Punjabi Virsa !!!

Punjabi Virsa means punjabi culture Proud to be Punjabi.

Dharti Vichon Dharti Ek Soni Naaan Odda Punjab.

SIKHISM

Sikhism is the youngest of the religions practiced in India. It was founded by Guru Nanak, who was born at Talwandi near Lahore, which now is in Pakistan. It started as a reaction to Hinduism, which had become to ritualistic. Nanak’s disciples came to be called Sikhs, which is derived from a Sanskrit word Shishya meaning disciple. Guru Nanak tried to bring about an understanding between the Hindus and the Muslims in those times when the hostilities between the two were on the rise. He was deeply influenced by the Bhakti movement and the teachings of Kabir.

The Sikhs have ten Gurus. The last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, organized the community into the Khalsas, a militant order and abolished the institution of Guru’s. He decreed that the Adi Granth would be the Holy Scripture of the Sikhs as a symbolic representation of the Guru’s

THE 10 GURUS

1 Guru Nanak (1469-1539 )
2 Guru Angad (1539-1552)
3 Guru Amar Das (1552-1574)
4 Guru Ram Das (1574-1581)
5 Guru Arjun (1581-1606)
6 Guru Hargobind (1606-1645)
7 Guru Har Rai (1645-1661)
8 Guru Har Krishan (1661-1664)
9 Guru Teg Bahadur (1664-1675)
10 Guru Gobind Singh (1675-1708)

Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469-1539)
was the founder of Sikhism. He was born at Talwandi Rai Bhoi (now called Nankana Sahib) in April 1469. Nankana Sahib is near Lahore (Pakistan). Guru Nanak was born a Hindu. The family belonged to subsect – Bedis. In his childhood he was indifferent towards his studies and did not pay much interest towards his family business. He grew up to be a great revolutionary, religious and social reformer. He proclaimed that all human beings were equal in the eyes of God. He did not recognize the distinctions between man and man and between the sexes created by the old caste system and other orthodox social conventions.
He felt that real cause of the misery of the people was their disunity born of diversity of belief. He sought, therefore, to bring them together both in thought and deed. He inculcated a common mode of worship and a common social organization based on equality of man. He laid the foundation of Sangat or mixed congregations where his disciples met in the evenings as brother-in-faith, sang the hymns of the Guru and derived inspiration for remolding their lives. He also established a free community kitchen, Guru Ka Langar, where all sat and ate together in the same row regardless of distinctions of caste, creed or status in life. He brought the Hindus, Muslims, Brahmins and the Sudras to a common social level. He held the ruling and priestly class responsible for the degeneration of the society.
He did not confine himself exclusively to a life of prayer and devotion. He refused to sit idle in slumbering meditation while his people groaned under the heel of the oppressor. He awakened the people to a new political consciousness and condemned the rulers of his days. According to him the kings should be the dispensers of justice and equality and that the sense of duty and responsibility (Dharma) had vanished.
He insisted on having faith in God ‘who could, in an instant demolish the old kingly edifices and raise the lowest of the lowly to the highest pedestal’. His institutions of Sangat and Pangat brought before the people the vision of a classless democratic society where all could claim equal status. He was a symbol of independence and self-reliance.
When he grew to be a young man marriage was arranged for him, but he devoted himself towards his family – wife and two children only for some time. Guru Nanak was a great wanderer. He abandoned his home in search of truth. He visited the centers of religions and obtained first-hand knowledge of the lives and practices of their followers. He saw Brahmanism in practice at Hardwar, Kurukshetra and Banaras. He discoursed with the Yogis, Sidhs and Naths. He met the Buddhists in Tibet, Burma and Ceylon. He went to Arabia and Iraq and met the Muslim Hajis and divines in Mecca and Baghdad.
He traveled for forty long years of his life. During this period he traveled throughout India and far off foreign lands. He studied the various religions in practice and preached his message of the brotherhood of mankind as sons of the same Divine Father. Diversity according to him was only due to geographical and historical causes. Wherever he went he proclaimed that there was but one God, not of the Hindus or of the Mussalman (Muslim) but of all mankind. Under whatever name He is worshipped or remembered – Ram, Allah, He is the One, formless, invisible, uncreated creator, fearless and friendly, great and bountiful. He took his companion an aged Muslim musician, Mardana, and a Hindu peasant, Bala, and the three went preaching village to village. The worship of God Guru said is not the exclusive privilege of a priestly class. He is best worshipped in selfless service of humanity wherein every man and woman should participate to deserve His blessings. He protested against idolatry, blind superstition, and empty ritual, which had sapped religious faith and morality and parted the hearts of men from their Creator.
Guru Nanak spent the last years of his life with his family and sons in Kartarpur (now in Pakistan). He was a prophet of the people. When he died, his body became a subject of dispute. The Muslims wanted to bury it, the Hindus cremate it.

A popular couplet describes him as:
Guru Nanak Shah Fakeer Hindu ka Guru, Mussulman ka Peer.

Although Guru Nanak had two sons he chose his faithful disciple Bhai Lehana and named him Angad as his successor.

Guru Angad Dev Ji (1539-1552)
was a zealous preacher who strengthened the unifying institutions of Sangat and Pangat, set up by Guru Nanak, and popularized the Punjabi script, the Gurmukhi – from the mouth of Guru, by compiling the writings and hymns of the Master. He set up centers from where the teachings of the Guru Nanak could be propagated. He also followed Guru Nanak Dev’s practice of maintaining free kitchen ( Langar) for all those who came to visit him irrespective of caste and creed. Guru Angad like Guru Nanak chose one of his devoted disciple Amar Dass to be the third Guru ahead of his sons who did aspire to succeed him.

Guru Amar Das Ji (1552-1574)
was a great social reformer. Guru Amar Das Ji was 73 when he was ordained as Guru. His son Datu was against this decision and set himself as the Guru at Khadur and the successor to Guru Angad Dev Ji. He even assaulted Guru Amar Das along with some of his followers. His father instead of being annoyed only blessed him. Datu tried to establish himself as the Guru but was only met with contempt.
Guru Amar Das stood for the emancipation of women and opposed the practice of pardah, the veiling of women, and led a vigorous campaign against Sati, the burning alive of widows on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands. He pronounced that ‘the true sati was whom grief and not flame consumed and the affected should seek consolation with the god’. As per the wishes of Guru Amar Das, Guru Angad moved to Goindwal and set up the Langar where every one was welcome irrespective of the cast or creed. Guru ji tried to eliminate the caste distinction between his followers. Guru Ji told his followers ‘this body is composed of five elements. They are hunger, thirst, joy, sorrow, and death. Once the body perishes no cast goes with the soul to the next world. Honored are those in god’s court whose minds are humble, who have renounced falsehood, fraud, deceit and ingratitude.
Guru Amar Das was so much respected that it is said that once Emperor Akbar who came to pay homage to the Guru had to follow the same tradition of having langar with the common people. Emperor was so much impressed that he offered to grant a jagir to the Guru, which was ofcourse refused by the great Guru. Akbar however found a way out and offered a gift of few villages at the wedding of the Guru Ji’s daughter.
Guru Amar Das Ji built a large Baoli with 84 steps (a large well with descending steps) in Goindwal. The Guru decreed that whoever should attentively repeat Japji on every step, should escape from the travail of wandering through eighty-four lakhs births and rebirths.
He appointed his son-in-law Ram Das to be his follower and the fourth Guru.

Guru Ramdas Ji (1574-1581)
Guru Ram Das was the Son of Hari Das and Anup Devi who belonged to the Sodhi Khatri family. He was born to them in 1534 after 12 long years of prayers. As per the tradition the most devoted and deserving was ordained with the Guruship. Thus in 1574 he was ordained as the 4th Guru By Guru Amar Das Ji.
Guru Ram Das shifted to a new place and laid the foundation stone of Amritsar (the pool of Nectar) in 1574 and also started digging a tank on the Jagir gifted to his wife Bibi Bhani by Emperor Akbar., where the holiest place of Sikhs, The Golden Temple is situated. This town was earlier know after him as Ram Das Pura, which grew into a prosperous city and was latter called as Amritsar. Guru Ramdas was 47 years old when he left this world in the year 1581.

Guru Arjun Ji (1581-1606)
Guru Arjun, the fifth Guru was the youngest son of Guru Ram Das and Bibi Bhani. He was born in Goindwal in the Year 1573. Guru Amar Das was very fond of his grand son Guru Arjun and had predicted that Arjun would become a great saint. As predicted when the time came for Guru Ram Das to Look for his successor Arjun was chosen. This was not acceptable to the elder brother Prithi Chand. Guru Arjun who was above all this even offered to give up the Guruship and later left for Amritsar to do what was left unfinished In the New Town.
He had the tank constructed in lime masonry and started the construction of the Hari Mandir (Golden Temple). The foundation stone of the temple was laid by the famous Muslim Sufi Saint Mian Mir. This temple, the Darbar Sahib, now known as the Golden Temple, is a symbol of the culture and conduct of the Sikh people. It has four doors opening out in four difference directions offering welcome to all people without any discrimination of class or creed. There are no images or idols installed inside the Golden Temple.
Guru Arjun composed and sang his hymns and preached his message on the banks of this sacred tank and in the holy temple. His compositions show the great depth of his mind and thoughts, full of divine love and human sympathy. He collected the hymns composed by his predecessors and those of the Hindu and Muslim saints and added them to his own compositions. This collection of the sacred writings came to be known as Granth Sahib. It is the only scripture, which has come down through the generations in its original form without the change of a single letter or a vowel sign. Its first manuscript is preserved in Gurudwara Sheesh Mahal at Kartarpur in the Jalandhar district.
Guru Arjun extended the Manji and Peerha system, established by his predecessors for the propagation of the faith, and deputed sincere and zealous Sikhs in all important towns and cities to collect and transmit to the headquarters the offerings of the faithful. These missionaries were known as Masands, and, through them, large numbers of people became Sikhs.
Guru Arjun Dev was the first martyr to the faith. Emperor Jehangir, who felt uneasy with Guru’s growing influence amongst the people had Guru tortured to death on the 30th of May 1606 on a frivolous charge. Guru Arjan was seated in a cauldron of boiling water and burning sand was poured on his naked body. To add to the pain, his blistered body was dipped in the cold water of the river Ravi. His martyrdom entirely changed the character of the religious movement.

Guru Hargobind Ji (1606-1645)
Guru Hargobind the Son of Guru Arjan was his successor. As the oppression of the Mughal authority in India had become unbearable Sikhs under Guru Hargobind began to change from pacifist to martial people. The last message that Guru Arjun Gave to his son Guru Hargobind was to ‘sit fully armed on the throne and maintain an army to the best of your ability.’ He himself wore two swords on the occasion of his succession at Akal Takhat at Amritsar as emblems of spiritual and temporal authority – Piri and Miri. This was the combination of Deg (the kettle for food) and Teg (the Sword).
In 1606, Guruji constructed Akal Takht in front of Hari Mandir. Whereas the Hari Mandir was the seat of spiritual authority, the Akal Takht was the seat of temporal authority. Guru Hargobind created a government of his own. His disciples created a state within Mughal State. With seven hundred horses, three hundred cavaliers and sixty artillerymen he made the first corps of Sikh volunteers. The Sikhs fought the first battle with the forces of Emperor Shahjahan in 1628.
In a short time Guru became a Martial as well as Spiritual leader. Guru Hargobind was a great missionary as well, and it was as a result of his own work and that of the orders of Udasis and Masands and other organizations, encouraged and strengthened by him, that the faith of Sikhism spread beyond the boundaries of India.
Guruji had five sons Gurditta, Suraj Mal, Ani Rai, Atul Rai and Teg Bahadur. He lost his eldest son Gurditta who deserved the succession of Guruship. Since Gurditta was no more Guru Hargobind groomed his grand son Har Rai, the son of Gurditta, for the succession. Guru’s greatest contribution was that he gave a new vision to the Sikh way of life. He turned soldiers into saints and yet remained a man of faith and God.

Guru Har Rai Ji (1645-1661)
Guru Har Rai was ordained as the seventh Guru by Guru Hargobind in a ceremony at Kiratpur. Guru Har Rai the Son Gurditta was just 14 when he attained the Guruship. He defended the integrity of the Holy Granth. Emperor Aurangzeb had been told that this holy book was disrespectful towards Islam. Guru Har Rai made sure that there was no modification of any kind in the Holy Scripture. At the age of 30 Guruji left this world forever in the year 1661 after chosing his second son Harkrishan as his successor.

Guru Har Krishan Ji (1661-1664)
He was the eighth Guru of the Sikhs. He was only 5 years old when he became Guru. Guru Har Rai had two sons, Ram Rai was the elder son. He had displeased the Guru by performing miracles in front of Aurangzeb despite being told not to do so as it was against the Sikh faith. On the other hand the younger son Har Krishan was religious and Godly even at his tender age. He could recite hymns of the earlier Gurus with great appropriateness even at a young age.
He died of smallpox at young age of 8 years. He is remembered in the Ardas (Sikh Prayer), as one whose ‘sight dispels all pain’ because during the plague he cared for sufferers until he himself became ill. At the place where Guru stayed in Delhi a Gurudwara Bangla Sahib has been built.

Guru Teg Bahadur Ji (1664-1675)
Before his death at Delhi on March 30,1664 Guru Harkrishan mumbled feebly 'Baba Bakala', thereby meaning that his successor was to be found at Bakala village in Amritsar. On that day, the only Baba at Bakala was Baba Teg Bahadur and none else. But many imposters tried to grab the Guru Gaddi by posing themselves as the real Guru. Makhan Shah Lubana, a banjara trader from Jhelum district, helped discovering the Guru. A ship carrying his goods was caught up in a storm. His life and goods were in great danger. Helplessly, he knelt down and prayed to God and Guru Nanak for safety. He vowed that if by the grace of Guru he landed at the nearest port safely, he would donate five hundred Dinars to the Guru for charitable purposes. As good luck would have it, his ship steered safely of the wild storm. He felt that his life and goods were saved by the grace of the Guru. The first thing he did was to fulfil his vow. But on reaching Baba Bakala he found several imposters, each posing as Guru. He decided to offer only two Dinars to every one posing to be Guru Harkrishan's successor. The true Guru would himself demand the exact amount he had vowed to give. According to him it would not be possible for the false and imposters to define the exact purpose of his visit. Thereby their ignorance, lack of spiritual insight and character would be exposed. As expected none of the imposters could recognize him. But when he placed two Dinars before Guru Teg Bahadur, the great sage at once remarked "God bless you, my man, why only two Dinars after pledging five hundred? The Guru is never in need of any thing but a Sikh is expected to keep his pledge. Thus the real Guru was identified.
Guru Teg Bahadur belonged to the city of Patna. On being ordained the Ninth Guru he shifted to Kiratpur. He later bought some land and founded the city of Anandpur Sahib. In Punjab the situation was turning from bad to worse. Aurangzeb had resolved to convert India into a purely Muslim state and thereby eliminate Hindus altogether. Those Hindus who did not convert were brutally killed, Hindu temples were razed to ground and in their places Mosques were raised. As his terror descended on the Kashmiri Brahmins, Pundit Kirpa Ram along with a group of Kashmiri Pandits came to Guru Ji in Anandpur Sahib for help. Guru Ji the asked the Brahmins to tell the Governor to first try and convert Guru Teg Bahadur and then all the Pandits will willingly embrace Islam.
Guru Ji was summoned and asked to embrace Islam otherwise he was threatened with dire consequences. Guru Ji’s close followers were all brutally tortured to death. Bhai Mati Das was sawed alive into two pieces. Bhai Dyala was forced to sit in a boiling cauldron. Bhai Sati Das padded with cotton and burnt alive. When even after all this the Guru did not agree to embrace Islam, Guru Ji was beheaded on the 11th November 1675 at Chandni Chowk. It was further ordered that anybody who touches the dead body would meet the similar fate. It is believed that immediately after Guru Ji was beheaded there was a sandstorm and under its cover Bhai Jaita picked up the head and rushed to Anandpur Sahib. Another devotee Bhai Lakhi Shah, befooling the Muslims soldiers took the Guru’s body in his cart and rushed to his village. He set afire to his house along with all his belongings so that the sacred body of the Guru could be cremated without being detracted. At the place where Guru Ji was beheaded and then his body was cremated stand the historic Gurudwaras Sis Ganj and Rakab Ganj.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji (1675-1708)
Guru Teg Bahadur’s nine year old son Guru Gobind Singh "the soldier-saint" was the tenth and last of the Gurus. He spent his Childhood in Patna, where he was born, studying Persian, Sanskrit and Learning the art of war. He was deeply impressed by the idea that God had been sending saviors from time to time to uphold righteousness and to destroy evil. He felt that he himself had this mission to perform in his own country, which suffered under the yoke of religious and political tyranny. The teachings of his predecessors and the unique examples of martyrdom had elevated the spirits of the Sikhs. He tried to bring the idea of nationalism in the country, which had yet not been born.
The first thing he tried to do was to change the psychology of the people. On the 13th April 1699 he assembled his Sikhs at Anandpur Sahib. He introduced a new form of baptism, Khande da Amrit. After the morning service Guru Ji came out to address the gathering. He drew out his double-edged Sword and said " I want five Sikhs who would sacrifice their lives for the sake of Dhama offer their heads to me, here and now".

After a moments silence as Guru Ji repeated his call Five of his followers came out.
These five were
1) Daya Ram, aged 30, a Khatri by caste from Lahore;
2) Dharam Chand, a Jat;
3) Mokham Chand from Dwarka;
4) Himat Rai, from Jagan Nath Puri and
5) Sahib Chand from Bidar.

He baptized five of them known as ‘Panj Piaras' or the Five Beloved as the Khalsa or the pure. He made the five, all of who came from different Hindu castes, drink Amrit (nectar) out of a bowl, having stirred it with a double-edged dagger. The baptized Sikhs were called the Khalsa of Waheguru, the Lord’s Own, with the common surname of Singh or lion. Sikh women were similarly given the common suffix ‘Kaur’ – ‘the Princes’.
They were to wear, in future, the "panj kakas" five signs, all beginning with the letter K:
Kesh (uncut hair and beard),
Kangha (a comb) to keep hair tidy,
Kachha (a pair of shorts) worn by soldiers of those times,
Kara (an iron bracelet) on the right wrist as a symbol of poverty and pledge to their Guru and Kirpan (a sword).

The first five baptized ones (Panj Piare) assumed the role of the Guru and baptized the Master into the fold of the Khalsa, the Singh’s. From Gobind Das, as he was upto this time called, he became Gobind Singh. At the end of the ceremony they hailed each other with the greetings ‘ Wahe Guruji ka Khalsa – Wahe Guruji ki Fateh’.(The Khalsa are the chosen of God – Victory be to God)
The Khalsa were inspired by a sense of divine mission, and no fear of any earthly power was to deflect them from their duty. A tremendous change was thus brought about in the character of the people. The lowest of the low in society, the sweepers, the barbers and the confectioners, were transformed, as if by miracle, into doughty warriors who, along with the baptized Jats and Khatris, fought under the Guru’s command as many as fourteen battles, in twelve of which they were distinctly successfully against the imperial and other enemy forces.
Besides being a great soldier, Guru Gobind Singh was a versatile scholar, possessing a forceful style of writing. With a sword dangling by his side and bows and arrows ready at hand, he would write his verses in the field of battle while directing the movements of his men in action against the enemy. He treated all the literary subjects with grace and facility. He extensively translated and summarized the ancient religious literature of India and gave us an autobiography.
His writings cover about 1300 pages and are available under the title of "Sri Dasam Granth."
After the twelfth battle he had to leave his ancestral home at Anandpur for the Malwa Territory, south of the Sutlej. His elder sons were killed fighting in the battle of Chamkaur while the younger two eight and six years old, betrayed by a servant, were butchered to death under the orders of the Governor of Sirhind in 1705. They have left a permanent imprint on the pages of history. True to the spirit of their grandfather and great-great-grandfather and the teaching of their faith, the Khalsa stood unshaken against the tyranny of the ruling fanatics. No threats of torture and fear of death could frighten them. Bricked up alive and suffocated to unconsciousness, they resolutely refused to embrace Islam and accepted the butcher’s knife with which they were slowly done to death.
He had taken to the sword only as a last resort. He readily accepted the invitation of the dying Aurangzeb and set out for the Deccan to see him for peaceful negotiations to solve the problem of the struggling Punjab. And after the death of the Emperor, he would not seek to destroy his enemy’s sons in distress, but, like a true saint-soldier, he stood for justice and lent a helping hand to the rightful heir Prince Mauzzam Bahadur Shah against his usurping brother. The new emperor Bahadur Shah gratefully acknowledged the assistance of the Guru in the battle of Jajav and presented to him on July 23, 1707, at Agra, a rich dress of honor. He was fatally stabbed at Nanded by an agent of the Nawab of Sirhind. He died on October 7, 1708.
He infused in the Sikhs greater political consciousness. He knit them together into a compact national brotherhood and demanded brave deeds and zealous devotion to its cause. The greatest feat of his life was the creation out of the humblest of peasants and artisans a body of brave patriots and martyrs ever ready to sacrifice there all at the altar of their faith and country.

The line of religious succession ended with the tenth Guru Gobind Singh. The masters Word in the holy Guru Granth Sahib was henceforth to be the spiritual guide of the Sikh people who were to recognize in the joint personality of an assembly of five true baptized Singh’s, the spirit of the Guru. The community at large or through their elected representatives assembled in a congregation, deliberating in the mystic presence of the Guru, represented by the Holy Book, was to be considered the Guru-Panth, the supreme religious and secular authority of the Sikhs in all matters and at all times.

. . . : : : Guru Granth Sahib : : : . . .

The Granth Sahib compiled by the fifth Guru is also called the Adi Granth. It is a compilation of verses of the six Gurus's as well as some Hindu and Muslim Saints. Granth Sahib is perhaps the only scripture, which includes the writings of people who did not belong to the faith. As many as 938 of the 5894 Shabads included in Guru Granth Sahib were composed by non-Sikhs. They include Brahmins - Ramanand and Jaidev, low caste men like RaviDas, a cobler, Sena, a barber, and Sadhna, a butcher. Compositions of Sheikh Farid, a Muslim, and Kabir, who wished not to be included in any of the Sects, were also included.
The scripture includes verses from Guru Nanak who composed 947 hymns. The second Sikh Guru Angad popularized the Gurmukhi script and compiled the writings of his master, Guru Nanak. He not only safeguarded Guru Nanak's writings but also added sixty-two of his own Hymns. Maximum contribution to the Holy Book is by Guru Arjun. There are around 2218 verses by him, which have, been incorporated in the Holy Scripture.
Guru Granth Sahib has been preserved with its original writings, as composed by the religious men and poets without any changes whatsoever. The hymns in this scripture are not arranged in any particular order or the subject matter but infact are arranged according to Ragas of Indian Classical music, as they are meant to be sung.
Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai, and Guru Har Krishan were not inspired to compose hymns but Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind were. In 1706, Guru Gobind Singh added 116 verses of the ninth Guru to the Adi (first) Granth but did not include any of his own compositions. The Guru Gobind, in his last days declared that there would be no further human Guru's and Sikhs who wish to come into the Guru's presence should come to and listen to the words of the scripture, which would now be their Guru, the Guru Granth Sahib.
The Guru Granth Sahib now is the only object of Sikh worship. In all the Gurudwara's and homes of the Sikhs this Holy Scripture is recited every day. On special occasions like Marriages etc., Guru Granth Sahib is recited non-stop by relay of readers called the Granthis. The continuos reading of the scripture takes around 48 hours to finish and is called Akhand Path (unbroken prayer). It is generally timed to end in the mornings. A seven-day reading of Guru Granth Sahib without the help of the Granthis, mostly undertaken in private homes is called Saptah Path.
The poetic compositions of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh were not included in the Guru Granth Sahib. These compositions were collected by one of his companions, Bhai Mani Singh in 1734. He also collected the some writings of poets who served at the Guru's court into a scripture Dasam Granth, meaning the collections of Tenth Guru. The officially approved version is 1430 page long. Some of its hymns are sung in ceremonies but its authority is not equal to that of Guru Granth Sahib.
The Basic Belief of the Sikhs, the Mool Mantar, the first hymn composed by Guru Nanak sums up the basic belief of the Sikhs