Contributors of the Banis

The Adi Granth is the only scripture of the kind which contains within its sacred covers the songs and utterances of a wide variety of saints, savants and bards. There are compositions of six Sikh Gurus, and other saints who had their origin as high born Brahmins, proud Kshatriyas, lowly Sudras and unlettered Jats. The number of Shabads and other compositions contributed by them is as follows:

1. Guru Nanak 947 

2. Guru Angad 63 

3. Guru Amardas 869 

4. Guru Ramdas 638 

5. Guru Arjan 2312 

6. GuruTeghBahadur 116

7. Kabir 534 

8. Farid 123 

9. Namdev 62 

10. Ravidas 40 

11. Trilochan 5 

12. Beni 3 

13. Dhanna 4 

14. Jaidev 2 

15. Bhikhan 2 

16. Sain 1 

17. Pipa 1 

18. Sadhna 1 

19. Ramanand 1 

20. Parmanand 1 

21. Surdas 2 

22. Sunder 6 

23. Mardana 3 

24. Satta 8 

25. Bhatts 123

THE LANGUAGE of the Adi Granth Sahib:

The Adi Granth represents devotional poetry of the highest order. It is written in Gurmukhi script. The language principally employed is the language of the saints, evolved during the medieval period. It is a language, which allowing for variations, enjoyed wide currency in Northern India during the days of Bhakti Movement. Its appeal lay in its directness, energy and resilience. This Sant bhasha contains words not only from Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhramsha but also from Persian and Arabic. Besides Sant bhasha we find writings in the Adi Granth in Eastern Punjabi and Western Punjabi (Lehndi). For example Baba Farid, Satta and Balvand are essentially poets of Western Punjabi but Guru Nanak and Guru Arjan have also written some hymns in that dialect in addition to other dialects.

ORGANISATION AND RAAGS :

The complete musicalization of thought in the Adi Granth in a scientific and studied manner is its important distinguishing feature. The printed version, which in its current form comes to 1430 pages is divided into 33 sections. Whilst the first section comprises the soulful and inspiring song of Guru Nanak called Japji and also a few selected Paudis, the final section is a collection of assorted verses including the slokas and the swayyas of bhatts. The remaining 31 sections are named after the well-known classical raags and are supposed to be sung in those raags. These are: 

1. Sri raag 

2. Majh 

3. Gauri 

4. Asa 

5. Gujari 

6. Devgandhari 

7.Bihagra 

8. Wadhans 

9. Sorath 

10. Dhanasari 

11.Jaitsari 

12. Todi 

13. Bairari 

14. Tilang 

15.Suhi 

16. Bilawal 

17. Gaund 

18. Ramkali 

19.Nat 

20. Maligaura 

21. Maru 

22. Tukhari 

23.Kedara 

24. Bhairo 

25. Basant 

26. Sarang 

27.Malar 

28. Kanara 

29. Kalian 

30. Prabhati 

31.Jaijawanti.

The order of hymns under each raag is generally as follows : Shabads, Ashtpadis, Chhand, Var and hymns contributed by the bhaktas. The shabads of Guru Nanak are given first and are followed by those of other Gurus in chronological order. The Gurus are referred to as Mahalas in the text, thus Mahala 1 meaning Guru Nanak. Generally there is an indication regarding the main tune-ghar-to be used in the singing of the shabad If no ghar is indi cated, the shabad should be sung in pure form.