The beautiful Saroop of Guru Granth Sahib ji was written. The writing was complete. There was a great celebration with the Sangat. Guru ji allowed the Sangat to come to Ramsar. The Sangat began to come in great numbers. Other preparations were made for the celebrations. Karah Prashaad was made in great quantities. Guru ji announced to all: “the Guru Granth Sahib ji is complete. Come and visit with joy.” Men and women, all were happy and came to Ramsar. Dhundhabs and napheeryas were sounded there. Shehnais were played, giving sounds of joy to the ears. There was a great crowd gathered there. The Sangat came with great enthusiasm. They brought Prashaad and other sweets to Ramsar. Ripe and dry fruits were brought. Some brought baskets of fruits; some brought garlands of flowers for Guru Granth Sahib ji. The Sikhs wore new clothes, like they were going to a wedding. Guru Arjan Dev ji was alone with Bhai Gurdas ji while he was writing. The Sangat wasn’t allowed during that time. Now, the Sangat came in great numbers to see Guru Granth Sahib ji.
Guru ji was sitting in his tent alone, just before the Sangat arrived. Kaliyuga came to meet Guru ji. He praised Guru ji with his hands folded and said: “Guru ji, you came to bless the world as an Avatar but it is my time in the world. People do sins during most of their time and that is how I inspire them. People in my time are foolish, corrupt and they will love to be cruel. They will not follow the good path. You have completed the Granth now. It is filled with virtues. This is not good for my time. The sins will be washed away whoever reads or listens to your Granth. You want people to have Mukti but I want people to go to Hell. You wrote this Granth so people will do Simran of Satnam. You want the Sadh Sangat to grow. Your Sikhs will spread in the whole world. Tell me where I am to go now? Where can I stay? Please tell me? Without your command, I can’t do anything. I don’t have the power to go against your will. I have come to you for this reason. Wherever the Bani of Guru Granth Sahib ji can be heard, I become weak there. If I sit in your Sangat, the Bani makes me weak. I can’t sit there. Tell me a time when I can come to the Sangat. I have come to your sanctuary. Please have mercy on me and look at my state.” When Kaliyuga spoke to Guru ji, Guru ji was happy and said: “wherever Satnam will be said, don’t go there. When the Bhog happens and the Karah Prashaad comes, the Sangat will stand up and do Ardaas. When the Karah will be distributed; you can then come. Till it is distributed, you can sit in the Sangat.” Kaliyuga got his permission and was happy. Bhai Santokh Singh ji says: “this happens even today. There is a great disturbance when the Karah Prashaad is distributed.”
Guru ji sat in the Divaan. The Sangat came with love. Guru Granth Sahib ji was seating in the middle. A servant was waving a Chaur over Guru Granth Sahib ji. A lot of Karah Prashaad was offered. The Sikhs brought it all with joy. Garlands of flowers came and were placed upon Guru ji’s Saroop. They were multi-coloured. Many Sikhs brought them and put them around Guru ji’s neck. They brought different flowers. Roses, marigolds and jasmine. Some put them on Guru Granth Sahib ji and some were put around Guru Arjan Dev ji’s neck. Incenses were lit with many fragrances. Sandalwood and saffron were added to the essences and sprinkled. The Sikhs did the pooja of Guru ji. Conches were played. Sikhs came and did Ardaas of Prashaad. They shouted out Jaikaras upon the name of the Gurus. The Rababs, Sitars and mridangs were played. The Raags were played and there was Keertan going on. It was a great celebration. There was a lot of Langar in progress. When it was time to distribute Karah Prashaad, Kaliyuga came. He came and there was a lot of shouting. The Sikhs fought amongst themselves to get Prashaad. Guru ji noticed that Kaliyuga had arrived. Kaliyuga saw his time and came right on time. Guru ji was happy with that too. Everyone was going to get their time. There were some fights but it was controlled. People took the Prashaad and went to their homes. They went back to work.
The beggars then come and offered their congratulations to Guru ji. Guru ji gave them a lot of money and clothes. Nobody left empty-handed from Guru ji’s home. Some got money and some got clothes. After the beggars, the musicians came with their napheeryas and dhundhabs. Guru ji gave them money too. The Raagis came, who did Keertan. They got money and clothes. They were all happy receiving their gifts. The beggars said: “may your son be prosperous.” In this way the Granth was completed. There was a great importance in this task. Guru ji said: “the ones who come to Ramsar and take a bath with love and devotion, their sins will be washed away in an instant. Their faith towards Guru ji will grow.” Guru ji got up and came to the city. Bhai Gurdas ji, the wise one, came with Guru ji. Guru Granth Sahib ji was taken with them. Guru Granth Sahib ji was seated inside the Harmandhir Sahib. Guru Granth Sahib ji would be worshipped in this place, forever. People will read and write here.
Guru ji then went to his home after. Mata Ganga ji bowed to his feet and was really happy. He rested the night. In the morning, he bathed and got ready. He went to Sri Harmandhir Sahib. Guru ji spent the whole day there and had Bhai Gurdas ji recite the Gurbani. Guru ji and the Sikhs listened to the Gurbani. They were filled with love and said Satnam. In this way, the tradition was established. The Sangat would joyfully come to visit from far away lands. They would meet Guru ji and offer money. The news had spread that Guru Granth Sahib ji had been written. The reward was great. People would come with love in their hearts to visit Guru Granth Sahib ji. They would listen to the Bani with love and do Simran of Satnam. Their sins and troubles were washed away. They would go to their homes and tell them about Guru Granth Sahib ji. Others had the wish to come as well.
A person named Bhani Banno ji from the Mangat village brought a lot of Sangat with him and came to meet Guru Arjan Dev ji. Bhai Banno ji heard the katha of how the Guru Granth Sahib ji was written. He heard that all of the teachings of the Vedas, Shastras and Granths were put in vernacular language into the Guru Granth Sahib ji. He brought all of the Sangat with him and bowed to Guru ji’s feet, placing money in front of him. The Sangat met Guru Arjan Dev ji. They listened to Gurbani from Guru Granth Sahib ji. Bhai Banno ji stayed there for many days in Amritsar. A lot of Sikhs were with him as well. They listened to Gurbani and did Seva in the Langars. After a few days, he was ready to leave. He said to Guru ji: “you are the saviour of the poor. You bless them. You bless them day and night. You came to save the people of Kaliyuga. You made the ship of Guru Granth Sahib ji to help them cross Kaliyuga. Please listen to our plea: please give us Guru Granth Sahib ji for a few days. This is the desire of the Sangat. The people of our land wish to meet Guru Granth Sahib ji. They will get to listen to Gurbani. We know that another Saroop has not been written. We would have taken the other. Please give us Guru Granth Sahib ji. This is the plea of the Sangat. We had thought about this when we started our journey.” Guru Arjan Dev ji thought about this: “he has asked for something really big. How can I give him? There is only one. If I don’t give them, then his faith will lessen. Another should be written. That would have been easier to give. There is only one Saroop right now. What should I say to this Sikh? He is the leader of his Sangat. He brought a lot of Sangat to come see me. He is a beloved Sikh. If I don’t accept has plea, that won’t be good.” For some time, Guru ji remained quiet and thought about giving the Saroop. Guru ji said: “Bhai Banno, this is a difficult thing. You made a difficult request. You want to take Guru Granth Sahib ji with love but there is no other copy. There is only one, so how can we give them to you? If I don’t listen to you, it is bad. If I say yes, then we won’t have the Saroop. You have put me in a dilemma. Listen to my solution: take Guru Granth Sahib ji to your village for one night. Bring back Guru Granth Sahib ji the next morning. Do not keep them a second night. Go and take Guru Granth Sahib ji to your village. Take them with great respect. Make sure there is no disrespect. The Sangat should always remain around Guru Granth Sahib ji.” In this way, Guru Granth Sahib ji was taken to Bhai Banno ji’s village. Many Sikhs were with him. When he left, Bhai Banno ji thought to himself: “how can I make another copy of Guru Granth Sahib ji? We can make many more after that. Guru ji only wanted us to keep Guru Granth Sahib ji in the village for one night. The copy cannot happen in one night. We will set up camp 3 km away from our village. We will only keep Guru Granth Sahib ji for one night in our village.” Bhai Banno ji then did this and had many writers sit to make the copy of Guru Granth Sahib. He told everyone to write quickly. They kept changing camps each night, getting close to their own village. They completed writing half of the Saroop by the time they got to their village. They stayed one night in their own village and started back the next morning. They slowly came back to Amritsar in this way. They spent the same time going back. They had completed the copy of the Guru Granth Sahib ji by the time they came back. Bhai Banno ji had added writings of others in the new copy as well. 9 new compositions were in this Saroop. When he came to meet Guru Arjan Dev ji, he presented the 2 forms of Guru Granth Sahib ji. He told Guru ji about the extra writings that were included. Guru Arjan Dev ji said: “these extra writings that you have written, only keep it in your Bir. Don’t add it into the original. I won’t add them.” In this way, there were two Guru Granth Sahib jis which were written and recited by the Panth of Satguru ji. Whoever listens and recites this Bani and makes it dwell into their hearts, Kavi Santokh Singh is a sacrifice unto them.