Part 1. The Marvel that was Guru Gobind Singh

A Tribute...On His Birth anniversary.

Guru Gobind Singh, our Dasvin  Patshahi was born at Patna in 1666 AD and he spent the early part of his childhood up to the age of five there, sometime after this he and family moved to Anandpur Sahib. He was only a child of nine when his father, the ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur willingly offered himself as a martyr so as to stem the atrocities perpetrated on the people and subsequently he was executed by an order, a ‘Firman’ of Emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi. For any lesser mortal, especially for a little boy, the blow would have been crushing blow and it sure must have been a traumatic shock to absorb. The retaliative emotions could have quite possibly created fear and hate and a compulsive desire for revenge, but it did not embitter his psyche or his soul.

He was only a little boy, not yet ten years of age and suddenly the responsibilities of sustaining the faith fell on him. Palace intrigues and court conspiracies have always been known to exist so there is little doubt that many a person must have tried to fill young Gobind’s mind with feelings of hatred and revenge against the Mughals. …..All negative energies, and these can be counterproductive and self destruct.

The little Guru at no point of time let these influences warp his thinking.

He grew up on to becoming a charismatic and handsome young man, a person with a compelling presence.He announced his mission in life in the following words:

 "I came into the world charged with the duty to uphold the right in every place, to destroy sin and evil... the only reason I took birth was to see that righteousness may flourish, that good may live, and tyrants be torn out by their roots."

Ham eh kaj jagat mehn aye

Dharam het Gurdev pathay

Jahan tahan tum dharam bitharo

Dusht dokhian pakar pacharo

Yahi kaj dhara ham janmam

Samaj leo sadhu sab manman

Dharam chalavan Sant ubaran

Dusht sabhan ko mul uparan.

 Guru Gobind Singh was ever so creative and so revolutionary in his thinking; above all his persona had multiple facets….. He was inspiring in his life as a poet, a prophet, a saint and a soldier. He was a great humanist and transformer of suppressed society. Seldom has such a short period in history been so productive, so constructive of activity, 

The creation of the Khalsa, by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 was a historic step to shield and resolve the Hindustan way. It consolidated nationalism and was a milestone toward a national renaissance. Its objective was to help people realize the truth, to do their duties to the nation, and eventually to serve humanity as a whole.

He was the Guru yet himself turned a disciple of his followers.

Waho waho Guru Gobind Singh aape gur chella

All that is said about him probably just does not do him justice …..we could say that more is still less.  He was a philosopher, a writer, a poet extraordinaire. He must have penned over a thousand pages of verse in an array of languages. To dictate the entire Guru Granth Sahib - all 1430 pages - from memory is no ordinary skill. As the connoisseur of performing arts and fine arts, 52 poets and many musicians sought his patronage.

Guru Gobind Singh's life illustrated all the dimensions of the human existence. And he lived for only 42 years - an age at which many of us are still struggling to find ourselves.

History is filled with sagas of heroic deeds of men and women through centuries in lands near and beyond…..That is an accepted fact. But is there one that stands as tall and is able to measure in force and power of his persona as Guru Gobind Singh.

These are the sentiments we share not alone because we are of faith he ordained but because it is the truth …That Guru Gobind Singh is nonpareil…..A personality with no parallel.