Chapter 11

GURU HAR RAI
(1630–1661)

The child Har Rai was a great favourite with everyone in Kiratpur. He was a handsome, intelligent child, and very friendly with everyone. If he was aware of his importance as the Guru’s grandson, he never showed it. Even as a child, he cared deeply for the pain and suffering of others. Both his grandfather and grandmother loved him dearly and this love became even stronger when he lost his father Gurditta. The Guru kept him always by his side, and the boy’s grandmother made him the centre of her life.

The Guru made sure that his grandson got the best training in riding, swordsmanship, and archery. By the time he was in his teens, Har Rai had become an excellent rider and a skilled swordsman. Har Rai observed his grandfather closely and learnt a great deal about his religion and its special ways. He soon knew most of the Sikh prayers and hymns by heart. He would also go hunting with his grandfather, but unlike his grandfather, he did not kill animals. Instead, he captured animals and brought them back to the little zoo he had built in Kiratpur.

In March 1644, a few days before Guru Hargobind’s death, Har Rai was ordained as the seventh Guru of the Sikhs. Within a year of becoming the Guru, Guru Har Rai had to face the first crisis of his stewardship. Kiratpur was situated within the territory of the raja of Bilaspur. The raja was facing trouble brought on by the Mughal rulers and it seemed that there would be war between the two. If the Guru stayed on in Kiratpur, he would have to take sides with the raja, and the Sikh soldiers would have to fight alongside the raja’s army. The Guru considered his position very carefully and decided against being drawn into a battle. He realized that he was too young and inexperienced to lead his soldiers into battle. He also realized that the Sikh community had yet to recover fully from the effects of the four battles that his grandfather had fought. Even though the Sikhs had won all four battles, they had suffered heavy losses and could not afford more losses at this stage. In addition, there was the problem posed by the Guru’s elder brother Dhirmal, who in his antagonism towards the Guru had already formed an alliance with the Guru’s enemies. If the Guru came into open conflict with the Mughals, it would mean being in conflict with his own brother. But above everything else, the Guru was not convinced of the justness of the raja’s cause, the raja himself was to blame for the position he was in. As such, he decided against taking part in the impending war and decided to move out of Kiratpur and go further into the hills. So, with his family, servants, and 3,200 armed men, the Guru moved to Taksaal, a small village in Sirmour state in Himachal Pradesh. Here he was able to live a life of peace and prayer, and avoid conflict both with the Mughals as well as his brother Dhirmal.

Days turned into months and months into years. Reports from the various centres came to the Guru and he was worried by what he heard. Without a Guru at Amritsar to look up to, the administration in the centres had begun to weaken. Without the physical presence of the Guru to give them spiritual strength, some of the Sikhs had begun to turn to the other claimants to the Guruship. People like Dhirmal had gained strength because the Guru was absent from Amritsar. The masands now did not report to the Guru and had stopped coming to Amritsar. Some of them kept the donations that they collected from the Sikhs for themselves, and were becoming rich and powerful.

Guru Har Rai decided that he would not return permanently to Kiratpur or Amritsar. The factors that had made him move out of Kiratpur still existed. At the same time, he had to take steps to counteract what was happening in his organization. He decided to travel from Taksaal and visit all his centres turn by turn. He spent some time in each centre and examined the working of his missionaries. Both the disciples and the missionaries came into personal contact with their Guru, and received his blessings, and in the process the faith thus regained its lost strength. The Guru’s rivals found that their followers had begun to leave them and return to the Guru’s fold. In the past the Sikhs used to go to their Guru, now their Guru had come to them. As a result many who would otherwise not have gone to Amritsar and been influenced by the Guru’s teachings, now found themselves being drawn to him and the number of people converting to Sikhism, once again, began to increase. Many prominent families in various places in Punjab like Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Kaithal, and Bagrian had been impressed by Guru Hargobind. Now the heads of these families met Guru Har Rai and listened to his teachings and converted to Sikhism.

At the end of 1658, Guru Har Rai decided to return to Kiratpur. Once again Kiratpur became the important centre of the Sikh religion that it had been during Guru Hargobind’s time.

Guru Har Rai was a man of peace who lived a life of prayer and meditation. His life was a great deal like the life of Guru Nanak. Every morning he would get up early, bathe, and listen to the Gurbani together with his followers. Then he would explain the teachings of the Gurus to his followers. The day would be spent in tasks that were connected with the welfare of his people. In the evening too there would be a prayer meeting and the singing of hymns. He travelled from centre to centre and remained very close to his people. He would stop at the huts of the poor and eat with them. This would give them great happiness and it also gave them a chance to share their problems and difficulties with the Guru.

Guru Har Rai worked very hard to remove the differences of caste. He often came out openly in favour of people of low-caste and encouraged inter-caste marriages.

The Guru did everything possible to avoid conflicts. But when he was attacked, he did not hesitate to strike back. Once, while he was returning to Kiratpur, the women of the Guru’s household lagged a little behind the main body. A Mughal force, headed by the grandson of Mukhlis Khan, was travelling from Lahore to Delhi. Seeing the unattended ladies, he felt it was his chance to take revenge for his grandfather’s death, and attacked the party. The Guru and his soldiers heard the noise, rode back and attacked the Mughal soldiers. There was fierce fighting and the Mughal force fled before the courage and strength of the Guru and his soldiers.

There was, at this time, tension between Shah Jahan’s sons because each of them wanted to be the emperor after their father’s death. Dara Shikoh had no interest in wordly matters. But he was the eldest son and was also his father’s favourite. So it was obvious that he would be the next emperor.

Dara Shikoh suddenly fell ill. It was a mysterious illness and none of the vaids and hakims in the emperor’s court could diagnose it. There were persistent but unsubstantiated rumours that he had been poisoned by his brother Aurangzeb. All medical treatments proved ineffective and it was feared that Dara Shikoh would die. Shah Jahan had special prayers said for his son’s recovery and sent his messengers to all the holy men in his kingdom to ask them to offer special prayers for him. One of the messengers came to Guru Har Rai. In spite of all the hostility that had existed between Guru Hargobind and Shah Jahan, Guru Har Rai treated the messenger with courtesy and listened patiently to what he had to say.

Guru Har Rai was a practical man. He knew that life and death were in the hands of God. He also knew that God often acted through men. So he sent for his own hakim, who had built up a reputation of being extremely skilled in his profession.

When the messenger had finished giving details of the prince’s illness, the hakim said at last, ‘The prince has been poisoned. I think I know the poison that has been used. If I am right, I know the herb that will cure him.’

So the Guru sent this herb back to Shah Jahan. The hakim’s diagnosis was correct and Dara Shikoh was cured of his illness.

Much later, one of Guru Har Rai’s disciples asked him, ‘Guruji, the emperor Shah Jahan caused so much trouble for Guru Hargobind and for the Sikhs. Yet when his son was ill, you sent a herb to cure him. I find this inexplicable.’

The Guru smiled and said, ‘When the axe cuts the sandal tree, the sandal tree perfumes its blade. When you pluck a flower, the flower perfumes your hand. We must learn a lesson from this. We must return good for evil.’

Shah Jahan was grateful to the Guru for saving his son’s life. For some time there were friendly relations between the Sikhs and the Mughals. But then Aurangzeb – impatient to become the emperor – rebelled against his father, captured him, and made him a prisoner. He then turned towards his brother Dara Shikoh. When his brother’s soldiers came to look for him, Dara Shikoh fled to Punjab. He came to Guru Har Rai for help and was given asylum.

There was no clash between the Mughal army and the Guru’s soldiers, but the Guru did help Dara Shikoh to escape to safety. Finally Dara Shikoh was captured and brought back to Delhi, convicted by the qazi, and beheaded. Aurangzeb was angry with the Guru for having helped Dara Shikoh and he sent a message to the Guru asking him to come to Delhi.

When this message was received, the Guru called an assembly of his Sikhs to decide what should be done.

‘No Guruji, you should not go to Delhi. The emperor put his own father in prison and beheaded his own brother. How can such a man be trusted?’ one of the senior disciples said.

‘There is no harm in going. After all, the message is in the form of an invitation. For many years now, we have had a good relationship with the Mughals and they have left us alone. Now if we refuse the invitation we will invite their anger and this relationship will be affected,’ said another.

‘No, no Guruji. We cannot let you put your life in danger. We know that Aurangzeb does not like non-Muslims and looks for every chance either to destroy them or to convert them to Islam. He has destroyed many Hindu temples in Mathura, Ajmer, and Varanasi. No good can come from this meeting,’ said yet another.

The debate went on, and the Guru saw that there was a lot of truth on both sides. At this point, Guru Har Rai’s son Ram Rai spoke up and said, ‘This is the first move by the new emperor towards us. He has held out the hand of friendship and we should not turn this hand away. Instead we should also reach out to him with friendship. Through this meeting, we can make him see that we only wish to follow our religion and to live in peace. Since there is every reason to fear for the safety of the Guru, let me go in the Guru’s place. I will be his envoy.’

Ram Rai was only eleven years old at that time and everyone was amazed at the wisdom of his words. He had suggested a simple and practical way out of what was a very difficult situation. A small group of senior disciples, known for their wisdom, were selected to accompany Ram Rai. They would remain with him throughout the trip and advise him on what he would say or do. Before he left, there was one last meeting with his father.

‘Remember, my son. Our Granth Sahib is our holy and sacred book and we are not permitted to adapt or change even one word that is written in the Granth. In your discussion with the emperor, you must be sure that you quote the Granth exactly as it is,’ the Guru said.

‘Do not worry Guruji. I respect the Guru Granth Sahib more than I respect anything else in the world,’ said Ram Rai and left to meet Aurangzeb.

Aurangzeb greeted the Guru’s party with great respect and they were treated as very special guests. Ram Rai was singled out for special attention. The emperor spent a lot of time with the boy and asked many questions about the Sikh religion. A cordial relationship was established between the two and the Sikhs began to feel that it had been wise to accept the emperor’s invitation.

One day, the emperor spoke to Ram Rai. ‘There is one line in your Granth that I do not understand. Everywhere else your Gurus have spoken about other religions with respect. But in this one line they have criticized the Muslims, and this has hurt the Muslims very much.’

The line the emperor was referring to was: ‘The Musalman’s body, when reduced to dust, is used by the potter to make pots. When these pots are put in the kiln, the dust cries out as it burns.’ This is part of one of Guru Nanak’s hymns. The context is that the end is the same for everybody. A Hindu’s body, when he dies, is cremated. The Muslim’s body is buried. But this too finally goes into the fire. So it is not our religious practices which make us different from each other, but our actions.

Ram Rai had shown great confidence when he had suggested that the emperor’s invitation should be accepted. He knew large parts of the Guru Granth Sahib by heart, but he was not old enough or learned enough yet to discuss the finer points. The emperor’s question left him confused and he did not know what to say. Prakash, one of his admirers, suggested that they should give a simple, easy answer and not get involved in any discussion or arguments. In this way, not only would they save their skin, but they would protect the friendly relations that seemed to have been built up with the emperor. Probably on the disciple’s prompting, Ram Rai prepared his answer. ‘There was a mistake made by the scribe while writing down that line. The original word is beiman, faithless, and not Musalman,’ said Ram Rai.

The report of Ram Rai’s explanation was brought to the Guru. He had feared this might happen and had so warned Ram Rai against this danger, and yet Ram Rai had fallen into the trap. He was aware that Ram Rai was only a young boy. He was also aware that Ram Rai had probably only repeated what one of his advisors had told him to say. But his mind was turned against his son. ‘The milk of the tigress is only kept in a cup of gold. The Guruship is like this milk. Ram Rai has shown, by his action, that he is not made of pure gold and so he is not a fit vessel for holding the Guruship. Ram Rai shall never see my face again. My younger son Har Krishan will be the next Guru,’ said the Guru.

Ram Rai tried to make up with his father. He sent many messages, offered many apologies. He requested again and again that he should be allowed to meet the Guru in order to explain his position. But the Guru turned a deaf ear to his pleas. Even though it had hurt him greatly to do so, he had turned completely away from his son and never saw him again.

Guru Har Rai passed away in 1661 at the age of thirty. It is probable that he died because of some fatal illness and that the end came suddenly and unexpectedly. But before he died, his younger son Har Krishan, then only five years old, was ordained as the next Guru. Once again Bhai Bhana applied the saffron tilak. Guru Har Rai put five copper coins and a coconut at the young boy’s feet and went around him four times and Guru Har Krishan became the eighth Guru of the Sikhs.

Guru Har Rai had been the Guru of the Sikhs for seventeen years. He gave the Sikhs seventeen years of much needed peace, during which they were able to rebuild their strength. He travelled from centre to centre and made sure that these centres became as strong as Amritsar and Kiratpur. He came very close to his people and worked for their welfare. He protected the sanctity of the Guru Granth Sahib, even when he had to disown his own son. Guru Arjan Dev had compiled the Granth to ensure that the teachings of the Gurus remain in their original form. If anyone changed even one word in the Granth Sahib, he would be tampering with the teachings of the Gurus. Guru Har Rai made sure that no one would ever make such a change, by disowning his own son for changing just one word in the text.

Guru Har Rai was a simple man of God who lived a simple life. He was kind and compassionate. His message to the world was: ‘When a temple or a mosque is damaged you can repair it. When a temple or a mosque is broken you can rebuild it. But you can never repair or rebuild a broken heart.’