WHY DO SIKHS HAVE TEN GURUS PART 1

WHY DO THE SIKHS HAVE TEN GURUS

(Part 1)

Almost all the major religions of the world - with the exception of Hinduism which has thousands of gods – have only one prophet (or founder) each. For example Christians have Jesus, Muslims have Muhammad, Budhists have Gautam Buddha, and the Jainis have Mahavir; but Sikhs are very proud to have ten Masters (or Gurus) as their spiritual leaders.

A few people wonder and sometimes ask this question why do we have ten Masters? It may not be a simple question to answer, but once we have discussed it, you will not only be satisfied, but will also be happy to understand the highly powerful and valid reasons behind the fact that we had to have these many Masters.

1. GURU NANAK DEV JI (1469- 1539) born in 1469, and the founder of the Great Religion of Sikhism had a great mission of spreading the Word of God in highly challenging times when the ignorant people were made to believe in the supremacy of the clergy (Brahmans and the Qazies) and the rulers. Both, the clergy and the rulers, were keeping the masses in dark, and looting them of their meagre resources with both hands. Guru Nanak knew very well that preaching the masses to spread the Divine Message while sitting at one place will not change them. So, He decided to take long journeys to spend time among the people to enlighten them. He took four long journeys, called odysseys. His first journey lasted for more than 8 years in which He covered Northern India, Nepal and parts of Tibet. His second odyssey took Him to Sindh (in present), southern India, and Sri Lanka.

In His third Odyssey, He went to Saudi Arabia including Mecca, Medina, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. This odyssey lasted for more than 3 years.

In His fourth and last odyssey, Guru Nanak Sahib went to Kashmir over the Himalayas, and also visited Tibet, parts of China and of Russia. In all He travelled for more than 23 years and covered about 40000km.  He covered all His travels on foot going without food and water for many days at a stretch. On His way through the forests and deserted areas, He was often face to face with death and other life-threatening situations.  In additions to the hostile clergy and the rulers who did not like His enlightening of the masses, He was also attacked by robbers, thugs and cannibals. He slept under the open skies even in rain, scorching heat and storms. Trees were His best shelter.  But He had a Mission to carry out. He is the only religious and spiritual leader who undertook so many long journeys for so many years to enlighten humanity and to improve their lot. His sacrifices are un-parallel and unmatched in the history of the world. Some ignorant and malicious people blame him for abandoning his family when it needed Him the most. But such ignorant people do not realize that the whole world was Guru Nanak’s family. There is no question that Guru Sahib’s family also made sacrifices because it had to survive on its own; but sacrifices need to be made for a much, much greater cause.

In addition to educating the masses, the clergy and the rulers alike, He also collected the writings of the holy saints wherever He could find them. His congregations included masses from all walks of life and from all religions.

His Message included the following important Beliefs and Principles (not necessarily in that order).

§ There is only one Supreme Being who is the sole creator of the universe and Who looks after His Creation.  You may call Him Waheguru, God, Allah or by any other name.

§ He does not need any assistance from any god, goddess or some angel.

§ Waheguru does not reside somewhere far away in the skies. He rather resides in everybody’s mind and is always watching their deeds.

§ He can be realized only through the Guru (or Satguru) who is His manifestation. God has placed Himself (His Knowledge) in the Guru.

§ Only Waheguru is to be worshipped and no other god, goddess or any other power deserves any worshipping.  One must remember Waheguru all the time, and sing His praise as much as one can using Guru’s Shabad.

§ One must work hard and diligently to achieve his just goals, but must accept the Will of God gladly.

§ There is no dedicated place for heaven and hell. Your life itself can be heavenly or hellish.  For Guru Sahiban, they are in Heaven when they are connected to Waheguru and separation (or disconnection) from Waheguru is like being in hell.

§ Likewise, there is no special day for judgment. Your deeds are being judged continuously.  There is no such individual as Dharam Raj.

§ No pilgrimage, conventional ritual, donations to undeserving individuals, or self-torture (like fasting or physical suffering) is of any help or of significance in the spiritual journey and cannot connect one with Waheguru.

§ Also, one must not believe in superstitions or auspicious or un-auspicious days or moments.

§ God has created all human beings as equal. So nobody is superior (or inferior) based on caste, race, gender, colour or creed.  Only ones deeds make him good or bad.

§ One must earn his living by honest means, and should help the needy. One must pay for the labour of others, and must not lay claim on something that belongs to others.

§ One must control one’s sensual pleasures (lust, rage, greed, possessiveness and his ego) before one can realize Waheguru.

§ One must not cast an evil eye on women who must be treated with respect

§ One must not intimidate others and by the same token must not allow others to intimidate any of the rest. However, one must fight against injustice and oppression even if it is not directed at you directly.

§ One must not unleash a malicious attack on others and also must not sing the praise of undeserving people.

NOTE 1: There are hundreds of holy Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib on which these Principles are based.

NOTE 2: Please read the article “Revered Guru Nanak” under the “Shabads Category” of this Website to learn more about the magnanimity of Guru Nanak Sahib.

Guru Nanak Sahib carved the picture of a good human being who will have as many of the above noble qualities as possible. As discussed above, He worked very hard throughout His life to enlighten the masses so that they would acquire some of the above qualities, but He knew full well that such a demanding task would require much more time and effort than which can be provided by a human Guru in a single life time. Also, masses needed some practical examples of service to mankind before they can acquire such a high moral character. People needed examples of dedication to the Guru and to serve mankind. They needed examples of determination, moral strength, and sacrifice to fight injustice and oppression.

For these reasons, Guru Nanak Sahib decided to pass on the torch of Divine Knowledge to some other Great and deserving Souls who would carry out His Mission for many more years until the masses became well enlightened.

2. GURU ANGAD DEV JI (1504-52): Having an unshakable faith in the Guru is a prerequisite to acquiring good qualities as preached by the Guru because otherwise you will not believe in His Teachings as well. Guru Angad Dev Ji (Bhai Lehna Ji before being made the Guru) was chosen very carefully by Guru Nanak Sahib to replace Him.  Guru Angad Dev Ji was a perfect epitome of dedication and faith in His Master – Guru Nanak Dev Ji. He came to visit Guru Nanak Sahib at Kartarpur (now in Pakistan) across from the town Dera Baba Nanak (in Gurdaspur district, Punjab) on the other side of the River Ravi in 1532.  Before coming to Guru Nanak Sahib, Bhai Lehna Ji was a dedicated devotee of goddess Vaishno Devi whose famous temple is near Jammu in the mountains.  In fact, Bhai Lehna Ji was leading a party of devotees to visit the goddess when he stopped on their way to see Guru Nanak at Kartarpur. Bhai Lehna Ji was so mesmerized by Guru Ji’s personality that he put his head on the feet of Guru Sahib and forgot to raise it. The feeling was mutual, and Guru Nanak Sahib liked Bhai Lehna Ji at the first sight. After a short while, Guru Sahib raised Bhai Lehna Ji head from His feet with affection. Bhai Lehna Ji decided to stay at Kartarpur to serve Guru Sahib and abandoned the plan to visit the goddess. Even though he stayed in the service of Guru Nanak Sahib only for a short period of 7 years, but he recognized the Divine Light in Guru Nanak Sahib and he developed complete faith in his Master. Every word of Guru Nanak was a Divine Order for Bhai Lehna Ji.

To test the faith of His sons and His Sikhs in Him, many a time Guru Nanak Sahib asked them to do things which seemed to be unreasonable to most of them; but Bhai Lehna Ji never hesitated and always was eager to obey. A few examples of his dedication and his faith in Guru Nanak Sahib as narrated in the Sikh religious books are given below.  Whether the actual happenings took place the way they are narrated in the books or not, is a matter of personal belief, but Bhai Lehna Ji certainly obeyed the orders of Guru Nanak Sahib under all circumstances.

a. Once Guru Nanak Sahib threw a bowl deep in the mud and asked His sons to get the bowl from the mud. His sons - Sri Chand Ji and Lashmi Dass Ji flatly refused saying that the bowl was not worth the labour to clean their clothes which would get dirty when they waded into the mud to retrieve the bowl.  When Guru Sahib looked at Bhai Lehna Ji, he did not hesitate even for a moment and retrieved the bowl.  It is worthy to mention here that Bhai Lehna Ji hailed from a very rich family, and at the time he was clad in rich clothes.

b. One time, a large number of Sikhs had gathered at Kartarpur to listen to Guru Nanak Sahib’s sermons when it began to rain very hard which continued for quite a few days. Most of the food stocks ran out and it was not even possible to build a fire with wet wood. Everybody was starving, but there was no solution to the tough situation. At last, Guru Sahib asked His sons and His Sikhs to shake a particular tree violently when it would provide cooked meals and sweets.  Everybody made fun of Guru Ji’s instructions because they could not believe in the outcome - but not Bhai Lehna Ji who had full faith in Guru Sahib’s Word. He followed the instructions right away and began to shake the tree.

c. It was mid night on a rainy and a very cold day in December when Guru Nanak Sahib awakened His sons and the other Sikhs and demanded that his clothes be washed immediately at the nearby River, Ravi. Guru Sahib’s sons and the Sikhs could not be convinced by such an emergency and requested Guru Sahib to wait until the next morning. But Guru Sahib was very adamant and would allow no waiting. Everybody else ignored Guru Sahib’s wish except Bhai Lehna Ji who took the clothes and left for the River right away.  There are many such stories of the dedication of Bhai Lehna Ji for Guru Nanak Sahib.

d. Guru Nanak Sahib created all these opportunities for His sons and the Sikhs to know that Bhai Lehna Ji was the only deserving successor to Guru Sahib. But, shortly before appointing Bhai Lehna Ji as His successor, Guru Nanak Sahib performed the final drama to dispel any lingering doubts in the minds of His sons or the Sikhs about the spiritual ability of Bhai Lehna Ji. Guru began to act in a very strange way as if He did not know what was going on. He tore His clothes and began to run towards the nearby forest by the bank of Ravi. When the Sikhs ran after Him for His safety, he began to pelt stones on them and threatening to hurt them seriously if they followed Him. At the persistence of Guru Nanak Sahib, all the Sikhs and His sons returned to the Gurdwara (called Dharamsaal in those days) convincing themselves that being old now, Guru Nanak Sahib had lost His memory and would return after sometime. However, Bhai Lehna Ji had full faith in Guru Nanak Sahib’s capability and he was fully convinced that this was just another act on the part of Guru Sahib to teach His Sikhs something new. So, despite all the threats from Guru Nanak Sahib to hurt Bhai Lehna Ji, the latter did not stop following Him. He told Guru Nanak Sahib that he (Bhai Lehna Ji) had come to realize that Guru Nanak was a manifestation of Waheguru (God) and absolutely nothing could be wrong with Him. So, no matter what happened to him, he was not going to leave Guru Sahib alone.

Guru Nanak Sahib was completely satisfied with Bhai Lehna Ji’s faith in Him. Guru Nanak Sahib hugged Guru Angad Dev Ji and brought him back to the Gurdwara. Guru Nanak Sahib called a big congregation of the Sikhs and declared that Bhai Lehna Ji with the new name of Guru Angad Dev Ji would be the next Guru of the Sikhs replacing Him. A few days later in 1539, a simple ceremony was performed at which Guru Nanak Sahib knelt before Bhai Lehna Ji and put His Head on the feet on Bhai Lehna Ji to officially pass on the Guruship to Him. This was the first time ever that Guru Nanak Sahib had bowed before any human being. He had never bowed even before extremely powerful and tyrant emperors like Baabar.  The whole world was amazed at this gesture of Guru Nanak Sahib.

Guru Nanak Sahib asked Bhai Lehna Ji to move to His native Village of Khadoor to escape jealousy for His sons – Baba Sri Chand and Baba Lakhmi Dass. Khadoor Sahib is about 40 km from the present city of Amritsar which did not exist at that time.

Guru Angad Dev Ji served as the next Guru of the Sikhs for about 13 years until He left for His Heavenly abode in 1552. He maintained the same system of preaching as Guru Nanak Sahib and Sikhism flourished well during His Guruship. He also expanded the custom of Lungar – the free community kitchen - where everybody ate together and was treated the same.  Guru Sahib did not travel around much but Sikhism still spread widely during His period. Sikhs from all parts of the Country began to visit Him in droves.

For the physical development of the children, Guru Sahib started a special sports program for them and supervised them Himself Following the Principle of equal treatment for all and the Principle of not bowing to any pressure, Guru Angad Dev Ji displayed no special treatment for the Emperor Human Yun, the son of Baabar, when the latter visited Khadoor Sahib in 1540.  He had to wait to get Guru Ji’s attention as Guru Sahib was watching the children at play.  Because of this action on the part of Guru Sahib, the Sikhs became fearless but still showed respect where it was deserved.  Keeping Guru Nanak Sahib’s plan alive, and because a lot was still left to do for the maturity of Sikhism, Guru Angad Sahib passed on the torch of Guruship to Baba Amar Dass Ji in 1552 and left this mortal world.

3. Guru Amar Dass Ji (1479-1574): Age no hindrance to Divine Knowledge Baba Amar Dass Ji was born in 1479 in Basarke village about twenty some km from the present city of Amritsar. He was from a well-to-do family, but was deeply religious and a great devotee of goddesses. Before coming to the shelter of Guru Angad Sahib in 1544 at the age of sixty-five, he used to go to Hardwar every year to take a dip in the “holy” waters of the River Gunga (Ganges) with the firm belief that taking a dip in the Gunga washes all one’s sins away. But his mind was not at peace. He was in search of a real “Guru”. He came to Guru Angad Dev Ji’s shelter. Guru Angad Dev Ji’s daughter, Bibi Amro, was the daughter-in-law of Baba Amar Dass Ji’s elder brother. One day Baba Ji overheard Bibi Amro Ji reciting Guru Nanak Sahib’s holy Baani of Jap(u) Ji. Even though Baba Ji did not understand the full meaning of the Gurbani, he was mesmerized by its effect. He approached Bibi Amro and asked her to take him to the Great man whose Baani she was reciting. Bibi Ji told Baba Ji, that the Creator of the Baani, Guru Nanak Sahib was no longer in this world in the human form, but He had been succeeded by her father, Guru Angad Dev Ji who was spreading the Word of Waheguru (God) as written and explained by Guru Nanak Sahib. Baba Ji was so eager to have a holy sight of Guru Angad Dev Ji that he persuaded Bibi Ji to take him to Khadoor Sahib right away as he could not wait any longer.

Just like Guru Angad Sahib had been mesmerized by Guru Nanak Sahib’s personality, it did not take even a moment for Baba Amar Dass Ji to develop similar feelings for Guru Angad Sahib. He decided to spend the rest of his life in the service of Guru Angad Sahib. He served Guru Angad Sahib with a great dedication and spent the rest of his time reciting and understanding Gurbani of Guru Nanak Sahib and Guru Angad Sahib (which was not that much in volume). He was left with no interest in the gods or goddesses or in the “holy” dips in the Gunga. In fact after becoming the next Guru, Baba Amar Dass Ji wrote a lot downplaying the importance of gods.

Guru Angad Dev Ji so pleased with Baba Amar Dass Ji’s service and his love and dedication for Gurbani, that He found Baba Amar Dass Ji fully competent to succeed Him as the next Guru.  In 1552, Guru Angad Dev Ji called a huge congregation of the Sikhs, and anointed Baba Amar Dass Ji as the next Guru. Guru Angad Dev Ji was only 48 years old while Baba Amar Dass Ji was 73 years old at the time. All cultures believe that the man loses his ability to think clearly after the age of 70 years. But, accession of Guru Amar Dass Ji to the throne of Guruship at the age of 73 defied that logic and proved beyond doubt that old age was no barrier to the Divine Knowledge.

Guru Amar Dass Ji had set new standards in the service of the Guru during his stay at Khadoor Sahib in the service of Guru Angad Dev Ji. This was another important lesson for the Sikhs as envisioned by Guru Nanak Sahib.

Guru Amar Dass Ji served as the Guru for the next 22 years. He made sure that the offerings by the Sikhs were spent on them each day, and did not save anything for the next day.  He honoured 23 of His dedicated Sikhs with the task of serving as missionaries to spread the Word of Guru Nanak in different parts of the Country. He called the designation “Munjee” meaning “small throne”. Two of the missionaries were women and one of them, Allah Yaar, was a Pathan Muslim.

Guru Sahib preached in favour of women’s rights and advised people to show respect for women. He preached vehemently against the barbaric custom of “Sati” prevalent among the Hindu widows. According to this inhuman custom, a widow was forced to burn herself alive on the pyre of her deceased husband.  In fact, Guru Sahib persuaded Emperor Akbar to pass a strict law against “Sati” when he visited Guru Sahib in Goindwal to investigate a complaint filed by some local Hindus against Guru Sahib that He was preaching against values of Hindu holy books. Emperor Akbar was so impressed by the Guru Sahib’s Teachings of the Gurbani and practices followed among the Sikhs that not only he tossed the complaint and reprimanded the complainant, but also showed tremendous respect for Guru Sahib. The Emperor also donated 22 villages for dowry for the upcoming marriage of Guru Sahib’s daughter Bibi Bhani Ji. Akbar also sat on the floor with the Sikhs from all casts to eat the Lungar.

Guru Sahib created a large volume of Gurbani in 17 Ragas which is enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib. Do not forget that Guru Sahib wrote the holy Gurbani when He was between 73 and 95 years of age. This fact clearly proves that contrary to the popular belief, age is no barrier to acquire and be the source of Divine Knowledge. Guru Amar Dass Ji did not travel much to enlighten masses except for one journey which took Him to Kurukshetra, and Hardwar. Guru Ram Dass Ji has written a brief account of this journey, which is again enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib.

NOTE: Please read the article “Travels of Guru Amar Dass Ji” in the Article section of the Website.

4. GURU RAM DASS Ji (1534-1581): As in the case of the Second and the Third Guru Sahiban, Bhai Jetha Ji was anointed the Fourth Guru under the name Guru Ram Dass Ji after had passed some tough tests given by Guru Ram Dass Ji. Bhai Jetha Ji was born in Lahore, but he moved to his maternal

Village of Basarke when he was only about 7 years of age because both of his parents had died. Recall that Basarke was also the home place of Guru Amar Dass Ji.

Jetha Ji was a very kind-hearted and a polite young boy. He had to start earning bread at that young age because his maternal grandmother was too old to earn a living. Because of the unfavourable circumstances, Jetha Ji did not get much schooling. The young Jetha Ji began to sell boiled whole wheat in the village.

As destiny had it, Baba Amar Dass Ji’s divine eye recognized the good hidden qualities of the young Jetha Ji (later Guru Amar Dass Ji) and a bond developed between the two.  When Guru Amar Dass Ji moved to Goindwal as advised by Guru Angad Dev Ji, He took Jetha Ji with Him to Goindwal convincing the latter that he would have a good business in the new and developing town.  Jetha Ji continued to sell boiled wheat, but also began to attend the religious congregations addressed by Guru Amar Dass Ji. He also learned some Gurmukhi in his spare time. In 1553, Guru Amar Dass Ji married off His daughter, Bibi Bhani Ji, with Bhai Jetha Ji.  Now Jetha Ji began to spend more and more time at Guru Sahib’s Darbar (religious court) and because of his very sweet demeanor and hard work, he soon become very popular among the Sikhs.  He was highly devoted to Guru Sahib.  Contrary to the Punjabi culture where the sons-in law are treated with great respect by their in-laws and they do not serve their in-laws, Bhai Jetha Ji served Guru Amar Dass Ji with full devotion and did every little thing for Him. This made Jetha Ji relatives very unhappy, but Jetha Ji did not care.

In keeping with Guru Nanak Sahib’s vision, Guru Amar Dass Ji decided to pass on the Guruship to some other deserving and godly person because there was still a lot more to do to make the Sikhs attain the level that Guru Nanak Sahib had envisioned.  After careful consideration, Guru Amar Dass Ji decided to pass on the Guruship to Bhai Jetha Ji who was the best deserving candidate for the position. There was a lot of opposition from Guru Sahib’s sons – Baba Mohan Ji and Baba Mohri Ji – but Guru Sahib totally disregarded their opposition.

So, in Aug 1574, Guru Sahib called a big congregation and explained that it was time for Him to leave this mortal world and that Bhai Jetha Ji would be the next Guru under the name Guru Ram Dass Ji. Guru Ji made everybody to kneel before Guru Ram Dass Ji and put their heads at His feet. Everybody except for Baba Mohan Ji obeyed.

Guru Ram Dass Ji’s Contributions: A few years before He was anointed the Fourth Guru, Guru Amar Dass Ji had asked Bhai Jetha Ji to dig a pool of water near a village which is now a part of the City of Amritsar. A small pool of water was gif at that place, but it was not completed yet. When Bhai Jetha Ji became the Fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Dass Ji advised Him to go and settle down near the Pool and develop that area so that the Sikhs visiting Him should have plenty of water for their use. Guru Ji did that, completed the digging of the Pool and started a building a new town which was named “Chak Ram Dass”.  Later the walls of the Pool were lined with bricks and a temple was built in the centre of the Pool by Guru Arjun Dev Ji. The beautiful temple which is now called Darbar Sahib, Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple has become one of the most sacred places of the Sikhs.

Guru Ram Dass Ji continued preaching Sikhism exactly the same way as the first three Gurus and even though He was the Guru only for a short period of about 7 years, yet He composed a huge volume of Gurbani in 30 Ragas thereby adding 11 more Ragas to the 19 Ragas which had been used by Guru Nanak Sahib.  It is extremely amazing to know that a person who had very little schooling had so deep knowledge of Gurbani and that of the Ragas!! The language which has been used by Guru Ram Dass Ji to write Gurbani is so sweet that it touches everybody heart and forces you to love Gurbani.

He was very polite, loving and caring and He looked after each and every visiting Sikh individually for their needs.  He had an impressive long beard. It is said that once Baba Sri Chand Ji, the elder son of Guru Nanak Sahib, came to visit him and jokingly asked Him why He had such along beard. At this Guru Ji said very politely that he had long beard so that He may brush the dust off the feet of holy people like Baba Sri Chand Ji. Sri Chand Ji was highly pleased with such a humble response which was reminiscent of Baba Ji’s holy father - Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Guru Ji had three sons – Baba Pirthi Chand, Baba Maha Dev, and Baba Arjun Dev Ji (later Guru Arjun Dev Ji).  Baba Pirthi Chand was a good administrator but highly engrossed in Maya (was highly money-minded). He thought that Guruship was his birth right and he should be the next guru. However, because of his attraction for Maya and other worldly attractions like fame, desire to be worshipped and so on, Guru Sahib did not want him to be the next guru. Moreover, he had already started to lobby the prominent Sikhs to support him for succession to Guruship. To avoid any untoward situation, Guru Ram Dass Ji decided to appoint His heir right away even though He was still relatively young..   Maha Dev Ji was totally detached from worldly affairs and had no interest in Guruship. (He also died very young). On the other hand, Baba Arjun Dev Ji was a highly knowledgeable about Divinity and Gurbani, a totally religious person, a great devotee of the Guru and was also completely detached from Maya and its attractions. In Guru Sahib’s judgment, Baba Arjun Dev Ji was the perfect man to succeed Him. So, in Aug 1581, Guru Sahib called in a big congregation and despite a big opposition (almost a revolt), from Pirthi Chand, Guru Sahib declared Baba Arjun Dev Ji the next and the Fifth Guru. Guru Sahib put His head at Baba Arjun Dev’s feet and asked everybody to do the same. The next day, Guru Ram Dass Ji left for His heavenly abode.

5. GURU ARJUN DEV JI (1563-1606): Guru Arjun Dev Ji was born in Goindwal Sahib where His Father Guru Ram Dass Ji was living serving Guru Amar Dass Ji. He was very spiritual right from His early childhood.  At the time of accession to the throne of Guruship in 1581, he was under 18 years of age.  As soon as He became the Guru, He faced many hardships because of the opposition from His elder brother Baba Pirthi Chand who tried his best to make Guru Sahib’s life very difficult.

First, he declared himself the real guru and began to misguide the visiting Sikhs through his agents to visit his court and not go to Guru Arjun Dev Ji. As a result of this evil scheme, Guru Arjun Sahib’s Court received very few Sikhs and thus very few funds which were not sufficient even to run the Lungar (free kitchen) for the Sikhs and other needy people.  Somehow Guru Sahib managed the tough situation, but soon the Sikhs came to know about Pirthi Chand’s evil plans, and stopped visiting him. His failure on this front led him to further jealousy, and he was able to persuade the Court bards (Raagis) – Satta and Balwand – to stop singing shabads at Guru Sahib’s Court.    These two cousins were already unhappy with Guru Sahib because they did not get the expected monetary help from Guru Sahib for the wedding of Satta’s daughter. Their absence did cause a little inconvenience for Guru Sahib, but it did not affect the attendance at Guru Sahib’s Court as Guru Sahib Himself was a great singer with a melodious voice and He began to sing for the daily schedule.

When Pirthi Chand was unsuccessful even after that, he began to seek the help of the Mughal rulers at Lahore. After persistent efforts, he was able to provoke the commander of the Mughal Army in Lahore to remove Guru Arjun Dev Ji from Guruship and replace Him with Pirthi Chand. The Commander, Sulhi Khan, agreed because of a selfish reason and he left Lahore with a small army for Amritsar to arrest Guru Arjun Dev Ji on some baseless concocted charges. On his way to Amritsar, Sulhi went to see the brick kiln where bricks were being baked for Guru Arjun Sahib to build the planned Golden Temple.  As Sulhi rode on to the brick kiln wall, his horse got scared by the flames in the kiln, and he accidently jumped into the kiln as a result of which Sulhi was burned alive along with his evil plans.

Guru Sahib got married in 1589 but did not have any child until 1595 when His only child Sri Hargobind (later Guru Hargobind Sahib) was born.  Because, of this large gap of almost six years between the marriage of Guru Arjun Sahib and the birth Sri Hargobind, Pirthi Chand had become very hopeful that Guru Sahib was not going to be a father at all, and after His leaving the Guruship, Pirthi Chand’s son, Meharban would inherit Guruship. This ill-conceived hope sustained Pirthi Chand’s life. This hope was further fed by the fact that Guru Sahib had adopted Pirthi Chand’s son, Meharban as His own. But even that hope of Pirthi Chand was dashed to the ground with the birth of Sri Hargobind. Now Pirthi Chand harboured another evil plan and he decided to have Hargobind killed. There were several grave attacks on the life of the Divine child, but with Waheguru’s grace, he always escaped totally unharmed whereas in most cases the attackers died during their evil attempts.

NOTE: Many of these events have been covered under the titles “Shabads of Historical Significance” in the Website.

Guru Arjun Sahib’s Contributions: Guru Arjun Sahib’s contributions to Sikhism and for the betterment of humanity are innumerable and of great significance. The most important ones are listed below.

§ Not only the volume of the holy Gurbani written by Guru Arjun Dev Ji is more than any other Guru Sahib or any Bhagat, it makes up about 40% of the whole Guru Granth Sahib. His main compositions include Sukhmani Sahib, Barahmah, Maajh, Gauri Bawan Akkhari, and six Vaars.

§ Guru Sahib also organized the compositions of all the first Four Guru Sahiban, His own compositions and the compositions of all the Bhagats into different Ragas. He also added appropriate sloakas to the Vaars. This was a great contribution on His part. Guru Gobind Singh Ji enshrined the holy compositions of the Ninth Guru, Sri Tegh Bahadur Sahib, to give the present form to Guru Granth Sahib.

§ Guru Sahib brick-lined the holy Sarovar at Amritsar which had been started by Guru Ram Dass Ji, and built the world renowned Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib or Harmandir Sahib) at its centre. Guru Sahib chose Meeyaan Meer Ji, a Muslim Sufi Faqir, to lay the foundation of Harmandir Sahib. When Harmandir Sahib was completed in 1589, the name of the town surrounding Harmandir Sahib was changed to Amritsar from Chak Ram Dass which had been founded by Guru Ram Dass Ji in 1570. Today, Harmandir Sahib is well known as one of the holiest places of the Sikhs in India.

§ Guru Sahib also founded the city of Tarn Taran and built another Darbar Sahib there. He also founded the town of Sri Hargobindpur about 30 km from Batala; and built a Gurdwara at Kartarpur in Dist Jalandhar.

§ Guru Sahib was amazingly patient and a firm believer in Waheguru (God). He spent His whole life following these high moral Principles and thereby teaching His Sikhs to follow the same. Despite the fact that Pirthi Chand not only made Guru Sahib’s life very hard, but he had also made many life-threatening attacks on Sri Hargobind Sahib, Guru Sahib never showed any animosity towards His elder brother.

§ Between 1595 and 1598, the areas surrounding Amritsar had suffered severe drought and an epidemic of small pox hit the Area as well. Guru Sahib spent all that time serving and helping the suffering people. Fearing further attacks by Pirthi Chand on the life of Sri Hargobind Ji, Guru Sahib did not want to leave him behind in Amritsar and took the Child with Him while serving the epidemic-hit people. Being a small child, Sri Hargobind Ji suffered a severe attack of small pox. Even though Guru Nanak Sahib had enlightened the people about all baseless superstitions and rituals, many people were still in the dark and they still believed in rituals. Those days (and even today) all the Hindus believed that small pox (known as seetla in India) was caused by goddess Seetla, and the only cure for the disease was to worship her and observe some rituals. So, many well-meaning but ignorant people put pressure on Guru Sahib to worship the goddess. Guru Sahib politely refused to accept all such suggestions and asked such people to have faith in Waheguru only and to recite Gurbani. With time, the disease was cured and Hargobind Ji recovered fully. That recovery firmed up the faith of a large number of people in Waheguru. Guru Sahib has written quite a few Shabads about this event and which have been enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib.

§ Martyrdom: Sikhs were embracing Guru Sahiban’s Teachings very fast and they were leading a highly contended life. However, they have not learned yet how to gladly lay down their lives to defend the Truth because there was no example before them to follow. It was for Guru Arjun Sahib to set such an example for His Sikhs. As we have discussed above, Pirthi Chand lodged some baseless complaints against Guru Arjun Sahib to the Mughal authorities. One of such complaints was that Guru Sahib was teaching principles which were against the ideologies of Hinduism and Islam. At that time, no such accusation was proved, however when Chandu Lall (a Hindu Khattri) and a high official from Lahore in the court of Emperor Jehangir complained about Guru Sahib to Jehangir, the latter was easily convinced and he took a quick and unreasonable decision to punish Guru Sahib. He presented two options for Guru Sahib and authorized Chandu Lall to deal with the case in whatever way he deemed fit. Chandu Lall became very happy to have that power because he was unjustifiably very unhappy with Guru Ji for a personal reason. The options presented to Guru Sahib were as follows:

1. Stop preaching the Principles of Sikhism and embrace Islam  or

2. Get ready to die and your death will be very horrifying because you will be killed in a way that no blood will be allowed to spill.

The choice for Guru Sahib was very simple because He would not quit preaching the Principle of Righteousness and would not embrace Islam under any circumstances.

At His refusal to embrace Islam, Guru Ji was arrested and taken to Lahore on the orders of Chandu Lall.   Guru Ji was tortured for three days in highly barbaric way. He was made to sit under the hot sun on a hot iron plate placed on an open fire. It was late May and the sun was blistering hot. Hot sand was poured on His bare head until all His body was full with blisters. Despite all this barbaric treatment, Guru Sahib never uttered a word or even moaned with unbearable pain. Finally He was thrown in the River Ravi and His holy body was never recovered despite the best efforts of the Sikhs.

Whereas Guru Sahib’s un-parallel martyrdom created a terror in most peoples’ minds, it also injected a new spirit among the Sikhs who now had overcome the fear of death and were ready to fight for righteousness.

NOTE1: Read the article “Martyrdom of Guru Arjun Dev Ji” on this Website under the “Articles” section.