mIT` l`gY - Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle

Sri Guru Arjan Dev as His
Contemporaries Saw Him
Bhai Gurdas
B
Bhai Gurdas was nephew of Guru Amar Das (the third
Sikh Guru and maternal uncle of Guru Arjan Dev.) Though
only seven years older than Guru Arjan, like him he imbibed
the spirit of Sikhism almost to its perfection very early. At the
age of seventeen he was appointed the principal Sikh
missionary by Guru Amar Das at Agra, the capital of Mughal
empire and the centre of religious discussions.
Bhai Gurdas is also the earliest and most authentic writer
on Guru Nanak as he had available to him first hand
information from two great contemporaries of the founder
Guru. One of them was Sri Chand the elder son of Guru Nanak,
who entered purely religious life at the age of seven and
watched the career of his father with the hope of succeeding
him. The other was Bhai Budha who spent near 30 years of his life with
Guru Nanak.
Bhai Gurdas was the principal helper and adviser in the compilation
of Adi Granth. His nature, wisdom and suggestions must have gone a long
way in the successful and difficult compilation of the Holy Book.
Bhai Gurdas' own works have been given a very high place in the sikh
scriptures. Guru Arjan named them the Key to the Adi Granth. While the
hymns of the Adi Granth are synthetic, the poems of Bhai Gurdas are
analytical and more of commentaries and comparative studies than
reflective mystic poems of prayer and worship. Bhai Gurdas died about
the same time when Sri Chand and Bhai Budha died during the time of
Guru Har Gobind at the ripe age of eighty.
The testimony of Bhai Gurdas on Guru Arjan is of great importance as
he was older than the Guru in years and family status. Particularly
noteworthy is his comment and description of the martyrdom of Guru
Arjan. He does not brood over the horrors of tortures but brings out
wonderfully the superhuman endurance, the equanimity, the calm and
peace that was retained by Guru Arjan till his end.
Spiritual Kindship between Sikh Gurus
The spiritual kinship between the Gurus, and the successive heritage
of the Gurship is described by Bhai Gurdas in the following words :
'Guru Nanak was the spiritual embodiment of the perfect being of
God. The spirit of God worked in him and he lived in the spirit of God. His
inner personality was symbolized by the divine Word, the speech of God to
man and the torch of the Guru to guide mankind to God. Just as a wave of
water emanating from the sea is very much like the sea and just as a lamp
June 2006
Late Dr. Tarlochan Singh
37, Janta Enclave, Dugri
Dhandra Road, Ludhiana
after lighting another lamp
makes it one like itself, so
Guru Nanak lighted the soul
of his disciple Angad and
made him another living
Nanak. From Guru Angad Dev
the light passed on to his
disciple Amar Das and made
him an immortal spirit. Amar
Das awakened the soul of
disciple Ram Das and made
his heart the abode of God.
From Guru Ram Das his son
and disciple Guru Arjan Dev
received the supreme Light
and also the crown of
spiritual sovereignty. Arjan
Dev held aloft the same torch
of truth and perfect
knowledge which he had
received from his
predecessors.'
'Unfathomable, pure,
serene and immortal is the
Spirit of Guru Arjan Dev. The
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