AdminGuru Har Rai, son of Baba Gurditta and Mata Nihal Kaur and grandson of Guru Hargobind was born on 16 January, 1630 at Kiratpur. Education: Guru Hargobind personally supervised his early spiritual education. Along with the religious instructions. He was also trained in horsemanship, use of arms and other martial arts. Marriage: Guru Har Rai […]
Guru Har Rai, son of Baba Gurditta and Mata Nihal Kaur and grandson of Guru Hargobind was born on 16 January, 1630 at Kiratpur.
Education: Guru Hargobind personally supervised his early spiritual education.
Along with the religious instructions. He was also trained in horsemanship, use of arms and other martial arts.
Marriage: Guru Har Rai was married to Bibi Krishan Kaur (alias Sulakhani), daughter of Sri Daya Ram of Anoop Shehar (in Uttar Pradesh). She bore Him two sons – Ram Rai and Harkrishan.
Guruship: Guruship was bestowed upon Guru Har Rai on 3 March, 1644.
Service to Humanity: Setting up a Hospital: Guru Har Rai devoted himself to serve the poor and the needy; and tending the sick. He set up a hospital, where patients from far-flung areas and all walks of life would get treated. It is worth mentioning here that Prince Dara Shikoh, the son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, fell ill and could not be cured despite several treatments by many royal physicians. Someone suggested to the Emperor that Guru Har Rai of Sikhs had established a very good hospital at Kiratpur and that he should try the medicine from there. When the main courtier of Shah Jahan approached Guru Har Rai for the blessings to cure a deadly disease of Dara Shikoh, the Guru instructed His physician to give an appropriate medicine so that the prince is speedily cured. After taking the medicine, the Prince got cured. Prince Dara Shikoh developed a great respect for the Guru and the Emperor sent a letter of thanks to the Guru with great reverence.
Divine Sport of the Guru – ‘Hunting’ Wild Animals: While on „hunting‟ trips, Guru Har Rai would chase wild animals but never kill them. Instead he would trap weak and sick animals, nurse them back to health and then used to release them into the forest.
Guru’s Army: Guru Har Rai maintained a cavalry force of 2200 strong horsemen, who were brave enough to combat any war. But the Guru did not fight any war against anybody. When Dara Shikoh was trying to escape the chasing army of his brother Aurangzeb, he sought the Guru‟s protection at Goindwal. The Guru placed his troops on the way of the advancing Mughal army and prevented them from crossing the river Beas. Meanwhile, Dara Shikoh made good his escape to Lahore. When some Muslim clerics (Maulanas) complained about this action to Aurangzeb, the latter summoned Guru Har Rai to Delhi. The Guru refused to go and instead sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent Him at the Mughal Court. Ram Rai worked miracles there and left them dazzled. Then, the clerics and the Islamic scholars questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Granth Sahib, which they felt offended Muslims. It runs thus:
ਮਿਟੀ ਮੁਸਲਮਾਨ ਕੀ ਪੇੜੈ ਪਈ ਕੁਮਿ@ਆਰ ॥ ਘੜਿ ਭਾਂਡੇ ਇਟਾ ਕੀਆ ਜਲਦੀ ਕਰੇ ਪੁਕਾਰ ॥
Mittee Musalmaan kee p-ai-rh-ei paee kumhiaar. Gharh(i) bhaand-ai ittaa keeaa jaldee kar-ai pukaar. (466)
(The body of Muslim becomes soil after it decays and merges with the earth. The subtle body wanders in the cosmos. When the soil of the decayed body is used for preparing pots and bricks, the subtle body in the cosmos wails that its physical counterpart is now being burnt for preparing pots and bricks.)
In order to please Aurangzeb, Ram Rai replied that the text had been corrupted by ignorant persons and His Majesty‟s religion as well as his defamed. What Guru Nanak Dev actually says is: Mitti beimaan kee, i.e., the ashes of the dishonest persons (not of the Muslims) falls into the potter‟s clod. The faces of the dishonest person shall be blackened in both worlds. The Emperor and all the courtiers were pleased with the reply. When news of the moral weakness of twisting the Hymn of Guru Nanak Dev by Ram Rai reached Guru Har Rai, He disowned his son and ordered him not to show Him his face, as he no more remained his son as he had altered a Hymn of Guru Nanak Dev.
Guru Har Rai sheds his mortal frame: On 7 July, 1661, Guru Har Rai anointed His younger son Harkrishan to succeed him as the eighth Guru. During the succession ceremony, He made an offering of five paise and a coconut before him and circumambulated five times and bowed before Him according to the old tradition established by Guru Nanak Dev. Bhai Bhana, son of Baba Buddha applied the Tilak on the forehead of Guru Harkrishan.
Sometime later, Guru Har Rai shed His mortal frame.
~ Source: Sikh Faith – An Epitome of Inter-Faith for Divine Realisation
~ Written by Baba Iqbal Singh Ji