Guru Tegh Bahadur
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Contents |
Life and times
A
April 21, 2022: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru of the Sikhs, is a revered figure not just for his contribution to the philosophy of universal brotherhood but also for demonstrating how to make the supreme sacrifice unflinchingly in the face of tyranny. Guru Tegh Bahadur is known for having taken on the might of the Mughals to protect religious freedom.
Early life:
Guru Tegh Bahadur was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind, the sixth guru of the Sikhs. He was born in Amritsar in 1621. He was not just a skilled warrior but also a learned scholar. Several hymns composed by him are part of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs. His childhood name was Tyag Mall. He was very fond of meditation as well.
He was called Tegh Bahadur after he showed courage and valour in a battle at Kiratpur Sahib. He was married to Mata Gujri. Amritsar, at that time, was the centre of the Sikh faith even as Mughal power was at its peak. There had been moments of conflict between the communities and Guru Arjan Dev was executed by emperor Jahangir.
After the death of the eighth guru, Guru Harkishan, Guru Tegh Bahadur became the ninth guru of the Sikhs.
It is believed that some imposters had posed as Sikh gurus but followers of the faith managed to discover their true leader in Guru Tegh Bahadur.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was very well travelled. He also established several 'manjis' or preaching centres of the Sikh faith. Conflict with Mughals:
According to some versions, the Mughals under Aurangzeb would persecute people of the realm. There were some in the Mughal court that did not like the prominence and the preaching activities of the Sikh gurus.
Some accounts claim that the persecution of Hindus in Kashmir was particularly severe and they reached out to the Sikh guru for help.
Guru Tegh Bahadur is said to have heard the stories of atrocities and then decided to sacrifice himself for righteousness and freedom of religion.
Martyrdom:
The Mughals, however, were a mighty power and Guru Tegh Bahadur was arrested. According to some accounts, he was given three choices - to show miracles, to accept Islam or choose death. Guru Tegh Bahadur went with the third choice.
Gurdwara Sis Ganj marks the place where Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed.
B
IP Singh, April 22, 2022: The Times of India
Who is Guru Tegh Bahadur? The son of the sixth Sikh master, Guru Hargobind and Mata Nanki, Guru Tegh Bahadur was born on April 21, 1621. He became the ninth Nanak in 1664 in Bakala town, succeeding Guru Harkrishan in whose memory Gurdwara Bangla Sahib and Gurdwara Bala Sahib were constructed in Delhi. The eighth Guru had passed away in Delhi.
Guru Tegh Bahadur married Mata Gujri in 1632. After Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, Guru Tegh Bahadur was the most-travelled Sikh guru. According to historical accounts, in the 11 years of his leadership, apart from different parts of Punjab (including Haryana), he also travelled to eastern parts of India including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Bengal (including present-day Bangladesh) and Odisha. He also founded Chak Nanki, in the name of his mother, which was later developed as Anandpur Sahib where Guru Gobind Singh founded Khalsa on the Vaisakhi day of 1699. It was at Chak Nanaki that a delegation of Kashmiri Brahmins came to visit in May 1675. “Ifthikar Khan [the Mughal governor of Kashmir during 1671-75] tyrannised the Brahmins to such an extent that they approached Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, and solicited his personal intervention with the emperor [Aurangzeb],” PKN Bamzai writes in his book History of Kashmir . Gurudwara Bangla Sahib was built in memory of Guru Harkrishan, the guru prior to Tegh Bahadur
What happened in Delhi? Before leaving for Delhi, Guru Tegh Bahadur appointed his son Gobind Rai as his successor. Three Sikhs — Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayal Das — accompanied him to Delhi to convey the pleas of Brahmins of Kashmir. Guru Tegh Bahadur was arrested in Malikpur Rangran village in the second week of July 1675 and was kept imprisoned for over three months at Bassi Pathana (Punjab) under the order of the hakim (administrator) of Sirhind. He was sent to Delhi in the first week of November, where the subedar of Delhi gave him three options — to show miracles, accept Islam or face death. Historical accounts reveal that the guru rejected the first two options and his three followers were executed in his presence on November 11 — Mati Das was tied between two logs and cut into two with a saw; Sati Das was burnt alive with cotton wrapped around him; and Dayal Das was boiled to death in a cauldron of hot water. However, this did not break the guru’s resolve and in the afternoon of the same day, he was beheaded. Showing immense courage and commitment, a few Sikhs of Delhi managed to get hold of both parts of the guru’s body. His head was taken away by Bhai Jaita, who along with Bhai Nannu Rai and Udha, escorted it to his son and tenth master,Guru Gobind in Kiratpur on November 16. Back in Delhi, the other part of the guru’s body was taken away by Bhai Lakhi Das and his three sons. To cremate the guru’s body at night, Lakhi Das set his house at Raisina on fire to escape detection that they were actually cremating the guru’s body. Gurudwaras Sis Ganj Sahib and Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the execution and cremation places of the guru. Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk marks the place where Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed
Guru’s legacy
The guru’s martyrdom led to the first acts of militancy at the people’s level, noted Sangat Singh, a chronicler of Sikh history. Historians have reproduced an incident recorded by Saqi Must-id-Khan in Maasir-i-Alamgiri , which reflected the anger among the guru’s followers against the emperor. “When he [Aurangzeb] alighted the boat and was about to get on to the movable throne [Takhte-Rawan], a disciple of Guru Tegh Bahadur threw two bricks at the emperor, one of which hit the throne.”Hari Ram Gupta, author of History of the Sikhs also mentioned this incident. Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom would go a long way to steel his son, Guru Gobind Singh’s faith in Sikhism and lead to the formation of Khalsa, the military brotherhood of the Sikhs.
Teachings
Championing Religious Freedom
Dec 7, 2021: The Times of India
While the world is inundated with publicity and outrage at instances of religious intolerance, the sad truth is that not much has changed. It is essential to sustain and nurture peace and harmony, not just in letter and spirit but also in action.
Hind Ki Chaddar
It is in this context that we must never forget the ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, who played a pivotal role to champion secularism. Known as ‘Hind Ki Chaddar’, protector of India’s religious freedom, the Guru, in his fifty-four-year lifespan set a stellar personal example as he ceaselessly strove against tyranny and injustice. And for this he paid the ultimate price -- sacrificing his life to save Kashmiri Pandits, and to champion the right to practice one’s religion and beliefs.
This was but one noble cause he cherished and nurtured in his repertoire. His sacrifice is unparalleled in Indian history, making a monumental contribution to secularism. By giving up his life, the Guru ensured that even under a cruel, despotic regime, people had the right to religious freedom and to preserve their spiritual beliefs and cultural entity.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was a mystic and not a political theorist, and his mystic perception blended harmoniously with Indic spiritual traditions. His teachings and preaching include sublime poetry on eternal truth and beauty, which is preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism.
Mountain Of Smoke
The Guru perceived the world to be a nebulous ‘mountain of smoke’, whose dimensions could only be understood by sincere efforts to do good. Life’s true essence and meaning lay in being kind, humble, pious and compassionate, attributes that constituted real wealth.
He said that the path to fulfilment could be trodden by ignoring material wealth and applying our minds to spiritual matters. The ultimate goal and achievement of life was complete devotion and homage to God, who could be realised ‘within’ and not ‘without’, and whose name is our only enduring support.
The fact that it took the Guru’s precious life to propagate the cause of secularism is a sad and significant chapter of India’s past.
Millions have been inspired by his life and actions, which were shaped by his noble philosophy. His sacrifice and martyrdom generated a new spirit of bravery, aligned with the ideals of human dignity and freedom and building of bridges between different communities, set by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev.
Our world today owes a great debt of gratitude to Guru Tegh Bahadur. It is essential and imperative that historically, religiously, and politically, the Guru’s legacy be regularly showcased as a shining example for the betterment of a troubled and divided world.
‘Fear none, bully none’
Charan Singh, April 22, 2022: The Times of India
Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth guru of the Sikhs. His early years were spent in Amritsar under the tutelage of Baba Budha, contemporary of Guru Nanak, and Bhai Gurdas, inscriber of Adi Granth, prepared by Guru Arjan in 1604. Hence, his understanding of religion, society, history, and contemporary issues was very deep, which reflected in his poetic compositions. The main teachings of Guru Tegh Bahadur can be culled from his 116 compositions in 15 ragas, contained in the Guru Granth Sahib (GGS). The universal messages are in simple Braj language. They are easy to understand and have examples from daily life, emphasising universalism in spirituality. In one of his compositions, the Guru explains that as bubbles appear and disappear in water, similar is the creation of this world.
His main messages in the GGS can be summarised thus: Human birth is precious, so don’t waste it; shun bad company; treat pain/pleasures equal and keep your emotional self above joy/sorrow; God dwells inside you like image within a mirror; life is seeping away like water from a pitcher; what is the point of going on a pilgrimage when the mind is not in control, it’s like a stone that is kept immersed in water and still the water does not penetrate it; this world is like smoke, nothing permanent or everlasting; nothing will go beyond this life except meditation; body is like a hailstone, it quickly melts away, so shed all delusions; why worry when nothing is permanent in this world; why this false pride when knowing that this world is like a dream and nothing is yours; and as a pet dog does not leave the house of master, stay steadfast in meditation. In his extensive travels, Guru Tegh Bahadur preached tolerance and inter-faith harmony. In Dhaka, for example, the Guru helped restore peace between Chakradhvaj, ruler of Ahom, and Raja Ram Singh of Amber. He also practised economic independence. The piece of land where Anandpur is built was offered by Rani Champa of Bilaspur, but the Guru preferred to pay for it and purchased it for Rs 500 in 1665. He believed that the spiritually wise are steadfast, neither do they intimidate nor get intimidated by anyone. He observed that those persons are enlightened who treat friends and foes alike. It was while practising these principles that Guru Tegh Bahadur resisted forced conversion under the reign of the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, and without hesitation sacrificed his life.
Earlier, Guru Nanak had started holding inter-faith dialogues while interacting with spiritual masters of different faiths and their compositions later became part of the GGS. The supreme sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur upholds the same principle, to accept diversity of belief and respect plurality in society. The sacrifice also reveals that strong social bonds get established with inter-faith dialogues. Kashmiri Pandits, for example, chose to come to Guru Tegh Bahadur, who reciprocated happily and even gave his life for the cause. The lesson to be drawn from the sacrifice is that the freedom to practise faith of one’s choice is a matter of human rights, individual conscience, for which no force or allurements should be used.
The writer is former chairman of Punjab and Sind Bank
