ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ

ਅਰਥ

Gurbani means the bani, the utterance, the word, of the Guru. It is the body of sacred hymns enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib: the compositions of six Sikh Gurus (Nanak, Angad, Amar Das, Ram Das, Arjan and Tegh Bahadur), of fifteen Bhagats including Kabir, Farid, Namdev and Ravidas, of eleven Bhatts (court poets), and of a few other devoted souls like Bhai Mardana.

The 1,430 angs (pages) of the scripture are organised by raga, the musical mode in which each hymn is meant to be sung, because Gurbani was composed to be sung, not merely read. For Sikhs, Gurbani is not literature about God; it is the Guru's living voice. Sikhs bow to it, read it, sing it, and seek its counsel in the daily Hukamnama.

Origin and history

The Gurus' hymns were first collected by Guru Arjan, who compiled the Adi Granth in 1604 and installed it at the newly built Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, with Baba Buddha as the first granthi. A century later, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and last human Guru, ended the line of personal Guruship and conferred it on the scripture itself: from 1708, the Guru Granth Sahib has been the eternal Guru of the Sikhs.

Because the Bhagats' verses were included, Gurbani carries voices from across India's spiritual landscape, Hindu and Muslim saints alongside the Gurus, united in the praise of the one Formless God.

Cultural context

Gurbani shapes the Sikh day: it is read in the morning nitnem, sung as kirtan, recited in the unbroken Akhand Path (a continuous 48-hour reading), and quoted in ordinary speech, a line of Gurbani settles more arguments in a Punjabi household than any lawyer could.

Children memorise it, scholars spend lifetimes on a single hymn, and its language, a blend of Punjabi, Hindi, Persian and Sanskrit often called Sant Bhasha, is studied as one of the great literary achievements of South Asia.

What does gurbani mean in Punjabi?

The dictionary gives its short meaning as "Hymns of the Sikh Gurus".

Gurbani means the bani, the utterance, the word, of the Guru. It is the body of sacred hymns enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib: the compositions of six Sikh Gurus (Nanak, Angad, Amar Das, Ram Das, Arjan and Tegh Bahadur), of fifteen Bhagats including Kabir, Farid, Namdev and Ravidas, of eleven Bhatts (court poets), and of a few other devoted souls like Bhai Mardana.

How is gurbani used in a sentence?

The entry gives this example: ਉਹ ਰੋਜ਼ ਸਵੇਰੇ ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਦਾ ਪਾਠ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ।, "He reads Gurbani every morning.".

Another example from the entry: ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਰਾਗਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਉਚਾਰੀ ਗਈ ਹੈ।, "Gurbani was uttered in ragas.".

How do you pronounce gurbani?

The pronunciation hint given in the entry is "gur-BAA-nee".

Where would you hear gurbani used?

The entry lists its usage as "Sikh prayer".

ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਦਾ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਕੀ ਅਰਥ ਹੈ?

ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਦਾ ਅਰਥ ਹੈ ਗੁਰੂ ਦੀ ਬਾਣੀ। ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਜੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਛੇ ਗੁਰੂ ਸਾਹਿਬਾਨ, ਪੰਦਰਾਂ ਭਗਤਾਂ, ਗਿਆਰਾਂ ਭੱਟਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਬਾਣੀ ਦਰਜ ਹੈ। ਕੁੱਲ ੧੪੩੦ ਅੰਗ ਹਨ, ਜੋ ਰਾਗਾਂ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਤਰਤੀਬ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਗਏ ਹਨ।

ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਦੀ ਵਾਕ ਵਿੱਚ ਵਰਤੋਂ ਦੀ ਇੱਕ ਮਿਸਾਲ ਦਿਓ?

ਉਹ ਰੋਜ਼ ਸਵੇਰੇ ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਦਾ ਪਾਠ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ।

ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਬਾਰੇ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੋਰ ਕੀ ਦੱਸਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ?

ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ ਦੇਵ ਜੀ ਨੇ ੧੬੦੪ ਵਿੱਚ ਆਦਿ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਦਾ ਸੰਕਲਨ ਕੀਤਾ ਅਤੇ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਹਰਿਮੰਦਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਵਿੱਚ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ ਕਰਵਾਇਆ। ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਨੇ ਗੁਰਗੱਦੀ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਨੂੰ ਸੌਂਪੀ, ਤਦ ਤੋਂ ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਹੀ ਸਿੱਖਾਂ ਦੇ ਸਦੀਵੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਹਨ।