By Brig. Iqbal Singh

GURU GRANTH SAHIB was compiled by Guru Arjun Dev, the fifth Guru, who collected the hymns of the first four Gurus and to these added his ‘own, To ensure ideological purity and integrity of the hymns it was essential to differentiate the genuine compositions of the Gurus from the spurious ones. Accordingly, Guru Arjun Dev, the fifth Prophet, undertook the enormous task of collecting, compiling and scrutinizing the writings of the earlier Gurus. To locate the available texts, Guru Arjun sent his aides to distant places which were visited by Guru Nanak during his four extended journeys known as Udasis, The fifth Guru successfully persuaded Baba Mohan, son of the third Guru, to hand over the writings of the Gurus lying in his possession. Bhai Gurdas was the first scribe of the Granth and Bhai Buddha the first head Granthi (priest).

The Adi Granth was formally installed in the Harmandar Sahib at Amritsar in 1604. Apart from the compositions of the Sikh Gurus, the Granth contains the writings of 36 divinely inspired poets — Hindu saints, Muslim Sufis and bards belonging to different castes, class and background from various parts of India ranging from 12th to 17th century. Thus temporally, the Scripture represents an embodiment of a quincentenaries’ of religious, philosophical and linguistic, literary and cultural history. The hymns of the saints and poets conformed to the spirit of Sikhism and were consistent with the teachings of Guru Nanak. The standard published version of Guru Granth Sahib covers 1430 pages with 27 lines per page and a total of about half a million words. It is perhaps the only scripture in the world which incorporates and sanctifies the writings of people who did not subscribe to the faith, in that sense it is the only nondenominational scripture that exists. The Adi Granth is a unique treasure, and an admirable spiritual present to humanity at large.

Guru Granth Sahib is an enormous body with over 6000 verses. In all gurdwaras and many Sikh homes the Granth is read every day. On special occasions it is recited nonstop from cover to cover by a string of readers. This takes two days and nights or forty eight hours and is known as the ‘Akhand Path (uninterrupted prayer). A seven day recitation is known as the Sapah Path and is sometimes undertaken in private homes as a mark of supplication ‘on special occasion. Despite the sanctity given to the Granth, it is not meant to be treated like an idol in a Hindu temple or the figures of Christ and Virgin Mary in a Catholic church. It is the source and not the object of prayer. Although there is no place of idolatry in Sikhism there prevails a wrong notion concerning the Grant worship. As observed by the eminent Sikh scholar, Kapur Singh, “the reverence which is shown to the Guru Granth Sahib is a means to the worship of God through the His Word, and not an object of worship in itself.

GURU GRANTH SAHIB IN SIKH LIFE

Guru Granth Sahib is greeted with affectionate reverence because for the Sikhs it is the Guru. The same spirit which successively inhabited the bodies of the ten Gurus is now believed to dwell in the Granth, All aspects of Sikh worship relate directly to it and practically the entire content of all prayer is drawn from it, many visits. The Gurdwara simply for darsan, or “audience”, with Guru Granth Sahib. This consists of entering the Gurdwara, prostrating oneself before the Granth, making an offering, and accepting Karah prasad, from granthi, or the priest. The formal service consists almost entirely of singing hymns from the scriptures. Groups of three Ragis or singers lead the congregation and those present may, if they wish, join in hymns they know. The Ardas which evolved since the time of the tenth Guru expresses with marked clarity the doctrine of the spiritual Guru embodied in the scripture. The concluding passage of Ardas is:

‘Agia bhai akal ki, tabi chalaio panth Sab Sikhan kau hukam hai guru manio granth Guru granth ji manio pargat guran ki deh Jaka hirada sudh hai khoj sabad men leh From the Timeless One there came the injuction, In accordance with which was established the Panth,To all Sikhs there comes this command: ‘Acknowledge the Granth as Guru,

For it is the manifest body of the Masters.

Ye whose hearts are pure, Seek Him in the Word.

By virtue of the Sikh belief in the scripture as the embodiment of living Guru various honofies are added to the Granth. The contents of the scripture are commonly referred to as Bani or Gurbani. Any individual hymn from the ‘Adi Granth— chaupads, asatpadi, var, or chhant — is calle da Shabad or literally “word”. The usage evidently derives from the weight of emphasis laid by the Gurus on the doctrine of the Shabad or Divine Word which according to Guru Nanak’s teachings is the vehicle of communication between God and man.

THE THEME OF THE GURU GRANTH SAHIB

The theme of Guru Granth Sahib is in essence the composition of Jap Ji Sahib. The Gurus make one fundamental declaration which they express in a wide variety of ways, building around it a coherent system of religious thought. The message is: salvation can be obtained through meditation on the divine Name that is God’s Grace, and unionist to be obtained by means of regular, persistent and disciplined meditation on the manifold expressions of the divine presence in the physical world and in human experience.

LANGUAGE OF THE ADI GRANTH

Consisting of many languages the script used in the Adi Granth is Gurmukhi, It was the invention of Guru Angad, and the second Guru its development is intimately connected with the rise of the Sikh Panth. AS the vehicle of the sacred scriptures it has acquired sanctity of its own, It is an exceedingly simple script and language despite the popular belief to the contrary. On this point Macleod has criticised McAuliffe for creating a wrong impression that the language of the Granth is difficult. Infect an intelligent introduction, a systematic study of few weeks and a vocabulary less than one thousand words can make the Granth easily aooess‘ible to me.

Throughout the Granth, it is clearly that most of the saint poets in their own mother tongue in addition to the Sant Bhasha, in their verses exceptions are there. The earlier Muslim mystics or the Sufis who had come to India with the conquerors and bad to contact with the religious diction in India, ‘composed their hymns in Lehandi or the language of the Western part of West Punjab, Baba Farid wrote in Lehandi. There is no influence of Bhasha in his compositions. Besides Sanskrit, Eastern Apabbramsa, West Apabhramsa, Marathi, Hindi, Punjabi, Sant Bhasha, Lehandi, Sindhi, Persian and Arabic. In addition words and case terminations of some other languages are also found in the Granth.

FROM ADI GRANTH TO. GURU GRANTH

Guru Gobind Singh bestowed spiritual conferment on Adi Granth on October 6, 1708 at Nander located on the bank of the river Godavari. On the day the Guru placed a five pic coin and a coconut before the holy Granth and bowed his head and recited:

‘The Eternal Father willed and I raised the Panth ‘All my Sikhs are ordained to believe the Granth as their preceptor.

Have faith in the holy Granth as your Master and consider it, the visible manifestation of the

Gurus. He who has a pure heart will seek guidance from its holy words.

THE ESSENCE OF TRUTH

‘As mentioned earlier with this spiritual conferment, the Panth was elevated to the status of the Khalsa Panth and the Adi Granth became Guru Granth. The revealed Word as such was formally installed as the eternal Guru, leaving no room for any bodily Guru in Sikh society. This was the most significant development in the history of the Sikh nation. The institution of personal Guruship was thus sealed permanently. Succession passed to the Guru Granth Sahib in perpetuity. It is now the medium of the Divine Revelation descended through the Gurus.

 

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 30, 1987