Which Guru declared the Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Guru?

Guru Gobind Singh declared the Guru Granth Sahib the eternal Guru of the Sikhs. In 1708, shortly before his death, the tenth and final human Sikh Guru ended the line of human Gurus and affirmed the scripture as the community’s enduring spiritual authority.

The scripture began as the Adi Granth, compiled by Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru. Guru Arjan completed its first major recension in 1604 and installed it at the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. It contained hymns of Sikh Gurus and selected Bhagats whose teachings expressed devotion to the one God.

Guru Gobind Singh added the hymns of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, to the scripture and prepared the recension that became known as the Guru Granth Sahib. Its status is distinctive: Sikhs do not treat it merely as a book of teachings, but reverence it as the living and eternal Guru.

A frequent confusion is to credit Guru Arjan with this declaration because he compiled the original scripture. Compilation and succession were different events: Guru Arjan created the Adi Granth, while Guru Gobind Singh conferred Guruship on it.