Why did Guru Arjan Dev Ji compile the Adi Granth and what makes it unique among religious scriptures?

Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Sikh Guru, compiled the Adi Granth (the original scripture, later expanded and completed as the Guru Granth Sahib) in 1604. He installed it in the newly completed Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and appointed Bhai Gurdas Ji to transcribe it.

The reasons for the compilation were both spiritual and practical. By the late sixteenth century, there were several versions of Gurbani circulating, some of which had been altered or had unauthorised compositions added to them by those who wanted to claim Guruship. Guru Arjan Dev Ji wanted to create a single, authoritative, and authenticated scripture that would preserve the Guru's word exactly as it was given.

What makes the Guru Granth Sahib unique among the world's religious scriptures is its composition. It contains the writings of six of the ten Sikh Gurus, but it also includes the compositions of fifteen Bhagats (saints and mystics from Hindu and Muslim traditions), including Kabir Ji, Farid Ji, Ravidas Ji, and Namdev Ji. This was a deliberate and profound statement: that the experience of God was not the exclusive property of any one religion, caste, or community. The Guru Granth Sahib includes voices from low-caste weavers, cobblers, and untouchables alongside those of the Gurus themselves.

The scripture is organised not by author or chronology but by musical raag, the classical Indian melodic frameworks in which the compositions are meant to be sung. This reflects the Sikh understanding that Gurbani is not merely text to be read but music to be experienced, and that the sound of the Guru's word carries its own spiritual power.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Guru, made the final and most significant decision about the Guru Granth Sahib. Before his death in 1708, he declared that there would be no eleventh human Guru. The Guru Granth Sahib itself would be the eternal, living Guru of the Sikhs. This is why Sikhs stand in its presence, bow before it, and treat it with the respect given to a living teacher.