Guru Ji declares the 'Khalsa' as the Third Path

Continuing from the last article.

The pure belongs to the ‘Wonderous Enlightener'. The victory belongs to the ‘Wonderous Enlightener’.

In response to Aurangzeb’s proposal, Guru Ji replied boldly: “One should remain pleased in the way ‘God’ has created diversity because if the creator wanted, he could stop every other religion from growing. In this case, only ‘Islam’ would continue in the world. The fact that ‘Hindus’ or other races exist, is because ‘God’ allows them to”. To prove his point in ways only Guru Ji knew best about, he said: “We should recognise what pleases 'God' first, and take it as a hint to inform our decisions”.  Guru Ji then ordered for five maunds (185 kg) worth of ‘black pepper’ to be collected in a pile and set on fire. Guru Ji stated “After they have been reduced to ashes, this conversation can progress further”. The meeting was then temporarily dismissed and Guru Ji was taken to the ‘Kotvali’ (jail)* for the night.

*This historical jail was later purchased by the ‘Sikh’ community in the 1960s for 1,650,000 Rupees to preserve the place where Guru Ji were imprisoned. The current 'Sis Ganj' Gurdwara in Delhi has been built in a portion of this prison where the old jail could be seen next to this Gurdwara memorial.

Meanwhile, the fire continued to burn the spices and lasted for 'eight Pehar’ (twenty-four hours), before 'Aurangzeb’ was informed of its settlement. Guru Ji was then brought to the court again where Guru Ji ordered for the remains of the ‘Black Pepper’ to be sifted through a fabric sieve. Once all the remains were rubbed and reduced to ashes, three pieces of black pepper remained unaffected within the pile. (Referring to these three complete pieces) Guru Ji said to the Mughal emperor, that “you want one religion (Islam) to remain from the two predominant religions (the other being Hinduism) in India. However, this divine intervention suggests that alongside the two major religions, a third will arise which I declare will be the path of the ‘Khalsa’. This is God’s divine hint which we have all seen before us. Therefore, you will be unsuccessful in bringing everybody into ‘Islam’. We should appreciate that everybody loves their own faith and understand that many people are willing to die for their religious freedom”. Hearing this response from Guru Ji, (instead of giving thought to what had happened), ‘Nauranga’ threatened that his approach will become brutal if Guru Ji did not cooperate with him. Guru Ji was then escorted back to the jail where his fellow ‘Sikhs’ were also confined. Noteworthy here is that even today the path of the 'Khalsa' is one of the five major religions in the world.

Meanwhile, the local ‘Sikhs’ of Delhi had heard that Guru Ji was imprisoned and wanted to prepare food for him, knowing that he and his ‘Sikhs’ had not eaten for days. The locals Sikhs longed to invite Guru Ji to their houses but felt unfortunate that they were powerless in the situation. ‘Kavi’ Santokh Singh writes how many Sikhs claimed that Guru Ji actually visited them in their homes during the period that he was under arrest. Guards of the ‘Mughal’ empire also claimed that they had seen Guru Ji visiting different houses even though he was supervised to remain within his cell all day by other officers. This can be understood as another wonder of ‘God’ in order to fulfil the desires of these ‘Sikhs’. It is in God’s nature to embrace even the smallest token of love. In this same way, there were also similar sightings of Guru Ji going to bathe in the local river ‘Jamna’ during the time that he was imprisoned. Nobody could seem to understand these fascinating events.

Furthermore, the attempts to intimidate Guru Ji continued by the ‘Mughal’ emperor. Upon advice from his religious associates, he decided to have ‘Halal’ meat cooked in a ‘Dhegcha’ (cauldron) and served before for Guru Ji to introduce their ‘Islamic’ diet. If Guru Ji accepted it and consumed it, the ‘Mughals’ would have understood this as a sign that Guru Ji was willing to give in and embrace the ‘Islamic’ way of life. Seen as Guru Ji had not eaten for many days, they thought Guru Ji would compromise his principles over his hunger. However, upon serving it to Guru Ji, he expressed how disrespectful this ‘Mughal’ administration was. Knowing that it was against Guru Ji’s moral values** to eat such meat, they still served it before Guru Ji to show how incompatible they were with other systems of belief.

**It is important to note here that Sikhs strictly do not consume ‘Halal’ meat due to the way that the animals are slaughtered ruthlessly. Their throats are slit 2½ times for them to die a slow painful death, whilst choking on their own blood.

After looking at the cauldron, Guru Ji asked for the lid to be lifted. As soon as the ‘Umrav’ (court administrators) raised the lid, little pigs of black, grey and brown colour started to run out of the ‘Dhegcha’(cauldron) . These pigs ranged in sizes from babies to those a bit bigger and commenced havoc within the prison. The pigs ran into the kitchens, started rummaging through the utensils and even started consuming food. The ‘Umrav’ (administrators) felt a big insult to their faith (pigs are seen as impure in some sects of Islam), yet these pigs were running wild everywhere. Out of frustration, they even killed some pigs with their swords and spears but only for the blood to splash onto their own bodies, creating more ‘impurity’ for them. The ‘Mughals’ present there had to remove their clothes, bathe their bodies and clean everything that was affected by the pigs. As soon as ‘Aurangzeb’ was informed about this unbelievable event, he felt disrespected and demanded an answer from Guru Ji as to why Guru Ji denied to show any miracles when asked to perform them, but used his power to offend them as ‘Muslims’ at his own will.

Guru Ji replied that he possessed no special power and could not possibly perform any miracles. Guru Ji suggested that it was in fact God’s intervention that was witnessed, as a consequence of their own actions. Better understood as the ‘Karm’ theory (that suggests “we reap as we sow”) and because the ‘Mughals’ came with malicious intentions, ‘God’ gave them a reflective outcome. Thus, Guru Ji attributed everything to the divine.

To be continued...

The pure belongs to the ‘Wonderous Enlightener'. The victory belongs to the ‘Wonderous Enlightener’.

References: 1. Guru Granth Sahib Ji 2. Sant Gurbachan Singh - (Katha) 'Shaheedi Saka of Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' Parts 1 & 2 3. Thakur Das - Shaheed Bilas 4. Kavi Santokh Singh - Gurpartap Sooraj Parkash 5. Kahan Singh (Nabha) - Mahan Kosh 6. Giani Pinderpal Singh - (Katha) Jeevan Katha Ate Shahadat Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' 7. Bhatt Vahi 8. Alphabet.Inc - Google 9. Dr Sukhpreet S - (Lectures) 'Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' 10. Sant Kartar Singh - (Katha) 'Shaheedi Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' 11. Punjab Siyan - (Videos) on 'Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' 12. Jatha Randhawa - Gurbani Arth Bhandar 13. The History of Kashmir (Book) 14. Bhai Vir Singh - Footnote Exegesis of 'Gurpratap Sooraj' 15. www.historicalgurdwaras.com 16. www.discoversikhism.com 17. Google Maps 18. Giani Sher Singh - Katha Sooraj Parkash Chapter 67, 12th Raas 19. Many lectures, discussions and articles of Lakhi Shah Vanjara (found on YouTube and online) 20. Sant Gurbachan Singh - (Katha) '12th Raas, Chapters 38 -68' of Gurpartap Sooraj Parkash 21. Giani Gian Singh - Panth Parkash 22. Giani Gian Singh - Tavarikh Guru Khalsa