Lably
Skip to content

Sikh scriptures

Holy books of the Sikh religion

  • 13 min read
  • 6 chapters
From Source "This manuscript dates in part from the middle of the 17th century (c.1660-75), and is therefore one of the twenty oldest known copies in existence. It was purchased by the British Museum
Unknown author · Public domain

Related on Lably

Through Scribe, Sikhs and Guru

Lab · Class 7–12Ashoka & the Mauryan EmpireLab · Class 8–12Archaeology of DelhiLab · Class 8–12Devotional Paths

Within Sikhism the Sri Guru Granth Sahib or Adi Granth is more than just a scripture. Sikhs consider this Granth (holy book) to be a living Guru. The holy text spans 1430 pages and contains the actual words spoken by the Gurus of the Sikh religion and the words of various other Saints from other religions including Hinduism and Islam.

Terminology

Bir

The word 'bir' (Gurmukhi: ਬੀੜ, romanized: Bīṛa; alternatively spelt as 'birh') in Sikhism refers to a complete volume of a Sikh scripture as an individual corpus. The term "Bir" is derived from the Sanskrit verb vīḍ which means "to make strong or firm, strengthen, fasten, or to be strong, firm or hard." The word puratan biran refers to an ancient manuscript of a Sikh scripture. The first birs in Sikh history were the Kartarpuri Bir (also known as the Adi Bir, meaning "first corpus") and the Bhai Bhanno Bir. Copies of these corpuses are also referred to as "Birs". Hath-likhat biran refers to a hand-written manuscript whilst patthar shappa refers to volumes of Sikh scriptures published through stone lithography, prior to the introduction of the modern printing press.

Pothi

The word 'pothi' (Gurmukhi: ਪੋਥੀ, romanized: Pōthī) originally meant 'book' in Old Punjabi (cognate to 'pustak' in Hindi, with both deriving from the Sanskrit word pustaka). However, amongst Sikhs the term evolved to refer to a sacred book, especially one containing Gurbani or scriptural texts and of a moderate size. Initially, the corpurses of the earlier Sikh gurus were termed as pothis rather than as birs. The literary corpus that Guru Nanak passed down to his successor, Guru Angad, is referred to as a pothi.

Gutka

A gutka (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਟਕਾ, romanized: Guṭakā) is an extract of Gurbani, which is smaller in size in-comparison to a Pothi and contains lesser amounts of hymns or specific selections. They became popularized in the 18th century, when state-enacted oppression of Sikhs forced them to be ever on the move and the portable nature of gutkas served well in this time. They became further hyped with the introduction of the printing press in the Punjab in the 19th century.

Lakhri

The term 'Lakhri' referred to the scribe of manuscripts.

Sign in to keep reading

5 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in India

MuslimsAdherents of IslamPresidencies and provinces of British India1612–1947 British directly-ruled administrative divisions in IndiaStates and union territories of IndiaIndia is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 sSikhsReligious groupInternational Alphabet of Sanskrit TransliterationTransliteration scheme for Indic scriptsPrime Minister of IndiaHead of government