Shabad

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A page from the Guru Granth Sahib

Shabad is the term used by Sikhs to refer to a hymn or paragraph or sections of the Holy Text that appears in their several Holy Books. The main holy scripture of the Sikhs is the Sri Guru Granth Sahib also shortened to SGGS. The first Shabad in the SGGS is the Mool Mantar. The text used for the Shabad is in the holy book is Gurmukhi. Below is the Shabad in English transliteration and translation.

Mool Mantar

"The Mul Mantra, the Root Mantra, is the only cure for the mind; I have installed faith in God in my mind" - SGGS page 675

Original Gurmukhi Text:

ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮ੝ ਕਰਤਾ ਪ੝ਰਖ੝ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰ੝ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗ੝ਰ ਪ੝ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

Ik­oaʼnkĝr saṯ nĝm karṯĝ purakẖ nirbẖa­o nirvair akĝl mūraṯ ajūnī saibẖaʼn gur parsĝḝ.



                                          ik-oNkaar
                                    One Sole Creator
sat naam kartaa purakh nirbha-o nirvair Truth is Your Name Creator Perfect Keeper Fearless Without Enmity
akaal moorat ajoonee SaibhaN gur parsaad The primary Entity Never born Self-perpetuating With the Guru’s grace
jap aad sach jugaad sach hai bhee sach Recite! True in the beginning True Through the Ages True even now and
naanak hosee bhee sach Nanak - Will always be True.

Structure of Shabads

Main article: Structure of SGGS

All Shabads or hymns contained in Guru Granth Sahib are classified in different Ragas except the first composition called Japji Sahib and the Swayyas, Saloks and Ragmala at the end of the holy Granth. The Shabads or hymns in Guru Granth Sahib can be classified as by the number of verses per hymn as follows:

No. of verses Name of format Total present
in SGGS
2 dupadas 608
3 tripade 73
4 chaupadas 1,255
5 panchpadas 80
6 chhepedas 11 verses
8 Ashtpadian 311
16 sohilas 62

Index of the Holy Granth

Main article: Index of Guru Granth Sahib

The Shabads or hymns are also classified into chapters named as musical Raags. There is a non-Raag section at the beginning and end of the Guru Granth Sahib. Although according to the index of Ragas in Ragmala, the total number of Ragas and Raginis is 84, the Guru has used only 31 for the compositions in the Guru Granth. So the Granth is arranged firstly according to the Raga, secondly, according to the nature or metre of the poem, thirdly authorship, and fourthly the clef . The ordinary edition of Adi Granth Sahib contains 1430 pages as under :

  • 1. Japji Sahib - Page 1 to 7.
  • 2. Musical hymns - Page 8 to 1351.
  • 3. Salok Sanskriti -Page 1352 to 1359.
  • 4. Gatha -Page 1359 to 1361.
  • 5. Funhe - Page l36l to 1362.
  • 6. Chaubole - Page 1363 to 1364.
  • 7. Saloks of Kabir and Farid - Page 1364 to 1384.
  • 8. Swayyas of the Gurus and the Bhattas - Page 1384 to 1408.
  • 9. Saloks of the Gurus - Page 1409 to 1428.

10. Rag Mala, index of musical measures - Page 1429 to 1430.

See also

External Links

  • To see the holy book in it original text with translation follow this link: Sikhi to the Max
These are the Popular Banis of Sikhism

Mool Mantar | Japji | Jaap | Anand | Rehras | Benti Chaupai | Tav-Prasad Savaiye | Kirtan Sohila | Shabad Hazaray | Sukhmani | Salok Mahala 9 | Asa di Var | Ardas