Punjabi and the Guru Granth Sahib's Multilingual Scripture

Punjabi is the principal though not exclusive language of the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism's central scripture and living Guru, compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604 and given its final form under Guru Gobind Singh, whose hymns draw on Punjabi alongside significant portions composed in Braj Bhasha, Sanskrit and Persian, reflecting the diverse linguistic environment of medieval North India from which the Sikh Gurus and the wider bhakti devotional movement drew inspiration and vocabulary.

The Gurmukhi script, in which the Guru Granth Sahib is written and in which it must be read for formal liturgical purposes regardless of a reader's spoken dialect, carries deep religious significance within Sikhism beyond its purely linguistic function, since the script itself is closely tied to the scripture's status as Guru, a living spiritual authority rather than merely a historical text. Punjabi remains the primary spoken and devotional language of Sikh communities in Punjab and the global Sikh diaspora, used in daily prayer, gurdwara services, and religious education, since Punjabi language classes are a standard feature of diaspora Sikh community life specifically to maintain access to the Guru Granth Sahib in its original language and script.