WHY GURU HAR KRISHAN DID NOT NAME HIS SUCCESSOR

WHY GURU HARKRISHAN SAHIB DID NOT CLEARLY NAME GURU TEGH BAHADUR SAHIB AS HIS SUCCESSOR TO GURGADI

When the emperor Aurangzeb invited Guru Har Krishan Sahib, the eighth Sikh Guru, to visit him in Delhi in March 1664, Guru Sahib did go there, but He did not visit Aurangzeb, and stayed at the palace of Raja Jai Singh. Soon, the city of Delhi was in the grip of a severe attack of small pox, and hundreds of people began to die everyday. Guru Sahib, who was only seven years and about 8 months old at the time, could not see the people suffering, and began to serve the patients with full zeal. Without caring about His own health, He served the suffering humanity without any discrimination round the clock. Being of such a tender age, and because of His hard work without any proper diet, He too had a severe attack of the deadly disease. When His body refused to support Him, He pitched a tent at the bank of River Yamuna, and preached His Sikhs and His loving mother to obey Waheguru’s Will and the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. He told everybody strictly not to cry at His departure from the mortal world. He also asked His Sikhs to bring a coconut and five paise to anoint His successor from a big distance of about 400 km. He offered the coconut, and the paise to the next Guru, and with folded hands bowed to Him. When the Sikhs asked Him, who the next Guru was, He did not reveal His name, but simply said that the Guru “Baba” was at Bakala. Nobody knows the real reason of the Guru not to reveal the name, but all the historians write that Guru Sahib was so overpowered by high fever that He could barely utter the words “Guru Baba at Bakala” before He left for His heavenly abode. “Baba” means a respectable elderly man, but it also means grandfather), and Bakala is a village in Amritsar district.

In my judgment, this assertion by the historians that Guru Har Krishan Sahib had become so week by the high fever that he could utter only the above three words before His soul merged into the Supreme Soul – Waheguru – is a huge disrespect for the great Guru. No illness could have taken His senses away. If He had the strength to advise His Sikhs for a long time, and utter the words “Guru Baba at Bakala” how long would it have taken Him to name Sri Tegh Bahadur as the next Guru. This assertion had bothered me for a couple of days, when the kind Guru Nanak guided this insignificant creature to come up with a plausible explanation. Before I share that explanation with you, I need to state a couple of historical facts as follows.

a. Sri Tegh Bahadur Ji (who succeeded Guru Har Krishan Sahib as the ninth Guru) and who was the youngest son of Guru Har Gobind Sahib (the sixth Guru) and the youngest brother of Baba Gurditta Ji, the grandfather (baba) of Guru Har Krishan Sahib), led a very secluded life in Bakala. Not too many people even knew his full name. Those who knew him, called him “Tegha” (1). No body expected that Sri Tegh Bahadur would be the successor of Guru Har Krishan Sahib. To the contrary, many more people knew Dhir Mal (the elder son of Baba Gurditta Ji and the paternal uncle of Guru Har Krishan Sahib) who had many followers and was supported by some “masands”.

b. Because Guru Har Krishan Sahib was in Delhi about 400 km from Bakala when He declared that the next Guru was at Bakala, but had not revealed the name of His successor yet, as many as 22 claimants to Gur Gaddi rushed to Bakala - Dhir Mal being the top contender.

c. According to most historians, a Sikh trader, Makhan Shah Lubana (1, 2) identified Sri Tegh Bahadur Ji as the “True” Guru even though this fact surprised everybody. When Makhan Shah Lubana came to realize that Sri Tegh Bahadur was the true Guru, he went on the roof of Sri Tegh Bahadur’s house, and jumping with joy he roared, “the true Guru has been found, the True Guru has been found’ oh the folks of the town. Hearing this, many people came out and were surprised to know the fact. Bhai Makhan Shah explained the whole story how he had prayed to Guru Nanak Sahib to save his ship from sinking in a stormy weather at the sea, and his ship was saved indeed. At that time, he made a commitment to offer 500 mohars (gold coins) to Guru Nanak’s House (His present successor). When on learning that the present Guru was at Bakala, he rushed to the Village, but was surprised to find that there was not just one Guru, but in fact 22 claimants to Guruship. So, he did not know whom to offer the gold coins. He decided to offer each claimant only two gold coins with the expectation that the “True” Guru would claim the full amount. He visited all the 22 claimants, and each was very happy to receive two gold coins.

He was very disappointed not to find the “True” Guru among them. He then asked people around him if there was some other holy man in the village. Someone told him that there was another nice man named Tegha in the village, and that he could visit him too if he wanted. At that, he (Bhai Makhan Shah) decided to visit Tegha too. He found Tegha Ji (now Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib, the true successor of Guru Nanak Sahib) was sitting calmly without any interest in what was going on in the village as far as succession to Gur Gaddi was concerned. Makhan Shah bowed to Tegha Ji, and offered two gold coins to him as well. When he did that, Tegha Ji smiled and reminded Makan Shah about his commitment of 500 gold coins. Makhan Shah was overwhelmed with joy and excitement to find the “True” Guru because only He would have known about his commitment as he had never shared that with anybody else. So, that is how he found the “True Guru”.

The Sikhs in Bakala, who were eagerly awaiting the identification of the next Guru, rushed to have Guru Sahib’s holy sight, and brought Him many expensive gifts and began to celebrate at the revelation. When Dhir Mal and his supporters heard such respect and honour had been showered on Guru Sahib who was in fact Dhir Mal’s uncle (Chacha Ji), he was highly frustrated, and became overly jealous. He had already suffered failure when His grandfather, Guru Har Gobind Sahib, had bypassed him to appoint his younger brother, Har Rai Sahib, who became the seventh Sikh Guru. He could not accept another defeat, but did not know what to do.

His masand, Sheehaan, advised him to plunder the wealth of the new Guru which included the 500 gold coins, and run away to Kartarpur (near Jalandhar), and if need be, he could take care of Tegh Bahadur too. Dhir mal liked the idea, and began to make plans for that. They looted all the wealth from Guru Sahib’s house and Sheehan also fired at Guru Sahib with his gun, but fortunately Guru Sahib was not hurt. Dhir Mal also took Guru Granth Sahib with him. Makhan Shah, who was camping near Guru Sahib’s house, heard the fire, and chased the fleeing culprits. They recovered all the wealth and even Guru Granth Sahib from Dhir Mal and brought back everything; however, Guru Sahib told Makhan Shah to return everything to Dhir Mal, which he did.

In light of these facts, the pieces of the puzzle just fit together nicely. Gur Har Krishan Sahib did not reveal the name of the next Guru not because He had lost energy to name His successor, but because He was highly farsighted, and new that there could be a serious danger to the life of Sri Tegh Bahadur. So, He chose not to reveal the name for the safety of Sri Tegh Bahadur. Had He revealed the name of His successor, it would have been highly probable – nay, quite certain - that Dhir Mal and his assistants would have caused bodily harm, even killed, Sri Tegh Bahadur. Guru Har Krishan was also fully certain that like the sun which cannot be hidden by clouds for a long time, the Guru cannot stay hidden for a long time. Once the Sikhs knew that the next Guru was at Bakala, they would find Him. So, this was a very wise decision that Guru Har Krishan had made at the time. In fact, He must have asked His Sikhs not to rush to Bakala, and take their time. A couple of holy Shabads are quoted below in support of the fact that the Guru (a devotee of Waheguru) cannot stay hidden for a long time.

§ ਆਠ ਪਹਰ ਜਨੁ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਜਪੈ॥ ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਭਗਤੁ ਪ੍ਰਗਟ, ਨਹੀ ਛਪੈ॥ (ਸਗਗਸ 464)

§ Aatth pehr jun(u) Hur(i) Hur(i) jupaiy. Hur(i) ka bhagat pergut, nahhi chhupaiy.

(SGGS 464)

Meaning: Waheguru’s devotee (Satguru) recites Waheguru’s Naam all the time. He cannot stay hidden (unknown), and he appears (becomes well known; his name shines) in the world.

§ ਬਲਿਓ ਚਰਾਗੁ ਅੰਧ੍ਹਾਰ ਮਹਿ ਸਭ ਕਲਿ ਉਧਰੀ ਇਕ ਨਾਮ ਧਰਮ॥ ਪ੍ਰਗਟੁ ਸਗਲ ਹਰਿ ਭਵਨ ਮਹਿ ਜਨੁ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਗੁਰੁ ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮ॥ (ਸਗਗਸ 1387)॥

§ Baliyo charaag(u) Undhiyaar meh(i), subh kul(i) oodhri ikk Naam Dharam. Pergut(u) sugul Hur(i) bhavan meh(i), Jun(u) Nanak Gur(u) Parbrahm.

Meaning: Guru Nanak appeared in the world like a bright lamp which dispelled the darkness of ignorance in the world. The whole world was salvaged when it made the recitation of Waheguru’s Naam as its foremost duty.

REFERENCES

1. Macauliffe Max A: The Sikh Religion Vol III & IV, Satvik Media Pvt Ltd, Amritsar (2000)

2. Sahib Singh Prof: Gur – Ithas Parshahi 2 to 9, Singh Brothers, Amritsar (2006).