By Prof Gurbachan Singh (Granthi Gobind Sadan USA) The Sikh holy scripture the Guru Granth Sahib Ji is a precious spiritual and literal gift to the whole humanity as commented by a Nobel laureate Miss Pearl S. Buck after reading the English translation of Guru Granth Sahib ji I have studied the scriptures of the great religions but I do not find elsewhere the same powerful 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 vast reach of human heart varying from the noblest concept of God to the recognition and indeed the insistence upon the practical needs of the human body. There is something strongly modem about these scriptures and this puzzled me until I learned that they are in fact comparatively modem compiled as late as the 16th century. When explorers were beginning to discover that globe upon which we all live is a single entity divided only by arbitrary line 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 human heart and the searching mind. This unique scripture is a living personality through which the divine Light illuminates every heart by means of the musical order of the divine words.

According to Sikh faith the divine spiritual light in bodily form of Guru Nanak Sahib transmitted into nine other bodies ultimately merged with the divine words composed in the form of Guru Granth Sahib. It is somewhat in a similar sense to the concept of the holy Bible In the beginning there was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. John.1:1

Some Important Features of Guru Granth Sahib.

It is the only scripture in world religions written by the prophets in their own hands. It is composed of 1430 pages of various hymns each of which is noted with the melody and rhythm to which it is to be sung.  The first Parkash ceremony (opening ceremony) was performed in the Darbar-Sahib (Golden Temple) Amritsar by its editor writer the fifth Prophet Siri Guru Arjan Sahib on Aug.30 1604.

There are 31 musical measures in Guru Granth Sahib. According to Bhai Kahan Singh ji Nabha (Mahan Kosh) the scripture contains 5867 hymns but Dr. Charan Singh counted them as 5894 where as the number goes up to six thousands as per detail.

Detail of Hymns: 1)Guru Nanak Sahib Founder of Sikh faith 974. 2)Guru Angad Sahib 2nd Guru 62. 3) Guru Amar Dass ji 3rd Guru 907. 4y)Guru Ram Dass ji 4th Guru 679. 5)Guru Arjan Sahib Sth Guru2218.6)Guru Teg Bahadur ji 9th Guru 114. 7)Gurus Gobind Singh ji 10th Guru 1. 8) Baba Siri Chand ji son of Guru Nanak Sahib 1. 9) Bhagat Kabir ji Weaver of Banaras541. 10) Bhagat Farid ji Muslim sufi saint 343. 11. Bhagat Nam Dev ji Washer-man Maharastra 60. 12 )Bhagat Ravi Dass ji Channar (shoe maker) of Kanshi 41. 13)Bhagat Tarlochan ji Vaish of Maharastra 4. 14)Bhagat Baini ji Rajput 4. 15)Bhagat Dhanna ji Jat (farmer) of Rajasthan 4. 16) Bhagat Jai Dev ji Brahaman of Bengal 2. 17)Bhagat Bheekhan ji Muslim saint of Lucknow 2. 18)Bhagat Sain ji Barber of Bidher 1. 19)Bhagat Pipa ji Chauhan Rajput of Rajasthan 1. 20)Bhagat Sadana ji Butcher of Sind 1. 21)Bhagat Rama Nanad ji Brahaman of Alahabad 1. 22)Bhagat Parmananad ji Brahaman of Kano) 1. 23)Bhagat Surdass ji Brahaman of U-P..2. 24)Bhagat Sundar ji great grandson of Guru Amar Dass ji 1. 25)Bhagat Mardana ji Muslim saint 3. 26).Bhagat Ji Dum Muslim saint 5. 27)Bhagat Rai Balwand ji Raw Bhatti 5. 28)Bhagat Kalsharji 54. 29) Bhagat Jalap ji 5. 30)Bhagat Kirat ji 8. 31)Bhagat Sall ji  3. 32)Bhagat Bhall ji1. 33)Bhagat Nall ji 16. 34)Bhagat Bikha ji 2 35)Bhagat Parmanad ji 13. 36)Bhagat Ball ji 5. 37)Bhagat Harbans ji 2 38)Bhagat Mathra ji 14.

The hymns in Guru Granth Sahib cover a period of six centuries The constituents of the Granth Sahib did not take their birth at one time. They were composed in different periods. Jai Dev the Bengali saint of the 12th century is the oldest composer included into the holy book. Nam Dev the famous Maharashtra  poet belonged to the 14 century. Kabir the Hindi poet of Genetic valley flourished in the 15th century. Guru Nanak and his successors lived in the 16 and 17th centuries Thus we find that the Granth Sahib covers a span of six centuries.

Guru Granth Sahib is the only Holy book that contains the hymns of 31 holy men of different faiths and seven Sikh Gurus.

Many languages such as Marathi Gujrati Avadhi Eastern Panjabi Lehndi Dakhani Hindi Persian Sanskirt Prakrit etc. are visible in the scripture in Gurmukhi Script. This proves Gurmukhi is suitable to write any language of the world.

All the names of God used in medieval India are found many times.

Akhand Path (Continuous reading of Guru Granth Sahib)

It was started by the sixth Guru Sahib sin Guru Hargobind ji.

Baba Deep Singh performed the Akhand Path at Damdama Sahib Mandi-Saboki.

 SAPTAHAK PATH: Reading of the Guru Granth Sahib is completed on the seventh day of its start.

SEHAJ PATH: Those who wish to read the Holy Scripture can do so and finish to complete the reading in any length of time.

HUKAM: It is divine order received in the form of divine word from the Holy

Book After prayer the Guru Granth Sahib is opened at random. The first hymn from the left hand side page is considered to be the divine order of the Guru .

The first Hukam from Guru Granth Sahib after becoming the Guru was read in the presence of Guru Gobind Singh ji at Nander Sahib.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 20, 1991