Guru Granth Sahib ji

 Guru Granth Sahib ji (Adi Granth)

Adi Granth (or Aad Granth, literally "the FIRST/Beginning scripture" - as in the Mool Mantar; "Aad Sach, Jug Aad Sach", True in the Beginning, True for All time) is the early compilation of the Sikh Scriptures by Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Sikh Guru, in 1604. This Granth ("collection of bani") is the Holy Scripture of the Sikhs. The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh added further holy Shabads to this Granth during the period 1704 to 1706. Then in 1708, before his death, Guru Gobind Singh affirmed the Adi Granth as the perpetual Guru of the Sikhs and the Granth then became known as the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

The Sacred scripture text

• 30 August 1604: Completion of Adi Granth

• 1 September 1604: Adi Granth installed for the first time at Harmandir Sahib by Guru Arjan Dev ji

• 1705: The Takht Damdama Sahib Bir was completed by Guru Gobind Singh from memory

• 20 October 1708: Installation of the Guru Granth Sahib as eternal Guru

The original copy of the scripture, called Adi Granth, compiled and authenticated by Guru Arjan Dev still exists today and is kept at Kartarpur which is a town about 15 km. north west of the city of Jalandhar, Punjab, India. It contains the hymns of both Hindu and Muslim saints.

Compilation

Illuminated Adi Granth folio with nisan of Guru Gobind Singh. The manuscript is of the Lahore recension, late 17th to early 18th century.

One of the classic simplifications of Sikh history pertains to the preparation of the sacred scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. The event is generally described in the briefest terms. The Holy Volume was compiled by Guru Arjan (AD 1563-1606) and the first copy was calligraphed by Bhai Gurdas at his dictation — this is all we learn from most of the sources. What amount of planning, minute attention to detail and went into this work is slurred over.
An old text which gives some detailed information is the "Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi". Written in A.D. 1718, this, in fact, is the oldest source. Although it does not go into the technical and literary minutiae, it narrates the entire process from the beginning of the transcription of the Holy Volume to its installation in the newly built Harimandir Sahib at Amritsar.

Why Guru Arjan undertook the task is variously explained. One commonly accepted assumption is that the codification of the Gurus' compositions into authorized volume was begun by him with a view to preserving them from garbling by schismatic groups and others. According to the Mahima Prakash (A.D. 1776), he set to work with the announcement: "As the Panth (Community) has been revealed unto the world, so there must be the Granth (Book), too."