The Guru Granth Sahib

The central scripture of the Sikh tradition, compiled from the compositions of its founding teachers alongside verses from devotional poets of other backgrounds.

primary. Primary source text — summarized in original words, not quoted at length.
Tradition: sikhism Period: medieval-to-early-modern Theme: scripture Theme: devotion Theme: social-equality Theme: compilation

The Guru Granth Sahib is the central scripture of the Sikh tradition, and this archive already flagged, on the page for Guru Nanak, that this scripture gives the tradition an unusually firm textual anchor compared to traditions whose founding figures are known mainly through later devotional legend.

A scripture that crosses attributed authorship

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Sources & further reading

Related in the archive

Concept

Bhakti

A path of loving devotion to the divine — one of the most influential and socially far-reaching currents in Indian religious thought.

Concept

Dharma

A cluster of ideas around duty, order, and right conduct that is understood differently across Indian traditions.

Person

Guru Nanak

The founding figure of the Sikh tradition, a teacher and poet whose work emphasized devotion, ethical living, and social equality.

Person

Kabir

A fifteenth-century poet-saint whose devotional verses challenged religious orthodoxy and social hierarchy across traditions.

Tradition

Sikhism

A tradition originating in the Punjab in the late medieval period, emphasizing devotion, ethical living in the world, and social equality.

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Next → The Puranas A large genre of narrative texts blending cosmology, mythology, and dynastic history, requiring exactly the discipline this archive applies throughout to separate story from documented fact.