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Summary of Question:	Was Gurbani Written By Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Own Hands
Category:	Gurbani
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 10/17/2001 8:27 AM MDT

it is known that guru arjan dev ji compiled guru granth sahib.but before that whether gurbani was written by Guru Nanak dev ji's(& other guru's)own hands or not.If so, where are the original sainchees lying now?

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REPLY
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Sat Siri AKaal Ji.
INDEED Guru Nanak wrote Gurbani in his own hand. As he traveled and preached, he recorded his teachings in poetic form and carried his writings with him throughout his travels. When Guru Angad received Guru Gadee, he was ALSO given Guru Nanak's writings to both protect, use (to teach from) and ADD to. Guru Angad gave his and Guru Nanak's banee to Guru Amar Das, etc. SO the bani of all the Gurus who wrote bani was handed down. When Guru Arjan Dev complied the Adi Granth (as it was called before it became vested with Guruship), he left blank pages because he knew that more bani would be added-- that of Guru Teg Bahadur.

Unfortunately, Guru Nanak's writings in HIS OWN hand have not survived the times. We DO have some of Guru Arjan's original bani kept at Sri Darbar Sahib, but none of the papers of the bani before Guru Arjan has survived. Of course, the bani survived, just not the paper it was first written on.
Guru rakha,
-DKK