Have been thinking over this for some weeks. Story first.
Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak (about 1499 CE) who mixed the teachings of Hinduism and Islam and his own philosophies to create a new social order and eventually a religion. It was appealing for it was casteless and shorn of hierarchy. The Gurus after him built on it. Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606) , who was the fifth Guru was the most prolific, he built the cities of Amritsar, Kartarpur the holy lake city of Taran Taran. He also compiled teachings of the previous Gurus and his own compositions plus inputs from other religious authorities to create a formal Holy Book, the Guru Granth Sahib (1604). Unfortunately, Jahangir's ascent to throne turned the tide against Sikhs (after a benign period under Akbar) and Guru Arjan Dev was arrested, tortured and eventually died.
Sixth Guru i.e. Guru Hargobind onwards, the faithful began to acquire martial capabilities amidst continuous persecution from the Mughals. Guru Teg Bahadur (1621-75), who was the ninth Guru was brutally tortured by Aurangzeb and eventually executed (in 1675). His head was sent to his son (who was 9 at that time), Gobind Rai who cremated it.
Gobind Rai grew up observing and thinking and resolved to change the nature of his religion from pacifist at core to warrior like. His main contention was "ALTHOUGH LOVE AND FORGIVENESS ARE STRONGER THAN HATE AND REVENGE, ONCE A PERSON WAS CONVINCED THAT THE ADVERSARY MEANT TO DESTROY HIM, IT WAS HIS DUTY TO RESIST THE ENEMY WITH ALL MEANS AT HIS DISPOSAL, FOR THEN IT WAS A BATTLE OF SURVIVAL, NOT ONLY OF LIFE, BUT OF IDEALS".
How did he bring about this transformation? We shall cover tomorrow when we conclude this story. Therein will be thoughts for what we should do in the future...
Reference: History of the Sikhs, Volume 1, Khushwant Singh.
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