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Guru Granth Sahib is an edited scripture meaning thereby that it includes the Bani of more than one mystic poets. The Fifth Master, Guru Arjan Dev collected the Bani of his predecessors. Then alongwith his own compositions and those of the Bhagats, he compiled the whole material and edited it into Adi Granth in 1604 A.D. According to the historical sources and the references of Bani recorded in Guru Granth Sahib, the Granth was no big volume with blank pages on which Bani was recorded from time to time. It was on the contrary, a team work by the Gurus and their devotees who collected the Bani. The task of compilation and editing of Guru Granth Sahib can be divided into three levels with the compilation and editing point of view. The first level pertains to the preservation and need of Gurbani as per tradition while the second one relates to the authentic form and selection of Bani. The third level concerns those devices which have to preserve the preserved Bani in the form of pure i.e. Shuddh Bani.
The compilation of Bani in Guru Granth Sahib was not an easy task. It was the vehicle of a peculiar ideology which constituted the basis of Bani founded by Guru Nanak Dev who sang celestial recitations for the welfare of human society. Guru Nanak recited the celestial Bani at the music of his comrade Bhai Mardana - the Rababi. He tried to bring joy to the people writhing with the turmoil at heart. This was the inception of the Guru's endeavour to give direction to the people towards a way of life, full of service and discipline (Maryada) in their own language. The Gurus of post-Nanak period did it in the name of Nanak only and carried forward his legacy. The written form of Gurbani was accomplished by Bhai Gurdas who had been in the service of the Guru Ghar since Guru Amardas. Edited by Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Granth Sahib has in it the Bani of 36 authors including 6 Gurus, 11 Bhatts, 15 Bhagats and 4 Gursikhs. Normally, this Granth is divided into three parts : Routine Banis viz. Japu, Rehras and Sohila (P. 1-13). These are recited by the Sikhs in daily life on different hours of the day e.g. Japuji Sahib in ambrosial hours, Rehras in the evening and Kirtan Sohila at night i.e. bed-time.
The major portion of Guru Granth Sahib that ranges from Pp. 14-1352, is notationed in Raagas. It was divided by Guru Arjan Dev in 30 Raagas but later with the addition of one more Raag Jaijawanti from Guru Tegh Bahadur's Bani by Guru Gobind Singh the number of Raag arose to 31. The last part (P. 1352-1430) is Raag-free Bani including Sahanskriti Shlokas, Gatha, Funahe, Shlokas of Sheikh Farid and Kabir, Swayyas, Shloka, Vars and Vadheek, Chaubole, Shloka Mahalla Ninth, Mundawani and Raagmala Banis et al. If we consider Shabad, the smallest unit of Bani, it is crowned with the Mool Mantra (Basic Chant) e.g.  or Satiguru Prasad or Satinam Gurprasadi or Satinam Karta Purkh Gurprasad or the complete Mool Mantra. It is followed by the Raagas. There are 31 principal raagas and an equal number of raag parkars. While recording Bani in relevant raagas, the preference has been given to the Gurus. Their Bani is found in a chronology of 'Mahallas' e.g. Mahalla 1 indicates the Bani of Guru Nanak Dev, Mahalla 2 means Guru Angad Dev's Bani and so on. After the Bani of the Gurus alongwith the particular Raagas, there follows the Bani of Bhagat entitled with their respective names e.g. 'Bani Bhagat Kabir ji' etc. It is followed respectively by poetic form/singing form After padas, Dupadas, Tipadas, Chaupadas and Panjpadas, there are Ashtpadis. Then the lengthy compositions or vars have been registered in an orderly manner. The order hierarchy has been maintained with regard to the registration of poetic forms of Pada has been numerically numbered e.g. let us take the Shabad 'Jaa toon saahib taa bha-o kayhaa ha-o tudh bin kis saalaahee' from Asa Mahalla 5, It carries numbers ||4||7||46|| at its end. The first figure indicates the number of Padas of that Shabad i.e. '4' Padas, second one '7' is telling the number of Shabads so far and the third '46' reveals the total number of Guru Arjan Dev's Shabads in Asa Raag. The Shabad Padas have 'Rahau' also which has the central idea of the Sabad or from Literary and musical point of view, Rahao has an importance of its own. The editorial devices are available in the whole of Gurbani alongwith the symbols. e.g. The directions like ' Lalaan behleemaa kee Dhun gaavnee', 'Pehri-aa kai ghar gaavnaa.' etc. are given on the Vars. Beside directions for Bani singing there are specific directives for reading it as well e.g. "Ayhu salok aad ant parh-naa." etc. Similarly there are indicatives like 'Jati', 'Ghari' etc. which are important from musical angle and help in understanding the Bani. The most important feature of Guru Granth Sahib is its index which clearly shows the number of page, name of the Guru whose Bani is given there, its poetic form and the Raag in which it has to be sung. Apart from this the serially ordered titles of Banis make reader familiar with the poetic art of the mystic poet (Banikar) on one hand and get him in personal touch with the latter. Thus the viewpoint of editing Guru Granth Sahib is the best specimen of its editor's editorial skill, sobriety and sagacity. |
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