Guru Gobind Singh's Death at Nanded Examination of - Vidhia.com

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10 AN EXAMINATION OF SUCCESSION THEORIES GURU GOBIND SINGH S DEATH AT NANDED 11
oppression, ready to lay down his life in their cause, if need
be. This was Guru Gobind Singh, both a teacher and a disciple—
the real Khalsa—a saint and a soldier, a man of the
world and yet detached.
As the son of a martyred father, he was the target of
the attention of both the oppressed people and of the oppressive
rulers. While his people looked up to him as their
saviour and socio-political guide, the power-mad rulers looked
upon him as a dangerous enemy who was inspiring their meek
and submissive subjects with a spirit of freedom and resistance.
The latter, therefore, were ever watchful of his programmes and
vigilant of his activities.
As a scholar of many languages and a writer of soulstirring
poetry, practising the use of arms and training his men
in it, he always acted in the open and kept himself in close
and constant touch with those around him. As a commander
of his armies fighting either against the Hill Rajas of the
Sivalaks or Mughal levies of Sirhind and Lahore, he always
occupied a prominent place within the sight of his men.
Those were the days when it was darshan of the leader that
inspired and sustained them in the field of action. He
created out of the indistinguishable common people the
distinct order of the Khalsa, with an uncommon form and
symbols that helped distinguish them easily in a crowd of
millions.
It was only on one occasion—the only one known to
history—after the battle of Chamkaur that he had to disguise
himself, as the tradition goes, to avoid being attacked at night
and falling into the hands of the enemy who had broken his
vow. A soldier, a brave and determined soldier, has to take
all possible precautions to protect and save himself for the
ultimate object of his struggle. He has to so dress himself or
to adopt such a style of attire, or guise or external appearance
as to avoid being recognized by the enemy and becoming an
easy target of his bomb or bullet or falling into his hands.
It is with this object in view that Khaki drill was used for the
dress of the Indian army in the sun-burnt brownish lands and
was changed into olive green for use in the greenish jungles.
It was also under similar circumstances and for a
similar purpose in an exigency of war that Guru Gobind Singh,
after his successful escape from the siege of Chamkaur, accepted
the shelter of Ghani Khan and Nabi Khan, the Pathan
brothers of Machhiwara, and adopted, in response to their
request, the blue dress of the venerable Pir of Uch. It was
a part of tactics in an emergency during his war with Wazir
Khan, the faujdar of Sirhind. It was a temporary precaution
for his safety in apat-kal—time of adversity—as an old authority
put it. And there was nothing wrong or derogatory in it.
As soon as he was out of the reach of his pursuers, he cast
his blue dress away and was up and doing again in rallying
his scattered followers and fighting the battle of Muktsar.
The Guru knew no despondency and did not give way
to frustration even under the most adverse circumstances. He
lost not his heart at the deaths of his four young sons and his
aged mother. Two of his sons he had himself sent into
the field of battle at Chamkaur. He heard the news of the
cold-blooded murder of his younger sons at Sirhind with
complete resignation to the Will of God. His letter addressed
to Emperor Aurangzeb from Dina, populary known as the
Zafar Namah or Epistle of Victory, evidently in reply to one
from the Emperor, speaks —through its style and content—
volumes for the undisturbed and ever calm state of his mind.
With the cessation of war, evidently, under royal orders,
Guru Gobind Singh again engaged himself in literary pursuits
and completed and edited the Sikh holy book at Talwandi
Sabo, now known as Damdama Sahib, in the Bhatinda
district.
2. HIS LAST DAYS
Forgetful of the long standing animosity and continued
persecution by the Mughal emperors, the Guru favourably
responded to the invitation of Aurangezeb for a meeting and
set out for the Deccan where the Emperor then lay encamped.
But the Emperor died on February 20, 1707, while the Guru
was on his way to the south. He received the news near