L706: Fill & Download for Free

The History of Guru Granth SahibThrough his Hymns and Prayers, Guru Nanak inspired and uplifted humankind to live a life of truth, righteousness and spirituality. These enlightening words were sung by his companions, Bala and Mardana, and by the Sangats which grew up around Guru Nanak. In his later years, at Kartarpur, it became customary for the members of the Sikh community to sing certain hymns on a daily basis: Japji in the morning; So Dar and So Purakh, the beginnings of Rehiras, in the evenings.Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das and Guru Ram Das all composed Shabads, and the Sikhs began to collect these in books called Pothis. Chanting these Shabads, the Sikhs became vehicles for the vibrations of this Divine sound current and they achieved a state of higher consciousness, a transcendent meditative union with God and Guru.Early in Sikh history, however, there were malcontents and pretenders to this Throne of Spirituality.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.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.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 thirty-six Hindu and Muslim Saints, among them Sant 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.The Adi Granth was completed in 1604 and installed in the Golden Temple. Baba Buddha was appointed Guru Granthi. 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.Guru Gobind Singh included the Shabads of his father, Guru Teg Bahadur, but he did not include his own Shabads.Guru Gobind Singh installed the Shri Guru Granth Sahib as Guru on October 30, l706. This day is celebrated today as Guru Gaddi Day. At the time of his death, he declared that the Word of God, embodied in the Shri Guru Granthas Sahib, was to be Guru for all time.History and Composition of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib