Bhai Gurdaas Ji

From SikhiPedia

Bhai Gurdaas Ji (1551 - 25 August, 1636) was a Sikh writer, historian, missionary, and religious figure. He was the original scribe of the Guru Granth Sahib and a companion of four of the Sikh Gurus.

1 Early life
2 Later life
3 Literary works
4 Numbers
5 Death
6 External links

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Early life

Bhai Gurdaas Ji was born in 1551 in Goindwal, a small village in the Punjab. His father was Bhai Ishardas who was a first cousin of Guru Amardaas Ji His mothers name was Bibi Jivani and she died in 1554 when Gurdas was only three.

After being orphaned at the age of 12 , he was adopted by his uncle Guru Amardaas Ji. He learned Sanskrit, Brij Bhasha, Persian and Gurmukhi and eventually began preaching Sikhism. He spent his early years at Goindval and Sultanpur Lodhi. At Goindval he listened to scholars and swamis who kept visiting the town while traversing the Delhi-Lahore road. He later moved to Varanasi where he studied Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures. There, he was subsequently initiated into Sikhism. After Guru Amardaas Ji left for his heavenly abode, his successor Guru Ramdaas Ji, appointed Gurdaas as the Sikh missionary to Agra.

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Later life

In 1577, Bhai Gurdaas contributed his labor to excavating the pool at the Harimandir Sahib. Twenty years later, he went on an expedition to Kartarpur and recited many of the early hymns to Emperor Akbar. This was at a time when many of the Sikhs were becoming very anti-Muslim in tone and family feuds within the Gurus' family had put Sikhism in danger. Akbar received the verses positively and became convinced there were no anti-Muslim suggestions.

After Guru Ram Das died, Bhai Gurdaas formed a close relationship with the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji. Guru Arjan Dev Ji had great respect for him, and regarded Bhai Gurdaas as his maternal uncle ("mama"). It is said that the Mughal emperor Jahangir was growing jealous of the popularity of Sikhism, and Bhai Gurdas was sent to Kabul, Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Varanasi again to preach Sikhism.

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Literary works

He completed the Aad Granth in 1604. It took him nearly 11 years to complete this task. Bhai Gurdaas not only wrote the Aad Granth as dictated by Guru Arjan Dev but also supervised four other scribes, Bhai Haria, Bhai Sant Das, Bhai Sukha and Bhai Manasa Ram. He assisted these scribes in the writing of various scriptures. His other works in Punjabi are collectively called Vaaran Bhai Gurdaas.

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