Guru Ram Das was born in 1534 in Lahore to Daya Kaur who was known as Anup Devi before her marriage. She was from the village of Basarke near Amritsar. Paternal grandmother was ‘Jaswanti. The name means praiseworthy. As a young boy he spent some time in his mother’s home Village, where he met Guru Amar Das. He married the Guru’s younger daughter Bhani, He became a devoted disciple. Ram Das and Bhani worked hard helping excavate the pool that would become known as Amrit SAR or pool of nectar. Bhani’s devotion to her father, her husband and her children has been retold many times in the Janam Sakhis. They had three sons. The youngest was Arjan Dev who became the fifth Guru of the Sikhs.
Guru Arjan Dev was born in 1563. He was the first Guru to receive the teachings of the Gurus directly from birth, Indeed he was the son of Guru Ram Das, as well as being the favorite grandson of Guru Amar Das. He married twice. His first wife, Ram Kaur died childless soon after their marriage. Sometime later, he married Ganga Dei, daughter of Krishan Chand, a resident of the village of Mau in the Phil or sub collector ate of the present district of Jalandhar. At that time, the priests who felt threatened by the Sikh Gurus, refused to perform the wedding ceremony. The father of the bride, Krishan Chand was very worried. Guru Ram Das declared that there was no need for the pundits. The Sikhs would perform their own marriage rites. Thus Guru Arjan was the first Sikh to have his marriage performed in the new and unique Sikh manner, His father Guru Ram Das recited Ardas and sang Shabads and Kirtan, The four Lavan were done, and the new marriage rites became the official Sikh marriage ceremony.
When Guru Arjan was selected to succeed his father as the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, his eldest brother, Prithia raged with anger and disappointment. Now it so happened that Guru Arjan was childless, well past the time when he was thirty years of age. Prithia’s wife Karmo reproached the Guru’s wife, saying that it little mattered that Arjan was made Guru, Since Ganga was childless, and it would be Karmo’s son Meherban that would inherit the Sikh throne. Ganga was deeply distressed and sought the blessings of Bhai Buddha. In time with God’s grace ason was born to them. He was named Har Gobind. Karmo was filled with anger. She plotted with Prithia to kill the new child. They tried to poison him on two different occasions. They also had a snake charmer release a poisonous snake in the child’s room where he slept. All their attempts were foiled. All the time Prithia and Karmo schemed to get rid of Guru Arjan. They found an ally in Chandu Shah, the Emperor’s Financial Minister. Chandu sought to marry his young daughter Sada Kaur to the Guru’s son, Har Gobind. In spite of an offer of huge dowry, the proposal was rejected and Chandu was furious. He then plotted with Prithia to be rid of Guru Arjan.
When Guru Arjan was arrested and was being tortured, a young woman who was a daughter in law of Chandu was very upset by that news; she and her father were pious Sikhs. In the dead of night, at great risk to herself, she secretly bribed her way into the Guru’s prison. She brought him food and drink which she had prepared herself, The Guru thanked her, but ‘aid that he could not accept anything from the house of Chandu, He sent her away. On hearing of the Guru’s death, the young woman couldn’t bear the shame of living in that house any longer; McAuliffe writes that “she too abandoned her body, as if it were a worthless blade of grass. Her corpse remained concealed in her chamber and none knew that her spirit had accompanied the Guru’s is heavenly flight.”
Mata Ganga witnessed the death of Guru Arjan on the 4th of June 1606. Before he was taken away, the Guru had told bertha the would probably not return. She was not to become Sati. Nor did he want her to mourn for him. He wanted her to live a useful life, look after their son whom he already had appointed his successor and to guide the Sikh Sangat, making sure they not stray from Guru Nanak’s teachings. She took his instruction very seriously. Hargobind was the first of the child Gurus. He was only eleven when his father died. His father had seen to the start of an excellent education for him. He had commissioned his own brother Mahandev to take the boy under his protection and educate him. Maha Dey entrusted Bhai Budha to assist in this duty. The boy was very intelligent and learnt quickly. He soon mastered Gurmukhi. He was also taught the use of offensive and defensive weapons, riding, swimming, music and administration; He then took on the study of Parsi and Urdu which he handled easily. Mata Ganga was always close at hand during his instruction. As he was taught, she also She ensured that his education was not interrupted by his father’s death. Her must-have was a great influence on him, as in fact she acted as Regent until he came of age. When the young Guru strapped on two swords, and spoke of taking temporal power as religious power, she was afraid that he would incite the wrath of the Emperor. When Har Gobind had difficult decisions to make, he always consulted her opinion However, she could not dissuade him, and it was she who soothed the anxiety of the Sikhs, telling them to have faith, for Guru Nanak’s hand was on his head and would surely guide him. As was the custom in those days Ganga also arranged for the marriage of the Guru’s eldest son, Gurditta, ‘She died in 1621 a few days after the wedding of her grandson to Nati, daughter of a devout Sikh from Batala. Guru Har Gobind made an extended trip to Kashmir, at the request of Bhagbhari, a devout elderly Sikh woman; she presented him with a magnificent robe that she had made herself. He stayed for some time, teaching and preaching to the Sikh community that was there. There were many converts; Bhagbhari died a happy woman during the Guru’s stay in Kashmir.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 23, 1994
