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Children of mid night Guru Tegh Bahadur: A simple man but a fighter in a silent way!
MAJOR KULBIR SINGH. Dated: 11/22/2017 10:17:33 AM
By: Major Kulbir Singh
Martyrdom for protecting religious freedom of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits and himself refusing to convert to Islam Guru Tegh Bahadur (Punjabi pronunciation 1 April 1621 – 24 November 1675,, revered as the ninth Nanak, was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. Tegh Bahadur continued in the spirit of the first guru, Nanak; his 115 poetic hymns are in the text Guru Granth Sahib. Tegh Bahadur resisted the forced conversions of Kashmiri Panditsand non-Muslims to Islam, and was publicly beheaded in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for refusing to convert to Islam. Guru Tegh Bahadur 1 April 1621 – 24 November 1675,), revered as the ninth Nanak, was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. Tegh Bahadur continued in the spirit of the first guru, Nanak; his 115 poetic hymns are in the text Guru Granth Sahib. Tegh Bahadur resisted the forced conversions of Kashmiri Pandits and non-Muslims to Islam, and was publicly beheaded in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for refusing to convert to Islam. In March 1664 Guru Har Krishan contracted smallpox. When asked by his followers who would lead them after him, he replied Baba Bakala, meaning his successor was to be found in Bakala. Taking the advantage of the ambiguity in the words of the dying Guru, many installed themselves in Bakala, claiming themselves as the new Guru. Sikhs were puzzled to see so many claimants.
The Sikh tradition has a legend on how Tegh Bahadur was selected the ninth guru. A wealthy trader, Baba Makhan Shah Labana, had once prayed for his life and had promised to gift 500 gold coins to the Sikh guru if he survived.[18] He arrived in search of the ninth Guru. He went from one claimant to the next making his obeisance and offering two gold coins to each Guru, believing that the right guru would know that his silent promise was to gift 500 coins for his safety. Every “guru” he met accepted the 2 gold coins and bid him farewell. Then he discovered that Tegh Bahadur also lived at Bakala. Labana gifted Tegh Bahadur the usual offering of two gold coins. Tegh Bahadur gave him his blessings and remarked that his offering was considerably short of the promised five hundred. Makhan Shah Labana forthwith made good the difference and ran upstairs. He began shouting from the rooftop, “Guru ladho re, Guru ladho re” meaning “I have found the Guru, I have found the Guru”.
In August 1664 a Sikh Sangat arrived in Bakala and anointed Tegh Bahadur as the ninth guru of Sikhs. The Sangat was led by Diwan Durga Mal, and a formal “Tikka ceremony” was performed by Bhai Gurditta on Tegh Bahadur conferring Guruship on him.
As had been the custom among Sikhs after the execution of Guru Arjan by Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Guru Tegh Bahadur was surrounded by armed bodyguards. He himself lived an austere life.
Guru Tegh Bahadur contributed many hymns to Granth Sahib including the Saloks, or couplets near the end of the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Tegh Bahadur toured various parts of Mughal Empire, and was asked by Gobind Sahali to construct several Sikh temples in Mahali. His works include 116 shabads, 15 ragas and his bhagats are credited with 782 compositions that are part of bani in Sikhism.
His works are included in the Guru Granth Sahib (pages 219-1427). They cover a wide range of topics, such as the nature of God, human attachments, body, mind, sorrow, dignity, service, death and deliverance. For example, in Sorath rag, Guru Tegh Bahadur describes what an ideal human being is like, jo nar dukh mein dukh nahin manney, sukh snehh ar phey nahi ja kai, kanchan maati manney
na nindya nehn usttat ja kai lobh moh abhimana
harakh sog tey rahey niaro nahen maan apmana, aasa mansa sagal tyagey
jagg tey rahey nirasa, kaam krodh jeh parsai nahin teh ghatt brahma niwasa. One who is not perturbed by misfortune, who is beyond comfort, attachment and fear, who considers gold as dust. He neither speaks ill of others nor feels elated by praise and shuns greed, attachments and arrogance. He is indifferent to ecstasy and tragedy, is not affected by honors or humiliations. He renounces expectations, greed. He is neither attached to the worldliness, nor lets senses and anger affect him. In such a person resides God. — Guru Tegh Bahadur, Sorath 633 (Translated by Gopal Singh)!