# Guru Granth Sahib, the Eternal Guru

> The Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh scripture and, since 1708, the Sikh Guru. Guru Gobind Singh ended the line of human Gurus at Nanded by conferring the Guruship on the volume, and Sikhs have followed no living Guru since. It runs to 1,430 angs, carries compositions by six of the ten Gurus alongside fifteen bhagats from outside the Sikh line, and is organised by raag rather than by author or chronology.

- **Literally:** The Guru that is the Granth, a granth being a volume or book
- **Origin:** Compiled in Gurmukhi script, in Punjabi, Braj, Sanskrit, Persian and other languages of the period
- **Established by:** Compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604; made the eternal Guru by Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded in 1708
- **Where it appears:** 1,430 angs, arranged by raag after the opening compositions
- **Where you meet it:** Installed in every gurdwara, where its presence is what makes the room a gurdwara at all
- **This page:** https://sevahey.com/sikhism/guru-granth-sahib/

## What Sevahey does not do

Sevahey publishes no text from the Guru Granth Sahib: no Gurmukhi, no transliteration, no translation and no recording. These pages explain the volume and never reproduce it, and for the words themselves a devotee should read the volume or use a gurudwara's own resource. Sevahey also does not arrange an Akhand Path or a Sehaj Path, both of which run through a gurudwara directly, and does not sell or supply copies of the volume.

This page explains a Sikh term and does not reproduce scripture. Sevahey publishes no Gurmukhi text, transliteration, translation or recording of any bani; for the words themselves, read the Guru Granth Sahib or use a gurudwara's own resource.

## About Guru Granth Sahib

The volume was compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604 as the Adi Granth, written out by Bhai Gurdas and installed in the Harmandir Sahib with Baba Buddha as its first granthi. Guru Gobind Singh prepared the final recension at Damdama Sahib in 1706, adding his father Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns and, pointedly, none of his own. Two years later at Nanded, dying of an assassin's wounds, he conferred the Guruship on the book.

What that succession means in practice is unusual. The Guru Granth Sahib is not treated as a text about the Guru but as the Guru, and the treatment follows: it rests on a raised platform under a canopy, is fanned with a chaur, is put to rest at night and brought out in the morning, and a gurdwara is defined as any room where it is installed. A decision taken before it carries the weight a decision before a living Guru would.

The contents are more open than the word scripture suggests. Six Gurus contributed, and alongside them stand fifteen bhagats who were never Sikh at all: Kabir the weaver, Ravidas the leather-worker whose caste made him untouchable, Namdev, and the Muslim Sufi Farid among them. Guru Arjan put a low-caste tanner and a Muslim divine inside the same volume as the Gurus, which is a statement about where truth may be found rather than an act of anthologising.

The arrangement is musical. After the opening compositions the volume is ordered by raag, thirty-one of them, and within each raag by author in order of succession. That is why most of it is sung as kirtan rather than read aloud, and why Japji Sahib, which carries no raag heading, sits outside the scheme at the front and is recited instead.

## Who is in the Guru Granth Sahib

_Six of the ten Gurus contributed. Three of the others composed nothing, and Guru Gobind Singh kept his own work out deliberately._

| Contributor | Hymns | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Guru Arjan | 2,218 | The largest contribution, and the compiler of the 1604 volume |
| Guru Nanak | 974 | Includes Japji Sahib, placed first |
| Guru Amar Das | 907 | Includes Anand Sahib in Raag Ramkali |
| Guru Ram Das | 679 | Includes the Lavan sung at every Anand Karaj |
| Guru Tegh Bahadur | 115 | Added by Guru Gobind Singh at Damdama Sahib in 1706 |
| Guru Angad | 62 | Saloks; his larger contribution was standardising Gurmukhi |
| Fifteen bhagats | Varies | Kabir, Ravidas, Namdev and the Sufi Farid among them, none of whom were Sikh |

## How the volume is treated

_The consequences of a book holding the office of Guru._

| Practice | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| Palki and canopy | Rests on a raised platform beneath a canopy, never on the floor and never below the sangat |
| Chaur | A whisk waved over it, the attendance owed to a sovereign |
| Sukhasan and Prakash | Put to rest at night and brought out ceremonially in the morning |
| Hukamnama | Opened at random and read, taken as the Guru's order for that moment |
| Defining a gurdwara | Any room where it is installed is a gurdwara; without it, a building is not one |

## Dates

- **1604** — Guru Arjan completes the Adi Granth with Bhai Gurdas as scribe and installs it in the Harmandir Sahib
- **1706** — Guru Gobind Singh prepares the final recension at Damdama Sahib, adding Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns
- **1708** — At Nanded, Guru Gobind Singh confers the Guruship on the volume, ending the line of human Gurus

## Where accounts differ

The count of hymns attributed to each Guru varies between sources and counting conventions, which is why the figures here are given as the most widely cited rather than as settled: Guru Nanak appears as 974 or 976, Guru Arjan as 2,218 or 2,216, Guru Tegh Bahadur as 115 or 118. The number of bhagats is usually given as fifteen, though some enumerations differ depending on whether certain contributors are counted separately. None of this affects the volume itself, whose text has been fixed since 1706; it affects only how the contents are tallied.

## Where this connects on Sevahey

- [Guru Arjan](https://sevahey.com/gurus/guru-arjan/): Compiling the Adi Granth in 1604, building the Harmandir Sahib, and the first Sikh martyrdom
- [Guru Gobind Singh](https://sevahey.com/gurus/guru-gobind-singh/): Founding the Khalsa in 1699 and conferring the Guruship on the Guru Granth Sahib in 1708
- [Guru Angad](https://sevahey.com/gurus/guru-angad/): Standardising the Gurmukhi script and making the first collection of Guru Nanak's hymns
- [Guru Tegh Bahadur](https://sevahey.com/gurus/guru-tegh-bahadur/): Founding Anandpur Sahib, and martyrdom at Delhi for the religious freedom of Kashmiri Pandits
- [Japji Sahib Path](https://sevahey.com/paths/japji-sahib/): Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the first Guru
- [Akhand Path](https://sevahey.com/paths/akhand-path/): Not a composition. A reading of the whole Guru Granth Sahib, all 1,430 angs
- [Sehaj Path](https://sevahey.com/paths/sehaj-path/): Not a composition. A reading of the whole Guru Granth Sahib, all 1,430 angs
- [Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple)](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/golden-temple/): Amritsar, Punjab
- [Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/damdama-sahib/): Talwandi Sabo, Punjab
- [Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/hazur-sahib/): Nanded, Maharashtra

## What can be offered in your name

An ardas is spoken standing before the Guru Granth Sahib, and a hukamnama is taken from it immediately afterward, the volume opened at random and read as the Guru's answer for that moment. That hukamnama is part of what a verified Sevak sends you: the granthi speaks your name, your gotra and your request aloud, and you receive the reading along with same-day proof.

- **Seva:** Ardas — https://sevahey.com/seva/ardas/
- **Performed by:** a verified, named Sevak
- **Proof:** GPS-tagged photos, the hukamnama where it applies, timing, and a handwritten note — usually same day

## Questions

### What is the Guru Granth Sahib?

The Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh scripture and, since 1708, the Sikh Guru itself. Guru Gobind Singh ended the line of human Gurus by conferring the Guruship on the volume at Nanded. It runs to 1,430 angs and carries compositions by six of the ten Gurus alongside fifteen bhagats from outside the Sikh tradition.

### Why is the Guru Granth Sahib called a Guru and not just a book?

Because Guru Gobind Singh conferred the office on it in 1708 rather than on another person, and Sikhs have followed no living Guru since. The treatment follows from the status: the volume rests on a raised platform under a canopy, is attended with a chaur, is put to rest at night, and any room where it is installed is by definition a gurdwara.

### How many pages does the Guru Granth Sahib have?

1,430, called angs rather than pages, and the pagination is identical in every printed copy so a reference points to the same place worldwide. Japji Sahib occupies angs 1 to 8, Anand Sahib angs 917 to 922, and Sukhmani Sahib angs 262 to 296.

### Which Gurus wrote the Guru Granth Sahib?

Six of the ten: Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur. Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai and Guru Har Krishan composed nothing, and Guru Gobind Singh deliberately kept his own compositions out when he prepared the final recension in 1706.

### Are non-Sikhs included in the Guru Granth Sahib?

Yes. Fifteen bhagats appear alongside the Gurus, including Kabir the weaver, Ravidas the leather-worker whose caste made him untouchable, Namdev, and the Muslim Sufi Farid. Guru Arjan placed their compositions in the volume deliberately, as a statement that truth is not confined to one community.

### How is the Guru Granth Sahib arranged?

By raag, the musical measure, rather than by author or chronology. After the opening compositions the volume runs through thirty-one raags, and within each raag the Gurus appear in order of succession. That is why most of it is sung as kirtan, and why Japji Sahib, which carries no raag heading, sits outside the scheme and is recited instead.

### What is a hukamnama?

A hukamnama is a reading taken by opening the Guru Granth Sahib at random and reading the composition found there, treated as the Guru's order for that moment. It follows the ardas in a gurdwara service, and it is part of the proof a verified Sevak sends when an ardas is requested in your name.

### Can Sevahey send me a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib?

No. Sevahey does not sell or supply copies of the volume, and publishes no text from it in any form, including transliteration and translation. What a verified Sevak can arrange is an ardas spoken before it at a gurudwara, with the hukamnama read afterward sent to you along with same-day proof.

Sevahey is a service platform. It does not promise a spiritual, medical, financial, legal, or personal outcome from any prayer, seva, or ritual.