Guru Hargobind Singh Ji is the sixth Guru of Sikhism. Guru Sahib was born on July 5, 1595, to Mata Ganga Ji and Guru Arjan Dev Ji the fifth guru of Sikhs in Wadali village, Amritsar. He was merely eleven years old when Guru Arjan Dev Ji was martyred after being jailed, fined, and tortured while under arrest by Jahangir’s order.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji and Mata Ganga Ji did not have a child for a long time until Mata Ganga Ji sought the blessing from Baba Budha Singh Ji for an offspring. Budha Singh Ji told that soon she will have an extraordinarily chivalrous son. Shortly after that Guru Hargobind Singh Ji was born. Several efforts were made on the life of young Hargobind even in his infancy. A snake charmer was bribed to let loose a poisonous snake, but the young Guru to be overpowered the snake.
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Guru Hargobind then put on not one but two swords; one on his left side and the other on his right. He declared that the two swords signified "Miri" and "Piri", "Temporal Power" and "Spiritual Power". One would deliver a powerful blow to the oppressor and the other would protect the innocent. He told his followers: "In the Guru's house spiritual and temporal powers shall be combined". "My rosary shall be the sword belt and on my dastar, I shall wear a kali".
A kalgi is an ornament for the dastar, which at the time was worn by Mughal and Hindu rulers.
In contrast to the prevalent Hindu and Muslim traditions, where the new ruler was adorned with a sword (as a symbol of his role as the ruler of the state), Guru Ji asked to be donned with two swords, explaining that one signified his temporal powers and the other his spiritual authority. This was done at the time of his installation as the Guru. Guru Ji asked Baba Budha Ji to abandon the earlier tradition of donning him the Seli of Guru Nanak. His goal was not to combine politics with religion but to champion the oppressed and stand up for them against the oppression of the powerful instead.
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Religion and politics were segregated by Guru Hargobind. Politics and religion have long coexisted in India, which has led to discrimination and injustice against the populace. Since the humane reign of Akbar, who tried to meld the various Indian religions, his son Jahangir had listened to the long-ignored Muslim Ulema who demanded that Islam rule the Mughal Empire's politics. Using religion as a shield, the upper classes oppressed the populace. Because of this, politicians have always mixed politics with religion.
The four Gurus who came after Guru Nanak preached equality, peace, and freedom for all. It wasn't until Guru Arjan's passing that it was obvious that this might entail taking a defensive military attitude. It was a time of injustice, oppression, and exploitation. For the average person, life was a daily misery due to the scourges of superstition, religious prejudice, and caste differences. Both Muslims and Hindus were the oppressors and the downtrodden. To combat this persecution, Guru Hargobind Singh Ji employed both the forces of worship and the sword.
Numerous directives were provided by Guru Hargobind Ji when he was appointed the sixth Guru. He organized an army, gathered weapons and horses, raised the Sikh flag, and gave the go-ahead for the construction of the nagara, a colossal drum used to summon the Sangat for speeches. In front of Harmandir Sahib, in 1663, he gave the job of constructing the Akal Takht to two of his most devoted followers. He would listen to the miseries and grievances of the populace while seated on this platform in all the regal adornments of a Mughal or Hindu emperor, and he would make decrees.
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He was held in the Gwalior for a year, ostensibly to pray for the recovery of the ill Jhangir. When Jahangir ordered his release he refused to leave unless 52 imprisoned Hindu Rajas were freed as well. Cleverly he earned their freedom by turning Jhangir's own words against him. To mark this occasion Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chorr Divas to celebrate his release and return to Amritsar.
Guru Hargobind carried the same light as Guru Nanak, but he added to it the quality of the sword. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was also the inventor of the Taus. Guru Ji watched a peacock singing one day and wished to make an instrument to mimic the same sound as the peacock, so the Taus was invented.
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