—Photo: Express News
Lahore: Ten copies of Guru Granth Sahib (Sarup Sahib), the holy religious book of Sikhs, have been sent from India to Pakistan. Saroop Sahib has been brought to Pakistan by Palki Sahib via Wagah border.
The Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs, is printed only by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in India. Many saroop sahibs (manuscripts) of Guru Granth Sahib in Sikh gurdwaras in Pakistan have become obsolete. But printing of Guru Granth Sahib cannot be done in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC), which is the representative committee of Pakistani Sikhs and oversees the religious affairs of Gurdwaras, had requested the Shiromani Committee of India to send 39 saroop sahibs (manuscripts) of the Guru Granth Sahib to Pakistan.
On Saturday, 20 Saroop Sahibs were sent to Pakistan by Shiromani Committee, but only 10 Saroop Sahibs could be accommodated in the palanquin arranged by PSGPC for Saroop Sahibs. According to PSGPC, they are kept separately instead of on top of each other in respect of Guru Granth Sahib. For this reason, only 10 Saroop Sahibs could be taken while the remaining Saroop Sahib Shiromani Committee has taken back to Amritsar.
On the zero line of Pakistan and India, Saroop Sahib of Guru Granth Sahib is carried with great devotion and respect on their head and brought to Palki Sahib.
According to the organizers, these Saroops of Guru Granth Sahib will be kept in other Gurwaras of the country including Kartarpur Sahib, Quetta, Peshawar, Sialkot.
The decayed manuscripts of Guru Granth Sahib in various gurdwaras of Pakistan will be sent to India for their antam sanskar.
It should be noted that after ten Gurus, the Sikh nation considers Guru Granth as its last and living Guru.
Arjun Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, started the compilation of the Guru Granth in 1603. Apart from Guru Arjun Dev Ji, the Guru Granth Sahib containing the words of the first four Sikh Gurus, Muslims, Hindu Sufis and Bhagats was completed in 1604, but later the words of the remaining five Gurus were also added to it. A separate work of the 10th Guru Gobindji is known as the Dasam Granth.
The tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji issued a decree in 1708, a year before his death, according to which no Guru will come after him and only the Guru Granth Sahib will be recognized as the leader. Sahib is considered as Guru.
It should be noted that the Guru Granth Sahib consists of 5894 versed hymns which contain the words of ten Gurus and fifteen Muslim Sufis and Hindu Bhagats. The Granth Sahib is divided and organized into 18 different ragas. Guru Granth Sahib contains 974 hymns composed by Guru Nanakji. Many languages have been used in the Guru Granth Sahib including Punjabi, Multani or Saraiki besides Persian, Prakrit, Hindi and Marathi etc.
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