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Guru Tegh
Bahadur (1621-1675)
Guru
Tegh Bahadur was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind and
Bibi Nanki and was born at Amritsar on April 1, 1621. From
a young age Tegh Bahadur was trained in the martial arts
of swordsmanship and horse riding as well as religious training
by the wise Baba Buddha and Bhai Gurdas. In February 1633
Tegh Bahadur was married to Gujari daughter of Lal Chand
and Bishan Kaur. During his young years Tegh Bahadur fought
along his fathers side but after Guru Hargobind’s fierce
and bloody battle in 1634 at Kartarpur he turned to the
path of renunciation and meditation. When Guru Hargobind
settled down at Kiratpur to live the rest of his life in
peace, Tegh Bahadur spent nine years with his father before
settling down at the isolated village of Bakala in 1656
and retired to a life of contemplation. He became known
as “Tyag Mal” meaning “the Master of Renunciation”. Here
Tegh Bahadur would spend many long years in meditation and
prayer.
Following the untimely death of Guru Harkrishan large numbers
of Sikhs flocked to the village of Bakala looking for the
new Guru. When the Sikhs went in large numbers to Bakala
to find the Guru, they were instead confronted by twenty
two members of the Sodhi family, each claiming that they
were the Guru and successor as named by Guru Harkrishan.
The Sikhs were in a quandary as to who was really the true
Guru?
Guru Tegh Bahadur now accepted the role of leading the Sikhs
and set out on a number of missionary journeys. He visited
Kiratpur and then made his way to the other great centers
of Sikhism, Tarn Taran, Khadur Sahib, Goindwal and Amritsar.
At Amritsar Guru Tegh Bahadur bathed in the sacred pool
but he was refused entry into the Golden Temple which was
under the control of Harji, grandson of that other famous
troublemaker to the Gurus, Prithi Chand. Guru Tegh Bahadur
then journeyed back to Kiratpur. Here he encountered some
Sodhi family jealousy and decided to found a new township.
The Guru acquired a tract of land from the raja of Kahlur
and founded the town of Chak Nanaki in 1665, named in honour
of his mother (later to be known as Anandpur Sahib). The
Guru now continued his journeys to spread the messages and
teachings of Sikhism among the masses across the land.
Accompanied by his wife and mother Guru Tegh Bahadur traveled
across the country. The Guru traveled throughout Punjab,
wherever he would stop the Guru would get wells dug for
the people and community kitchens set up. Guru Tegh Bahadur
continued his tour through Haryana and arrived at Delhi.
Here the Guru met the congregations of Delhi who came out
in large numbers to see the Guru. The emperor Aurangzeb
was away from Delhi at this time. Guru Tegh Bahadur then
continued his mission of preaching to the masses, visiting
Kurekshetra, Agra, Ittawa and Allahabad. Wherever the Guru
stopped he would preach about honest work and charity. The
Guru would also give away all the offerings that he would
receive from devotees. At Priyag, the Gurus wife Gujri conceived
a child. The Guru then traveled onto the holy Hindu city
of Banaras and then onto Gaya and Patna. Guru Tegh Bahadur
was requested by custodians of the various temples that
he visited to perform rituals and ceremonies for himself
and his ancestors, but the Guru refused saying, “He who
trusts in God and makes an honest living to share with others
and injures no one, nor harbors ill-will against another
need perform on other rituals. His soul ever stays in health.
And, as for the ancestors, they gather the reward of what
they themselves have sown and no one can bless or curse
them after they are gone.”
Even though Guru Nanak had refused to wear the sacred thread
when he was young, the Gurus still believed in the freedom
of religion and the right of the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs
to live in peace and practice their own religions. With
this Guru Tegh Bahadur laid down the gauntlet in the fight
for freedom of religion and told the Pandits to inform Aurangzeb
that the Brahmins would gladly accept and embrace Islam
if Guru Tegh Bahadur can be convinced to do so. Guru Tegh
Bahadur made preparations to leave for Delhi. he bid farewell
to his family and followers and dictated that his son Gobind
Rai should be installed as the next Guru. Accompanying the
Guru on his journey and also prepared to accept the consequences
of whatever happened were Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Dyala and
Bhai Sati Das. As soon as Aurangzeb heard the news he ordered
the immediate arrest of the Guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur and
his party were arrested soon after they left Anandpur Sahib
and taken in chains to Delhi.
When brought before Aurangzeb, he was asked why he was hailed
as the Guru or prophet and called ‘Sacha Padsah’ (the True
King) and if he really believed in his being one he should
perform a miracle to justify his claim. Guru Tegh Bahadur
reprimanded the emperor for his blind orthodoxy and his
persecution of other faiths, “Hinduism may not be my faith,
and I may believe not in the supremacy of Veda or the Brahmins,
nor in idol worship or caste or pilgrimages and other rituals,
but I would fight for the right of all Hindus to live with
honour and practice their faith according to their own rites.”
The Guru answered further, “Every ruler of the world must
pass away, but not the Word of God or His Saint. This is
how people not only call me a True King but have done so
through the two centuries before me in respect of my House
and also in respect of others who preceded them and identified
themselves not with the temporal and the contingent, but
with the eternal and the ever dying.” The Guru refused to
perform any miracles saying, “this is the work of charlatans
and mountebanks to hoodwink the people. Men of God submit
ever to the Will of God.” Guru Tegh Bahadur refused to embrace
Islam, saying “For me, there is only one religion - of God
- and whosoever belongs to it, be he a Hindu or a Muslim,
him I own and he owns me. I neither convert others by force,
nor submit to force, to change my faith.” Aurangzeb was
enraged and ordered Guru Tegh Bahadur to be forced to convert
to Islam through torture or be killed.
Thus ended the earthly reign of the ninth Nanak, Guru Tegh
Bahadur. Never in the annals of history has the religious
leader of one religion sacrificed his life to save the freedom
of another religion.
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