The Guru Granth Sahib is the central scripture of Sikhism. Sikhs regard it as their final and eternal Guru, the teacher that followed the ten human Gurus. It is a single large volume of 1,430 standard pages, called angs, and it is made up of hymns rather than narrative or law. The hymns are set to music and arranged mainly by raga, the melodic framework in which they are meant to be sung. The book opens with the Mool Mantar and the Japji Sahib, the morning prayer composed by Guru Nanak, the founder of the faith.
The text was first compiled in 1604 by Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, who gathered the hymns of the earlier Gurus together with verses by Hindu and Muslim saints such as Kabir, Ravidas and Sheikh Farid. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, prepared the final version in 1705 and added the hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur. In 1708 he declared that no further human Guru would follow him and that the scripture itself would be the Guru of the Sikhs from then on. The original is written in Gurmukhi script in a mix of languages often grouped together as Sant Bhasha. The edition linked here for English readers is the translation by Gurbachan Singh Talib, and a free sentence-by-sentence English version is also available through the Internet Archive.
First lines
ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥ — transliterated: Ik Onkār, Sat Nām, Kartā Purakh, Nirbhau, Nirvair, Akāl Mūrat, Ajūnī, Saibhang, Gur Prasād.
Contents
The Mūl Mantar and Japji Sahib — the opening, composed by Guru Nanak
Sodar Rehras and Kirtan Sohila — the evening and night prayers
The 31 rāgas — the main body of hymns, arranged by musical measure
Compositions of the Bhagats — saints including Kabir, Nāmdev, Ravidās and Sheikh Farīd
Closing sections — the Saloks, the Mundāvanī and the Rāgmālā
Reception
The Guru Granth Sahib is unusual among the world's scriptures in being treated as a living teacher rather than only as a book. In a gurdwara it is installed with formal respect, read aloud, and sung as kirtan, and it sits at the centre of Sikh worship and of life events such as naming, marriage and death. Scholars study it for its compilation history and for the way it brings together the voices of the Sikh Gurus and of saints from outside the Sikh tradition. English translations have a contested record: the first full one, by Ernest Trumpp in the nineteenth century, was widely judged to misrepresent the text and to read it through a hostile lens, while later versions by Max Arthur Macauliffe, Gopal Singh, Gurbachan Singh Talib and others are considered more faithful. A recurring point in reviews is that the poetry and the musical setting of the original are difficult to carry into English, so no single translation is treated as definitive.
Frequently asked
What is the Guru Granth Sahib?
It is the central scripture of Sikhism and, for Sikhs, their eternal Guru. It is a single volume of 1,430 pages made up of hymns set to music and arranged by raga. It opens with the Mool Mantar and the Japji Sahib, the morning prayer of Guru Nanak.
Who wrote the Guru Granth Sahib?
The hymns are the work of six of the ten Sikh Gurus, together with verses by fifteen Hindu and Muslim saints, called bhagats, such as Kabir, Ravidas and Sheikh Farid, and by several court bards. Guru Arjan compiled the first version in 1604, and Guru Gobind Singh prepared the final version in 1705.
Why do Sikhs treat it as a living Guru?
Before his death in 1708, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, declared that the line of human Gurus would end with him and that the scripture would serve as the Guru of the Sikhs from then on. This is why it is given the title Sahib and treated with the respect owed to a teacher.