A vital compendium of birs

Kuldip Singh Dhir

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Guru Granth Sahib contains original compositions of Sikh gurus, bhagats and bhats spread over five centuries — from the time of Baba Farid till the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur, transcending boundaries of institutionalised religion or territory. Its post-modern, plural inclusive approach and unquestionable authenticity of text make it unique. It is the only scripture written and handed over to posterity in original. Guru Nanak scribed his own hymns and picked choicest hymns of medieval saints and passed on this collection to his successor. The tradition continued with each successor adding his own hymns and selecting those of other saints till Guru Arjun compiled and edited its final version leaving no scope for tampering by addition or subtraction. Bhai Gurdas acted as his amanuensis.

The original copy of the text was usurped by Sodhi successors of the Guru at Kartarpur and came to be known as Kartarpuri Bir. Bhai Banno, who was assigned the task of getting it bound at Lahore, managed to make another copy of it, known as Bhai Banno Wali Bir. The Tenth Master got another bir prepared (circa 1705) incorporating the hymns of Guru Teg Bahadur in the version compiled by Guru Arjun. Bhai Mani Singh acted as his amanuensis. It was known as Damdami Bir. Baba Deep Singh prepared five copies of this bir to be installed at five takhts i.e. seats of temporal authority of the Sikhs. It is this version which provides the authentic text of the scripture venerated as Shabad Guru since 1708 AD when Guru Gobind Singh declared it as Guru Eternal for the Sikhs before his departure for heavenly abode.

Making copies of Shabad Guru has been considered an act of religious merit in Sikh tradition. Innumerable copies of it have been prepared for individual use and for use of congregations. State patronage and involvement of Pahari and Kashmiri artists resulted in some beautifully illustrated copies. Dr Mohinder Singh envisaged a project of location, cataloguing and digitising this treasure. The National Institute of Punjab Studies under his stewardship has made it a reality. It has resulted in tastefully produced four volumes of Shabad Guru. These contain a wealth of literary and historical information about religious history in the making. Colourful photographs of folios from Karatarpur Bir, Shahidi Bir of Nankana Sahib, world’s biggest and smallest bir, illuminated bir at Takhat Sri Hazur Sahib, Burhanpuri Bir, Bahowali Bir, birs at Ajmer, Lahore, Kathmandu, Patna Sahib, Dhaka, London, Kolkata and those at libraries and museums in remote corners of the world make it a priceless possession. Pictures of gurus, historical gurdwaras, rare paintings, wall paintings and replicas of Mool Mantra scribed in the personal handwriting of seven Sikh Gurus culled from historical records make these sacrosanct. 

Sample folios from 264 handwritten manuscripts of Sri Guru Granth Sahib spreading over the last four centuries are a treasure trove. For ready reference all these have been given an accession number and have been digitised completely. Even a cursory look at the published work speaks volumes of the years of painstaking research behind it. A brief description accompanies all illustrations in a uniform format which has been maintained all through. It gives the year and samvat of the manuscript, place of its original and present location, count of folios, size and number of lines on each page, details about colour, quality, kind of ink, handwriting, binding, name of the scribe and the accession number. It is pertinent to note that Ragmala is a part of almost all birs.

The oldest manuscript in these volumes is dated 1641 AD, followed closely by those of 1642, 1653, 1661, 1666, 1667 and 1695 AD. This groundbreaking work will be of immense value to historians, scholars and devotees, inspiring them to discover universal relevance of the philosophy of Guru Granth Sahib. However, there are some anachronistic claims in these volumes like a Damdami Bir (circa 1705) has been given to a family of Swarda in Rajasthan by Guru Gobind Singh (born 1666 AD) in 1650 AD. These should have been checked carefully.