Guru Arjan Dev Ji

# Meditate, meditate, meditate peace is obtained, Worry and anguish is expelled from the body.
# Remembering God, you're not reborn. Remembering God, the fear of death is dispelled.
# Remembering God, death is eliminated. Remembering God, your enemies are repelled.
# Remembering God, no obstacles are met. Remembering God, night and day you're fully awake.
# Remembering God, fear cannot touch you. Remembering God, you don't suffer with sorrow.
# Remembrance of God, in the Company of Saints. All treasures, O Nanak, are by Lord's Blessing.

hymn composed by Guru Arjan Dev Ji

Guru Arjan Dev Ji was born on April 15th, 1563 in Amritsar, Punjab. He was the third son of Guru Ram Das Ji.

Guru was married to Mata Ganga Devi and together they had a son named Har Gobind.

He became the fifth Sikh Guru a the tender age of 18 on September 1st, 1581.

"The Pool of Nectar" that was constructed by his father, Guru Ramdas Ji, was further developed and the most sacred Sikh temple, The Harmandir Temple (Golden Temple), was built by Guru Arjan Dev.

In the true spirit of "I am neither Hindu, nor Muslim..." Guru Arjan Dev Ji 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. Contrary to the requests of the congregation, the seat of the edifice was kept much below the surrounding area; as the water flows downward so would the seekers of God's blessings. Along with God's House came the existence of the City of Amritsar with all its reverence, amenities, and gaiety.

Click here to learn more about The Golden Temple.

During the days of Guru Arjan Dev, false hymns and scriptures were being passed around to the common masses in the name of the Sikh Gurus.

To put an end to this wrong, Guruji compiled a book called the Adi Granth (later called the Guru Granth Sahib Ji), with the original verses and teachings of his own and all the four Gurus before him.

He asked the relatives of the four Gurus before him for the original writings of religious teachings and hymns. He collected all the writings and added many more of his own works to the collection.

The Guru also wanted to establish the credibility of the Sikh Religion as a casteless and secular society. Side by side the Hymns of Sikh Gurus, he blended the Holy Book with the celestial utterances of Sheikh Farid and Bhagat Kabir, Bhagat Ravi Das, Dhanna Namdev, Ramannand, Jai Dev, Trilochan, Beni, Pipa, Surdas, etc. All of whom belong to different Beliefs, Sects, and Castes, both high and low.

The poetic revelations of Guru Arjan are of the greatest aesthetic calibre. More than half of the Guru Granth Sahib is constituted of his own holy renderings. The Granth Sahib is not only a collection of the revelations but also it throws considerable light on the contemporary political and social life; the physical being and spiritual awareness are fused into one.

The Guru Granth Sahib is a voluminous text of 1430 pages, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh Gurus, from 1469 to 1708. The Guru Granth Sahib is compiled in the form of hymns written in praise of God, which describe what God is like and the right way to live. The Guru Granth Sahib is written in the Gurmukhi script and contains many languages including Braj, Old Punjabi, Khariboli, Sanskrit and Persian.

Guru Arjan Dev dictated that unlike the Hindu scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib (then known as Pothi Sahib) could be open to reading by anyone of any caste, creed or sex. This original copy is still in existence today in Kartarpur.

The 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, added some more hymns and teachings of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and this complete version is Guru Granth Sahib, the 11th Guru. The copy of this original version is kept at the Golden Temple.

Click here to learn more about the creation and compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Arjan Dev Ji initiated the Masand system where as all Sikhs are asked to donate 10% of their income to the Guru for charitable and Sikh religious causes. These donations (semi-mandatory) were called Dasvandh.

Several Masands (collectors) were appointed to go and collect Dasvandh from all over and use the donation for various purposes.

The Dasvandh was used to offset the high costs of the communal kitchen and lodging of Sikh worshipers and visitors, to build the Amrit Sarovar (pool of nectar) and the Harimandar Sahib (the Divine Temple), in Amritsar.

For several years the system worked very efficiently, as the early Masands were honest, and devoted Sikhs. But over a period of time, corruption took place, and the Sikhs lost faith in the Masands, some of whom were not only misappropriating the dasvandh, but were also using coercion to "extract" dasvandh.

In the last decade of the seventeenth century the situation came to loggerheads. The Sikhs complained to Guru Gobind Singh. He punished some Masands, who were accused of immorality, and had no believable defense. To root out the corruption, he abolished the Masand system altogether.

After the death of Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1605, his son Jahangir became the leader of India. Unlike his father, Jahangir was a fundamentalist Muslim, obsessed with turning the country into an Islamic state.

Both Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists concerned at the rapid increase in the popularity of Guru Arjan, moved the new head of state Emperor Jahangir against the Guru. Jahangir himself was also jealous about Guru's propagation of Sikhism. He promptly obliged the enemies of Guru Sahib. Many baseless allegations were levelled against Guru Sahib, one of those was helping the rebellious Khusrau, who was Jahangir's son and the preferred choice of Akbar to be the next ruler of India rather than his son Jahangir.

Emperor Jahangir captured Guru Arjan Dev and tortured him ruthlessly. The Guruji passed away on May 16, 1606.

The martyrdom of Guru Sahib changed the entire character of Sikhism radically from a passive people to courageous saint soldiers.

Click here to learn more about the martyrdom of Guru Arjan and the tortures he had to suffer under the hands of the Mughals.