PAYING OBEISANCE TO SRI GURU HAR RAI SAHIB ON HIS 393 rd BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib (1630-1661) the seventh Guru of the Sikh faith was
born on January 16, 1630 at Kiratpur Sahib in District Ropar of Punjab. He was the
son of Baba Gurditta Ji (1613-1638) and grandson of Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib
(1595-1644) the sixth Guru of the Sikh faith. This year his birth anniversary is being
celebrated on February 3 all over the world.

In 1640, he was married to Bibi Sulakkhni Ji, daughter of Bhai Daya Ram Ji of
Anupshahr in District Bulandshahr of Uttar Pradesh. From very early childhood he
was deeply religious minded and was gentle by nature. He was Sri Guru Hargobind
Sahib‟s favourite grandchild.

An oft quoted incident of his childhood is that one day while he was returning
from his riding exercise, on the way he saw Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib. On seeing him
he hurriedly got off his horse to show respect to him. In this hurried movement, his
robe was caught in a bush, as a result of which some of the flowers got plucked and
fell down. He felt so much disturbed over this incident that he sat down on the spot
and started weeping bitterly. Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib said “wear your robe by all
means, but be careful as you walk”. He advised him to be careful in future and said
that, “It behoves God‟s servants to be tender to all things”. Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib,
before leaving for his heavenly abode on 3 March, 1644 at Kiratpur Sahib nominated
Har Rai Sahib as his successor.

After assuming Guruship, Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib established the following
three important preaching missions called bakhshishes for the spread of Sri Guru
Nanak Dev Ji‟s message in different parts of India as well as outside India. Out of
these three missions : (I) the first one was under Bhagvan Gir, renamed as Bhagat
Bhagvan, who established missionary centers in eastern India (ii) the second one was
that of Sangatia renamed as Bhai Pheru who preached in Rajasthan and southern part
of Punjab and (iii) the third one was under Bhai Gonda who preached in Kabul in
Afghanistan.In addition to these hedeputed (I) Bhai Nattha to preach in Dhaka (which
is now capital of Bangla Desh) (ii) Bhai Jodh to preach in Multan which now falls in
Pakistan and (iii) Suthre Shah to preach in Delhi. Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib deputed two
of his followers to cover the Malva region of Punjab whose descendents later ruled
Bagarian and Kaithal respectively. Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib confirmed the blessings
given by Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib to a poor boy named Phul who had been brought
by his fraternal uncle Kala because this boy had no sources of livelihood. Sri Guru
Hargobind Sahib had blessed the little child by saying that in times to come his
successors will be rulers of Patiala, Nabha and Jind states of Punjab. Sri Guru Har Rai
Sahib confirmed this blessing and therefore the successors of Baba Phul ruled in these
states until recent years. A similar blessing was bestowed on Buddha Singh, an
ancestor of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib made it a point to cover those parts of Malva region of
Punjab which had not been covered by his predecessor Gurus. Thus, he himself
travelled extensively in this region although he kept his permanent seat at Kiratpur
Sahib.

During his preaching tours, in addition to (I) Galotian Khurd in Sialkot
districtwhich now falls in Pakistan (ii) Srinagar, Akhnur, Jammu and Mota Tanda
(native village of Makhan Shah Lubana Ji) in Jammu and Kashmir and (iii) Thanesar
in Haryana he visited Phagwara, Chakk Prema and Bambeli now in Kapurthala
district; Kartarpur, Pharala and Hakimpur in Jallandhar district; Bajraur, Lahili Kalan
and Bhungarni in Hoshiarpur district; Kiratpur Sahib, Daulowal, Bunga and Gharuan
in Ropar district; Lambe in district S.A.S. Nagar, Gahal in Sangrur district and
Amargarh and Bhokhri in Bathinda district of Punjab. He maintained the stately style
of his grandfather. He had at his command 2200 armed followers. But during the
period of his Guruship no threats were given by the ruling group and hence he was not
involved in any warfare.

He did not compose any hymns of his own. He spent the mornings explaining
the preachings of his predecessor Gurus. His daily routine included getting up early in
the morning, saying prayers, recitation of the hymns from Sri Guru Granth Sahib and
explaining the Sikh doctrine to the sangat. This was followed by kirtan i.e. singing of
the hymns by the musicians to the tune of instruments. It may be added here that in
Sikhism kirtan is considered the highest form of expression of adoration of God and is
also considered as the most efficacious means of linking the soul to the Divine power.
The evening programme included katha i.e. explaining the Sikh history and recitation
of the paath of Rahuras Sahib which was followed by ardas.

He maintained a simple style of living and earned his livelihood by doing labour
with his own hands. In his preachings also he emphasized the importance of working
with one‟s own hands and sharing one‟s possessions with those in need. He further
strengthened the institution of langar i.e. community kitchen wherein people from all
strata of life and from all castes sit on the floor in queues and partake off food. He
himself ate all his meals in the community kitchen.

He took care of sick and down trodden persons and especially the leprosy
stricken persons. His predecessor Sikh Gurus had also given special attention to
lepers. Sri Gur Nanak Dev Ji, the first Guru of the Sikh faith had spent a night in a
leper‟s hut at Goindval Sahib, treated him and cured him. Henceforth, Sri Guru Nanak
Dev Ji treated several lepers. Sri Guru Amar Das Ji, the third Guru of the Sikh faith
had cured a leper named Morari in village Khai of District Lahore (now in Pakistan)
and henceforth treated many lepers. Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Guru of Sikh faith
had cured a leper of village Muradapur in Tehsil and District Tarn Taran Sahib, who
because of his own wishes was being taken by his sons to be drowned in river Beas.
Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji took charge of this leper and treated him with his own hands.
After curing this leper, he established a Lepers‟ Home in Tarn Taran Sahib, where
thousands of lepers have been cured. Following the footsteps of his predecessor
Gurus, Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib also treated lepers and cured them.
In May 1658, when Aurangzeb was struggling hard to acquire the Mughal
throne, his brother Dara Shukoh entered Punjab to seek the blessings of Sri Guru Har
Rai Sahib who at the time was at Goindval Sahib in District Tarn Taran. Dara Shukoh
was an admirer of Sain Mian Mir, a Muslim Sufi saint who is respected by the Sikhs
for having laid the foundation stone of Sri Haimandar Sahib, Amritsar. Earlier,
DaraShukoh had been cured of a serious ailment through some rare medicine sent by
Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib. According to Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahima Prakash,Sri Guru
Har Rai Sahib deployed his own troops at the ferry to delay Aurangzeb’s army which
was closely pursuing Dara Shukoh. Some courtiers of Aurangzeb incited him that Sri
Guru Har Rai Sahib was himself a rebel and had helped Dara Shukoh against him. The
courtiers also told Aurangzeb that in the Sikh scriptures there were some versus which
were derogatory to Islam. Aurangzeb asked Raja Jai Singh of Amber to have Sri Guru
Har Rai Sahib brought to Delhi. When the royal summons were presented to him he
was astonished and as reported by Bhai Santokh Singh in Sri Gur Partap Suraj
Granth remarked that he ruled over no territory, he owed no taxes to the king, nor did
he want anything from the king, also there was no connection of teacher and disciple
between him and the king. Then what was the reason for sending the summons, he
asked. Instead of going himself to Delhi he sent his elder son, Ram Rai to Delhi along
with Diwan Dargah Mall as an escort. As reported by Piara Singh Padam and Giani
Garja Singh in Guru Kian Sakhian he instructed his son to (I) answer all questions of
the Emperor franky without any hesitation and (ii) read Sri Guru Granth Sahib with
deep attention on the way.

Gurdas Jithe great grandson of Bhai Bahilo Ji was asked to accompany Ram
Rai with a copy of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. When Ram Rai appeared before Aurangzeb
to please him he misread some lines from the Holy Granth. Because of this, Sri Guru
Har Rai Sahib anathematized him and he was debarred from presence before him. Sri
Guru Har Rai Sahib decided not to pass on the „Light‟ to Ram Rai and chose his
younger son Har Krishan Ji as his successor.

Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib celebrated Baisakhi of 1660 in Sialkot (now in
Pakistan) in the home of Nand Lal Puri Ji grandfather of Haqiqat Rai Ji (who was
martyred as per the orders of Governor of Lahore on January 29, 1742). During his
travels he was accompanied by Makkhan Shah Lubana Ji and Aru Ram Ji, the father
of Kirpa Ram Ji who later led the jatha of Kashmiri Pandits to Sri Guru Tegh
Bahadhur Sahib to save them from persecution by the Mughal emperor.
Because his elder son Ram Rai had misread the lines of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and
had earned his displeasure Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib, before leaving for his heavenly
abode on October 6, 1661 at Kiratpur Sahib nominated his younger son Har Krishan Ji
as his successor.

This year i.e. in 2023 Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib’s 393rd Birth Anniversary is
being celebrated on February 3 all over the world.

Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib will always be remembered for being peace loving
and caretaker of the poor and sick people. A painting of Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib
which is part of the collections in the Department of Archaeology Lahore,
Pakistan shows Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib giving alms to the poor.