Universality of Guru Granth Sahib
* BE 140 Janakpuri, New Delhi
110058. Email: Prithipalsingh_1946@yahoo.co.in
@ For
example: The Bible in Christianity, The Koran in Islam, The Dhamapada in
Buddhism, The Upanishads and the Vedas, besides The Gita and other scriptures,
in Hinduism.
Scriptures serve as
important religious authorities. Every religion has a recognised
scripture.@ In Sikhism, “Sri
Guru Granth Sahib” or the “Adi Granth”, or the “Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib” is
the recognised scripture. This is a unique compilation of the inspired hymns
assembled and classified in ragas byGuru Arjun Dev (the fifth Nanak) for
all humanity. This significant achievement provided the Sikhs with an
authoritative Scripture. The Guru Granth Sahib is a repository of rational
thought and not blind belief. It has a devotional dimension. The message of the
scripture is logical and rendered lyrically. There is a balanced outlook in the
scripture. The joyous and the sad are subtly interwoven with the moods of
yearning and rejoicing.
The entire composition has
been written in the Gurmukhi script even though the original hymns were in
different languages. Bhai Gurdas (a devout scholar), under the guidance of Guru
Arjun Dev, scripted the original manuscript. This original “Adi Granth” was
installed (pehla prakash) in the new shrine, the Harmandir Sahib in
1604. Later in 1708, Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Nanak, declared that after Him, the line of the living Gurus shall
come to an end, and that henceforth all Sikhs should regard the Granth Sahib as
their Guru. Thus, all Sikhs accept the “Adi Granth”, or the Granth Sahib, as
the Guru Eternal.
“Guru” in Sikhism means,
besides God Himself, the Ten Guru Sahiban (from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind
Singh), their Shabad preserved in the form of Guru Granth Sahib, the
Holy Scripture of the Sikhs. Thus, Sikhism has a unique distinction where a
scripture is accorded the same status as Word of God, The Almighty.
There is an interesting aspect
of the compilation of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Arjun Dev. The first
reference to a holy book can be found with reference to Guru Nanak. It is
recorded that during His various journeys, He would keep a record of the
message of God (Dur
kI bwxI) in a book. It may also be mentioned that at the same time He would
ask His disciple and companion Mardana to play the rebeck and thus render the
message as kirtan. When Guru Nanak visited Mecca, He was asked by the
maulvis to open His book to find out who amongst the people was given the
higher status in God’s Kingdom.
These Holy pothis prepared by Guru Nanak were handed
over to his successor, Guru Angad. The Second Nanak treated these with great
respect. Guru Angad also prepared Holy books incorporating the new bani,
and handed them over to his successor, Guru Amar Das. The bani of His
predecessors as well as his own was then handed over by Guru Amar Das to his
son Baba Mohan and not to his successor, Guru Ram Das. Guru Arjun Dev, who
succeeded his father collected the bani of Guru Ram Das and His own
before compiling the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. When Guru Arjun wanted the bani
of the first three Guru Sahiban, he sent Bhai Gurdas to Baba Mohan for
collecting the Holy books. Baba Mohan refused to see Bhai Gurdas. Then, Guru
Arjun sent Baba Buddha ji and he too returned empty handed. After this, Guru
Arjun went personally to Baba Mohan (who was his maternal uncle) and sang the
praises of God in the street on which Baba Mohan lived. On hearing the
melodious voice, Baba Mohan came to Guru Arjun and begged for forgiveness. He
then handed over the pothis to Gur Arjun. Thus, before Guru Arjun
compiled Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Holy books were referred to as pothis, and
we come across a shabad in this context:
sarg mhla 5 .
p]TI prm[sr ka Tanu . saWs;ig
gavih guN g]ib;w pUrn bRhm igAanu .1. rhaxu . saiWk isW sgl muin l]cih ibrl[
lag{ iWAanu . ijsih ikRpalu h]ie m[ra suAamI pUrn ta k] kamu .1. ja k{ irw{ vs{
B{ B;jnu itsu jan{ sgl jhanu . iKnu plu
ibsru nhI m[r[ krt[ iehu nanku ma:g{ wanu
. (SGGS:
1226)
Thus, the compilation of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib becomes one
of the greatest events in Sikh history. This is an outstanding contribution of
Guru Arjun. The unique distinction of the Guru Granth Sahib can be appreciated
in many other ways also.
l This
is probably the only scripture compiled by one of the numerous contributors.
Thus, Guru Arjun Dev provided the Sikhs with an authoritative scripture. In
contrast, when we study the scriptures of other religions, we find that the
majority of the scriptures were not original compilations, but they are
compilations made by those who did not compose the scripture. For example,
Jesus Christ himself did not compile The Holy Bible, but we read the Old
Testament and the New Testament, which are different versions accepted in
Christianity.
l We
may look at the contents and recognize a unifying theme in the fact that all
the compositions included in the Guru Granth Sahib are considered to be of
Divine Origin. This basic belief enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib is thus a
spiritual key and all Sikhs respect the Guru Granth Sahib as the Guru Eternal.
It is the perpetual authority, spiritual as well as historical.
l There are
more than 7000 hymns (Shabads) in the Guru Granth Sahib. These include
inspired compositions of the first five Guru Sahiban and the ninth Nanak, Guru
Tegh Bahadur, as well as the compositions of 15 Saints, Sufis, and Bhakats
belonging to different faiths and periods. These contributors belonged to
different strata of the prevailing social order. Thus, there is a Shabad
each by Sadhna (who was a butcher by profession), Sain (a barber), Pipa (a
Rajput Noble), Ramanand and Surdas (both Brahmins), and various Bhatts (mostly
Brahmins).
l On the
other hand, as many as 534 Shabads and slokas of Kabir (a weaver)
are also included in the Guru Granth Sahib. The Sufi Sheikh Farid’s
compositions are recorded in the form of 123 Shabads and Slokas.
Several other contributors such as Dhanna (a Jat), Trilochan (a Vaishya), Namdev
(a calico printer), Beni and Paramanand (indeterminate origin) also find a
place in the Guru Granth Sahib. No distinction has been made on the basis of
the social status of the contributor. All the compositions have been given
equal status. There is also equal reverence to all the compositions included as
the Bani in the Guru Granth Sahib. This is in itself very unique and only the Guru Granth Sahib
enjoys this distinction. No other known scripture of modern day religions
enjoys this distinction.
l The
entire text of the Guru Granth Sahib has been presented in poetic pattern
(different types of lyrical compositions). Thus we come across distinct verses
(padas), 8-stanza hymns (Ashtpadis), 4-stanza lyrics (Chhants),
as well as couplets (Slokas) and longer compositions such as ‘Vars’.
All these compositions have been beautifully organized in the text. This
reveals the extraordinary exactness with which Guru Arjun Dev compiled the
Scripture.
l Another
unique feature of the Guru Granth Sahib is the fact that the text has been
composed in 31 ragas. All modern day copies of the Guru Granth Sahib
have a standard form and consist of 1430 pages. The first 13 pages and the last
74 pages do not conform to any single raga, but all other pages in the
Guru Granth Sahib record the compositions in a complex sequence of 31 ragas.
l Guru
Arjun Dev’s greatest contribution in this compilation as the editor (when
compared to modern publishing) is unparalleled. He set high editing standards
through His meticulous arrangement of the different compositions. He followed a
unique style and rhythm so that there is a natural flow of the text. This can
be easily illustrated by the manner in which Guru Arjun Dev provided the
annotations to the different compositions.
l For a
majority of the ragas, the complete Mul Mantara has been written
as the annotation at the beginning. This is meant to invoke the Blessings of
The Almighty.
l An
very interesting aspect of the annotations is the collection of 152 couplets (Slokas)
in the concluding part of the Guru Granth Sahib. When Guru Arjun Dev was
compiling the Holy Volume, He introduced many couplets (Slokas) composed
by other Guru Sahiban into the text of the longer compositions such as the ‘Vars’.
However, some couplets, which were left over in the process, were assembled
under the annotation “Salok Varan Te Vadik” i.e. “Slokas additional to the Vars.
There are as many as 152 Slokas in this miscellany. Of these, 32 are the
compositions of Guru Nanak, only one of Guru Angad, 67 of Guru Amar Das, 30 of
Guru Ram Das, and 22 of Guru Arjun Dev.
l Thus,
through these annotations, Guru Arjun Dev has provided importance to the
different compositions as well as to the composers. This has resulted in a
unique style of presentation.
l Besides
the distinct style adopted in the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib and the
high editing standards adopted by Guru Arjun Dev, there are several other
unique features in the sacred scripture.
l The
Scripture provides guidance of the manner in which man must conduct himself to
receive Divine Grace. The message is common for all humanity and it is not
addressed to any single group individually.
l Besides
spiritual knowledge, we also come across several hymns, which have a distinct
futurist outlook and can be easily compared with current scientific theories.
Interestingly, many of these scientific facts have been provided in the last
few years whereas the compositions in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib are well over
400 years old. (Please refer to the article
“Gurbani and Science” in The Sikh Review, May 2002).
l The
list of the unique features of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib is thus long and there
is a need to appreciate these in a proper manner. The compositions embodied in
the Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the inspired Bani are revered as ‘The Guru
Eternal’ or God’s universal message.
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