Adi Granth: Guru Arjan Dev's everlasting gift



(Guru Arjan Dev dictating the Adi Granth)

Guru Arjan Dev accomplished many wondrous things during his quarter-century as Fifth of the Ten Sikh Gurus, yet none was as wondrous as his compilation of the Adi Granth.

“Adi Granth” means “First Book” – aptly named because it was the first compilation of the Sikh scriptures to date.  In 1604 CE, Guru Arjan Dev not only finished compiling the works of his four predecessors (Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, and Guru Ram Das), but also added his own compositions (plus some from saints of the Hindu and Muslim faiths). 

In order to obtain many of these works, Guru Arjan Dev travelled with his disciples to sites connected with the previous Sikh Gurus.  After the works were gathered, they were placed on a bejeweled palanquin that was carried by the disciples.  The Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi, a 1718 CE historical text, reports that Guru Arjan Dev then walked barefoot behind the palanquin in deference to the sacred wisdom of his predecessors.

The Gurbilas also reports that when the procession arrived at Amritsar, Guru Arjan Dev went in gratitude to the Harmandar Sahib (meaning “Temple of God,” but popularly called “Golden Temple”).  He then sought out a particularly dense spot in the surrounding forest.  It was there that he and Bhai Gurdas (nephew of Guru Amar Das) began working on the Adi Granth.

This painstaking labor was not just a matter of editorial “cutting and pasting.”  Determinations regarding authenticity had to be made while sifting through a vast amount of material.  Materials had to be organized within specific formats, and hymns had to be arranged within specific patterns.  Upon completion, there were almost 7,000 included hymns.

Years later, Guru Gobind Singh (the Tenth Sikh Guru) not only added material to the Adi Granth (such as the

hymns of the Ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur), but also transformed the Granth itself into the eleventh and

everlasting Sikh Guru.  This non-human Sikh Guru is now referred to as the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (SGGS).

Resources

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Adi_Granth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Arjan_Dev

http://www.sikhs.org/granth.htm

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Ten_Sikh_Gurus

Copyright June 16, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved