Sikh scriptures
Encyclopedia
The principal Sikh scripture is the Adi Granth (First Scripture), more commonly called the Guru Granth Sahib
. The Sikh
s do not regard this as their "holy book" but as their perpetual and current "Guru
", Guide or Master. It was called Adi Granth until Guru Gobind Singh
, the tenth and final Guru in human form conferred on it the title of the Guru in 1708, after which it was called Sri Guru Granth Sahib or Guru Granth Sahib
, for short. The Granth has 1430 pages and is divided into 39 chapters. All copies are exactly alike. The Sikhs are forbidden from making any changes to the text within this Scripture.
The Guru Granth Sahib was compiled by Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. The work of compilation was started in 1601 and finished in 1604. The Granth, called by Guru Arjan as "Pothi Sahib", was installed at Harmandir Sahib (House of God) with much celebration.
s found here are the following:
The first published translation of the Guru Granth Sahib into Sindhi was done in 1959 by Mr. Jethanand B. Lalwani of Bharat Jivan Publications. He used his entire personal savings and was able to produce only 500 copies. Lalwani later took out loans to make a reprint in 1963.
The following are the main bani
s regularly recited by Sikhs:
The languages used in the Granth are:
ji. They have been referred to as the "Key to the Sri Guru Granth Sahib" by Guru Arjan Dev
, the fifth Sikh Guru. He was the first scribe of Guru Granth Sahib
and a scholar of great repute. From his work its clear that he had mastery of various Indian languages and had studied many ancient Indian religious scriptures.
Each of the 40 chapters of "Varan Bhai Gurdas" consists of a differing number of Pauris (sections, paragraphs). The composition is a collection of detailed commentary and explanation of theology and the ethics of Sikh beliefs as outlined by the Gurus. It explains the Sikh terms like sangat
, haumai
, "Gun", Gurmukh and Manmukh, Sat, Naam
, etc. Many of the principles of Sikhism
are explained in simple terms by Bhai Sahib and at times in many different ways.
in collaboration with the Nanakshahi Trust took up digitization of Sikh scriptures in 2003. Thousands of manuscripts has been digitized and are available online at Panjab Digital Library.
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
. The Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
s do not regard this as their "holy book" but as their perpetual and current "Guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
", Guide or Master. It was called Adi Granth until Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...
, the tenth and final Guru in human form conferred on it the title of the Guru in 1708, after which it was called Sri Guru Granth Sahib or Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
, for short. The Granth has 1430 pages and is divided into 39 chapters. All copies are exactly alike. The Sikhs are forbidden from making any changes to the text within this Scripture.
The Guru Granth Sahib was compiled by Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. The work of compilation was started in 1601 and finished in 1604. The Granth, called by Guru Arjan as "Pothi Sahib", was installed at Harmandir Sahib (House of God) with much celebration.
Banis
The main baniBani
Gurbani is the term used by Sikhs to refer to any compositions of the Sikh Gurus. Gurbani is composed of two words: 'Gur' meaning 'the Guru's' and 'bani' meaning 'word'....
s found here are the following:
- Japji SahibJapji SahibJapji is a universal song of God composed by Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh faith.Japji Sahib consists of the Mool Mantra as the beginning followed by 38 hymns and a final Salok at the end of this composition. The Japji appears at the very beginning of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Holy Book...
- Mool Mantar
- SalokSalokSalok is normally the final verse in a Bani. The final verse in the Japji Sahib is a Salok and the English translation is given below:Salok is normally the final verse in a Bani. The final verse in the Japji Sahib is a Salok and the English translation is given below:Salok is normally the final...
- Shabad HazarayShabad HazarayShabad Hazaray is the Bani of longing for the beloved. It was written by Guru Arjan when he was separated from Guru Ram Das for a long period of time. During that period of separation he sent these three letters to his beloved Guru and Father. Reciting this shabad brings union of the beloved...
- Anand SahibAnand SahibAnand Sahib: This Bani is part of the Nitnem or prayer which are read by Amritdhari Sikhs in the morning. The Bani was written by Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of the Sikhs and form part of the 5 Banis that are recited daily by baptised Sikhs. The Bani appears on pages 917 to 922 of Guru Granth...
- Rehras Sahib (less the Benti Chaupai)
- Kirtan SohilaKirtan SohilaKirtan Sohila: Three Gurus – Guru Nanak, Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjan - contributed five shabads on the pain of separation and celebrating the bliss of union. The first three Shabads were uttered by Guru Nanak, the fourth by Guru Ram Das and the fifth by Guru Arjan Dev. This is the night prayer said...
- Sukhmani Sahib
- Asa di VarAsa di VarAsa Ki Var is a collection of 24 pauris or stanzas written by Guru Nanak Devji .Some people argue that the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev ji wrote the first 9 together on one occasion and later wrote 15 more stanzas on a different occasion but Professor Sahib Singh and some of the foremost Sikh...
Languages
The following languages are found in this Granth:- PunjabiPunjabi languagePunjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
- many Sikh Gurus, Bhagat (saint) Sheikh Farid and others - SindhiSindhi languageSindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...
- Guru Arjan - SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
- Guru Nanak, Guru Arjan and others - LehndiLahnda languagesThe Lahnda or Western Punjabi Languages are an Indo-Aryan languages dialect continuum that are Mutually intelligible and are spoken in South Asia.According to the Ethnologue they include:...
or Western Punjabi - Guru Arjan - GujaratiGujarati languageGujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
and MarathiMarathi languageMarathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
- Bhagat Namdev and Trilochan - Western HindiWestern HindiWestern Hindi is a group of Hindi dialects that evolved out of the Apabhramsa form of Shaurseni prakrit. According to G. A. Grierson it comprises such varieties as Haryanvi or Bangaru , Brajbhakha , Bundeli Western Hindi is a group of Hindi dialects that evolved out of the Apabhramsa form of...
- Bhagat Kabir - Eastern Hindi - Court poets
- Eastern ApabhramshaApabhramshaApabhraṃśa is a term used by Sanskrit grammarians since Patañjali to refer to dialects that deviate from the norm of Sanskrit grammar. The term in Sanskrit literally means "corrupt" or "non-grammatical language". It is used as a cover term for the dialects forming the transition between the late...
s - Bhagat Jaidev - Influence of Arabic and Persian - Bhagat Namdev,Guru Nanak
The first published translation of the Guru Granth Sahib into Sindhi was done in 1959 by Mr. Jethanand B. Lalwani of Bharat Jivan Publications. He used his entire personal savings and was able to produce only 500 copies. Lalwani later took out loans to make a reprint in 1963.
Dasam Granth
This is regarded as the second holiest book of the Sikhs and is called the Dasam Granth - the book of the tenth Guru. The Granth was compiled three years after the Guru’s death and it was Mata Sundri the widow of the Guru who asked Bhai Mani Singh, a contemporary of the Guru, to collect all the hymns composed by the Guru and prepare a Granth of the Guru. It was completed in 1711. In its present form it contains 1428 pages and 16 chapters as listed below:- JaapJaapJaap may refer to:* Jaap Sahib, Sikh prayer* Jaap van Reesema, Dutch singer and winner of Dutch X Factor in 2010 also known as Jaap* Jaap, Dutch title of series Bobo * Jaap Haartsen, Inventor of Bluetooth...
(meditationMeditationMeditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
) - Bichitra NatakBichitra NatakBachittar Natak is from Dasam Granth generally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru spans from ang 94 to ang 175 of the 2326 ang....
( autobiography of the Guru) - Akal UstatAkal UstatAkal Ustat is the name given to the second Bani in the second holy scriptures of the Sikhs called the Dasam Granth. This text spans from page 33 to page 94 of the 2326 pages of this holy book of the Sikhs at www.sridasam.org....
(praises of God) - Chandi Charitar I & II (the character of goddess ChandiChandiChandi or Chandika is the supreme Goddess of Devi Mahatmya also known as Chandi or Durga Sapthashati. Chandi is described as the Supreme reality who is a combination of Mahakali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati...
) - Chandi di VarChandi di VarChandi di Var, also known as Var Sri Bhagauti Ji is a composition included in the 5th chapter of Dasam Granth. It is based on an episode from the Sanskrit work Markandeya Purana, and describes the conflict between the Gods and the Demons...
(a ballad to describe goddess DurgaDurgaFor the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
) - Gian Prabodh (the awakening of knowledge)
- Chaubis Avtar (24 incarnations of VishnuVishnuVishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
ordered by Supreme God) - Brahm Avtar (incarnation of BrahmaBrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
) - Rudar Avtar (incarnation of ShivaShivaShiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
) - Shabad Hazare (ten shabads)
- Swayyae (33 stanzas)
- Khalsa Mehma (the praises of the Khalsa)
- Shaster Nam Mala ( a list of weapons)
- Triya Charitar (the character of women)
- ZafarnamahZafarnamahZafarnāmah means the Epistle of Victory and is the name given to the letter sent by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib in 1705 to the Mughal Emperor of India, Aurangzeb. The letter is written in Persian verse....
(epistle of victory, a letter written to Emperor AurangzebAurangzebAbul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
) - Hikayats. (stories)
The following are the main bani
Bani
Gurbani is the term used by Sikhs to refer to any compositions of the Sikh Gurus. Gurbani is composed of two words: 'Gur' meaning 'the Guru's' and 'bani' meaning 'word'....
s regularly recited by Sikhs:
- Jaap SahibJaap SahibJaap Sahib is the morning prayer of the Sikhs. The Prayer or Bani was composed by the tenth Sikh Master, Guru Gobind Singh. This Bani is one of 5 Banis that a Sikh must recite everyday and is recited by the Panj Pyare while preparing Amrit on the occasion of Amrit Sanchar , a ceremony held to admit...
' - Benti Chaupai
- Amrit SavaiyeAmrit SavaiyeSudha Swayas was composed by Guru Gobind Singh to give an opinion on how to worship God. This Bani appears in the Dasam Granth on pages 13 to 15.-Translation:Below is the English transliteration and translation:*Ik Oangkar waheguru ji ki fateh....
The languages used in the Granth are:
- BrajBrij BhashaBraj Bhasha , also called Brij Bhasha , Braj Bhakha , or Dehaati Zabaan , is a Central Indian language closely related to Hindi...
- HindiHindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
- PanjabiPunjabi languagePunjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
- PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
Bhai Gurdas Varan
Varan Bhai Gurdas is the name given to the 40 Varan (Chapters) of writing by Bhai GurdasBhai Gurdas
Bhai Gurdas was a Punjabi Sikh writer, historian, preacher and religious figure. He was the original scribe of the Guru Granth Sahib and a companion of four of the Sikh Gurus.-Early life:...
ji. They have been referred to as the "Key to the Sri Guru Granth Sahib" by Guru Arjan Dev
Guru Arjan Dev
Guru Arjan Dev Ji was the fifth of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism. He was born in Goindval, Punjab, India, the youngest son of Guru Ram Das and Bibi Bhani, the daughter of Guru Amar Das. He became the Guru of the Sikhs on 1 September 1581 after the death of his father Guru Ram Das. Guru Arjan died in...
, the fifth Sikh Guru. He was the first scribe of Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...
and a scholar of great repute. From his work its clear that he had mastery of various Indian languages and had studied many ancient Indian religious scriptures.
Each of the 40 chapters of "Varan Bhai Gurdas" consists of a differing number of Pauris (sections, paragraphs). The composition is a collection of detailed commentary and explanation of theology and the ethics of Sikh beliefs as outlined by the Gurus. It explains the Sikh terms like sangat
Sangat
Sangat is a Sikh term with its origin in the Sanskrit word 'sangh', which means company, fellowship and association. In Sikh vocabulary, the word has a special connotation. It stands for the body of men and women who meet religiously, especially in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib...
, haumai
Haumai
Haumai is the self-centeredness of a human, which can only be overcome through meditation on God’s name , Simran and Sewa in Sikhism....
, "Gun", Gurmukh and Manmukh, Sat, Naam
Naam
Nāma is the Sanskrit for "name". Spiritually, it is the principal method or tool of meditation, which is meant to unite the soul with the Supreme Soul....
, etc. Many of the principles of Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
are explained in simple terms by Bhai Sahib and at times in many different ways.
Other Scriptures
- Bhai Nand Lal's Work
- Bhai Gurdas Kabits Savaiyas
- Hukamnamas of the Gurus
Digitization of Scriptures
Panjab Digital LibraryPanjab Digital Library
The Panjab Digital Library is a NGO that is digitizing and preserving cultural heritage of Panjab since 2003. There are many historically significant documents stored and made available online. Its scope covers Sikh and Punjabi culture. The library funded by The Nanakshahi Trust was finally...
in collaboration with the Nanakshahi Trust took up digitization of Sikh scriptures in 2003. Thousands of manuscripts has been digitized and are available online at Panjab Digital Library.
External links
- Panjab Digital Library
- Gurbani
- Sri Dasam Granth Report & Contents
- www.sikhs.org
- Sri Dasam Granth Sahib ji Website
- www.hrusa.org
- www.realsikhism.com
- http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/discourses-in-english/16516-kirtan-with-english-sub-titles-4.html
- Gurudwara.Net Online Guru Granth Sahib with Hindi, Punjabi and English translation.