# Race/Gender In Guru Granth Ji



## CaramelChocolate (Nov 11, 2004)

Waheguruji ka khalsa, Waheguruji ki fateh...

I was just wondering about the writings in Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji - were all the writers male, and were they all of Indian nationality? Were they all Punjabi? If they were not all Indian nationality then were there any non-Asian contributors?

~CaramelChocolate~
The little philosopher


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## drkhalsa (Nov 11, 2004)

As per my current knowledge 

yes all were male 
not sure of pujabi as punjab was many times bigger than the present punjab  and i think there were many contributor from outside punjab ( punjab of that time)
al were asian

I will find out more about that


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## Sher_Singh (Nov 12, 2004)

Dear Caramel,

All the poets in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji (not including Guru Shaib) were all men. Yet they were of different religions - muslim and hindu. Some of them were contemporary to the Guru's themselves, others born and died long before. Some of the poets are from Guru ji's court - known as bards.

Here is a list of all the contributers to the Guru Granth Sahib Ji:
The Gurus: Guru Nanak: 947 hymns
Guru Angad: 63 hymns
Guru Amar Das: 869 hymns
Guru Ram Das: 638 hymns
Guru Arjun Dev: 2,312 hymns
Guru Tegh Bahadur: 116 hymns​*The Bhagatas: Saints of various faiths* ​*Bhagat **Kabir: 534 hymns: *Kabir (1398 to 1495) was born to a Brahmin mother and raised by a Muslim step mother. Kabir was a proponent of the Bhakti movement. He lived as a householder, abhorred the caste system and religious rituals. He was an saintly apostle of peace, love and unity and a great poet. Kabir believed in inward purity, and was respected by both Hindus and Muslims.  ​*Bhagat **Sheikh Farid: 123 hymns: *Sheikh Farid (1175 to 1265) was a Muslim Sufi saint of great piety.  He is considered the father of Punjabi poetry.  He was greatly loved for his kindness and humanity. He stressed living a simple yet purposeful life concentrating on One God.  ​*Bhagat **Namdev: 62 hymns:* Namdev (1270 to 1350) was a celebrated saint from Maharashtra who traveled extensively across the country. He lived in Punjab for a number of years.  ​*Bhagat **Ravidas: 40 hymns: *A contemporary of Kabir and a disciple of Ramanand, Ravidas represents the culmination of the Bhakti Movement. He came from a low caste cobbler family but had many disciples because of his spirituality. He stressed a life of simplicity and piety.  ​*Bhagat **Trilochan: 5 hymns: *A contemporary of Kabir and a celebrated Sain of the Vaish caste.  He believed in One God and condemned superficial rituals and stressed the holiness of the heart.  ​*Bhagat Beni: 3 hymns:* Probably a contemporary of Namdev, not much is known about him. He was unperturbed by poverty and enjoyed a life of solitude enriched by his spiritual per suits. He was a great scholar as is evident from his writings.  ​*Bhagat **Sheikh Bhikan: 2 hymns: *A Muslim Sufi scholar saint Sheikh Bhikan died in the early part of Akbar's reign. He was one of the most learned men of his time. He believed that only God's
name can heal a diseased mind and body.  ​*Bhagat Dhanna: 4 hymns:* Dhanna was a Jat from Rajasthan who was born in 1415.  He lived most of his life as an idol worshipper but in later years became a worshipper of One God and renounced all superstitious practices.  ​*Bhagat Jaidev: 2 hymns:* Jaidev was a renowned poet laureate in the royal court of king Lakshman Sen of Bengal. His famous work of poetry Gita Govinda is well known for its poetic beauty and musical richness.  ​*Bhagat **Paramanand: 1 hymn: *Born in Maharashtra, little is known about Paramanand's life. It is believed that he lived in Maharashtra and was a devotee of Krishna.  He later became a proponent of One God.  ​*Bhagat **Pipa: 1 hymn: *Born in 1425, Pipa was the king of the princely state of Gagaraungarh. He abdicated his throne, traveled extensively and became a disciple of Ramanand. He lived a life of extreme austerity and humility.  ​*Bhagat **Ramanand: 1 hymn: *Ramanand, a Brahmin was born in 1359 in Madras. He is regarded as the pioneer of the Bhakti movement in northern India. A Vaishnava in his early life, he became a worshipper of Brahm and condemned the caste system. Kabir was the most renowned amongst his disciples.  ​*Bhagat Sadhna: 1 hymn:* A butcher by profession, Sadhana was born in Sind. His piety and meditation of God elevated him to saintly status. He was condemned by Brahmins and on a false charge was arrested and buried alive.  ​*Bhagat Sain: 1 hymn:* Sain was a barber of the royal court of Raja Ram, king of Rewa. He was a follower of Ramanand and Kabir.  ​*Bhagat Surdas: 2 hymns: *Surdas was a Brahmin born in 1529. He was learned in Sanskrit and Persian and studied music and poetry. He was appointed a governor by emperor Akbar, but was later imprisoned for dereliction of duty.  Towards the end of his life, he became a hermit and lived among holy men.  ​*The Bhatts: 123 hymns: *The Bhatts were a group of musicians who lived in the sixteenth century. All of them were scholars, poets and singers. Scholars differ on the exact number of contributors to the Granth Sahib, anywhere from eight to seventeen. ​*Sikhs:* ​*Bhai Mardana: 3 hymns:* Mardana was a rabab (rebeck) player who spent most of his life as a disciple and musician of Guru Nanak. Born a Muslim, Mardana was a childhood friend of Guru Nanak and accompanied him on all his great travels.  ​*Satta & Balwand: 8 hymns:* Satta was a rebeck player who served Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Gur Ram Das and Guru Arjun Dev. Along with his fellow musician Balwand they jointly composed a ballad which appears in the Guru Granth Sahib.  ​*Bhagat Sunder: 6 hymns:* Baba Sunder (1560-1610) was the great grandson of Guru Amar Das. His composition called Sadd (Calling) was written at the request of Guru Arjun Dev after the death of Guru Ram Das. ​


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## Arvind (Nov 12, 2004)

Thanks for the detailed information. This is a great help Sher Singh ji.

Add-On: I understand, Apart from Punjabi, the writings contain Brij, Marathi, Farsi (Persian) words, phrases also.

So as per best of my information:
were all the writers male - yes
were they all of Indian nationality? - of then Greater India, yes. 
Were they all Punjabi? - No
If they were not all Indian nationality then were there any non-Asian contributors? - No


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## Neutral Singh (Nov 12, 2004)

Dear Sher Singh Ji

Truly useful information... thanks a lot for quick seva... 

Chardi Kalaa


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## Sher_Singh (Nov 15, 2004)

Caramel....i hope that helped with your queries.

Guru Fateh.


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## Gyani Jarnail Singh (Nov 17, 2004)

Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki fateh.


Everybody always refers to "muslim" and "hindu" writers in Guru Granth sahib Jee.
Are these really Muslim/hindu ?

Consider Bhagat kabeer...he is considered "MUSLIM"..but is he HONOURED by MUSLIMS as a SCHOLAR/BHAGAT/HOLY MAN ??  The answer is NO. He is considered a {censored} or RENEGADE muslim !!!  Which Muslim Organisation considers Sheikh Farid a True Muslim ?? None....he is not honoured by nay muslim as  a muslim scholar/holy man.

Same for the so called "HINDU" bhagats like Namdev, Ravidass, Dhanna, Ramanand Ji.... these Bhagats CONDEMN IDOL WORSHIP, they consider Ramchander/krishan etc as ordinary kings and NOT  equal to "Waheguru", they CONDEMN teeraths and pilgrimages, bathing, fasting, CASTES, etc etc..IN FACT they condemn everything HINDUISM stands for...NO self respecting Hindu will consider them "HINDU" .

The TRUTH is that ALL of these are "SIKHS".... they embarked on the BHAGTEE PATH to WAHEGURU...and since their IDEALS were TRULY IN LINE with GURMATT, GURU JI included their GURBANI in GURU GRANTH JI.  To call Bhagat ravidassa HINDU is the same as calling Guru nanak a HINDU..simply because they were both born in Hindu households !!

Another Historical FACT.... all the BANI written by the BHAGATS as "HINDUS" ( Not in line with GURMATT) was REJECTED BY GURU JI. Thus a lot of Bhagat kabir's writings OUTSIDE GURU GRANTH exists...now that would be truly Hindu kabeer's bani/bhajans....and that is reverred by the KABIR PANTHIS.

Learning...un-learning....and RE-LEARNING.... the SIKHI way

jarnail Singh


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## Arvind (Nov 17, 2004)

Thats such a good viewpoint Gyani ji. I am happy that you mentioned it with so much attention. Somehow, human tendency attempts to associate the previous actions/occupations by people, which tend to stick irrespective of anything whatever happened later.

Just in case, if someone wants to mention, perhaps it would make more sense, if it is said - Bhagat Kabir or Sheikh Farid were Hindu and Muslim respectively, before they got onto Sikhi way.

At least that s the way, I percieve your post to be. Please correct me, if this is what you were conveying.

Regards.


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## Sher_Singh (Nov 18, 2004)

I see that they were born into Hindu and Muslim families respectively, but did follow the Sikhi way......which is why we do not see any difference between them. I am glad you have stressed this point Gyani Ji.

Guru Fateh.


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## vijaydeep Singh (Dec 13, 2004)

Ek Oankar Wahiguru Ji Ki Fateh

In Takhat Patna Sahib,There is copy of Guru Granth Sahib Ji,

It is called Khari Beer or Bannu Wali beer,Which has verses by a female Meera.

But Gurgaddi or Guruship is bestowed to Damdami Version which has no verses by Meera.

Das asked one learned Sikh.He said that Bannu Wali Beer also has no verse which cold be Against the Faith.

But Das has not yet seen that version so can not say about it.

Caramel Chocklate Brother,

Verse of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji are not by Humans but by God.

God is everywhere so God can nver be Asian or African or Europian.So Greatmen were only medium of Heavonly Verses from God Directly.

Forgive if wrong is wriiten.


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## Sher_Singh (Dec 14, 2004)

the verse of meera was not later crossed out because she became a worshipper of Krishna instead of Almighty.


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## Arvind (Dec 14, 2004)

Are you people talking about MeeraBai. the bairagi bhagat of Lord Krishna?


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## vijaydeep Singh (Dec 28, 2004)

Gurfateh Parwan Ho!

Yes brother,We are talking about Meerabai only.


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