Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji

Hello Everyone My Name is Vivek Chaturvedi. I am writing a vlog about  Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji. 

Guru Arjan Dev is the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. He became the first martyr of Sikh faith and on 16 June every year, the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev is commemorated. This day has been marked to honour him and has been commemorated since 1606. Let us read some interesting facts about Guru Arjan Dev.

The true servant of humanity, the protector of religion, the master of calm and grave nature, Guru Arjan Dev, was the well-known public leader of his era. He provides service to the people whole day and night. He had immense respect for all religions. His martyrdom was a significant turning point in the history of Sikhism.

10 Interesting points about Guru Arjan Dev are as follows:

1. Guru Arjan Dev was born on 15 April, 1563 in Goindval Sahib, Tarn Taaran, India. His father's name was Guru Ramdas and mother's name was Mata Bhani. Arjan Dev’s maternal grandfather "Guru Amardas" and father "Guru Ramdas" were respectively the third and fourth Guru of the Sikhs.

2. The care of Arjan Dev was done under the supervision of great men like Guru Amar Das and Guru Baba Budha Ji. He had received Gurmukhi education from Guru Amardas, from Goindval Sahib Dharmashala, he had received education in Devanagari, Sanskrit from Pandit Beni and from his uncle Mohri, maths. In addition, he also learned the method of "meditation" from his uncle Mohan.

3. On 19 June, 1589, Guru Arjan Dev was married to Mata Ganga. She was the daughter of Bhai Krishan Chand of the village Mau, 10 km west of Phillaur in the State of Punjab, India. His son's name was Hargobind Singh, who became the sixth guru of the Sikhs after Guru Arjan Dev.

4. In 1581 A.D, the fourth Guru Ramdas, appointed Arjan Dev as the fifth Guru of the Sikhs in his place.

5. In 1588 A.D, Arjan Dev had laid the foundation of Harmandar Sahib in the middle of Amritsar Talab which was built by Guru Ramdas and today is known as Golden Temple. Let us tell you that for this Guru Arjan Dev invited Mian Mir, a Muslim Saint from Lahore to lay the cornerstone of the foundation of the Harmandar, the present Golden Temple. The doors on all four sides of the building signified its acceptance of all the four castes and every Religion. Around 400 years old this temple map was prepared by Guru Arjan Dev himself.

6. He initiated the compilation of the Holy book, the present Guru Granth Sahib. This is the most valuable achievement of Guru Arjan dev and this he had done with the help of brother Gurdas. He also contributed more than 2,000 hymns himself and wrote the Sukhmani Sahib Bani. Do you know that there are total 5894 hymns in Guru Granth Sahib, out of which more than 2000 are of Guru Arjan Dev. And rest of the hymns are of the celestial utterances of Sheikh Farid and Bhagat Kabir, Bhagat Ravi Das, Dhanna Namdev, Ramannand, Jai Dev, Trilochan, Beni, Pipa and Surdas.

7. The work of compilation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib started in 1603 AD and was completed in 1604 AD. The first light festival of Sri Guru Granth Sahib was celebrated in 1604 A.D and the total responsibility of the arrangement of the festival was entrusted to "Baba Buddhaji".

8. Guru Arjan Dev became popular spiritual figure and various people from different religion and faith come to meet him and seek his blessings. During his tenure, the Sikhism developed steadily, more and more Hindus and Muslims also became the followers of the guru. Soon Sikhism became the prominent popular religion of medieval Punjab.

9. The Orthodox Emperor Jahangir felt threatened by the spreading of Sikhism in his empire. He ordered to arrest Guru Arjan Dev and convert to Islam or undergo torture and execution. The Guru remained loyal to his faith till the end. In 1606, the Guru Arjan dev was imprisoned in Lahore Fort. As, he has refused to convert, he was subjected to severe torture. In hot boiling water, he was immersed which scaled his flesh and then was made to sit on a hot burning plate. Further, more tortured and hot sand was poured over his body. With the God's name on his lips, the tortured remained for several days. After this, the Guru was allowed to take bath in the river Ravi. On, 30 May, 1606, Guru Arjan Dev entered the river and never seen again.

10. Guru Arjun Dev was the first martyr of Sikhism. The place where Guru Arjun Dev Ji's body was extinct in the River Ravi, Gurudwara Dera Sahib (now in Pakistan) has been built. Shri Guru Arjun Dev Ji is remembered for his humility. He was very peaceful and saintly person.

 Guru Arjan Dev Ji Message 

The Adi Granth, which expanded over the years to become the Guru Granth Sahib, is the holy book of the Sikh faith. The Adi Granth constitutes half of his teachings, and is installed at the Golden Temple.

Gurur Arjan Dev Ji used to preach the message of God, which was initiated by the Sikh Guru Nanak Dev. The Mughal emperor Jahangir wanted him to stop preaching the message because of his increasing influence among the people.

When the Guru refused to stop, he was ordered to be tortured and executed. He was captured in 1606, and was imprisoned in Lahore fort. Over a period of five days, he was made to sit on a burning iron sheet, with hot sand poured over him. Later, he was taken to a river to take a bath. He took a dip in it, but never came out. Therefore, he became the first Sikh Guru to be martyred.

Guru Arjan Singh Dev Ji Quotes & Messages

• By the Grace of God, I am cured of the disease of egotism, and death no longer terrifies me.
• Don't create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone.
• Thou O Lord, art my father and thou my mother. Thou art the giver of peace to my soul and very life.
• Of all the religions, the best religion is to repeat God’s name and to do pious deeds. Of all the religion rites, the best rite is to remove the filth of evil intellect by association with the saints.
• He who lowers his mind to the dust of all men's feet, sees the name of God enshrined in every heart.

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