About the Book Guru Granth sahib is an unparalleled anthology of scared and spiritual hymns, aimed at elevating the human soul to the highest pinnacles of super consciousness. Its global nature and scope is marked by an inbuilt blueprint for giving an affirmative direction to the contemporary world, facing a grave confrontational situation. Guru Granth Sahib- the Sikh Scripture offers a comprehensive and across-the-board perspective of Guru Granth Sahib, reflecting its exclusivity as a supreme and paramount holy scripture. The illustrious authors of various articles, contained in this volume, have used their experiential and intellectual knowledge to provide variegated details of the spiritual as well as of the material world. The scholarly articles reflect the underpinnings of the celestial reality, divulging in the process a good amount of its divine manifestations.
The book highlights the exceptional feature of Gurubani as a repository of universal values, portraying the indivisibility of diverse spiritual experiences. It underlines the idea that though the main thrust of Guru Granth Sahib is upon the spiritual quest and adherence to the Divine Will, yet it mirrors a definite stance towards the contemporary social and political realities too. It also unfolds the reality that while the Granth recognises the value and validity of cultural and religious plurality in social existence, its main concern is well-being of every individual and of all the peoples of the world without discrimination and inequity. The various expositions, constituting this volume, help endow Sikhism with a unique place amongst the world religions.
About the Author Dr. Jaspal Singh is an erudite scholar and a prudent exponent of Sikh thought and philosophy, in all its dimensions. His versatility in dealing with matters relating to holistic analysis of Sikh religious ethos and its values system has established him as an accomplished authority on issues and concepts concerning Sikh religious conviction about religious pluralism, spiritual materialism, existential and cosmological epistemology.
Foreword Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru accomplished many such noble deeds in his days of Guruship as would be remembered till eternity. But the greatest of all such great deeds, which shall be remembered throughout the ages, was the compilation and editing of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. On the one hand, this great accomplishment gave a new direction to entire humankind, on the other; it made the Sikhs the followers of the Word, the Shabad Guru. There is a general belief that the devotees of a faith must have with them the written word - the Scripture - to maintain unity of thought among them and to keep alive this unity forever. In the context of the Sikh tradition also, this belief is reflected in several historical writings. It is mentioned at one place in Mahima Prakash that Guru Arjan Dev felt that the number of Guru Nanak's followers had increased manifolds and it was necessary that all Divine Utterances (Baru) be compiled as a holy scripture:
Yah man upji pragatio jag panth Tih karan kije ab granth.
How the compilation and editing of the Holy Granth was undertaken, needs to be looked into in depth and some detail. History tells us that towards the end of the final round of his preaching of Sikhism, Guru Arjan Dev remained for a year in Gurdaspur region and returned to Amritsar in 1601. After reaching Amritsar, he devoted his entire attention to the compilation of Guru Granth Sahib.
Book's Contents and Sample Pages
