The Holy Scripture
By Dr. HS. SherGill
“God is Only One His Name is true, He is the Creator He is Without Fear He is inimical to none He never dies He is Beyond Birth and Death He is self-illuminated He is Realized by the kindness of the Guru Repeat his Name. He was true in the Beginning He was true through all ages He is true now Nanak (Says that) He will be certainly True in the Future”. Thus begins the Sikh Holy Scripture (The Adi Granth or Granth Sahib). It was completed by Guru Arjun Dev Ji, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs at Amritsar. It is considered sacred by the Sikhs in the same way as Bible is to the Christians and Koran is to the Muslims. Guru Nanak said in his hymn. “The True Guru manifested Himself and the hymns were composed at His orders and heard by Him in “Var Asa”. The fourth Guru writes in “Var Gauri”:
“Look upon the Words of the True Guru as the Supreme Truth, For God and the creator had made him utter the words”.
This is a Holy Book of about 1430 pages plus another 12 pages for indx and few for the covering the whole book is an excellent piece of poetry. It is written in the praise of the Lord, Almighty. It also explains how the whole mankind can live together in peace. By giving various examples, it has shown how a person living a ‘worldly life still can attain salvation, It also reflects upon certain social injustices done in the name of the religion which has been condemned by the Gurus. The whole book is written in Punjabi alphabet and the langue age is a mixture of Punjabi-Hindi and Persian. To understand it, one has to have a good knowledge of Indian cultures, in true sense; this holy book was not written just for the Sikhs but for all mankind.
Guru Arjun Dev Ji performed the difficult task of compiling it He collected the writings of the four Gurus prior to him and also He incorporated pieces from the Writings Of eminent Bhakits of those times, He personally went to Baba Mohan Ji (son of Guru Amardus) who hud 40. Volumes of the hymns written by the first three Gurus and Hindu and Muslim Saints, to get the writings of previous Gurus.
Guru Nanak travelled quite extensively, almost all over India and to Middle East. Wherever he went he collected material pertaining to other religions, namely Hinduism and Islam.
These two volumes are known as Goindwal’s Pothians or Baba Mohan’s Pothian. Volume one has 300 leaves (600 pages) and volume two 224 leaves (448. pages) Every page has 13 lines and each line has 13 words. Some pages are empty. On page 94 there is supposed to be one hymn written by GuruRam DasJi. Asthishymnis in different handwriting and signed as “Gulam Mastan Jeth Chand” (Jeth Chand was Guru Ram Das’s name before assuming Guruship).
These volumes do not have Jap Ji Sahib and Rehras. Writings of the saints follow Gurusbani in the same way as in the Granth Sahib. These writings are in 15 Ragas (Indian classical musical modes). Guru Arjun Himself wrote in 15 Ragas and Guru Teg Bahadur wrote in one Raga (Jejawanti) and thus Granth Sahib is written in 31 Ragas,
Guru Arjun took quite a bit out of these two volumes. He wrote Japji Sahib from the copy written by Guru Ram Das. After collecting all the materials, Guru Arjun started compiling the Granth Sahib. It was dictated by the Guru and written by a prominent Sikh scholar, Bhai Gurdas Ji. It was done at a secluded place called Ramsar, south of Amritsar. The whole work was finished in August 1604 and Guru Sahib was installed in the Golden Temple at Amritsar and Baba Budha Ji was the first Head Granthi (Reader of the Seritpure.
In all Granth Sahib has the contributions of six Gurus (first five Gurus and the Ninth Guru) Largest contribution is by Guru Arjan Dev Ji Himself (2218 hymns) following by Guru Nanak Ji (974), Amar Das Ji (907), Ram Das Ji (679), Teg Bahadur (115) und Angad Dev Ji (62), Some historians believe that there is one couplet by Guru Gobind Singh among Guru Teg Bahadur’ hymns, In total this Holy book has more than 6000 hymns.
Hymns of fifteen Hindu and Muslim Saints are also included. They are Jui Dev of Bengal, Farid of Punjab, Nam Dev. Trilochan, and Parmanand of Mati and Ramnand of Uttar Pradesh, Dhanna of Rajasthan, Pipa, Sain, Kabir, Ravidas, and Bhikan of Uttar Pradesh, Sur Das a blind poet of Oudh. ‘Most of these were so called low caste Hindu and Muslim sections, among saints most of the contributions are that of Kabir and Farid; there are contributions of the Bhatts (Bards). There are also compositions of Mardana (A Muslim companion of Guru Nanak) Sundar and Satta and Balwand. Though Bhai Gurdas Ji was an excellent poet and has written extensively about Sikh philosophy, his compositions are not included in the Granth Sahib but Guru Arjun described his writing as “key” to the understanding of Granth Sahib.
These compositions are based on various Ragas. In Ragas also, first is the composition of the Gurus followed by that of the Saints. The contributions cover a period ranging from Jaidey who lived in the 12th century to Guru Teg Bahadur in the 17th century. So the Granth Sahib has about five centuries of Indian religious thoughts, All these writings have the same common theme that is these ‘were according to the Sikh philosophy.
There have been few changes during the first copy compiled by Guru Aqjun and final Granth Sahib now. The original Granth Sahib which was detailed by Guru Arjun, is still there intact at Kartarpur. It is known as “Kartarpur Wali Bir” (Holy Book of Kartarpur). This holy book was in the possession of sixth Guru, From there it went into the hands of his grandson Baba Dhirmal (son of Baba Gurdita) and it is still there with his heirs. When Guru Har Gobind appointed Guru Har Raias his successor, Dhirmal wanted Guruship for himself, being the oldest son of Baba Gurdita like Pirthi Chand but he was found not considered fit, After the eighth Guru’s death, he claimed Guruship again because he had the original Granth Sahib with him. When true Guru was found (Guru Teg Bahadur) by Makhan Shah Labana, he got mad. He tried to kill Guru Teg Bahadur but failed, Makhan Shah attacked Dhirmal and secured the Holy Book from his possession.
But Guru Teg Bahadur returned it to him. Dhirmal moved to Kartarpur and Stayed there. When Guru Gobind Singh, after all the battles rested at Dam Dama Sahib, he sent his Sikhs to the Dhirmal family and requested for the Holy Book. They refused. Then Guru Gobind Singh dictated from his memory. Bhai Mani Singh wrote it all over again. In this he also included the writings of Guru Teg Bahadur (His father). It is called “Dam Dami Bir”. Many copies of that were made, The original “Bit” ‘was lost during second holocaust Of the Sikhs in 1762, When Guru Gobind Singh’s end came in 1708, he appointed Granth Sahib as the Guru for the Sikhs at Nader. Since then Guru Granth is Guru of the Sikhs, It is providing guidance to the Sikhs. Whoever wants to reach the Al Mighty, can reach through Guru Granth Sahib.
The Holy Book is the main ‘object of worship in a Gurdwara (Guru’s Door). It is placed at a higher level than the congregation on a cot and covered with nice cloths. There is awning over it and when a member of the congregation read, or the priest waves fly whisk. All these are signs of royalty. Sikhs come and bow in front of the Granth Sahib as a mark of respect and make offerings in cash and in kind, as it is done in the court of Kings. For ‘Sikhs, it is the only one True King (Sacha Padshah) Granth Sahib is not a thing of worship (like an idol) but it is a means of worship. Unfortunately many practices which were condemned by the Guru have found their way into the worships in the gurdwaras. As many Hindus became Sikhs, they started worshipping Granth Sahib the same way as they did worship the idols. Akhand Path (continued reading) or Saptahik Path (weekly reading) are also the result of the same Hindu influence. According to the Guru, worship the “word” and not the Book. If one can read a few lines and try to understand it and utilize it in daily life that is lot better than an Akhand Path done by the paid priests. Along with this, Gurdwara is a home for homeless, a place of help for the helpless, a community kitchen is served in all gurdwaras day and night but in the Western world community kitchen is served only cover the weekends and special ‘gatherings but if somebody comes there any time of the day and night and is hungry, he also should not go out hungry from a gurdwara, Such is the custom.
Other old Bir which are worth mentioning from historical point of view are as follows:
1, Kartarpur Wali Bir or Dhirmalian’s Bir: This is the original Bir written by Bhai Gurdas Ji ‘and dictated by Guru Aqjun. It has 974 leaves (1948 pages); it is 13 1/4″ X9 1/4″ in size. Pages have borders made with red and blue ink. It also has got hand written writing of Guru Arjun in that. It also has signature of Guru Hargobind. In it quite a few pages are plank. On one page there are dates of Deaths of the first six Gurus and Baba Gurditta Ji (Guru Har Gobind’s son),
2, Bhai Bano’s Bir: This was the first copy of the original, It has got hymns of Mira Bai of Rajasthan and an extra hymn of Sur Das. These are not found in the original “Bir”, Others are more or less copies of this Bir with much alterations in them. They are Bure Sandhu Wale Bir, (this does not eave Mira Bai or Surdas’s extra hymn).
Kan Garh’s Bir; Village Bohat’s Bir; Village Saran Ke Bir; Vasu’s Bir; Akhnur’s Bir; Nanak Mata Bir; Dehradun’s Bir—the Bir which is at Dehradun now, was written during the time of Guru Har Rai. He got this copy prepared and gave it to his son Ram Rai, who took it along to Delhi when he went to see the Mughal Emperor. This is the {rue copy of the original Bir. When Ram Rai was disowned by Guru, Har Rai because of the mistake he committed, Ram Rai started his own sect. This Bir has remained with them ever since. In this one also somebody later on wrote hymns of Mira Bai and he mentioned in a foot note that this hymn is not included in fifth Guru’s Granth
Thus Sikhs are fortunate to have this invaluable treasure. It is a master piece of poetry in Punjabi language, It was written by the Sikh Gurus themselves. Since Guru Gobind Singh J’s time, no changes have been made in this holy book at all. The Granth Sahib now being read in the gurdwaras are the copies of the original DamDami “Bir” which was detailed by Guru Gobind Singh. Still some hand written copies are available and are kept in the historical Gurdwaras. The Granth Sahib which is placed in the Golden Templ handwritten. It was probably written during the 18th century. Lots of literary treasures in the form of hand written copies of the Guru Granth Sahib by various famous Sikh scholars like Baba Deep Singh and other relics of Sikh history were in Sikh Library at Amritsar. Most of that one invaluable treasure was destroyed by the Indian army during the army attack on the Golden Temple in June, 1984. The army set fire to the library after the occupation of the Golden Temple. But as Guru Teg Bahadur said that one particular copy of the Granth Sahib is not any more important than the other. What is important is the ford in it. So with the Goals grace, ay Tong as this world will live, “Word” of Guru will live, and as long as even one Sikh lives Sikhism will survive. What Sikhs have to do is spread the Guru’s ‘word and live by it and obey/it, rest He will take care.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 20, 1987
