabads are by Guru Nanak Dev Ji, fourth by Guru Ramdas Ji and the fifth by Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

Raga Badh Baniyan

These verses are a major part of Guru Granth Sahib. The order of Ragas with some important details are given in table given.

Raga Mukt Baniyan

The Baniyan which do not come under any Raga are Raga Mukt Bani. The Baniyan under these are Sloka Sahaskriti, Gatha Mahala 5, Funhe Mahala 5, Chaubole Mahala 5, Sloka Bhagat Kabir Jio Ke, Sloka Sheikh Farid Ke, Swaye Shri Mukh Bak Mahalla 5, Swaye Bhat Ke, Sloka Vaaran ton Vadheek, Mudavani Mahalla 5, Raga Mala.

Dasam Granth

It is commonly known as ‘Dasven Padshah da Granth’. This Granth has not been given the of ‘Guru’ as given to the Adi Granth. Compositions that are accepted as the work of Guru Gobind Singh include the Jap (which should be distinguished from Guru Nanak’s Japji), Bachitar Natak, Akal Ustat, and Zafar-Nama. Together these works form only a small part of the Dasam Granth. The great bulk of the volume consists of a retelling of the Rama and Krishna legends and a lengthy series of diverting anecdotes, etc.

Devotional and other works

Apart from the Adi Granth and the Dasam Granth, the main works of Sikh literature can be divided into devotional works, Janam-sakhis (writings on the life of Guru Nanak), gur-bilas (hagiographic works concerning the 6th and 10th Gurus that stress their roles as warriors), historical works, scriptural commentaries, the contribution of Vir Singh (1872-1957), and a brief anthology consisting largely of quotations from the Sikh scriptures.

The devotional works of Bhai Gurdas (1551-1637) and Nand Lal (1633-1715) are the only texts aside from the Granths that can be recited in the gurdwaras. Their compositions are more than just devotional, including social and historical commentary.

Janamsakhis

These compositions have been written at various stages after the demise of the first Guru. Many of them contradict each other on material points and some have obviously been touched up to advance the claims of one or the other branches of the Guru’s family, or to exaggerate the roles of certain disciples. The principal janamsakhis are:

1. Bhai Bala Janamsakhi: This is probably the most popular and well known Janamsakhi, in that most Sikhs and their Janamsakhi knowledge comes from this document. This work claims to be a contemporary account written by Bhai Bala Sandhu in 1535 at the instance of the second Guru, Guru Angad Dev Ji.
2. Vilayat Vali Janamsakhi: In the year 1883 a copy of a janamsakhi was dispatched by the India Office Library in London for the use of Dr. Trumpp and the Sikh scholars assisting him. (It had been given to the library by an Englishman called Colebrook; it came to be known as the Vilayat Vali or the foreign janamsakhi.)
3. Bhai Mani Singh’s Janam-sakhi or Gyan-ratanavali: This is attributed to Bhai Mani Singh who wrote it with the express intention of correcting heretical accounts of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Bhai Mani Singh was a Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
4. Puratan Janamsakhi: These are ancient janamsakhis and are generally used with reference to the composite work which was compiled by Bhai Vir Singh and first published in 1926.

Gur-Bilas

The gur-bilas literature produced a style of hagiography that focused on the mighty deeds of the Gurus, particularly Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobind Singh. Some gur-bilas also attach great importance to the story of the goddess Devi as a preparation for the founding of the Khalsa.

Historical Works

Among the many works that record the history of the Panth, four are particularly important. The first is Sainapati’s Gur Sobha (1711), which provides a general account of Guru Gobind Singh’s life as well as a description of the founding of the Khalsa. A second work, Ratan Singh Bhangu’s Panth Prakash (later termed Prachin Panth Prakash to distinguish it from Gian Singh’s work of the same name), was composed in 1809 and completed in 1841. The two remaining works are Gian Singh’s Panth Prakash and his lengthy Tavarikh Guru Khalsa, a work finally concluded in 1919.

Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Some Religious Granths

Ragas

Compositions by Guru Sahibs

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