Bhai Gurdus ji is much honoured for his Sikhi way of life and literary work. He was a leading figure of Sikh Panth who enjoyed the partronage of Guru Arjan under whose supervision he inscribed the first copy of the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, which is still extant.

He was born at Goindval in 1551 CE. His father's name was Ishar Das and mother's Jivani. His father was the cousin brother of third Nanak, Guru Amardas, which makes him a nephew of the third Guru.

Bhai Ishar Das, one of Gura Amar Das' cousins had settled in Goindval soon after the town was founded in 1546 CE. Bhai Gurdas, who was the only child of his parents, lost his mother when he was barely three and his father when he was 12. He spent his early years at Goindval and Sultanpur Lodhi. At the former place, he had the opportunity of listening to many men of knowledge and spiritual attainment who visited the town which was situated on the Delhi-Lahore road and was then the religious centre of the Sikhs. He later proceeded to Varanasi where he studied Sanskrit and Hindu religious philosophy. He travelled extensively, visiting Agra, Lucknow, Varanasi, Burhanpur, Rajasthan, Jammu and Chamba hills, preaching Guru Nanak's precepts. After the passing away of Guru Ram Das in 1581 CE, he returned to the Punjab, visited Goindval and thence proceeded to Amritsar to pay his obeisance to Guru Arjan, Guru Ram Das's successor. He made Amritsar his home and through his devotion and love of learning came into prominence among the Guru's disciples. When the Guru decided to compile the Aad Granth containing the hymns of the Gurus and other men-of-God, he chose Bhai Gurdas to be his scribe. They worked together on the compilation which was completed in 1604. The entire text was inscribed by Bhai Gurdas. The copy written in his hand is preserved to this day in the family of the descendants of one of the sixth Nanak’s sons, at Kartarpur, in Jalandhar district of present day Punjab.

Bhai Gurdas also contributed the labour of his hands in the excavation of the sarovar at Amritsar (1577 CE). He was chosen to recite the Gurus' hymns to Emperor Akbar when he visited Kartarpur in 1596-97 on his way back from a military campaign. As the tradition goes, the Emperor had been incited by Pirthi Chand and his supporters against Guru Arjan saying that the hymns he was planning to compile into a volume had an anti-Muslim tone. As Bhai Gurdas read out verses selected at random, the Emperor was deeply impressed with their spiritual content. When Guru Hargobind, the sixth Nanak, decided to construct in front of the Harmandar the Akal Takht, Throne of the Timeless Lord, he entrusted the task to the two most revered Sikhs of the time, Bhai Gurdas and Baba Buddha. Along with the Guru, these three were the only persons who together built the Akal Takht, which was destroyed by the Indian army in 1984.

Bhai Gurdas was assigned the task of looking after the Harmandar by the sixth Guru. Guru Hargobind also appointed him to teach various religious traditions to his young son (Guru) Tegh Bahadur, even as Baba Buddha supervised his training in martial arts of archery and horsemanship. Bhai Gurdas led a batch of Sikhs to Gawalior where Guru Hargobind had been detained under the orders of the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

Bhai Gurdas was the bulwark of Sikhi for many years. He was the expounder and exemplar of the Sikh way of life. He was a man of wide learning and devoted his exceptional talents to preaching the Sikh faith. He composed verses which are valued for its simple language and vivid exposition of the teachings of the Gurus. His poetry, now available in two volumes, in Punjabi, Varan Bhai Gurdas and in Braj, Kabitt Savaiyye, was the first exegesis of the Sikh canon and is sung along with Gurbani, in the Sikh congregations. Guru Arjan put his seal of approval on it by designating it as the "key" to the Aad Granth. Bhai Gurdas, who never married, died at Goindval on 25 August 1636.