When Guru Teg Bahadur had adjusted the quarrel between Raja Ram Singh and the king of Kamrup, and had also heard of the birth of his son, he and the Raja set out for Patna. Travelling stage by stage they at length arrived on the bank of the
1 There are different versions of this legend. The Khalsa Tract Society gives the following: A light was seen in the heavens by a pious faqir and his disciples on the occasion of the Guru’s birth. The faqir explained the meaning of the phenomenon. He said that some one beloved of God, who would be at once a saint and hero, was born into the world. The faqir followed the direction of the light until he arrived at the child’s residence in Patna. He made several entreaties, which were at last granted, to see the young Guru. The faqir bowed and placed an offering before him. He then filled two small vessels, one with milk and the other with water, and placed them before the child to make trial of him. If the child spilled the one containing milk it meant he was a Hindu: if he spilled the one containing water he would be deemed a Muhammadan. The Guru impartially spilled both vessels, by which the faqir understood that the child would not be an adherent of either Hinduism or Islam. He would have his own distinct religion, and confer salvation on sinful mortals.
3 6o THE SIKH RELIGION
Ganges. The Guru sent a message to his mother that he would reach home early in the morning. His mother and wife bathed, and put on their best dresses to receive him. On their arrival Raja Ram Singh beholding the future Guru presented him a latge quantity of jewels and dresses, and foretold his future prowess and fame.
When the family was alone, his wife asked the Guru how far he had penetrated into Kamrup. He replied as far as Guru Nanak had gone. He also informed her that he had erected at Dhubri, where Guru Nanak once preached, a high mound and surmounted it with a temple which could be seen at a considerable distance. Some of his companions remained there to guard the temple and preach the true religion. He said that he was the Creator’s servant and went in the triple capacity of friend to Raja Ram Singh, preacher of God’s word, and averter of bloodshed. After a few days’ rest and spiritual comfort Raja Ram Singh went to Dihli to report his success to the Emperor, and thence returned to his kingdom.
The chroniclers of the life of Guru Gobind Singh delight to relate stories of his childhood. He received a little boat from a merchant’s son, and took great pleasure in rowing it on the Ganges. Once in so doing he dipped his feet into the water, upon which the Sikhs repeated the words of Guru Ram Das: ‘ The Ganges, Jamna, Godavari, and Saraswati endeavour to obtain the dust of the saint’s feet.’ 1 He used to set other children fighting and watch their contests. On being lectured by his mother on this impropriety he would go to sleep. On awaking early in the morning he used to be seen in a devotional attitude.
From his earliest years Gobind Rai was accustomed to practise shooting with a pellet-bow, and organize a company of boys of his own age to practise
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with him. His father used to seat him near him and tell him that, though the practise was meritorious, the time for putting it into effect had not yet arrived.
Chapter VI
After a protracted residence at Patna Guru Teg Bahadur turned his thoughts towards the Panjab, and communicated his resolve to return thither to his mother Nanaki. He said to her, ‘ 0 mother dear, it is now a long time since I left the Panjab. If thou permit me, I will go, give instruction to my Sikhs there, and lead them the right way. Remain here with thy grandson and nurse him. When he groweth strong, bring him to me.’ His mother became very thoughtful on hearing this, and represented that the Panjab was politically in a very unsettled state. Moreover, he had been long absent in the Kamrup country, had only now returned, and it was too soon to leave her again. While thus speaking tears of love rained from her eyes. The Guru represented to her that man’s body was unstable, and vain was love for it. He on that occasion composed the following hymn :—
I have seen that love of the world is false ;
Everybody, whether wife or friend, is intent on his own happiness ;
Everybody speaketh of his relations, and attacheth his heart to them with love ;
At the last moment nobody will accompany him ; this is a strange custom.
Stupid man as yet understandeth nothing, though I have grown weary of continually instructing him.
Nanak, if man sing the praises of God, he shall cross over the terrible ocean . 1
On hearing this hymn the Guru’s mother was
consoled, and offered no further objection to her son’s departure.
The Guru then addressed himself to his wife Gujari, * 0 my good wife, I am going to the Panjab. The city of Anandpur which hath been built must be inhabited. Remain here, bring up thy son, and oppose not his wishes. After some time I will send for thee. My reason for asking thee not to thwart him is because he is the beloved servant of the Deathless Being. When he groweth up, he shall perform great deeds for the world. He shall destroy the evil and cherish his religion. I have received God’s order to go to the Panjab, and discharge several duties there. Ever remember the Deathless Being.’ On hearing this his wife’s eyes filled with tears, and she replied in her weeping, * O my husband, I have none but thee. Our child is still young. My mother-in-law is old. To whom art thou going to entrust me ? ’ The Guru replied, ‘ This body is temporary, the soul is ever permanent. The composition of the body is like that of the current of a river. Whoever fixeth his love on it is a fool. Be satisfied with whatever is God’s will. Knowing this give thy mind contentment. Ever love thy son and repeat the true Name.’
After this conversation the Guru’s son went to him and said, ‘ Father dear, I have heard that thou art going to the Panjab. Take me with thee.’ 1 The Guru replied, * My son, thou art still young. Thou wouldst have great suffering on the way. Therefore remain here for some time, and I will send for thee afterwards. It is thou who hast to do all the work at Anandpur/ At the Guru’s departure his wife pressed him not to make a long march on that day and to keep his child with him, so that the parting between father and son might not be too
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abrupt, and that the latter might be able to endure it without too much sorrowing. To this the Guru agreed. His first march was within the city of Patna itself, where all his Sikhs went to bid him farewell and sing the Gurus’ hymns for his safe journey.
The Guru taking with him his treasurer, the devout Mati Das, and four other faithful .Sikhs, proceeded march by march till he arrived at Ropar in the Ambala district, where a large crowd of Sikh followers came to see him and make him offerings. He then directed his route to Kiratpur, where he met his half-brother Suraj Mai, who was overjoyed at seeing him. To him the Guru communicated the news of the birth of his son, whereat Suraj Mai was greatly delighted. He introduced his grandsons Gulab Rai and Sham Das to the Guru, who bestowed costly dresses on them. While staying at Kiratpur, the Guru visited Patalpuri where Guru Har Gobind had breathed his last. The Guru after staying at Kiratpur for some time departed for Anandpur. When he arrived, there was great rejoicing. The whole city went forth to receive him and do him homage.
Gobind Rai, though still a child, used daily to practise the use of arms. Whenever the sons of worthy men and Sikhs visited him, he used to instruct them in military tactics. In Gobind’s area was a well of sweet water which the neighbours used to draw. One day as a Muhammadan woman went with her pitcher a pellet from the boy’s bow accidentally struck her on the forehead. She went with tears and lamentations to Gujari, and threatened to report to the Emperor the mischief the child had been doing in the city. The mother pleaded that her son was still very young, and knew not right from wrong. After further parley Gujari gave her money to buy clarified butter and sweets, upon which she promised that she would make no further complaint against Gobind Rai.
Gujari chased the boy with the object of chastising him. He ran upstairs and closed the door behind him. She then began to scold, and asked him if he was not afraid of the Emperor. He called out to her that he was afraid of none but the Deathless God. On hearing this his mother desisted from her intention, and Nanaki, his grandmother, then quietly went upstairs and brought him down to his mother. Addressing the latter Nanaki said, ' The boy shall be a great warrior like his grandfather, Guru Har Gobind.’
Chapter VII
One day Guru Teg Bahadur thought of his death, and determined to send for his son Gobind so that he might come to cherish and protect Anandpur in the day of its bereavement. At the same time Gobind Rai in Patna was thinking of his father. He said to his mother that when his father was leaving for Anandpur he promised to write on arriving at his destination, but as yet they had not heard from him. The boy expressed his desire to go to the Panjab. His mother replied that they would go when the Guru ordered it. The boy then urged that it seemed good to leave Patna with which he was not pleased. His mother informed him that the masands in arid around Patna were good and obedient men, and satisfied their wants, but they would have great difficulties in the Panjab where they would find envy and jealousy, and where, moreover, they would be in danger from the hostility of the Emperor. His mother would not therefore consent to leave Patna.
Gobind Rai sent for a scribe to whom he dictated a letter to the masand Bulaki, who was employed to collect the Sikh offerings of Dhaka, ordering him to make a very costly palki and ornament it with gold and ivory for his j ourney. This article Bulaki caused
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to be made as quickly as possible by the best artists the country could afford. The boy’s mother was highly pleased on seeing it, and pointed it out as an instance of the obedience and good-will of the masands in that part of India. Gobind Rai, however, on examining the palki found that what the masands represented to be gold work only contained one part of gold to nine of copper, and to prove what he said he had it promptly and publicly burned. He made the dishonesty of the masands a reason for again urging on his mother the necessity of going to the Panjab where he said he had many things of importance to do. At that very time his father’s letter arrived summoning him, his mother, and his Sikhs to Anandpur. When the news of Gobind’s intended departure had spread, several persons came with offerings, and among others a banker called Jagat Seth, who offered him the shelter and hospitality of his many houses on the way northward—an offer which the boy was not disinclined to accept.
Before Gobind Rai departed, a deputation waited on him and begged him to leave his cradle as a memorial behind him. When they urged that there was nobody left to confer spiritual benefits on them, he told them that whatever supplications they addressed to God with a pure mind should be accepted.
The first place of any importance at which Gobind Rai halted on his route was a town south of Banaras called Chhota Mirzapur. On reaching Banaras, the ancient stronghold of Hinduism, crowds came with offerings to him. They were enchanted as well with his mental as his physical beauty. They said they were beggars and had come to beg of him. Their applications were not in vain. Whereupon everyone praised him and said : ‘ How generous and how young ! ’ He remained there for several days. He used to hold court in the morning and then delight in sitting in a boat on the Ganges, from which he
admired the scenery, the verdure on the one hand, and on the other the stately and picturesque temples and mansions rising from the margin of the sacred river.
From Banaras Gobind Rai proceeded to Ajudhia. There crowds came with offerings to behold him, and on seeing his beauty were loud in their praises and foretold his greatness as a hero. The Sikh historian relates that flocks of monkeys—animals so cherished at the Hindu shrine of Ajudhia—went to the Guru’s tent. He first fed them with parched gram and then threw a lump of molasses among them, for which they all began to fight, some using their teeth and others their hands. The boy on seeing the simian combat was delighted, for even at that early age he loved the battle and the fray.
Gobind Rai then proceeded with his mother and followers to Lakhnau (Lucknow), then as now the capital of Awadh (Oude), where they were all hospitably entertained by Baba Fatah Chand, the religious superior of the Sikhs, to whom the party gave a letter of thanks for his hospitality—a letter still preserved by the Sikh Mahant of that city. Gobind Rai and his party then proceeded towards Anandpur. On the way they tarried at Lakhnaur, a town about nine miles from Ambala in the Pan jab. There Bhai Kripal, the Guru’s uncle, went in advance of the party to procure conveyances for the remainder of the journey to Anandpur.
While Gobind Rai was at Lakhnaur his favourite amusement was playing at mimic warfare. Under the tutorship of Magan he used to form the boys of the town into opposing armies and engage them in sWm hghts and martial exercises. While Gobind Rai was thus engaged he was visited by Saiyid Bhikan Shah—owner of the villages of Kuhram and Siana four miles from Lakhnaur—who had previously gone to see him at his birth in Patna, and knew that the boy was destined one day to bestow the Mughal
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empire on the Sikhs. Bhikan Shah had obtained the village of Thaska from the Emperor, and he came to beg Gobind Rai to allow him to remain in undisturbed possession of it during the Sikh Government which was to follow. Gobind Rai promised that no one should molest him. Upon this Saiyid Bhikan Shah fell at his feet. When he as a Musalman was reproached for prostrating himself before a Sikh child, he justified his action by saying that the boy was on the spiritual throne of Guru Nanak, that he should be seen hereafter in God’s court, and that whatever God did now He did through Gobind Rai’s mediation. The boy had assumed birth to establish the'Khalsa religion, and overthrow the empire of the Turks.
In due time Bhai Kripal Chand arrived with horses and carriages to take Gobind Rai and his mother and grandmother to Anandpur. Before his departure he went on a shooting excursion accompanied by his uncle’s huntsmen. On that occasion one Ghogha, who lived in the neighbouring village of Naneri, came to him to beg forgiveness for an offence formerly committed. Once when Guru Teg Bahadur had gone on a pilgrimage to preach the faith, Ghogha abducted his female servant. He came now to make his peace with God and the Guru. He prayed Gobind Rai to go to his house and bless it with his presence. Gobind Rai in view of the man’s sincere repentance generously pardoned him.
The young boy set out, and was followed by his mother and the remaining members of the family. After a few nights’ journey they arrived at Kiratpur. Here Gobind Rai was met by Gulab Rai and Sham Das, grandsons of his uncle, the late Suraj Mai. They escorted him to their house and treated him with respect and affection. At Kiratpur Gobind visited the shrines of Baba Gurditta, Guru Har Gobind, and Guru Har Rai. As he approached Anandpur, the women and men of the city came
forth to escort him. They were all astonished and fascinated on seeing the beauty of the young Guru. Kripal Chand pointed out to him the hill of Naina Devi and the Satluj flowing by, places with which he was afterwards to be so intimately associated. He was affectionately received by his father who at once ministered to his physical and intellectual wants.
Chapter VIII
The cruel and bigoted Emperor Aurangzeb still reigned in Dihli. As we have previously seen; he had imprisoned and starved to death his own father, killed his own brothers—Dara Shikoh and Murad—and disgraced his eldest son Muazim, afterwards Bahadur Shah. On account of all his crimes he was heartily hated even by his own co-religionists. He then sent for his priests and asked them what he was to do to regain the sympathy of the Muhammadans. His counsellors said he could only do so by converting the Hindus to Islam. He should send money and other presents to Makka and Madina. His priests would take them and bring him credentials from those holy cities to show that he was an orthodox and religious Muhammadan. All this being done he was to issue proclamations throughout the empire that the Hindus should embrace Islam, and that those who did so should receive jagirs, state service, and all the immunities granted to royal favourites. The Emperor
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took the advice of his priests, and all the plans suggested were adopted.
The experiment of conversion was first tried in Kashmir. There were two reasons for this. In the first place, the Kashmiri Pandits were supposed to be educated, and it was thought that, if they were converted, the inhabitants of Hindustan' would readily follow their example; secondly, Peshawar and Kabul, Muhammadan countries, were near, and if the Kashmiris offered any resistance to their conversion, the Muhammadans might declare a religious war and overpower and destroy them. It w 3 .s also believed by the Emperor—without foundation as it afterwards turned out—that the Kashmiri Brahmans might be tempted by promises of money and government appointments, because the beggary and meanness of the inhabitants of that country were proverbial. 1
The Emperor Akbar by the force of wealth and military genius not only subdued Muhammadan India but also Rajputana. His obsequious ministers signed a document which allowed him as the shadow of God on earth full jurisdiction to decide all religious questions. Instead of the Muhammadan creed he was gratified with the formula, ‘ There is no God but God, and Akbar is God’s representative.’ Men prostrated themselves before him, offered him vows, and addressed him as a deity. He caused his name to be inserted in the hymns to the gods and goddesses, £^nd poets were found to grant him divine honours. Aurangzeb who deemed himself an orthodox Muhammadan thought that by his own line of action he should be even greater and more successful than Akbar.
Sher Afghan Khan, the Emperor’s viceroy in Kashmir, set about converting the Kashmiris by the sword and massacred those who persevered in their adherence to the faith of their forefathers. It is
SIKH. IV B b
said there was piled up a heap of one man and a quarter, or a hundred weight of janeus or sacrificial threads. The Hindus who would not be converted and whom Sher Afghan Khan’s troops could not capture fled the country. Even Muhammadans who in any way assisted the Hindus were mercilessly put to death.
At last Sher Afghan Khan began to reflect that there was too much slaughter, and it might happen to him as it did to the Emperor Humayun, whom Sher Shah, the Afghan chief, expelled from India, or as it happened to the Muhammadans whose seed had been extirpated from his dominions by Raja Jaipal, whose motto was, * When I die there shall be an end of the world.’ Thus reflecting, Sher Afghan Khan sent for the Kashmiri Pandits, informed them of the Emperor’s order, said he was only obeying it, and begged their forgiveness. They became silent for a while, and then sued for a respite of six months to consider whether they should embrace Islam or die for their religion. Sher Afghan Khan after all the slaughter of which he had been the instrument, was glad to accede to their request.