The Creation of Khalsa 1699 Part- III

Guru Gobind Rai as a Saint-Soldier

A true soldier is a saintly person, and a true saint is a mighty warrior, a powerful hero. The hero is a person who can restrain the natural outgoing tendency of the mind and the senses. He is a seeker after truth. Through spiritual discipline he enjoys eternal bliss and is ever immersed in perennial peace. He wages a war in order that the good and innocent people of the world might live in peace, and enjoy reasonable happiness. The self is the fountain-source of immortality, eternal bliss and enduring tranquility

The Guru's mission

Guru Gobind singh decided to create a national awakening in Panjab. The time chosen was opportune. Aurangzeb was involved in life and death struggle in the Deccan with the Marathas. Panjab was in charge of Prince Muazzam who lived in Kabul (this prince later became emperor with the name of Bahadur Shah) Guru first tried to plant his ideas in the mind of the warrior class of Rajputs of the Shivalik hills. He soon discovered that the caste ridden and class dominated feudal lords would not respond to his appeals and they would not fit in his ideology. He therefore turned his attention to down-trodden masses.

God The Wielder of Arms

While reading the Puranas, the Guru realized that God was the wielder of arms to punish tyrants and destroy evil-doers. He was also, the bestower of gifts and fountain-head of mercy. Further, the Guru had been deeply struck by the idea that God had been sending a saviour at critical times to save the virtuous and destroy the wicked. He knew that he had been sent to this world for the same purpose.

In Bachitra Natak the Guru says:

Hum eh kaj jagat mo ae

dharam het gur dev pathae

jahan tahan tum dharam bitharo

dusht dokhian pakar pachharo

[for this purpose I came into this world.

God sent me for the sake of Dharam. Whereever

you are spread dharam. Root out the

oppressors and the wicked]

--

The guru then invokes for the long life of all those who ever remember God and fight in the righteous cause. 

In Krishna Avtar he writes:

Dhan jiyo tih kau jag main

mukh te Hari chit main yuddh bichare

[blessed are they in this world, who have

Hari on their tongue and

war in their heart]

Foundation of the Khalsa, 30 March, 1699

At the behest of the Guru, the congregation sauntered down the hill and a multitude mustered on the hill of Anandpur where stands Gurudwara Keshgarh. The Guru remained busy in meditation and contemplation. He told the congregation that 1000 years ago Brahmins had created the brave community of Rajputs by performing hom of fire on Mount Abu. The Rajputs were valiant people, but they had failed in preserving independence of Indian people from foreign oppression. He was going to perform the Hom of blood to create a new community braver and bolder than Rajputs to liberate the country from foreign oppression and tyranny.

to be continued...