May Guruji’s teachings and life guide us all. May tolerence win over bigotry and may we get enough courage to stand for justice.
who is guru govind, and what status does he hold in the hindu religion? or is he a sikh god?
Guru Govind Singh was the last in a line of 10 gurus who founded the Sikh religion. Guru Govindji ended the line by giving us the Guru Granth Sahab, a book that contains the teachings of the 10 gurus.
Sikh history in brief:
After the death of Baba Nanak, there came a succession of nine Gurus (teachers) who formalized the teachings of the various Gurus, organized the Sikhs into a proper community and implemented the various social institutions found among the Sikhs today. Below are given the names of the various Sikh Gurus.
- Guru Nanak
- Guru Angad
- Guru Amar Das
- Guru Ram Das
- Guru Arjan
- Guru Har Gobind
- Guru Har Rai
- Guru Har Krishna
- Guru Tegh Bahadur
- Guru Gobind Singh
Excluding the period of Baba Nanak, the period of the nine successors lasted 169 years.
These Gurus served as the spiritual and temporal heads of the Sikh community. Each Guru was nominated by his predecessor on the basis of his spiritual ability and worthiness. But, starting with the Fourth Guru, the office became hereditary in the line of his male descendants. Each of the Gurus contributed something, which helped the community:
Guru Nanak taught the Unity and love of God
Guru Amar Das established the "langar" or communal eating facility which helped significantly in fostering the bonds of mutual brotherhood
Guru Ram Das initiated the building of the city of Amritsar
Guru Arjan established a number of other Sikh towns in Punjab and built the now famous Hari Mandir, or the Golden Temple, at Amritsar. It was during the time of this Fifth Guru that confrontations with the Muslims started. Guru Arjan died while in Muslim custody and gave the Sikhs their first martyr.
Guru Har Gobind, Guru Har Rai and Guru Har Krishna
-the sixth, seventh and eighth Gurus-did not make any significant contribution to the Sikh religion and spent most of their efforts in militarily organizing the Sikh community.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was the surviving son of Guru Har Gobind. During his period, Moghul King Aurangzeb was actively pursuing the policy of Islamization in India. Guru Tegh Bahadur opposed many of the Emperor's policies. The Guru was imprisoned and later executed and is revered by the Sikhs as a great martyr.
Guru Gobind Singh(Govind Dev Ji) was the tenth and the last Guru of the Sikhs. He took up the office at the age of nine and for the next 33 years consolidated the military power of the Sikhs, leading them against the Islamic powers with considerable success. In fact most of the visible aspects of the Sikh community today owe their origin to Guru Gobind Singh. He gave them the name of "Khalsa" meaning the Pure. The male members of the community were given the title of Singh (lion), and the females that of Kaur (princess). He also introduced the five symbols for the Sikhs known commonly as the five K's. These are:*
• Kesh (uncut hair)
• Kangha (comb)
• Kirpan (sword)
• Kara (steel bangle)
• Kach (shorts)*
Guru Gobind Singh's four sons were all killed during his lifetime. When the Tenth Guru himself was lying on his deathbed, he told the Sikh community that from then on no more human Gurus will appear and that their sacred scriptures, the Granth, would be their Guru. That is why the Sikhs call their sacred book Guru Granth.
just another addition (with lots of sincerity)
if im correct, sikhism was created due to ISLAM...kind of like a revolution against teh hindus at times of hatred between hindus and muslims.
Do the sikhs still chant "Muslaya Mara Guru Govinda" when they get hyper ?