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THE SIKH GURUS Lives, Works and Teachings

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THE SIKH GURUS Lives, Works and Teachings THE SIKH GURUS Lives, Works and Teachings THE SIKH GURUS Lives, Works and Teachings A BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mukhtar Singh Goraya Publisher: Dr. Inderjit Kaur, President All India Pingalwara Charitable Society (Regd.), Amritsar THE SIKH GURUS LIVES, WORKS AND TEACHINGS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION Written by : Mukhtar Singh Goraya D-577, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar - 143 001 Ph: +91-183-2501399 M: 98551-22568 © - Author First Edition : November, 2015 ISBN: 978-81-923150-5-8 Publisher : Dr. Inderjit Kaur, President All India Pingalwara Charitable Society (Regd.), Amritsar. Ph. no. 91-183-2584586, 2584713 E-mail: [email protected] FREE OF COST Printed at: Printwell, 146, Industrial Focal Point, Amritsar. Dedicated to The sacred memory of Bhagat Puran Singh, founder of *Pingalwara, working wherein, this author got the inspiration to write this book. *Pingalwara — a model of selfless service — is a home for the homeless, support for the supportless, a hospital for the sick, a cradle for the children, and a safe haven for young women — victims of domestic violence, social exploitation, etc. CONTENTS DESCRIPTION PAGE 1. Foreword 7 2. Introduction 11 3. Chapter: 1 Sri Guru Nanak Dev 13 4. Chapter: 2 Sri Guru Angad Dev 59 5. Chapter: 3 Sri Guru Amar Das 71 6. Chapter: 4 Sri Guru Ram Das 81 7. Chapter: 5 Sri Guru Arjan Dev 88 8. Chapter: 6 Sri Guru Hargobind 106 9. Chapter: 7 Sri Guru Har Rai 132 10. Chapter: 8 Sri Guru Har Krishan 138 11. Chapter: 9 Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur 142 12. Chapter:10 Sri Guru Gobind Singh 160 13. Chapter:11 Sri Guru Granth Sahib 210 14. Chapter:12 216 Important information on Sikhism (a) Mool Mantra (b) Nitnem Diyan Baniyan (c) Panj Piyare (Five beloved ones) (d) Char Sahibzade (Four sons of Sri Guru Gobind Singh) (e) Panj Takhat (Five Seats of Authority) (f) Panj Kakkaras (Five K's) (g) Dos & Don'ts in Sikhism 15. Bibliography 221 Appeal 223 FOREWORD Wonderful is the creation of this world and limitless is its Creator. The limit upto which the mind works and the vision goes, the Creator has created the opposite of everything, e.g. good things with bad things, meeting with departing, truth with lie, etc. As and when bad things occur, the Almighty Lord sends its own messengers in the world to mend the spoilt situation. Before the birth of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the political, socio-economic and religious conditions of the country were pitiable, During the age-old slavery (foreign rule), people were undergoing unspeakable and unbearable hardships. Morale of the people had fallen. Some hundreds of invaders would come and loot the self-respect and honour and wealth of the millions of people. Such was the situation when Guru Nanak Dev appeared on the scene. In the words of Bhai Gurdas: suxI pukwir dwqwr pRBu guru nwnk jg mwih pTieAw [ crn Doie rhrwis kir crnwimRq isKW pIlwieAw [ pwrbRhmu pUrn bRhmu kiljuig AMdir ieku idKwieAw [ cwry pYr Dr`m dy cwir vrin ieku vrnu krwieAw [ rwxw rMku brwbrI pYrI pvxw jig vrqwieAw [ aultw Kylu iprMm dw pYrw aupir sIsu invwieAw [ kiljugu bwby qwirAw siqnwmu piVH mMq½ suxwieAw [ kil qwrix guru nwnku AwieAw [ vwr : 1/23 (The benefactor Lord listened to the cries (of humanity) and sent Guru Nanak to this world. He washed His feet, eulogized God and got his Disciples drink the ambrosia of his feet. He preached in this darkage (kaliyug) that, saragun (Brahm) and nirgun (Parbrahm) are the same and identical. Dharma was now established on its four feet and all the four castes (through fraternal feeling) were converted into one caste (of humanity). Equating the poor with the prince, he spread the etiquette of humbly touching the feet. Inverse is the game of the beloved; he got the egotist high heads bowed to feet. Baba Nanak rescued this darkage (kaliyug) and recited 'satinam' mantra for one and all. Guru Nanak came to redeem the kaliyug.) (7) To boost the morale of the people, the Guru recited the following hymns:- so jIivAw ijsu min visAw soie ] nwnk Avru n jIvY koie ] jy jIvY piq lQI jwie ] sBu hrwmu jyqw ikCu Kwie ] Aµg :1/42 (They alone are truly alive, whose minds are filled with the Lord. O Nanak, no one else is truly alive; those who merely live shall depart in dishonor; everything they eat is impure.) The Guru apprised the people of their self-respect, instilled courage in them, and preached to fearlessly speak the truth, respect the working class and live a truthful life. The Guru described the then prevailing situation in his long treatise: Asa di Vaar. The present scenario is also almost the same. Today, we have Sri Guru Granth Sahib, a treasure of Divine knowledge, glorious history of the ten Gurus which teach us the way of life. But, being unmindful of this, our attention is diverted towards the dazzling culture of the West. Aware of this probability, the Jews as a nation, took a collective decision that the upcoming youngsters of their community be made well aware of their culture and history. They effected this resolution in letter and spirit and strengthened their nation. Such-like steps are important for other nations too. But, unfortunately the Sikh leaders have not taken any steps in this direction. However, some knowledgeable and right-thinking persons are paying due attention in this respect. S. Mukhtar Singh Goraya, Honorary Secretary as well as Honorary Architect and Town Planner, who is responsible for planning, design and construction of all the buildings of Pingalwara since 1995 A.D. onwards has made an effort to write this book (The Sikh Gurus: lives, works and teachings). It is an arduous task to dwell on the great Gurus. However, the Almighty Lord has been kind enough to get this job done by him and he appears to have succeeded in achieving his objective. By reading this book, a valuable knowledge about the Sikh Religion and the Sikh History is obtained. And, one comes to know that Guru Nanak Dev has been loving a number of people—in addition to Bhai Mardana, Bhai Bala and Bhai Lalo—like Bhai Hasoo Lohar, Shihan Chheemba, Seeho, Saido, etc. and making them (8) companions of his long travels:- sB mih joiq joiq hY soie ] iqs dY cwnix sB mih cwnxu hoie ] AMg: 13 (Amongst all is the Light-You are that Light. By this Illumination, that Light is radiant within all.) Some portions of this book, like an extract of important teachings of the Guru to his Sikhs on different occasions appear to be important:- ‘‘1) The body is endowed with attributes and the 'Word' is my heart, without attributes. There can be separation from the body, but if you attach yourself with the 'Word', there will be no separation. 2) To clean the heart, one has to keep the eyes, ears, hands and feet away from the others' beauty, calumny and flattery, burglary and love affair, and bad deeds and bad company respectively. 3) To use eyes and ears for reciting and listening to Gurbani, to use tongue for reciting His praises, hands for charity and feet for going to congregations, and to put mind towards remembering His Name again and again! Don't get tired, only mind will do so." Sikh History is unique in this regard that Gurgaddi (Guruship) was bestowed only to the one who was considered capable of delivering the Divine Knowledge and who had a characterful and truthful life. Guru Nanak Dev bestowed Guruship to his disciple. The tradition continued till Guru Gobind Singh administered 'Amrit' (nectar) to the five beloved ones and requested them to administer the same (Amrit) to him too and thus created an example of 'himself Guru, himself disciple', and laid the foundation stone of democracy. The sermon delivered by the Guru on this occasion is capable of turning one into a godly man. "From today onwards, Khalsa Panth is your caste, community and nation. You are to become religious and benevolent like saints and fearless and strong like brave warriors. You are to help the weak and the oppressed and not to quietly witness the tyranny being committed. You are neither to fear nor frighten anybody. Never to (9) renounce your faith whatever price you may have to pay.’’ In this way, after the long-drawn struggle of 239 years (from 1469 A.D. to 1708 A.D.) by the Gurus, the nation of saint-soldiers came into being. Pingalwara takes pride in getting this book published which is, in fact, an English version of the original book 'Das Patshahian' - written earlier by this author in Punjabi. The aim is to benefit the non- Gurmukhi-knowing readers. We earnestly hope that the readers and their families will read this book to know about the Sikh Religion and its glorious history. The Sangat is requested to liberally donate to Pingalwara for enabling us to keep on publishing such-like literature. Dr. Inderjit Kaur President All India Pingalwara Charitable Society (Regd.), Amritsar ,,, (10) INTRODUCTION The Jews who survived their genocide at the hands of German Nazis, in the last stages of the World War-II, assembled at Amsterdam to chalk out their future. Among the important resolutions passed in the meeting, a very important decision was about their children that they should be made aware of their religious and cultural heritage. Keeping in view this valuable thought, this book named 'Das Patshahian' was originally written in Punjabi (Gurmukhi script) in 2010 A.D. which was got printed and is being distributed among the people free of cost by the Pingalwara society.
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