Guru Granth Sahib

The Guru Granth Sahib is the sacred scripture of the Sikhs and, for Sikhs, the eternal living Guru. It is a book of 1,430 pages, called angs (limbs), and is the same in every printed edition: page and line numbers are the same everywhere, which allows anyone to give a precise reference such as "Ang 1".

How it was compiled

Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Guru, compiled the first volume, called the Adi Granth, in 1604, using the writings of the earlier Gurus and of saints from other traditions. It was installed in the Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar. Later Guru Gobind Singh Ji added the hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, and in 1708 declared that the Guru after him would be the Guru Granth Sahib.

Whose writings

It contains the compositions of six Sikh Gurus (Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Guru Angad Dev Ji, Guru Amar Das Ji, Guru Ram Das Ji, Guru Arjan Dev Ji and Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji), of fifteen saints called Bhagats, including Kabir, Ravidas, Namdev and Sheikh Farid, and of other poets and bards. Hindus and Muslims, people of different castes, are among the voices, which is part of why Sikhs value it as a book of universal teaching.

Ragas

Most of the text is arranged by raga, the musical mode in which it is meant to be sung, and the scripture has 31 principal ragas. Each hymn carries the name of its raga as a heading. This is why Sikh worship is centred on kirtan, the singing of hymns.

Respect

In the gurdwara the Guru Granth Sahib is installed on a raised seat under a canopy, and people bow before it. The reading of the whole scripture is called an Akhand Path when done without a break and a Sehaj Path when done at an easier pace. See also reading Gurbani with respect.

Questions people ask

This page gives general information in plain words. For how to practise, ask your granthi or a teacher at your gurdwara.