Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Kartik Pooranmashi, the full-moon day in the month of Katak, October–November. Guru Nanak travelled far and wide teaching people the message of one God who dwells in every one of His creations and constitutes the eternal Truth, he set up a unique spiritual and political platform based on equality, fraternal love and virtue. Guru Nanak's words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns in the holy text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, with some of the major prayers being the Japji Sahib, the Asa di Var and the Sidh-Ghost, it is part of Sikh religious belief that the spirit of Guru Nanak's sanctity and religious authority descended upon each of the nine subsequent Gurus when the Guruship was devolved on to them. Guru Nanak was born on 29 November 1469 at Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī near Lahore, his parents were Kalyan Chand Das Bedi, popularly shortened to Mehta Kalu, Mata Tripta.
His father was the local patwari for crop revenue in the village of Talwandi. His parents were both Hindu employed as merchants, he had one sister, Bebe Nanaki, five years older than he was. In 1475 she moved to Sultanpur. Guru Nanak was attached to his sister and followed her to Sultanpur to live with her and her husband, Jai Ram. At the age of around 16 years, Nanak started working under Daulat Khan Lodi, employer of Nanaki's husband; this was a formative time for Nanak, as the Puratan Janam Sakhi suggests, in his numerous allusions to governmental structure in his hymns, most gained at this time. According to Sikh traditions, the birth and early years of Guru Nanak's life were marked with many events that demonstrated that Nanak had been marked by divine grace. Commentaries on his life give details of his blossoming awareness from a young age. At the age of five, Nanak is said to have voiced interest in divine subjects. At age seven, his father enrolled him at the village school. Notable lore recounts that as a child Nanak astonished his teacher by describing the implicit symbolism of the first letter of the alphabet, resembling the mathematical version of one, as denoting the unity or oneness of God.
Other childhood accounts refer to strange and miraculous events about Nanak, such as one witnessed by Rai Bular, in which the sleeping child's head was shaded from the harsh sunlight, in one account, by the stationary shadow of a tree or, in another, by a venomous cobra. On 24 September 1487 Nanak married Mata Sulakkhani, daughter of Mūl Chand and Chando Rāṇī, in the town of Batala; the couple had Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand. Sri Chand received enlightenment from Guru Nanak's teachings and went on to become the founder of the Udasi sect; the earliest biographical sources on Nanak's life recognised today are the Janamsākhīs. Bhai Gurdas, a scribe of the Gurū Granth Sahib wrote about Nanak's life in his vārs. Although these too were compiled some time after Nanak's time, they are less detailed than the Janamsākhīs; the Janamsākhīs recount in minute detail the circumstances of the birth of the guru. Gyan-ratanavali is attributed to Bhai Mani Singh who wrote it with the express intention of correcting heretical accounts of Guru Nanak.
Bhai Mani Singh was a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh, approached by some Sikhs with a request that he should prepare an authentic account of Guru Nanak’s life. One popular Janamsākhī was written by a close companion of the Guru, Bhai Bala. However, the writing style and language employed have left scholars, such as Max Arthur Macauliffe, certain that they were composed after his death. According to the scholars, there are good reasons to doubt the claim that the author was a close companion of Guru Nanak and accompanied him on many of his travels. Nanak was a Guru, founded Sikhism during the 15th century; the fundamental beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the sacred scripture Guru Granth Sahib, include faith and meditation on the name of the one creator, unity of all humankind, engaging in selfless service, striving for social justice for the benefit and prosperity of all, honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder's life. The Guru Granth Sahib is worshipped as the Supreme Authority of Sikhism and is considered the eleventh and final guru of Sikhism.
As the first guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak contributed a total of 974 hymns to the book. Nanak’s teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib, as a collection of verses recorded in Gurmukhi. There are two competing theories on Guru Nanak's teachings. One, according to Cole and Sambhi, is based on hagiographical Janamsakhis, states that Nanak's teachings and Sikhism were a revelation from God, not a social protest movement nor any attempt to reconcile Hinduism and Islam in the 15th century; the other states, Nanak was a Guru. According to Singha, "Sikhism does not subscribe to the theory of incarnation or the concept of prophethood, but it has a pivotal concept of Guru. He is not an incarnation of God, not a prophet, he is an illumined soul."The hagiographical Janamsakhis were not written by Nanak, but by followers without regard for historical accuracy, contain numerous legends and myths created to show respect for Nanak. The term revelation, clarify Cole and Sambhi, in Sikhism is not limited to the teachings of Nanak, they include all Sikh Gurus, as well as the words of past and future men and women, who possess divine knowledge intuitively through meditation.
The
Anand Karaj
Anand Karaj is the Sikh marriage ceremony, meaning "Blissful Union" or "Joyful Union", introduced by Guru Amar Das. The four laavaan were composed by Guru Ram Das, it was legalised in India through the passage of the Anand Marriage Act of 1909, but is now governed by the Sikh Reht Maryada, issued by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. In a recent verdict of the Sri Akal Takht Sahib, i.e. a, Anand Karaj can only take place in a Gurudwara. Any Amritdhari Sikh may perform the marriage ceremony. In 2012, India passed The Anand Marriage Bill, after which Sikhs are able to register their marriages under the Anand Marriage Act instead of the Hindu Marriage Act, with President Pratibha Patil giving her assent to a bill passed by Parliament on 7 June 2012 in the budget session. Pakistan declared that it would pass the Sikh Anand Marriage Act in 2007 and a Draft was prepared, but this Draft Act was never passed. In 2018, Pakistani's Punjab Provincial Assembly passed the Punjab Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage Act 2018.
The following are other important points that must be adhered to by the Sikh couple and their families: Marriage is a partnership of equals. No consideration is to be given to social status, race or lineage. No dowry is allowed. No day is considered holier above any other, hence no astrological considerations are to be made and no superstitions are to be observed in fixing the date of the wedding; the religious ceremony is to take place only in a gurdwara. The cost of the wedding is to be shared between the two sides as as possible; the Anand Karaj ceremony is a joyous and festive event in which families and friends from both sides are involved. Most Sikh weddings are completed before noon. Following the ceremony is a langar or a formal lunch; the wedding event may spill into the next day. Most families combine the wedding ceremony with the engagement ceremony called the "kurmai", held just before the wedding vows or laavan; the engagement ceremony can be held as a separate event on a different day.
It is conducted in the gurdwara or at the home of the groom-to-be. It involves ardas, kirtan and langar. In the "sagan" ceremony, the groom is presented with a karar, Indian sweets, fresh fruits, dried fruits and nuts; the bride-to-be's family in turn are presented with sweets. "Anand Karaj" "joyful ceremonial occasion or proceedings" is the name given to the Sikh marriage ceremony. For Sikhs, married status is the ideal. Sikhism does not repudiate vows of celibacy, renunciation or the sannyasin state, but it does discourage it and advocates marital life as the best way of living. Most marriages among Sikhs, as in India and Pakistan as a whole, have been arranged, it is regarded as a duty for the parents to arrange for, contribute towards, the marriage of their offspring. Prem Sumarag, an eighteenth-century work on the Sikh social code, lays down: When a girl attains maturity, it is incumbent upon her parents to look for a suitable match for her, it is neither proper to marry a young girl. The daughter of a Sikh should be given in marriage to a Sikh.
If a man is a believer in Sikhism, is humble by nature, earns by honest means, with him matrimony may be contracted without a question and without consideration for wealth and riches. Today, it is accepted. To show respect to their parents, seeking their approval is common. Traditionally, the parents of the man ask the parents of the woman for their daughter's hand in marriage; the history of the Anand marriage ceremony is traced back to the time of Guru Amar Das, who composed the long 40-stanza hymn "Anand", in the Ramkali measure, suitable to be sung or recited on all occasions of religious importance. His successor, Guru Ram Das, composed a four-stanza hymn, "Lavan", recited and sung to solemnize nuptials. During the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his successors, this ceremony fell into partial disuse under the renewed Brahmanical influence at court as well as in society; the Namdhari reform movement of the mid-19th century made the practice of Anand ceremony a vital plank in its programme as did the more influential Singh Sabha.
But there was opposition from priestly classes. The Sikh form of wedding ceremonial received legal sanction through the Anand Marriage Act, adopted in 1909; the core of the Anand Karaj is the'lavan', wherein shabads are sung with the bride and groom circumambulating the Guru Granth Sahib. The ceremony serves to provide the foundational principles towards a successful marriage and places the marriage within the context of unity with God. Guru Ram Das Ji composed the four stanzas of Lavan to be sung and recited as the core of the Anand Karaj. In 1579, the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji and Mata Ganga were the first couple to be married through the Anand Karaj ceremony; the ceremony is now universally observed by the Sikhs. The Assent of the President of India was received to the Anand Marriage Amendment Act 2012 on 7th June 2012; the Act paved the way for the validation of Sikh traditional
Guru Tegh Bahadur
Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. Tegh Bahadur continued in the spirit of Nanak. Guru Tegh Bahadur resisted the forced conversions of Kashmiri Pandits and non-Muslims to Islam, was publicly beheaded in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for himself refusing to convert to Islam and saving Kashmiri Pandits and other non-Muslims or as viewed by Muslims that he was condemned to death for waging war but was offered at last moment that reverting to Islam will save him, which he declined as he wanted to be in Sikh rehat till his last breath. Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of the Guru's body; the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur is remembered as the Shaheedi Divas of Guru Tegh Bahadur every year on 24 November, according to the Nanakshahi calendar released by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in 2003. The Sixth guru, Guru Hargobind had one daughter Bibi Viro and five sons: Baba Gurditta, Suraj Mal, Ani Rai, Atal Rai and Tyaga Mal.
Tyaga Mal was born in Amritsar in the early hours of 18 April 1621, who came to be known by the name Tegh Bahadur, given to him by Guru Hargobind after he had shown his valour in a battle against the Mughals. Amritsar at that time was the centre of Sikh faith; as the seat of the Sikh Gurus, with its connection to Sikhs in far-flung areas of the country through the chains of Masands or missionaries, it had developed the characteristics of a state capital. Guru Tegh Bahadur was trained in archery and horsemanship, he was taught the old classics such as the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Puranas. He preferred prolonged spells of contemplation. Tegh Bahadur was married on 3 February 1633, to Mata Gujri. In the 1640s, nearing his death, Guru Hargobind and his wife Nanaki moved to his ancestral village of Bakala in Amritsar district, together with Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri. Bakala, as described in Gurbilas Dasvin Patishahi, was a prosperous town with many beautiful pools and baolis. After Guru Hargobind's death, Tegh Bahadur continued to live in Bakala with his mother.
He spent most of his time in meditation, but was not a recluse, attended to family responsibilities. He made visits outside Bakala, visited the eighth Sikh guru Guru Har Krishan, when the latter was in Delhi. In March 1664 Guru Har Krishan contracted smallpox; when asked by his followers who would lead them after him, he replied Baba Bakala, meaning his successor was to be found in Bakala. Taking the advantage of the ambiguity in the words of the dying Guru, many installed themselves in Bakala, claiming themselves as the new Guru. Sikhs were puzzled to see so many claimants. Sikh tradition has a myth concerning the manner. A wealthy trader, Baba Makhan Shah Labana, had once prayed for his life and had promised to gift 500 gold coins to the Sikh Guru if he survived, he arrived in search of the ninth Guru. He went from one claimant to the next making his obeisance and offering two gold coins to each Guru, believing that the right guru would know that his silent promise was to gift 500 coins for his safety.
Every "guru" he met bid him farewell. He discovered that Tegh Bahadur lived at Bakala. Labana gifted Tegh Bahadur the usual offering of two gold coins. Tegh Bahadur gave him his blessings and remarked that his offering was short of the promised five hundred. Makhan Shah Labana forthwith ran upstairs, he began shouting from the rooftop, "Guru ladho re, Guru ladho re" meaning "I have found the Guru, I have found the Guru". In August 1664 a Sikh Sangat anointed Tegh Bahadur as the ninth guru of Sikhs; the Sangat was led by Diwan Durga Mal, a formal "Tikka ceremony" was performed by Bhai Gurditta on Tegh Bahadur conferring Guruship on him. As had been the custom among Sikhs after the execution of Guru Arjan by Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Guru Tegh Bahadur was surrounded by armed bodyguards, he himself lived an austere life. Guru Tegh Bahadur contributed many hymns to Granth Sahib including the Saloks, or couplets near the end of the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Tegh Bahadur toured various parts of Mughal Empire and was asked by Gobind Sahali to construct several Sikh temples in Mahali.
His works include 116 shabads, 15 ragas and his bhagats are credited with 782 compositions that are part of bani in Sikhism. His works are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, they cover a wide range of topics, such as the nature of God, human attachments, mind, dignity, service and deliverance. For example, in Sorath rag, Guru Tegh Bahadur describes what an ideal human being is like, Guru Tegh Bahadur travelled extensively in different parts of the country, including Dhaka and Assam, to preach the teachings of Nanak, the first Sikh guru; the places he stayed in, became sites of Sikh temples. During his travels, Guru Tegh Bahadur spread the Sikh ideas and message, as well as started community water wells and langars; the Guru made three successive visits to Kiratpur. On 21 August 1664, Guru went there to console with Bibi Rup upon the death of her father, Guru Har Rai, the seventh Sikh guru, of her brother, Guru Har Krishan; the second visit was on 15 October 1664, at the death on 29 September 1664, of Bassi, the mother of Guru Har Rai.
A third visit concluded a extensive journey through northwest Indian subcontinent. His son Guru Gobind Singh, who would be the tenth Sikh guru, was born in Patna, whil
Ardās
The Ardās is a set prayer in Sikhism. It is a part of worship service in a Gurdwara, daily rituals such as the opening the Guru Granth Sahib for prakash or closing it for sukhasan in larger Gurdwaras, closing of congregational worship in smaller Gurdwaras, rites-of-passages such as with the naming of child or the cremation of a loved one, daily prayer by devout Sikhs and any significant Sikh ceremonies. An Ardas consists of three parts; the first part recites the virtues of the ten Gurus of Sikhism from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh, starting with lines from Chandi di Var from the Dasam Granth. The second part recites the triumphs of the Khalsa and petition; the third salutes the divine name. The first and the third part are set and cannot be changed, while the second part may vary, be shortened and include a supplication such as seeking divine help or blessing in dealing with daily problems, but is in agreed form. While it is sung, the audience or the Sikh devotee stands, with hands clasped in the folded namaste gesture, many with bowed headed, with some saying "Waheguru" after certain sections.
Ardas is attributed to the founder of the Khalsa and the 10th Guru of Sikhism. The root of the word Ardas is related to the Sanskrit word ard which means "request, beg", it is related to the Persian word arzdasht which means a written "petition made by an inferior to a superior". The Ardās is always done standing up with folded hands and is preceded by the eighth stanza of the fourth ashtapadi of the bani Sukhmani, beginning Tu Thakur Tum Peh Ardaas, it consists of three parts: The beginning of the Ardās is set by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh and may not be altered or omitted. It appears as the opening passage of Var Sri Bhagauti Ji Ki; the first part recites the virtues of the Sikh Gurus. The second part is several paragraphs recounting Sikh symbols, places or worship and values significant and related to Khalsa; this may be changed by reciting a "short ardaas". The Sikh devotee may include a personal prayer such as "Waheguru, please bless me in the task that I am about to undertake" when starting a new task, help me with this problem, or add any personal petition for God.
The third salutes the divine name. This part may not be altered or omitted; the end of the Ardaas is set and may not be altered or omitted. The "Ardās" of Sikhism was first composed by Guru Gobind Singh, he fixed the first eight lines and the last section, these are considered unalterable in Sikhism. The second section has been fluid, revised extensively and by Tat Khalsa in the 20th century; the Sikh Rahit Maryada has published an approved version of the entire Ardas. Chandi di Var Sikh scriptures Sikh Rehat Maryada: The code of Sikh conduct & conventions, Dharam Parchar Committee n.d. Amritsar. MacAuliffe, M A 1909, The Sikh religion: its gurus, sacred writings and authors, The Clarendon Press, Oxford. SGPC
Sikhism
Sikhism, or Sikhi Sikkhī, from Sikh, meaning a "disciple", "seeker," or "learner") is a religion that originated in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century, has variously been defined as monotheistic and panentheistic. It is one of the youngest of the major world religions, the world's fifth largest organized religion, as well as being the world's ninth-largest overall religion; the fundamental beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the sacred scripture Guru Granth Sahib, include faith and meditation on the name of the one creator, divine unity and equality of all humankind, engaging in selfless service, striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all, honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder's life. In the early 21st century there were nearly 25 million Sikhs worldwide, the great majority of them living in Punjab, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, the nine Sikh gurus that succeeded him.
The Tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, named the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib as his successor, terminating the line of human Gurus and making the scripture the eternal, religious spiritual guide for Sikhs. The Guru Granth Sahib is notable for being written by the founders of the religion, for including works by members of other religions. Sikhism rejects claims; the Sikh scripture opens with Ik Onkar, its Mul Mantar and fundamental prayer about One Supreme Being. Sikhism emphasizes simran, that can be expressed musically through kirtan or internally through Nam Japo as a means to feel God's presence, it teaches followers to transform the "Five Thieves". Hand in hand, secular life is considered to be intertwined with the spiritual life. Guru Nanak taught that living an "active and practical life" of "truthfulness, self-control and purity" is above the metaphysical truth, that the ideal man is one who "establishes union with God, knows His Will, carries out that Will". Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, established the political/temporal and spiritual realms to be mutually coexistent.
Sikhism evolved in times of religious persecution. Two of the Sikh gurus – Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur – were tortured and executed by the Mughal rulers after they refused to convert to Islam; the persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa as an order to protect the freedom of conscience and religion, with qualities of a "Sant-Sipāhī" – a saint-soldier. The Khalsa was founded by Guru Gobind Singh; the majority of Sikh scriptures were written in the Gurmukhī alphabet, a script standardised by Guru Angad out of Laṇḍā scripts used in North India. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs, which means disciples of the Guru; the anglicised word'Sikhism' is derived from the Punjabi verb Sikhi, with roots in Sikhana, Sikhi connotes the "temporal path of learning". The basis of Sikhism lies in the teachings of his successors. Many sources call Sikhism a monotheistic religion, while others call it a monistic and panentheistic religion. According to Eleanor Nesbitt, English renderings of Sikhism as a monotheistic religion "tend misleadingly to reinforce a Semitic understanding of monotheism, rather than Guru Nanak's mystical awareness of the one, expressed through the many.
However, what is not in doubt is the emphasis on'one'". In Sikhism, the concept of "God" is Waheguru considered Nirankar and Alakh Niranjan; the Sikh scripture begins with Ik Onkar, which refers to the "formless one", understood in the Sikh tradition as monotheistic unity of God. Sikhism is classified as an Indian religion along with Buddhism and Jainism, given its geographical origin and its sharing some concepts with them. Sikh ethics emphasize the congruence between everyday moral conduct, its founder Guru Nanak summarized this perspective with "Truth is the highest virtue, but higher still is truthful living". God in Sikhism is known as the One Supreme Reality or the all-pervading spirit; this spirit has no gender in Sikhism. It is Akaal Purkh and Nirankar. In addition, Nanak wrote; the traditional Mul Mantar goes from Ik Oankar until Nanak Hosee Bhee Sach. The opening line of the Guru Granth Sahib and each subsequent raga, mentions Ik Oankar: ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ॥Transliteration: ikk ōankār sat-nām karatā purakh nirabha'u niravair akāl mūrat ajūnī saibhan gur prasād.
"There is one supreme being, the eternal reality, the creator, without fear and devoid of enmity, never incarnated, self-existent, known by grace through the true Guru." Māyā, defined as a temporary illusion or "unreality", is one of the core deviations from the pursuit of God and salvation: where worldly attractions which give only illusory temporary satisfaction and pain which distract the process of the devotion of God. However, Nanak emphasised māyā as not a reference of its values. In Sikhism, the influences of ego, greed and lust, known as the Five Thieves, are believed to be distracting and hurtful. Sikhs believe the world is curren
Cannabis and Sikhism
In Sikhism, cannabis is prohibited, as are tobacco and alcohol. However, some Sikhs of the Nihang community use edible cannabis in a religious context; the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak, stated that using any mind altering substance is a distraction from God. Guru Nanak was offered bhang by the Mughal emperor Babur. Intoxicated with this bhang I have abandoned all interest in worldly concerns. According to the Sikh Rehat Maryada, "a Sikh must not take hemp, liquor, tobacco, in short any intoxicant, his only routine intake should be food and water". The Sikhs inherited the tradition of drinking bhang from Hindu culture, the Sikh holiday Dasehra, in honor of the Third Guru, is celebrated with bhang. Contemporaenous British sources during the Second Anglo-Sikh War believed that consumption of bhang contributed to the bravery of Sikh troops. In the modern day, bhang consumption is associated with the Nihang Sikhs, a sect who continue the Sikh warrior tradition, who consume bhang edibles or drinks as sukha or sukhnidhaan.
Bhang is used in India on the Sikh holidays of Holla Mohalla and Vaisakhi. At many Sikh temples, including Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib Ji, the sukhnidhaan is offered as a holy food. In 2001, Baba Santa Singh, the jathedar of Budha Dal, along with 20 Nihang sect chiefs, refused to accept the ban on the consumption of bhang by the highest Sikh clergy. Baba Santa Singh was excommunicated for a different issue, replaced with Baba Balbir Singh, who agreed to shun the consumption of bhang
Guru Ram Das
Guru Ram Das was the fourth of the ten Gurus of Sikhism. He was born on 24 September 1534 in a poor Hindu family based in Lahore, part of what is now Pakistan, his birth name was Jetha, he was orphaned at age 7, thereafter grew up with his maternal grandmother in a village. At age 12, Bhai Jetha and his grandmother moved to Goindval; the boy thereafter served him. The daughter of Guru Amar Das got married to Bhai Jetha, he thus became part of Guru Amar Das's family; as with the first two Gurus of Sikhism, Guru Amar Das instead of choosing his own sons, chose Bhai Jetha as his successor and renamed him as Ram Das or "servant or slave of god ". Ram Das became the Guru of Sikhism in 1574 and served as the Sikh leader until his death in 1581, he faced hostilities from the sons of Amar Das, shifted his official base to lands identified by Amar Das as Guru-ka-Chak. This newly founded town was eponymous Ramdaspur to evolve and get renamed as Amritsar – the holiest city of Sikhism, he is remembered in the Sikh tradition for expanding the manji organization for clerical appointments and donation collections to theologically and economically support the Sikh movement.
He appointed his own son as his successor, unlike the first four Gurus who were not related through descent, the fifth through tenth Sikh Gurus were the direct descendants of Ram Das. Guru Ram Das was born in a Sodhi Khatri family in Lahore, his father was mother Daya Kaurboth of whom died when he was aged seven. He was brought up by his grandmother, he married the younger daughter of Amar Das. They had three sons: Prithi Chand and Guru Arjan. Guru Ram Das died on 1 September 1581, in Goindval town of Punjab. Of his three sons, Ram Das chose the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru; the choice of successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs. The elder son of Ram Das named Prithi Chand is remembered in the Sikh tradition as vehemently opposing Arjan, creating a faction Sikh community which the Sikhs following Arjan called as Minas, is alleged to have attempted to assassinate young Hargobind. However, alternate competing texts written by the Prithi Chand led Sikh faction offer a different story, contradict this explanation on Hargobind's life, present the elder son of Ram Das as devoted to his younger brother Arjan.
The competing texts do acknowledge disagreement and describe Prithi Chand as having become the Sahib Guru after the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev and disputing the succession of Guru Hargobind, the grandson of Ram Das. Ram Das is credited with founding the holy city of Amritsar in the Sikh tradition. Two versions of stories exist regarding the land. In one based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased with Sikh donations, for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. According to the Sikh historical records, the site was chosen by Guru Amar Das and called Guru Da Chakk, after he had asked Ram Das to find land to start a new town with a man made pool as its central point. After his coronation in 1574, the hostile opposition he faced from the sons of Amar Das, Ram Das founded the town named after him as "Ramdaspur", he started by completing the pool, building his new official Guru centre and home next to it. He invited artisans from other parts of India to settle into the new town with him.
The town expanded during the time of Arjan constructed by voluntary work. The town grew to become the city of Amritsar, the pool area grew into a temple complex after his son built the gurdwara Harmandir Sahib, installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple in 1604; the construction activity between 1574 and 1604 is described in Mahima Prakash Vartak, a semi-historical Sikh hagiography text composed in 1741, the earliest known document dealing with the lives of all the ten Gurus. Ram Das composed about ten percent of hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib, he was a celebrated poet, composed his work in 30 ancient ragas of Indian classical music. These cover a range of topics: One who calls himself to be a disciple of the Guru should rise before dawn and meditate on the Lord's Name. During the early hours, he should rise and bathe, cleansing his soul in a tank of nectar, while he repeats the Name the Guru has spoken to him. By this procedure he washes away the sins of his soul. – GGS 305 The Name of God fills my heart with joy.
My great fortune is to meditate on God's name. The miracle of God's name is attained through the perfect Guru, but only a rare soul walks in the light of the Guru's wisdom. – GGS 94 O man! The poison of pride is killing you. Your body, the colour of gold, has been discoloured by selfishness. Illusions of gradeur turn black. – GGS 776 Guru's Bani is part of Nanakshahi calendar and Kirtan Sohila, the daily prayers of Sikhs. His compositions continue to be sung daily in Harimandir Sahib of Sikhism. Ram Das, along with Amar Das, are credited with various parts of the Anand and Laavan composition in Suhi mode, it is a part of the ritual of four clockwise circumambulation of the Sikh scripture by the bride and groom to solemnize the marriage in Sikh tradition. This was intermittently used, its use lapsed in late 18th century. However, sometime in 19th or 20th century by conflicting accounts, the composition of Ram Das came back in use along with Anand Karaj ceremony, replacing the Hindu ritual of circumambulation around the fire.
The composition of Ram
