A Short Sketch of the Life and Works of Guru Govind Singh (The Tenth and Last Guru of the Sikhs)

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Guru Govind Singh remains to this day one of the most celebrated figures in Sikh history. The tenth Sikh Guru from the line of Guru Nanak, he was born in a time fraught with perils, when people faced persecution and tyranny at the hands of the Mughals under the intolerant Aurangzeb. A Short Sketch of the Life and Works of Guru Govind Singh traces the roots of this great Sikh leader, from his birth to the institution of the Khalsa Pant and his struggles against the enemies of his faith. Also contained in this book are passages on Sikhism as it exists today, the religious tolerance that has remained a highlight of Sikh culture and the portrayal of the tenth Guru as a miracle man.

Bhagat Lakshman Singh (1863-1944) was an educationist who wrote books on Sikh history. Launching The Khalsa, the first Sikh weekly paper in English, he raised issues related to the ongoing Sikh political movements during the time. Ile also served as teacher and headmaster in many high schools in modern-day Pakistan.

Of all works on Sikh history compiled by European authors not one contains a comprehensive account of the life of Guru Govind Singh, the tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs. As a rule these writers have commenced their works from the time of Baba Nanak, the founder of the Sikh creed, and have ended them with a brief reference to the political convulsions of the period in which the tenth Guru played not a small part. They believed, along with the majority of the Indian writers, that the principal work of the Guru was of a political nature and by giving him credit for this they thought that they had said all that could be said of him. This, I submit, is too poor a tribute to the memory of the Guru. I have tried to show, in this memoir, that his military achievements were only a chapter in his life and that his great and lasting work was to preach the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man, whereby he infused true manliness into the hearts of the people of this land. I have endeavored to write a simple, readable and believable story of the Guru's life and have based it mainly on the Dassam Granth which contains writings believed to have been written by the Guru himself. I have referred to the contemporary and later Muslim historians and English writers on Indian history and, where necessary, I have quoted largely from them to corroborate what I have said. I have visited several Gurudwaras and places of note with which the memory of the Guru is associated, and have personally enquired into the traditions that are current there. In a word, I have done all that my humble resources could permit me to do. I do not, of course, believe that I have said all that could be said about the Guru, or that I have exhausted all sources of information in writing this work. I have only attempted to place in the hands of the English-knowing public a handy book containing a simple narrative of the life of one who is regarded as Saviour by millions of men, inhabiting the land of the Five Waters. I feel confident that my humble effort will stimulate an interest in the work of the divine poet, sage, reformer, patriot and martyr, and that abler and better informed men will feel encouraged to write a comprehensive account of his life.

Bhagat Lakshman Singh, the writer of the memoir, has chosen to remember me kindly in connection with his conception of this work and now insists on my writing a preface in spite of my lack of leisure and occupation of mind with matters other than literary. Though yielding to his persistence I regret very much that I shall not be able to convey to the readers what I have felt, for many years now, about the subject of this sketch. Guru Govind Singh has been a unique personality in history, the full bearing of whose life has yet to be realised. Born in a family of rulers of men's mind, at a time of great difficulty in the history of his country, amongst a community of oppressed, depressed and disorganised people, he showed himself equal to the occasion and has left indelible marks on the march of events. 'What a difficult position had he and how did he acquit himself? This sums up the life of this one of the greatest of the human-born. He was born to a gaddi of a succession of saints, whose high and unblemished lives, whose unique and unrivalled teachings, whose position as protectors and saviours he had to continue under much more complex conditions and in awkward times. He was not to succeed to a gaddi of ascetics, but to marry, rear up children and see their end. He was to succeed to a position of wealth, power and affluence, all of which he had to administer not for his own and his family's good but for the good of the community. He had to receive homage from the rulers and the ruled, the rich and the poor, the good and the bad, the high and the low, and to keep his head calm and cool. He had the choice of perpetuating the succession of his family, he had the option of incorporating himself with the mightiest of the land and the times, he had the temptation to wreck the work of generations; what he did actually in these matters is well known and needs no repetition. Show me a man in the history of the world in such a difficult position and with such a splendid record. Of this man Bhagat Lakshman Singh writes and writes as a believer. Many others will follow and write philosophically, critically and with more materials at their disposal and show that Guru Govind Singh was a saint, scholar, soldier, statesman and saviour, the like of which may not come again.

God creates saints from age to age", say our scriptures, "and preserves virtue."* The history of the human race bears abundant testimony to the truth embodied in these words. How Gautam Buddha preached love and sympathy, how Christ was crucified while striving to teach the lessons of charity and righteous dealing, how, again, the Sufis have endeavored to mollify the stubborn hearts of many a follower of the Crescent, are matters of history. Guru Govind Singh's mission was exactly the same. He brought the same message and received martyrdom when communicating it. The same scene is enacted in the drama of human life from age to age. The part played is the same, more or less. Only the time, stage, and actors are different.

The story of Guru Govind Singh's life is at once pathetic and heart-stirring. Bereft of his saintly father, when yet a child, troubled by jealous kinsmen, persecuted by unscrupulous foes, and betrayed by false friends, he lived to be able to procure freedom for his countrymen from the tyrannous political yoke of the Mughal and the demoralizing spiritual subjection of the Brahman. He swerved not from duty. He communicated his message boldly and fearlessly.

The times of his advent were very hard. The Hindu social system had deadened the hearts of people. Each individual lived for himself The feelings of manliness and sympathy were gone, A desire to avenge wrong was not felt. Even a wild mouse presents a bold front to the enemy when he stands at bay. But, thanks to the framers and administrators of the Hindu law, the whole mass of the humanity, within the Hindu pale, had become inanimate, as it were. Its men were taken into captivity and women sold in the frontier markets; but it moved not. In addition to the calamities that the Punjab Hindus suffered from being exposed to the frequent inroads of the Muslim invaders they had to put up with constant insults at the hands of the Muslim officials and nobles. Life and property were not safe. Young, unmarried, beautiful Hindu girls were forcibly taken away from their parents and guardians. Marriage parties were way-laid. Bride-grooms were assassinated and their brides were snatched from them. The Hindu places of worship were desecrated; but no notice was taken of the conduct of the ruffians who did so. A regular campaign, under official patronage, was going on to forcibly convert the Hindus to the Muslim faith; and thus, brothers were torn from brothers, fathers and mothers from their sons and daughters. Those who refused were tortured to death. All Hindu hearths were houses of mourning. A constant wail went forth from the Hindu Punjab. The unfortunate, oppressed people found consolation in their religion. They attributed their troubles to Fate and resigned themselves to Fate. They thought they were being punished for their `Karmas', in previous births, and that their oppressors were not to blame! They were only instruments in the hands of God! What other attitude could be adopted by a people who had become mentally so low as to acquiesce in the belief that even Pars Ram, who is said to have annihilated the whole Kshatrya race, was an incarnation of Vishnu and was, as such, entitled to their homage!

On this heart-rending scene Guru Govind Singh appeared, as a healer, to preach a new gospel to the oppressed humanity. He told them to discard their worthless old beliefs* and to throw themselves on the mercy of the Gracious Providence and they would be saved. "Sin and suffering approach not those who meditate on the Lord's name." was the message he brought. He made them understand that all suffering was the result of their own failings, that God sent no trouble, that the oppressors were not His instruments, that they should believe in one God and should love one another as brothers, that they should rise together and fall together, that they should resist and root out all evil-doers, that they should not fear death, and that they should regard life only as a means to an end-to attain beatitude at the feet of the Timeless One. He died in order that God's people should live. Those who heard the message were saved. Hindu brothers, you have disowned your Saviour!