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Guru Harkrishan
(1656-1664)
Guru
Harkrishan was born on July 7, 1656 to Guru Har Rai and
Krishan Kaur. Before his death in October 1661 Guru Har
Rai had appointed his younger son Harkrishan as the next
Guru as opposed to his elder son Ram Rai who was in collusion
with the mughals. Guru Harkrishan was only five years old
when he received the guruship.
The Gurus older brother Ram Rai complained to emperor Aurengzeb
in Delhi that he had been discriminated against because
of his loyalty to the emperor and had not received his due
share of the property of his father Guru Har Rai. Ram Rai
knew that before his death Guru Har Rai had instructed Guru
Harkrishan to never meet Aurengzeb. Ram Rai hoped if Guru
Harkrishan met the emperor he would be going against his
fathers wishes and the Sikhs would be displeased with their
Guru. On the other hand if Guru Harkrishan refused to come
to Delhi, then he would be attacked by the emperors forces.
Since Aurengzeb was very friendly with Ram Rai he summoned
Guru Harkrishan to appear before him in Delhi. The Sikhs
were very apprehensive about allowing young Guru Harkrishan
to go to Delhi. Aurengzeb sent Raja Jai Singh a high court
official known for his devotion to the Gurus to escort the
Guru to Delhi.
Raja Jai Singh assured the Guru that he would not have to
meet the emperor personally while in Delhi, and that there
were a large number of devotees in Delhi who were anxious
to see and hear their Guru. Guru Harkrishan convinced the
Sikhs at Kiratpur that he should go to Delhi. As a result
Guru Harkrishan along with his mother and a group of devotees
set out for the long journey to Delhi. On their journey
the Guru was met by large crowds of devotees. At Panjolhara
an jealous Brahmin taunted the Guru, “Your Guru is called
Hari Krishna, a mere child of eight years! Krishna, the
incarnation of Vishnu, uttered the Gita which is the repository
of all the eternal truths, If your Guru also calls himself
Krishna, let him expound the truths of Gita to us”. Hearing
this a poor watercarrier called Chhajju stood up and proclaimed
that anyone could expound on the Gita if he were so blessed
by the Guru. Guru Harkrishan touched Chhajju with his walking
stick and Chhajju immediately began explaining the philosophy
of the Gita. The Brahmin was so humbled by the spectacle
that he fell to the Gurus feet and asked forgiveness for
his arrogance.
Upon reaching Delhi the Guru and his party were the guests
of Raja Jai Singh who had promised to uphold the safety
of the Guru. Every day large numbers of devotees started
flocking to see the Guru. At this time a smallpox epidemic
was raging in Delhi. The Guru helped to heal many sick people,
naturally coming in contact with so many people every day,
the Guru was also infected and taken seriously ill. On March
30, 1664 Guru Harkrishan decided to announce his successor,
the Guru called for five coins and a coconut. He took them
and being too weak to move, waved his hand three times in
the air and said “Baba Bakala”. Guru Harkrishan then suddenly
passed away at the tender age of eight years old.
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