GURU GOBIND SINGH JI and DEVI WORSHIP

DID GURU GOBIND SINGH JI WORSHIP

ANY GODDESS

I have written this several times before that Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the Tenth Sikh Master, was such a unique personality in all of human history that nobody else could have such great abilities and sacrificing spirit that the Tenth Master did. Because of that everybody wanted Him to be their spiritual head.  What Guru Sahib did for the betterment of all humanity, nobody else ever did that. He fought against oppression of the down trodden and against injustice for all humanity all his life, and smilingly sacrificed his entire family for this cause including His father, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib, His mother, Mata Gujri Ji, and his four sons aged, 17, 14, 8 and 6 years respectively. Guru Sahib was a great commander, a great organizer and a kind-hearted human being who did not treat anybody as his personal enemy. He was an unparalleled archer of His time who never missed His target.  Above all, He never attacked the enemy first and gave three chances to the aggressor to attack Him.

He fought for the equality of all human beings regardless of caste, creed, gender or ethnicity. He had to fight many battles and won almost all of them; yet he did not claim even a single cm of the land belonging to others. His aim was not to build an empire; it was rather to provide justice and freedom to the masses. Contrary to the popular slogan that “everything is fair in love and war”, Guru Ji’s practice was “that only fair was fair”. His Sikhs served water even to the enemies in the battle field and all wounded soldiers were given the same medical treatment whether they were friends or foes. No plundering was allowed when the Sikh armies won, and the Sikhs were not allowed to chase the fleeing armies. Such were the high ideals of Guru Sahib.

Because of Guru Sahib’s sacrifices, His contributions for the betterment of humanity, and His personal traits, many people of all faiths wanted Him to be associated with their faith. Since they could not do that, and they did not want to convert to Sikhism for their narrow-mindedness, some of our zealot Hindu brethren have tried to prove that Guru Gobind Singh Ji was a worshipper of Hindu gods – especially a Hindu goddess which they believe is the root source of all energy and creation.  By doing so, they can have at least this FALSE satisfaction that even though Guru Gobind Singh Ji was a great spiritual leader, He was not quite as great as their deities were because He worshipped their mythical goddess.  What a pathetic thinking!

To prove their point they quote some writings from the Dasam Granth, all of which is certainly not the creation of the Tenth Master. Only a few baanis (holy compositions) like Jaap Sahib, Akal Ustat and a few Shabads and Svayyas are possibly written by Guru Ji Himself. It is RSS which is forcing the Sikhs to accept that Dasam Granth has been written by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. If Dasam Granth were indeed written by Guru Gobind Singh Ji, then why does RSS insist that the Sikhs must accept it? Why don’t they leave the choice to the followers of Guru Gobind Singh?  They never preach that Guru Granth Sahib – the Real Guru of the Sikhs - should be revered and believed in.

Not only many RSS members insist that Sikhs accept Dasam Granth as their guru, some unscrupulous have used highly offensive language for the Sikhs if they do not support their position on Dasam Granth as propagated by RSS. I want to quote a few paragraphs written by some ignorant Jagbir and Nirmala Devi on the subject for you to see how arrogant they are and what kind of offensive language they have used. The following excerpts have been taken from www.adishakti.org

1. JAGBIR

“The Ardas is often adorned with various passages from the Guru Granth Sahib. The recitation of Ardas commences with the opening stanza of Var Sri Bhagauti Ji written by Guru Gobind Singh Ji (The Var Sri Bhagauti Ji is contained within the Dasam Granth). This smoothly written ode begins by going through the order of meditation by placing Sri Bhagauti (The Divine Mother) foremost above all else, and then systematically referring to each of the other Gurus in turn entreating them for aid and protection. The opening verses of the Ardas reads:
Ardaas: Ek Onkar Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh. Sri Bhagauti Ji Sahae. Var Shri Bhagauti Ji Ki Patshahi Dasvin
Ardaas: God is One. All victory is of the Wondrous Guru. May the respected Shri Bhagauti (Divine Mother) help us! Ode of the respected Shri Bhagauti recited by the Tenth Guru: Pritham bhagauti simari kai gur nanak lain dhiai
First call up Bhagauti (The Divine Mother) in your mind, then meditate on Guru Nanak.
Guru Gobind Singh was a worshipper of the Divine Mother (Shri Bhagauti/Bhagawati). Not only did he entrench Her in the Ardas as is evident from his writings, but also sought Her blessings for the completion of the holy Granth Sahib:
Kripa kari hum par Jag Mata, Granth kara puran subh rata
Divine Mother of this universe shower Your blessings on me, so that I shall be able to complete this Granth.

In the tradition of Lord Rama, Guru Govind Singh performed a year- long Chandi Yagna at Naina Devi (the shrine of the Goddess of beautiful eyes) overlooking Anandpur Sahib before launching upon his mission. Lord Rama had done the same before marching into Lanka. The Goddess, pleased with his austerities, had blessed Rama with victory. Lord Krishna had taken Arjuna to the temple of the Goddess for seeking her blessings before the battle with the Kauravas.

So Guru Gobind Singh kept Shri Bhagauti (Maha Devi) over and above Nanak and the other Sikh Gurus. Such was his highest esteem towards the Divine Mother that he composed the Ardas seeking supplication from Her. Thus all Sikhs, unknowingly or knowingly, are actually worshipping and seeking the blessings of Shri Bhagauti (The Divine Mother) every day. But try telling them that truth and you will be enlightened by a collective ignorance stretching back centuries.
There are a number of articles by Sikhs trying to depreciate, even erase, the Divine Feminine (Bhagauti/Bhagawati). i do not wish to confuse readers by stating all the different interpretations and reasons given by Sikhs to distance themselves from the Primordial Mother (Bhagauti/Bhagawati).

Try as Sikhs may, they can neither rid the Bhagauti (The Divine Mother) of their Ardas nor the Aykaa Mayee of the Jap Ji Sahib from the Guru Granth Sahib. Both are daily recited with reverence the world over. Both praise the Divine Feminine—the Aykaa Mayee (The One Mother), Sri Bhagauti/Bhagawati (Divine Mother), the Adya Shakti (the Power of God Almighty)!
But how can the ignorant and conditioned religious masses be made to realize that? How can they wake up when their own gianis (priests) know as much about the Divine Mother as a donkey knows about the Guru Granth Sahib”
regards
jagbir

2. NIRMALA DEVI

“We have also Sikh community. They came to Sahaja, but they said, 'We cannot worship Goddess.' I said 'Why?' Surprised at it, because Shri Guru Nanak has talked about the Goddess, the Devi. The first sentence of his book is Adya.Adya is the Adi Shakti. And for this, if the Sikhs stupidly say, then why do they have a 'Chandi'-'garh'. That's so stupid also, nothing to really compare.”

Shri Mataji, 2001 Christmas Puja

As you can see that not only these two writers are highly biased in their views and have no knowledge of Gurbani, they also use very low-level language for the Sikhs. My first reaction to these writings is to completely ignore them, but then there are many others like them who hold the same twisted views about Guru Sahib.

3. WIKIPEDIA

Naina Devi is a town and a municipal council in Bilaspur district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

According to a legend, Goddess Sati burnt herself alive in Yagna, which distressed Lord Shiva. He picked the corpse of Sati on his shoulder and started his Tandava dance. This horrified all deities in the heaven as this could lead to holocaust. This urged Lord Vishnu to unleash his Chakra that cut the Sati’s body into 51 pieces. Shri Naina Devi Temple is the place where eyes of Sati fell down.

It is the only seat of Durga which is Sidhi Peeth as well as Shakti Peeth. Tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh performed a Yagya, and attained the status of Sidha and Shakti, perhaps the only one known with the divine endowments to be such an accomplished warrior, teacher, leader, poet and a scholar. Naina Devi is worshiped in all parts of Punjab esp. Malwa region. Vashishta gotra Chandan Brahmins worship Naina Devi Ji as Kul Devi .

These sources have touched on three issues as follows:

a. Guru Granth Sahib also talks about some mythical goddess Bhagauti

(or Ad-Shakti or simply Devi) and Guru Nanak Sahib Himself has mentioned the Devi in Jap Ji Sahib

b. Guru Gobind Singh Ji worshipped this goddess and considered her to be superior to all the Gurus. That’s why the Sikhs begin their Ardas by bowing to Bhagauti first.  They quote Dasam Granth for the writings of Guru Gobind Singh pertaining to His reverence for the Devi.

c. Guru Gobind Singh Ji performed a year-long yagna at Naina Devi to be blessed by the Chandi Devi so that He could have victories in the battles with the enemy.

We will respond to each of these issues in the same order.

a. Jap Ji Sahib and the Devi.

Jagbir Chand ! (your name does not reveal whether you are a male or a female) you pretend to be a Sikh, but you certainly are NOT because no Sikh will ever show such disrespect for the Great Gurus or Guru Granth Sahib as you have. You do not seem to have any knowledge of Guru Granth Sahib, and the second half of your concluding statement, “a donkey knows about Guru Granth Sahib” applies perfectly to you.  You jumped to the 30^th Pauri of Guru Granth Sahib without analysing the first 29, and you quoted only two words “Aykaa Mayee” rather than the whole Pauri.

Most of the humans have belief in some supreme power and they can call it by any name like Bhagwati, Devi, Shiv, Allah, God, Jehovah, Yahweh or HaShem. The most popular name for the Supreme Being in Sikhism is Waheguru.

According to Hinduism, Bhagwati, a female, is the supreme power and the creator of all gods, goddesses and all humanity.

Up to this point nobody could have any objection to this definition. Everybody has the right to their beliefs. But the problem arises when you claim that Guru Nanak Sahib has reverence for such a Devi whom you consider the Supreme Being and is yet a female taking many human forms as Parbati, Uma, Gauri, Sati, Chandi, Bhawani, Kalika etc. and on top of that she is married to Shiva. When someone takes a human form he or she is affected by Maya including lust, rage, greed, possessiveness and conceit. As a result, he/she will have feelings and is likely to bear enmity with some others. None of these can be the traits of the Supreme Being. Also, when someone is in human form, how can he/she control the whole universe? But your Bhagauti as Uma or Sati was born to the Himalayas as her father and she committed suicide in protest because her husband, Shiva, was not invited to a yagna performed by Himalayas.  So, not only your supreme power has a gender and is a female, but she also takes human forms from time to time and is overcome by feelings so as to commit suicide. What kind of super power is that??

Guru Nanak Sahib’s Waheguru is completely different as defined in the so called Mool-Mantra.

He is Eternal, gender neutral, is the creator of the entire universe, pervades the whole universe, is fearless (the laws of Nature do not apply to Him), bears no enmity with anyone ( because He has no equal), time has no effect on Him, never takes a lifeform, and is self-illuminated.  He can be realized only by the Grace of the Guru.

With this belief, now you decide how can Guru Nanak show any reverence for a human who is engrossed in all sorts of Maya?

Also, your Bhagauti took the form of Chandi to kill many demons.  This brings up two important points to ponder on. (1)  If she is the creator of the whole universe, and did not like demons, why did she produce them in the first place, and (11) she clearly demonstrated enmity for the demons. So, she is not even close in traits to Guru Nanak Sahib’s Waheguru. Let us study Jap Ji Sahib further to examine Guru Nanak Sahib’s position on your Devi and other gods.

Pauri 5: -------- For a Sikh who has an unshakable faith in Guru, He (Guru) is everything for him including the shabad (musical note) of the yogis, and the study of the Vedas (meaning that those things are NOT important for him). The Sikh realizes that it is Waheguru who is omnipresent (and Sikh’s faith in the Guru will unite the Sikh with Waheguru) and for him, Guru (or Waheguru) is Lord Shiva, Gorakh, Brahma, and Devi Parbati (which again means that a Sikh does not need the blessings of Shiva, Gorakh, Brahma and Parbati). ---------

Pauri 9: By Listening to Waheguru’s praise (with full concentration) a Sikh attains the spiritual level of Shiva, Brahma and Indra; and all his misery and sins are dispelled.

Pauri 26: Many Bahmas, many Indras, many Gopis (cow girls), many Krishanas, many Shivas and many Sidhas try to describe the limits of Waheguru (God) but have not succeeded in doing so. ---------

Pauri 27: What is the nature of Your residence and the nature of the door of Your Palace (How to have access to You) where you reside, oh my Lord, Waheguru!! (Means nobody can know about this. Living beings and lifeless entities can sing only Your praise or obey Your Command; but they will never know Your secrets).  --------- Shiva, Brahma and Devi all sing Your praise, and when then do so, You adorn them and they look great. Likewise, Indra sitting on his throne also sings Your praise along with the other gods. (What it implies is that Waheguru is the Supreme Commander and gods and goddesses are subservient to Him). ---------

Guru Sahib has discussed five spiritual stages – The Stage of Dharma (knowledge about man’s expected deeds); Stage of Divine Knowledge; Stage of Hard Labour (to unite with Waheguru); Stage of Benevolence; and Stage of Eternal Truth - in man’s path to unity with Waheguru. While discussing the Stage of Divine Knowledge, Guru Sahib explains that there are countless gods and goddesses and not just a few as believed in Hinduism.  Please focus on

Pauri 35: There are countless Krishnas, Shivas, and Brahmas who are (believed to be) creating bodies. ---------- There are countless Sidhas, Budhas and countless Devies in different forms. ----------

Guru Granth Sahib also reveals that all gods and goddesses are unclean or sick because they are all victims of (engrossed in) Maya.

Bhairon Kabir Ji (1158): Brahma is unclean and so is Indra. Unclean is the Sun (god) and unclean is the Moon (god). Only the limitless Supreme Being is clean. Unclean is Shiva, Shankara and Mahesh. --------

Bhairon Naam Dev Ji (874): (Because of the belief that a devotee becomes just like his deity Nam Dev Ji writes about Hindu gods and goddesses as follows) if a devotee worships the Seetla Devi who rides a donkey, the devotee will, at best, also ride a donkey which spatters dust. If a devotee worships god Bhairon, he will begin to look like a ghost because Bhairon has scary looks. Nam Dev wants to worship only the Supreme Being and will gladly trade all gods and goddesses for Him. (Pause). A devotee who worships Shiva will, at best, ride an ox and rattle a hand held drum. And a devotee, who worships the Maha Devi, will at best, be reborn as a woman rather than a man.

Bhairon M:1 (1153): The disease of Haumein (selfishness and ego) is really bad (incurable), oh Nanak!  Wherever I look, I find the same suffering. Only Waheguru can rid the humans of Haumein through the Teachings of the Guru. ------ Sick of Haumein (they suffer) are Vishnu and Shiva including his Rudra incarnations. In fact the whole world is suffering. ------------

If these are the thoughts of Guru Sahiban and the Bhagats, how can you claim that Guru Nanak Sahib has any reverence for any goddess – Maha Devi – or any other god or goddess?

In fact, Guru Sahiban and the Bhagats have made it perfectly clear that they believe only in the Supreme Being (you may call it Waheguru, Ram or give any other name as long as it has all the traits listed by Guru Nanak in the so called Mool Mantra) and they do not believe in any god or goddess. Listen to the following holy Shabads.

Assa M:1 (350): I bow to one and only one Lord Who rules the world, oh my friends. Pause. Oh, Waheguru! The whole universe is Your body (You are omnipresent) and where there is life to listen to it attentively and obey it, You are manifesting as Shabad ---------- 5.

Sloak M:3 (646): There is only one Guru (Supreme Being), and only His Word (Shabad) as preached by the Guru needs to be pondered on and digested. Guru’s Bani is the only True shop to do business in Waheguru’s Naam where the pearls and other precious stones in the form of Waheguru’s Naam are available in abundance. –

Bhairon Kabir Ji (1162): I believe only in one Lord (Supreme Being) Who is pervading the whole universe; I have nothing to do with other gods and goddesses. Pause. My Lord is such that countless suns are at His command to create light; and there are countless Shivas and Kailashes. Countless goddesses like Durga are at His command to massage Him, and there are countless Brahmas to recite Vedas. ---------

Aykaa Mayee

Jagbir has insisted that the Sikhs and deaf and blind to the importance of Bhagauti Devi which he calls Aykaa Mayee which has been mentioned by Guru Nanak Sahib in Jap Ji Sahib.  This totally ignorant man does not even give the full Pauri, 30, in Jap Ji Sahib and only mentions “Aykaa Mayee”. What is anyone supposed to discuss about it. To clarify certain Principles, Guru Granth Sahib has mentioned thousands of animals, many material products including alcohol, meat, flour, sugar, milk, honey, poison and so on. In addition, there is mention of characterless and mean-spirited people as well, so what is your point about “Aykaa Mayee” jagbir chand?

If you don’t know Pauri 30 of Jap Ji Sahib, I will explain that here. But before I do that I want to give you a little background.

It is a belief of some Hindu Granths (or the Vedantis) that the Supreme Being and Maya (or Prakrit) are two separate powers which exist independently.  By the of the two gods Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and later mankind came into being. The trio of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma looks after the whole world (May be India alone).  In fact it was Shiva who came into being first who created Vishnu and all other gods and goddesses. That’s why Shiva is known as Dev-adhi-dev i.e. the original who is the god of all gods.

In Jap Ji Sahib, Guru Nanak Sahib has just expounded the same Hindu belief but has maintained that it is NOT the Trio that is supreme. They function as per the directions of Waheguru if they do exist. In fact, they even cannot see Waheguru. The Pauri goes like this.

Pauri 30: (According to Hindu belief) Somehow Maya (Aykaa Mayee) gave birth to the Trio of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. One of them – Brahma - produces the living beings - while Vishnu is the provider and Shiva is the destroyer. However, they do only whatever they are told to do as per the Will of the Supreme Being Who watches them but is Himself invisible to them. I bow to the Supreme Waheguru Who is the creator of the whole universe, Who has no shortcoming (is perfect) Who has been there since times immemorial, Who is everlasting and Who never changes over the eons.

So, tell me Mr jagbir chand what is your point?, and why should the Sikhs revere your “Aykaa Mayee”. The way Guru Sahib has untangled the myth, there is no reason for the Sikhs to drop your “Aykaa Mayee” from our most revered Guru Granth Sahib and we are not keeping it because you say so, but because it means something totally different.

A few centuries before Guru Nanak Sahib, Naam Dev Ji had also discussed the of the Purkha (The Supreme Being) with Maya to create the world as per the Hindu belief.

Dhanasari Naam Dev Ji (693): To begin with, the Purkha created Himself and then He created Maya. From the of the two, this beautiful garden-like world came into being in which the living beings are dancing just like water does in containers that are used to draw water from a well. (The living beings are rushing crazily to acquire comforts of life). Pause. --------4.

Guru Nanak Sahib has expounded the same idea.

Jagbir Chnad, you are extremely ignorant about Gurbani and should NOT discuss it in any form.

NIRMALA DEVI: ADYA, ADYA - Chandigarh

Hey Shri Mata Ji, you seem to preach Hiduism, but you are doing some kind of Pooja at Christmas; what is your objective, confused lady? Anyway, the way you have raised the issue of Adi Shakti is nothing less than being completely ridiculous.  You say that Guru Nanak has talked about the Adi Shakti and the first sentence of his book is Adya Adya which means Adi Shakti. Firstly, you don’t even know the name of our most holy and revered Book we call Sri Guru Granth Sahib. And you have the audacity of calling the Sikhs “stupid”. Let us find out who is really stupid. As I have discussed in the foregoing pages, Guru Nanak Sahib and Guru Granth Sahib have talked about thousands of things, so what does talking about Adi Shakti mean? And where did you get the idea the Adya adya means Adi Shakti? Obviously, you have no knowledge of Guru Granth Sahib. I suspect you are referring to the holy Sloak:  Aad Souch, Jugaad Souch, Hai bhi Souch, Nanak hosi bhi Souch.

It means that the Supreme Being, which is the basis of all Creation, existed from the very beginning – even before the start of the eons. His existence is true today and will always be true, oh Nanak.

Tell me where Guru Sahib mentions the Adi Shakti as defined by you.

Even more ridiculous is your question about Chandigarh. I don’t understand what you are trying to prove here. It is the name of a city like any other city or town. The Sikhs did not name the City. There are many other cities like Mumbai, Naina Devi, Vaishno Devi, Kedar Nath, Jagan Nath and so on named after the Hindu deities; what do those names prove as far as the Sikhs are concerned? Are we supposed to call them by some other names? What does such poor logic on your part tell us about your spiritual level?

There is a couplet in Sri Guru Granth Sahib which may interest you, Nirmala Devi Ji.

Sloak M:2 (954): If an ignorant person goes to judge diamonds (or some other precious stones) he will not be able to do so because he has no knowledge about them. On the other hand he will be judged (by the people around at the time) as an ignorant

ARDASS:

Jagbir Chand you claim that the Sikh Ardass has been written by Guru Gobind Singh Ji because it appears in Dasam Granth, and that Guru Sahib has paced Devi Bhagauti above the Sikh Gurus in spiritual level and thus all Sikhs worship the Devi. You may be right in claiming that the Ardass has been written by the Tenth Master, but there are many hurdles in your claim that Guru Sahib worshipped some Devi Bhagauti.

(a) It is not Bhagauti that Guru Sahib has placed above the Gurus. The Ardass starts with:  EK ONKAR. WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH. So, clearly Guru Sahib has placed Ek Onkar and Waheguru above the Devi if Bhagauti is indeed a devi.

(b) The entire Dasam Granth is NOT the creation of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. The Granth is being forced on the Sikhs by RSS.

(c) Bhagauti could have different meaning than the Bhagwati Devi.

We will discuss all these points together.

Your assumption that Dasam Granth has been written by Guru Granth Singh Ji and then producing some of its parts to prove that Guru Sahib worshipped some Devi is like using “Self Ful-filling Prophecy” in which you assume something which you know is FALSE and then drawing some conclusions based on that to prove your point. For example if someone claims that 7x9 = 56 (which is not true to begin with) and then divides 56 by 9 to get 7 to prove his claim.

Many articles have been written by some well-known scholars to prove beyond doubt that NOT the entire Dasam Granth is written by Guru Sahib. Only a few compositions like Jaap Sahib, Akal Ustat, a few Shabads and Some Savvaye are likely to be the creation of Guru Sahib. A paper titled “Bachittar Natak: An Analysis” was presented by Dr D.S.Sekhon at an International Sikh Conference in Vancouver in 2000. It appears on the internet under the same name. The Article used strong logic to disprove that the book – one of many in Dasam Granth- has been the creation of the Tenth Master. The Article was supported by a large number of people.

JAAP SAHIB

This holy composition has 199 stanzas in which Guru Sahib has used hundreds of different names from the Almighty highlighting His different traits. The holy composition starts as follows:

Ek Onkar SatGur Parsad. Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh. (There is only one Supreme Being which can be realized by the Grace of the Guru. The one who dedicates himself to Waheguru is the victorious)

Sri Mukhwak Patshahi 10^th. {Delivered from the holy mouth (written by) of the Tenth Master}

As you can see, there is no invocation for any goddess.

Chappai Chhand by Thy grace: You have no physical attributes (looks) and no caste or clan, oh my Lord Waheguru. (Therefore) no one can tell anything about your looks including colour, features and your dress. You are eternal, self- illuminating and you have unlimited power.

You are the King of countless kings and the Indra of countless indras (king of paradise, which by the way implies that there is no such place as a dedicated paradise). You are the Sovereign of the three worlds (sky, earth, and the sky beneath the earth), and all humans, gods, demons and even vegetation admit that there is no one like You, oh Waheguru!  No one can call you by a name that can reflect all your traits in full. Wise people have given you names reflecting your different traits. ---

In this long composition there is not even a single mention of any other power – god or goddess. If Guru Sahib were a devotee of any goddess called Bhagauti, He would have definitely mentioned her.

In fact there are many Shabads written by Guru Gobind Singh Ji in which, like other Guru Sahiban, He disapproves the worship of any god or goddess. A couple will be given here.

Raag Dev Gandhari, Patshahi 10^th: Do not recognize any god or goddess other than the Lord Waheguru, oh man! Only Waheguru is omniscient and the one Who is capable of creation and destruction. Pause.  ----------9.

Raag Dev Gandhari Patshahi 10^th:  You cannot find salvation without worshiping Waheguru, oh man!  You have no place to hide from the Lord who controls all the 14 worlds (Muslim belief).  You recite the names of Rama and Rahim, but they have no power to salvage you. Even Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, the Sun and the Moon are subject to death. The Vedas, the Puranas and the Quran describe the Lord as limitless; and Indra, Sheshnaag, the sages and Kalap meditate on Him but are unable to envisage Him. So, how can he be called dark-coloured Krishna when His physical attributes cannot be known? The only way to find salvation is to surrender to the Lord.

From the above holy Shabads it is perfectly clear that Guru Gobind Singh was not a worshipper of any goddess – be it Bhagauti or any other.

Guru Sahiban in History

(a). When Sri Hargobind Ji, the only child of Guru Arjun Dev Ji, suffered a severe attack of small pox in his infancy, many people put pressure on Guru Arjun Sahib to seek blessings of Sitla Devi (the goddess supposed to be responsible for the disease), to which Guru Sahib never agreed because He had no belief in any such Devi. Guru Sahib had great faith in Waheguru and Guru Nanak. Hargobind Ji recovered fully in due course of time without the blessings of any Devi.

(b). Guru Hargobind Sahib was forced to defend Himself against the mighty Mughal forces. Guru Ji had to fight four big battles against large armies and each time he was victorious without any blessings from any god or goddess.

So, what was the big reason for his grandson, Guru Gobind Singh Ji to seek Devi’s blessings to have victories in battles?

YAGNA AT NAINA DEVI?

Some Hindu zealots propagandize that the Great Guru Gobind Singh Ji performed a year-long yagna at Naina Devi to please her so as to get her blessings for victories in future battles. Wikipedia also has a brief mention of this concocted story. In the light of the above discussion, anyone can see that this story is far from truth, and Guru Sahib never believed in any goddess let alone performing a yagna. Before we prove that the story is totally false, let me ask a simple question from the propagandists.

The Naina Devi temple was in the state of Kehlur at the time of Guru Sahib. The state was ruled by the Hindu Rajah, Bhim Chand who pretended to be Guru Sahib’s friend but fought a few battles against Guru Sahib and always lost to Him. Bhim Chand was a Hindu Rajah and a big devotee of the Devi whose famous temple was in his state. My question is:  Why did Bhim Chand not seek blessings of the Devi to win battles against the Guru?

If the Devi was so powerful to bless her devotees with victory, how could have Bhim Chand ignored her? On the other hand Guru Sahib fought His first battle with the Hindu Hill Rajahs in 1687-8 at Bhangani near Paonta Sahib and routed them badly. There were 22 Hill Rajahs and most of them were returning from Sri Nagar (not in Kashmir) on the other side of Jamuna after attending the marriage of a son of Bhim Chand with the daughter of Fateh Chand when they attacked Guru Sahib but suffered a major defeat at the hands of Guru Sahib. Till then nobody had ever claimed that Guru Sahib was a devotee of any goddess including Naina Devi or Chandi Devi.  Himachal Pardesh is known to be the land of gods and naturally all, or at least most of the Rajahs, must be the devotees of some god or goddess. If the gods were so powerful then why did so many devotee Rajahs had to flee the battle field at Bhangani while a non-devotee, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, had a big victory? Also, before the false story of Guru Sahib having performed a yagna at Naina Devi emerged, He had won many battles against the combined armies of the Hill Rajahs. So, where was the need for Guru Ji to perform a year-long yagna at Naina Devi to seek her blessings for victories?

Obviously the story of the yagna is completely malicious and fabricated to misguide the Sikhs that the spiritual level of the Devi was higher than that of Guru Sahiban.

Lala Daulat Rai’s Views OnThe Subject Fortunately, not all Hindus are like that. Some Hindus like Lala Daulat Rai, the author of “Sahib-E- Kamaal- Guru Gobind Singh Ji”, has been a great admirer of Great Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji. He has strongly refuted the notion of Guru Sahib worshiping any goddess, Naina Devi. Having studied the glorious life history and the character of Guru Sahib, Lala Daulat Rai was not prepared to accept this concocted story. This is what he has written:

A few Pundits approached Guru Sahib at Anandpur and tried to convince Guru Sahib to perform a year-long yagna at Naina Devi to please the goddess who would in turn bless Guru Sahib with victories in the future battles. Guru Sahib seized this opportunity to make the Pundits realize that there is no Devi; or of there is any, she does not have the power to bless anyone. So, Guru Sahib smiled and told the Pundits that He would believe in the Devi if they could make the Devi appear in physical form by performing yagna for which Guru Sahib would provide all the materials needed for the year-long yagna. The Pundits had no choice but to start performing the yagna. Guru Sahib also warned them that He would continuously monitor the performance. After about ten months, Guru Sahib questioned the Pundits about the appearance of the Devi. The Pundits had known all along that the Devi would not appear; so they began to make excuses so that the requirements to produce the Devi would be much more difficult, if not impossible to meet. So, the leader of the group told Guru Sahib that they would have to offer a human sacrifice to please the Devi before she would appear. Guru was equally aware of the fact that there was no Devi to appear. So, He asked the Pundit, “Pundit Ji who is more suitable than you for the sacrifice as you are the most holy and most highly qualified?. So, we will offer your sacrifice tomorrow.” Guru Ji smiled. The “clever” Pundits were caught in their own net and had no choice but to flee at night. As expected, there was no pundit to be seen the next morning. Guru Sahib threw the rest of the whole material in the yagna fire which caused a big boom and a huge ball of fire visible over many km. The people thought that the loud bang and the big fire was a proof of the Devi’s appearance caused by Guru Sahib. So, this is the real story of the Devi “worship” attributed to Guru Sahib. So, please do not show any disrespect to the Great Guru Sahib by concocting such silly stories which won’t hold any water.