Guru Arjan Dev was born in Govindval. Guru Rama Das, the fourth Guru and Mata Bhami were his parents. At the age ofeighteen, he inherited the Guru Gaddi from his father. When the custom of 'Dastar Bandi' (tying of turban) was being performed, many balladeers had come to witness the ceremony. The ballads sung by the balladeers for Guru Arjan Dev are also present in Guru Granth Sahib even today.

MARRIAGE OF GURUARJAN Dev

Guru Arjan Dav was married to Ganga, the daughter of a businessman, Shri Krishna Chand of Govmav tehsil of Phillaura. When they did not beget a child for a long time, Mata Ganga began to feel desperate and requested Guru Arjan Dev to find a solution. Guru Arjan Dev asked her to seek a boon from Baba Burha. At once, Mata Ganga prepared many kinds of food items for Baba and went to see him. Many Sikhs accompanied her. When Baba Burha saw a heap of dust rising above, he uttered:.

"YEH RAMADAS PURE MEIN BHAJAD KAISE PAD GAI"

It meant, what is all this fuss being created here inRamadaspur (old name of Amritsar). When Guru Arjan Dev came to know about the incident, he reprimanded Mata Ganga. "Don't you realize that when we go to seek the blessings of a saint, we should go in a humble way. We should never exhibit pomp and splendour. Mata Ganga realized her mistake and begged him to show the right path. Guru Arjan said: " Grind gram and wheat together to make a dough with your own hands. Bake bread from that dough and go bare-foot carrying the bread and Lassi (churned milk). A begger always go humbly, and you are going to beg for a child." Mata Ganga did as was told to her. As he was eating the bread, Baba Burha crushed an onion and said: "The way in which I am crushing the onion now, similarly, your son will crush the heads of the enemies one day." Thus, with Baba Burha's blessings, Har Govind Sahib was born to them. He became the sixth Guru of the Sikhs in due course.

CONTRIBUTION OF GURU ARJAN Dev

The digging ofArmit Sarovar at Guru ka Chakk was supervised by Guru Arjan Dev. Upon completion, Guru Arjan named it as Amritsar. At the centre of Amritsar, Guru Arjan Dev decided to construct Har Mandir Sahib. He requested Bhai Miyan Mir, a Muslim saint to lay the foundation of Har Mandir Sahib.

WORDS OF GURU ARJAN DEV ABOUT HAR MANDIR SAHIB

When Bhai Miyan Mir laid the foundation stone of Har Mandir Sahib, the mason removed it saying that it was laid obliquely. At that, Guru Arjan Dev said! "Firstly, the stone was laid as an offering to the Akaal Purakh (The Supreme Being) and secondly, it was laid by a great saint like Bhai Miyan Mir. Removal of the stone, therefore, is a dishonour of Ishwar (God) and the one beloved to Him. Hence, Hari Mandir Sahib will be demolished in future to be constructed again."

DIGNITY OF HARI MANDIR SAHIB

After the construction of Hari Mandir Sahib was complete, Baba Burha was appointed as its first Granthi. Hari Mandir Sahib is recognized as modern day Amritsar, Guru Ka Chakk and Ramapura. In his appreciation of Amritsar, Guru Arjan Dev says:

RAMADAS SAROVAR NAHATE || SABH UTARE PAP KAMATE ||

CREATION OF SHRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB

Once Guru Arjan Dev considered that every religion has its own scriptures, which contain the principles, ideologies and philosophies of that religion as well as other great literatures related to that religion. Hence, Guru Arjan Dev thought of compiling the 'Guru Vanis' with Bhai Guru Das and Baba Burha. Then, Guruji made an appeal to all the followers of Sikhism to contribute and co-operate with his work. Responding to the appeal, every Sikh gave him whatever piece of Guruvani he had. This resulted in a huge collection of Guruvanis. Then, sitting on the bank of Ramasar, Bhai Gurudas compiled those Guruvanis into 'Adi Beed'. Besides Guruvanis, words of other devotee poets like Kabir, Nama Dev, Ravidas, Ramanand, Baba Fareed, Soordas, Jayadev and Dhanna etc. have also been included in Adi Beed. Thus the first compiled version of Guru Granth Sahib was published in 1604 at Hari Mandir Sahib.

GURU ARJAN DEV AND PROPAGATION OF SIKHISM

Guru Arjan Dev preached Sikhism to far off places like Khandur Sahib, Govindval, Sarhali, Khanpur etc. He aslo founded towns of Tarantaran and Kartarpur. To prevent water shortage, he got many wells dug. Near the village Vadali, he got a well dug with six Rahatas (water-lifting wheels).

SERVICE OF FAMINE-VICTIMS

During the period of Guru Arjan Dev, a severe famine had jolted Lahore. The famine resulted in the outbreak of deadly diseases. Soon the streets of Lahore were crammed with corpses. Guru Arjan Dev along with his family, served the victims in every way they could. Emperor Akbar left Agra for Lahore. When Akbar arrived in Lahore, Guru Arjan's langars were still going on. Akbar was pleased to see the selflessness of Guru Arjan Dev. Then and there, he waived the lagans (taxes) due on the farmers of that area, fully.

Guru Arjan Dev's stay at Amritsar saw a massive conversion of Hindus and Muslims into Sikhism. It was unbearable for the orthodox Hindus and Muslims. They were envious of Guru Arjan's popularity. Even his brother Prithvi Chand was against him. He was indignant about his younger brother's appointment as the Guru. He held that being the eldest, he had the first right over the Guru Gaddi. In Agra, Jahangir succeeded his father Akbar as emperor, therefore, hard-liners began back-biting against Guru Arjan Dev. Ignorant of the facts and being raw in politics, Jahangir held Guru Arjan Dev guilty of assisting Khusro and ordered his (Guru Arjan's) assassination.

MARTYRDOM OF GURU ARJAN DEV

Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom was the first of its kind in the history of Sikhism. Guru Arjan Dev was severely tortured before condemning to death. Guru Arjan Dev was put in a large urn filled with boiling water by first 'Ahalkar' Chandu. Then, his bare body was sprinkled with unbearably hot sand. Thereafter, he was made to sit on a hot plate, with roaring flames beneath. All these sufferings debilitated the body of Guru Arjan Dev. But, unmoved as Akaal Purakh (Supreme Being), Guru Arjan kept on reciting Guruvani.

"TATI VAV NA LAGAI PAR BRAHM SHARANA |
CHAO GRID HAMARE RAMAKAR-DUKH LAGE NA BHAI "

After putting Guru Arjan Dev to such unbearable torture, he was thrown into the Rabi river. Thus, taking Sikhism to its pinnacle, Guru Arjan Dev attained martyrdom.