From the Book – Understanding Guru Granth Sahib by Satjit Wadva
…. I have studied the scriptures of the great religions, but I do not find elsewhere the same power of appeal to the heart and mind as I find here in these volumes (English translation of Siri Guru Granth Sahib). They are compact in spite of their length, and are a revelation of the vast reach of the human heart, varying from the most noble concept of God, to the recognition and indeed the insistence upon the practical needs of the human body. There is something strangely modern about these scriptures and this puzzles me until I learned that they are in fact comparatively modern, compiled as late as the 16th century, when explorers were beginning to discover that the globe upon which we all live is a single entity divided only by arbitrary lines of our own making. Perhaps this sense of unity is the source of power I find in these volumes. They speak to a person of any religion or of none. They speak for the human heart and the searching mind. …
– Pearl S. Buck, Nobel Laureate
The Guru Granth Sahib or Adi Granth, is the holy Granth (holy book) and the final Guru of the Sikhs which is more than just a scripture of the Sikhs and contains the actual words and teachings of the Gurus and various saints from other religions especially Hinduism and Islam. Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the tenth of the Sikh Gurus, affirmed the sacred text Adi Granth as his successor, terminating the line of human Gurus, and elevating the text to Guru Granth Sahib. In the last stages of his mortal life Guru Gobind Singh said that the Sikhs were to treat the Granth Sahib as their next Guru. Guru Ji said: “Sab Sikhan ko hukam hai Guru Manyo Granth” meaning “All Sikhs are commanded to acknowledge the Granth as their Guru.”
Since then its text has remained the holy scripture of the Sikhs, worshipped as the living embodiment of the Ten Gurus. The role of Guru Granth Sahib, as a source or guide of prayer, is pivotal in worship in Sikhism.
Siri Guru Granth Sahib is a voluminous text of 1430 angs (pages), compiled and composed during the period of Sikh Gurus, from 1469 to 1708. It is a collection of hymns or shabad, which describe the qualities of God and why one should meditate on God’s name. The Adi Granth was first compiled by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev (1563–1606), from hymns of the first five Sikh gurus and other great saints, including those of the Hindu and Muslim faith. After the demise of the tenth Sikh guru many handwritten copies were prepared for distribution by Baba Deep Singh. Written in the Gurmukhi script, predominantly in archaic Punjabi with occasional use of other languages including Braj, Punjabi, Khariboli (Hindi), Sanskrit, regional dialects, and Persian, often coalesced under the generic title of Sant Bhasha.
Sikhs consider the Siri Guru Granth Sahib a spiritual guide for all mankind for all generations to come, and it plays a central role in guiding the Sikhs’ way of life. Its place in Sikh devotional life is based on two fundamental principles; that the text is divine revelation, and that all answers regarding religion and morality can be discovered within it. Its hymns and teachings are called Gurbani or “Word of the guru” and sometimes Dhur ki bani or “Word of God”. Thus, in Sikh theology, the revealed divine word is the Guru.
Guru Granth Sahib is an encyclopaedia in song. It is a compendium of philosophy in verse, a treasury of the music of saints. Gurbani has descended from the divine and received by mystics who put it in the form of Word (shabad). It charts the pathways to the mountain peak of highest realisation. It is a guide to social reformation, a clarion call to equality of all classes, races, and religions — long before the word ‘secular’ came into vogue. It is a coffer containing secrets of yogis, Sufis, saints of all paths and ages—locked to the blind, open to hearts filled with devotion. Adi Granth, the First Book, not in chronological time but because it is a vehicle of the First Truths that dawn when the supplicant approaches the throne of the Timeless Person, Akal Purukh, and ‘by His Grace’ all one’s exterior openings close, ‘one’s self is beautified, the light shines, and all the lotuses of consciousness come into full bloom.’
The voices of thirty-six saints and servants of God sing the nearly six thousand songs as though a single choir in the cathedral of the universal mind. Spanning more than four centuries of exterior crises and simultaneously interior revelations, they all agree not only in their themes but even in words which are guiding beacon to people of different faiths and position in life and society for more than three centuries. Though they spoke languages as diverse as the Sanskrit of Jayadeva and Persian of Baba Farid, by some magic of the mystical unity of minds the languages merge and become just the Word (shabad), the sacred speech (bani).
In the rush and humdrum of modern life we often fail to absorb the true meaning of the Holy Granth even when we read the text. This may make someone appear religious even to himself, but the teachings of the Gurus require all human beings to be god fearing and respect life and its dignity.
~ Jasjit Singh, Air Commodore (Late)
About the Book – Understanding Guru Granth Sahib by Satjit Wadva
For the beginner
Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, is considered the living guru. When the tenth master, Guru Gobind Singh declared that after him there will be no human guru, he instructed his followers to seek guidance from the eleventh and eternal guru, the Guru Granth Sahib.
Guru Granth Sahib is unique in more ways than one. First of all, the entire voluminous scripture of 1430 pages is composed in poetry and can be sung with full-throated ease. Almost all of it has been set to music based on 31 ragas. It contains verses composed not only by the Gurus but also by Hindu and Muslim bhagats and others.
Understanding Guru Granth Sahib by Satjit Wadva is a beginner’s guide to approach and understand Guru Granth Sahib. It gives a glimpse of what it contains and outlines the context of how it came to be revered as the living guru. While it summarises the essence of the Guru Granth Sahib in simple and easy-to-understand language, it highlights the beauty of the poetic diction, the economy of words, the depth of thought and its rendition in the prescribed ragas— all this to awaken a thirst in the seekers’ hearts so that they approach their guru directly without depending on interpreters or intermediaries.
For those who cannot read the Gurmukhi script, this book gives a taste of the original Gurbani through the transliteration and translation of three major compositions: Japuji, with which the Guru Granth Sahib begins, Asa-di-Var, which is sung in the prescribed raga and tune in the early hours of dawn, and Salok Mahalla Naunva, with which the Guru Granth Sahib concludes.
It is a humble attempt to establish a link between the disciple and the master.
~From the foreword to the English translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib by Dr. Gopal Singh, 1960.
