By Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth

The will of God hath ordanined the order of Khalsa. This is the final commandment to all the Sikhs, Accept Granth as the Guru ,Deem the Revered Guru Granth as the visible body of all the Gurus.
Whosoever desires to feel His presence search and merge in the revelation itself. ‘Bani Guru, Guru Hai Bani’
In fact, in Sikhism, Bani and Guru are two sides of the same coin.
Thy Gurbani is Nectar. By continuously hearing and saying it, I have obtained the highest rank. The burning within me is extinguished and my soul is rendered cool on having the sight of the True Guru.” Sri Granth Sahib was ceremoniously installed in Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar for the first time in 1604 AD (Bhadon Sudi I, 1661 Bikrami). The first copy of the manuscript of Sri Granth Sahib is preserved at Gurdwara Sheesh Mehal at Kartarpur in Jalandhar district with Dhir Mal Sodhian’s family.
Later, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Master during his stay at Talwandi Sabo, now known as Damdama Sahib or the Sacred Resting place, gave the final shape to the Holy Granth. The Guru made it a great seat of learning and as such it is often called Guru Ki Kashi.
Sixth, Seventh & eighth Nanak did not recite or write any Bani. ‘The ninth Master, Guru Teg Bahadur, revived and wrote much of the Bani. The tenth Master himself wrote much of the Bani. But as per his wishes, the Guru did not include the same in the Holy Granth. As such, after the fifth Nanak, the Bani recited by the Ninth Master were included in the Holy Granth. The Dasam Guru recited the whole Adi Granth and included the Bani of the Ninth Master to give it the final shape. Bhai Mani Singh acted as the amanuensis. This Bir is known as Damdami Bir or the Hazoori Bir. Baba Deep Singh and Bhai Mani Singh prepared many copies of the Adi Granth . But the Afghan invader, Ahmed Shah Abdali, took away this Bir in 1762 AD during the Great Holocaust in the Jungle of Kup Roheera. Now this Bir is preserved at Bhai Sham Singh Dharamshala in Kabul (Afghanistan). Guru Nanak, through his ten forms (Guru Nanak in 140) to Can Gobind Stagh, 1208: Fonnied a religion, krova as Sichise” for die welfare of the humankind to this planet, the earth. All major religions namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism and so on, Sikhism too has its own scripture known as Sri Adi Granth (Guru Granth Sahib). Sri Adi Granth is the main source of inspiration and is worshipped by one and all. This whole volume contains 5984 hymns written by 37 saints in 31 different ragas. The Adi Granth commences with Mool Mantra which is believed to be the first composition of Guru Nanak that defies the definition of either prose or poetry. God Himself invested Guru Nanak with Mool Mantra because it was at His behest that Guru Nanak poured out these words from his mouth:
There is but one God. True is His Name, creative His personality. And immortal His form. He is without fear, sans enmity, unborn and self illuminated. By the Guru’s grace (He is obtained), Embrace His meditation. When in the end the Tenth Master saw that the light of the Perfect One had come to shine in Khalsa clearly and without intermission, he decided to give up even what was left. At his death bed, the Guru announced that the Holy Grants was to be the Guru in future. Khaisa was to guide itself by the teachings of the ten Gurus incorporated in the Sikh Scripture. Thus the title Guru was attached to the holy Granth in 1708 at Sach Khand Masder, Hazur Sahib, Maharoslatra Personal Guruship was ended by the tenth Master after finalizing the Sikh Mission and sanctilying and passing succession to the Guru Granth Sahib as the future living Guru of the Sikhs. He was very clear that no human Guru was to be acknowledged by the Sikhs after 1708 AD. There will be no eleventh or twelfth Guru of the Sikhs. Such are the orders of the Father. The Panth will guide itself by the teachings of the Gurus as incorporated in Guru Granth Sahib. (Republished with permission from Punjab Beat)