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History & Composition of Siri Guru Granth Sahib From about 1479, when Guru Nanak was abon the evenings. From about 1540, Guru Angad then from 1552 Guru Amar Das and then from 1574 Guru Ram Das all composedshabads, (hymns) and the Sikhs began to collect these in books called Pothis. Chanting these shabads, the Sikhs became vehicles for the vibrations of the Gurbani, the "Word of God", and they achieved a state of higher consciousness, a transcendent meditative union with God and GurEven early in Sikh history, however, there were malcontents, and pretenders to the Throne of Spirituality. Prithia, the elder brother of Guru Arjan (aka Guru Arjun), composed his own hymns and passed them off as writings of Guru Nanak. There were many different collections of shabads, and many differing versions of the same shabads. Guru Arjan realized that a standardized, authenticated collection of the Guru’s Bani was needed to preserve the integrity of the shabad. The most complete collection of shabads of Guru Nanak, Guru Angad and Guru Amar Das was in the possession of Mohan, a son of Guru Amar Das. Guru Arjan sent Bhai Gurdas to Mohan’s home in Goindwal, to request this collection of shabads. Mohan felt slighted at having been passed over for Guruship — his father, Guru Amar Das, had seen the Divine Light in Guru Ram Das, and had bestowed the Guruship upon him. Mohan refused to answer the door when Bhai Gurdas knocked, and Bhai Gurdas returned to Guru Arjan empty-handed. Guru Arjan then sent Bhai Buddha to Mohan’s house. Bhai Buddha was by then a very old and respected man in the Sikh community, having been a disciple of all the Gurus, from Guru Nanak through Guru Arjan. When Mohan did not answer Bhai Buddha’s knock, he entered the house anyway. Inside, he found Mohan in a deep meditative trance. Mohan’s younger brother convinced Bhai Buddha not to disturb him, and Bhai Buddha also retured to Guru Arjan empty-handed. So it was that in 1603, Guru Arjan found it necessary to proceed himself to Mohan’s house, to retrieve the shabads. When Guru Arjan approached his house, he called out in a sweet voice, but there was no response. The Guru sat upon his doorstep and began to sing, Mohan is a name of God, calling upon Him as the Beloved. When Guru Arjan sang this Hymn, he was singing the Praises of God, in the form of a song to win Mohan’s heart. Mohan threw open the window and called out to Guru Arjan, "You stole the Guruship from my family, and now you come to steal what remains of my heritage!" Guru Arjan responded with sweet words, "Oh Mohan, your words are like no others, and your behavior is exemplary. Oh Mohan, you believe in the One God and treat all others as garbage. Says Nanak, please preserve my honor - all your servants seek Your Sanctuary." Mohan grumbled and protested, muttering about his claim to the shabads. But finally, he came down and sat by Guru Arjan, as the Guru continued to sing, "Oh Mohan, the Sadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, meditates upon You, and yearns to obtain the Blessed Vision of Your Darshan. Oh Mohan, at the very last moment of life, death shall not approach You. All who worship You in thought, word and deed shall obtain Your Gifts. Even the impure, the stupid and the foolish obtain Divine Knowledge upon seeing You. Says Nanak, Oh God, You are present within all, You are above all." Gazing upon Guru Arjan’s enlightened face, feeling the love and radiance emanating from him, hearing the sweet words of love and humility, Mohan’s heart was softened, and opened at last. He acknowledged Guru Arjun’s true place upon the throne of Guru Nanak, and gave all of the shabads in his possession to Guru Arjan. Guru Arjan then set to compile the shabads into a single volume, the Adi Granth. He sifted through the shabads which had been passed down from the first four Gurus, and filtered out those which had been added by imposters. Bhai Gurdas was the scribe who recorded the words of Guru Arjan. When he asked Guru Arjan how he could distinguish between the true and the false shabads, Guru Arjan replied, "Even in a great herd of cows and calves, the mother cow will recognize the cry of her calf, above all others. Just so, the True Shabad resonates truly, and is easily distinguished from the false." Guru Arjan added a great many of his own shabads to those of Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das and Guru Ram Das. He also added shabads of fifteen Hindu and Muslim Saints, among them Kabir, Ravi Das, Naam Dev, Trilochan and Sheikh Farid. This was the first time any religion incorporated the works of sincere devotees of other religions into its own scripture; it reflects the universality of thought which underlies the Sikh belief in One God, and the one family of humanity as children of God. Guru Arjan left some blank pages in the Granth. When Bhai Gurdas asked the purpose of this, he answered that one of the Gurus to follow him would add the shabads in their proper place at the proper time. In time the shabads of Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Manifestation of the Guru’s Light, were added by Guru Gobind Singh and thus the Sri Guru Granth Sahib was complete. The Adi Granth was finally completed in 1604, and installed in the Golden Temple; Baba Buddha was appointed Guru Granthi or Head priest. Guru Arjan told his Sikhs that the Adi Granth was the embodiment of the Guru, and should be treated with all the respect accorded to himself. When Guru Arjan first completed the Adi Granth, he placed it upon his own bed and slept on the floor. Its words were written joined up, which nowadays is hard to follow. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last of the Sikh Gurus to take human form, dictated the entire Granth Sahib at Talwandi Sabo now called Damdama Sahib. Dhir Mal, the son of Baba Gurditta and grandson of Guru Hargobind, had taken possession of the Adi Granth; he refused to give it to Guru Gobind Singh when the Guru asked for it. Dhir Mal taunted the Guru, "If you are a Guru, then prepare your own." Guru Gobind Singh proceeded to dictate it to Bhai Mani Singh, who recorded it on paper. While some have questioned the authenticity of this story, it is well for us to remember that, of course, Guru Gobind Singh was no ordinary person at all. And, in the old days of bards and story-tellers, it was not unusual for them to recite from memory entire epic poems such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. Guru Gobind Singh included the Shabads of his father, Guru Teg Bahadur, but he did not include his own Shabads; instead, he placed them in a separate Granth, the Dasam Granth. The Dasam Granth is not revered as Guru, however. The great task of re-writing the entire Guru was finally completed in 1705. The "Damdama Sahib Bir" as it is now called was then taken to Nanded where it was installed. Guru Gobind Singh installed this expanded version of the Adi Granth as Guru on October 20, l708. This day is celebrated today as Guru Gadi Day. At the time of his death, he declared that the Word of God embodied in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib was to be Guru for all time. He said, "O Beloved Khalsa, let any who desire to behold me, behold the Guru Granth. Obey the Granth Sahib, for it is the visible body of the Guru. Let any who desire to meet me, diligently search its Bani." Thus the Word of God, which has manifested as Guru in Nanak, and had passed through the ten incarnations of Guru, was now returned to its form as the Word, the Bani, the Shabad. Structure of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib Within it's 1430 pages, the shabads (hymns) of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib are arranged in thirty-one Ragas, the traditional Indian musical measures and scales. Within the Ragas, they are arranged by order of the Sikh Gurus, with the shabads of the Hindu and Muslim Saints following. The shabads are written in various meters and rhythms, and are organized accordingly. For instance, Ashtapadi - eight steps, or Panch-padi - five steps. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurmukhi script, but the shabads were written in many different languages including Panjabi, Sanskrit and Persian. The Adi Granth starts with the a non-raga section with Japji as the first entry. This is followed by thirty-one ragas in the following serial order: Sri raga, Manjh, Gauri, Asa, Gujri, Devagandhari, Bihagara, Wadahans, Sorath, Dhanasri, Jaitsri, Todi, Bairari, Tilang, Suhi, Bilaval, Gond (Gaund), Ramkali, Nut-Narayan, Mali-Gaura, Maru, Tukhar, Kedara, Bhairav (Bhairo), Basant, Sarang, Malar, Kanra, Kalyan, Prabhati and Jaijawanti. Shit im fucking sexy bebe oh yeh Using the Gurmukhi Bir and the English Translation In the West, it has become common to use the English translation of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib in Gurdwara programs and Akhand Paaths, because many of the western Sikhs are not fluent in Gurmukhi. This has served to bring many to the presence of the Guru who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to experience the "Shabad Guru" (literally "Word Guru"). It should be noted, however, that it is ideal to install the full Gurmukhi Bir in the Gurdwara in order to fully experience and develop a relationship with the Guru. The English translation may also be installed on a separate Palki (special throne) on the side and serve to better illuminate the sangat in the meaning of the words of the Guru. The English translation may be used during an Akhand Paath in which the participants are not fluent in Gurmukhi. However, if a special Gurdwara program is being planned, the English Akhand Paath days can be accommodated so that the full Gurmukhi Bir of Sri Guru Granth Sahib presides. A Sikh is encouraged (but not a must) to learn to read Gurmukhi so as to deepen his or her experience of Gurbani and so that the full body of the Guru may be installed in the Gurdwara. Note: English and other translations of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji should be considered as just another "style" (language) of talking/deitating/praising the guru. Trying to force a person to learn punjabi/gurmukhi is highly undesirable. Printing The first printed copy of the Adi Granth was made in 1864. Since the early 20th century the standard Guru Granth Sahib has been a standard edition with 1430 pages; thus a text can be easily referred to by page number. The Granth is printed in an authorised printing press in the basement of the Gurdwara Ramsar in Amritsar. Any resulting printer's waste that has any of the sacred text on, is cremated at Goindval. Comments on Sri Guru Granth Sahib by Non-Sikhs This is what Max Arthur Macauliffe wrote about the authenticity of the Guru's teaching The Sikh religion differs as regards the authenticity of its dogmas from most other theological systems. Many of the great teachers the world has known, have not left a line of their own composition and we only know what they taught through tradition or second-hand information. If Pythagoras wrote of his tenets, his writings have not descended to us. We know the teachings of Socrates only through the writings of Plato and Xenophanes. Buddha has left no written memorial of his teaching. Kungfu-tze, known to Europeans as Confuscius, left no documents in which he detailed the principles of his moral and social system. The founder of Christianity did not reduce his doctrines to writing and for them we are obliged to trust to the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Arabian Prophet did not himself reduce to writing the chapters of the Quran. They were written or compiled by his adherents and followers. But the compositions of the Sikh Gurus are preserved and we know at first hand what they taught. Miss Pearl S. Buck, a Nobel laureate, gives the following comment on receiving the First English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib (The Sikh Holy Book): (From the foreword to the English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib by Gopal Singh M.A. Ph.D. 1960)(bold added later) Message of Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib provides unique and unequalled guidance and advice to the whole of the human race. It is the torch that will lead humanity out of Kaljug, (the dark era) to a life in peace, tranquillity and spiritual enlightenment for all the nations of the World. The main message can be summaried as: Care & Protocol to be Observed Personal Behaviour Any person carrying out any Service or Sewa for SGGS MUST observe the following: While in the vicinity of SGGS, everyone should observe the following: Environment On The Move Whilst the Guru is on the move the following should be observed: Other Considerations Trivia | |||||||||
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