Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh was born
as Gobind Rai in Patna,
Bihar in India. His father
Guru Tegh Bahadur, was the
ninth Sikh Guru . His
mother's name was Mata
Gujri . He was born while
his father was on a tour of
the neighbouring state of
Assam , spreading God's
word. Gobind Rai's early
education included study of
languages and training as a
Soldier. He had started
studying Hindi and Sanskrit
while at Patna. At Anandpur
Sahib, he started studying
Punjabi under Sahib Chand,
and Persian under Qazi Pir
Mohammad. He married
to Mata Sundari
(also known as Mata Jito)
and they had four sons
Sahibzada Ajit Singh,
Zorawar Singh, Jujhar Singh
and Fateh Singh. Guru Tegh
Bahadur had founded the
city of Anandpur Sahib in
1665, on land purchased
from the ruler of Bilaspur
(Kahlur). After his tour of
eastern parts of India
ended, he asked his family
to come to Anandpur.
Gobind Rai reached
Anandpur (then known as
Chakk Nanaki), on the
foothills of the Sivalik Hills,
in March 1672.

Leaving of Anandpur and
Return:-

In April 1685, Guru Gobind
Singh shifted his residence
to Paonta in Sirmaur state at
the invitation of Raja Mat
Prakash of Sirmaur .
According to the gazetteer of
the Sirmur State, the Guru
was compelled to quit
Anandpur Sahib due to
differences with Bhim
Chand, and went to Toka.
From Toka, he was
invited to Nahan , the capital
of Sirmaur by Mat Prakash.
From Nahan, he proceeded
to Paonta . Mat Prakash
invited the Guru to his
kingdom in order to
strengthen his position
against Raja Fateh Shah of
Garhwal . At the request of
Raja Mat Prakash, the Guru
constructed a fort at Paonta
with help of his followers, in
a short time. The Guru
remained at Paonta for
around three years, and
composed several texts.
The hostility between Nahan
King and Fateh Shah, the
Garhwal king continued to
increase during the latter's
stay at Paonta , ultimately
resulting in the Battle of
Bhangani near Paonta . Fateh
Shah attacked on 18
September 1688; the battle
ended with the Guru's
victory. In the Battle of
Nadaun in 1687, the armies
of Alif Khan and his aides
were defeated by the allied
forces of Bhim Chand, Guru
Gobind Singh and other hill
Rajas. According to Bichitra
Natak and the Bhatt Vahis,
Guru Gobind Singh remained
at Nadaun, on the banks of
the River Beas, for eight
days, and visited various
important military chiefs.
Sometime after the Battle of
Bhangani, Rani Champa, the
dowager queen of Bilaspur
requested the Guru to
return to Anandpur Sahib, or
Chakk Nanaki , as it was then
called, the Guru agreed. He
reached Anandpur Sahib in
November 1688.

In 1695, Dilawar Khan, the
Mughal chief of Lahore , sent
his son to attack Anandpur
Sahib. Mughal army was
defeated and Hussain Khan
was killed. After Hussain's
death, Dilawar Khan sent his
men Jujhar Hada and
Chandel Rai to Sivalik Hills.
However, they were defeated
by Gaj Singh of Jaswal. The
developments in the hill
area caused anxiety to the
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb ,
who sent forces under the
command of his son, to
restore Mughal authority in
the region.

Founding of the Khalsa
In 1699, the Guru sent
hukmanamas (letters of
authority) to his followers,
requesting them to
congregate at Anandpur on
13 April 1699, the day of
Vaisakhi (the annual harvest
festival ). He addressed
the congregation from the
entryway of a small tent
pitched on a small hill (now
called Kesgarh Sahib). He
first asked everyone who he
was for them? Everyone
answered - "You are our
Guru." He then asked them
who were they, to which
everyone replied - "We are
your Sikhs." Having
reminded them of this
relationship, He then said
that today the Guru needs
something from his Sikhs.
Everyone said, "Hukum Karo,
Sache Patshah" (Order us,
True Lord). Then drawing his
sword he asked for a
volunteer who was willing to
sacrifice his head. No one
answered his first call, nor
the second call, but on the
third invitation, Daya Ram
(later known as Bhai Daya
Singh) came forward and
offered his head to the
Guru. Guru Gobind Rai took
the volunteer inside the
tent. The Guru returned to
the crowd with blood
dripping from his sword. He
then demanded another
head. One more volunteer
came forward, and entered
the tent with him. The Guru
again emerged with blood on
his sword. This happened
three more times. Then the
five volunteers came out of
the tent in new clothing
unharmed.

Guru Gobind Singh then
poured clear water into an
iron bowl and adding
Patashas (Punjabi
sweeteners) into it, he
stirred it with double-edged
sword accompanied with
recitations from Adi Granth.
He called this mixture of
sweetened water and iron as
Amrit ("nectar") and
administered it to the five
men. These five, who
willingly volunteered to
sacrifice their lives for their
Guru, were given the title of
the Panj Pyare ("the five
beloved ones") by their
Guru. They were the first
(baptized) Sikhs of the
Khalsa : Daya Ram (Bhai Daya
Singh), Dharam Das (Bhai
Dharam Singh), Himmat Rai
( Bhai Himmat Singh),
Mohkam Chand ( Bhai
Mohkam Singh), and Sahib
Chand ( Bhai Sahib Singh).
Guru Gobind Singh then
recited a line which has
been the rallying-cry of the
Khalsa since then:
'Waheguru ji ka Khalsa,
Waheguru ji Ki Fateh' (Khalsa
belongs to God; victory
belongs to God). He gave
them all the name
" Singh" (lion), and
designated them collectively
as the Khalsa , the body of
baptized Sikhs. The Guru
then astounded the five and
the whole assembly as he
knelt and asked them to in
turn initiate him as a
member, on an equal footing
with them in the Khalsa,
thus becoming the sixth
member of the new order.
His name became Gobind
Singh. Today members of the
Khalsa consider Guru Gobind
as their father, and Mata
Sahib Kaur as their mother.
The Panj Piare were
thus the first baptised Sikhs,
and became the first
members of the Khalsa
brotherhood. Women were
also initiated into the
Khalsa, and given the title of
kaur ("princess"). Guru
Gobind Singh then
addressed the audience -

Guru Granth Sahib ji.

The Guru Granth Sahib is the
living Guru of Sikhism . It
is a voluminous text of 1430
Angs , compiled and
composed during the period
of Sikh gurus , from 1469 to
1708.  It is a collection of
hymns ( Shabad) or Baani
describing the qualities of
God  and why one should
meditate on God's name.
Guru Gobind Singh (1666–
1708), the tenth guru, after
adding Guru Tegh Bahadur 's
bani to the Adi Granth
affirmed the sacred text as
his successor, elevating it to
Guru Granth Sahib. The
text remains the how
scripture of the Sikhs,
regarded as the teachings of
the Ten Gurus.  The role of
Guru Granth Sahib, as a
source or guide of prayer,
is pivotal in Sikh worship.
The Adi Granth, the first
rendition, was first compiled
by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru
Arjan (1563–1606), from
hymns of the first five Sikh
gurus and 15 other great
saints, or bhagats, including
those of the Hindu and
Muslim faith.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh guru added all 115 of Guru Tegh Bahadur 's hymns to the Adi
Granth and this second rendition became known as the Guru Granth Sahib.  After the tenth Sikh guru died many copies were
prepared for distribution by
Baba Deep Singh Ji and Bhai
Mani Singh Ji.

It is written in the
Gurmukhī script, in various
dialects – including Lehndi
Punjabi , Braj Bhasha,
Khariboli , Sanskrit and
Persian – often coalesced
under the generic title of
Sant Bhasha.

History:-

During the Guruship of Guru
Nanak , collections of his
hymns were compiled and
sent to distant Sikh
communities for use in
morning and evening
prayers. His successor,
Guru Angad, began
collecting his predecessor's
sacred writings. This
tradition was continued by
the third and fifth guru.
When the fifth Guru, Guru
Arjan , was collecting the
writings of his predecessor,
he discovered that
pretenders to the Guruship
were releasing forged
anthologies of the previous
gurus' writings and including
their own writings alongside
them.  In order to
prevent spurious scriptures
from gaining legitimacy,
Guru Arjan began compiling
a sacred book for the Sikh
community. He finished
collecting the religious
writings of Guru Ram Das,
his immediate predecessor,
and convinced Mohan, the
son of Guru Amar Das, to
give him the collection of
the religious writings of the
first three Gurus. In
addition, he sent disciples
to go across the country to
find and bring back any
previously unknown writings.
He also invited members of
other religions and
contemporary religious
writers to submit writings for
possible inclusion. Guru
Arjan selected hymns for
inclusion into the book and
Bhai Gurdas acted as his
scribe.

While the manuscript was
being put together, Akbar,
the Mughal Emperor ,
received a report that the
manuscript contained
passages vilifying Islam.
Therefore, while traveling
north, he stopped en route
and asked to inspect it. Baba Buddha and Bhai
Gurdas brought him a copy
of the manuscript so far, and
after choosing three random
passages to be read,
determined the report to be
false. He also granted a
request from Guru Arjan to
remit the annual tax
revenue of the district
because of the failure of the
monsoon .

In 1604, Guru Arjan 's
manuscript was completed
and installed at the
Harmandir Sahib with Baba
Buddha as the first granthi,
or reader. Since communities
of Sikh disciples were
scattered all over northern
India, copies of the holy
book needed to be made for
them. However, in this
first transcription a number
of minor changes were made
by the copyists.

The sixth, seventh, and
eighth Gurus did not write
religious verses, however the
ninth Guru, Guru Tegh
Bahadur did and the tenth
Guru, Guru Gobind Singh
included Guru Tegh
Bahadur's writings into the
Guru Granth Sahib. Guru
Gobind Singh had his
writings compiled in a
separate granth, which today
is called Dasam Granth
Sahib. It is not revered as
Guru by the Sikhs. The Guru
is only Guru Granth Sahib.
In 1704 at Damdama Sahib,
during a one-year respite
from the heavy fighting with
Aurengzeb which the Khalsa
was engaged in at the time,
Guru Gobind Singh and Bhai
Mani Singh added the
religious compositions of
Guru Tegh Bahadur to the
Guru Granth Sahib to create
a definitive version.
During these months of
"intense literary activity"
they used the original
volume prepared by Guru
Arjan by borrowing it from
the descendants of Dhirmal,
the elder brother of Guru
Har Rai and inserted Guru
Tegh Bahadur's verses in the
appropriate places. The
religious verses of Guru
Gobind Singh were not
included in the Guru Granth
Sahib, but some of his
religious verses are included
in the daily prayers of Sikhs.
During this period, Bhai
Mani Singh also collected
Guru Gobind Singh's
writings as well as his court
poets and included them in
a non-religious volume
known as the Dasam Granth .

Gurudwara Singh Sabha