1 GURU ARJAN. 253
2 among the Jatsand the zemindars, who flocked around him from all sides,
3 thus contributing, in no small degree, to his power and fame.
4 In founding the town of Amritsar at a central spot, the Guru laid the
5 foundation of the future greatness ofthe Sikhs as a nation, for they were
6 enabled now to rally at a common place of worship, conveniently situated,
7 both as regards distance and fertility of the soil. Peacefulin mind and gen-
8 tle in their behaviour, following yet the mild and pure tenets laid down by
9 their first leader, they learnt to unite together and to foster and engender
10 those feelings of brotherly love which tended to strengthen the national tie,
11 and paved the way to the formation of a commonwealth on true patriotic
12 principles.
13 Ram Das had three sons by the daughter of Amar Dads. The first, named
14 Mahadeo, became a faqir; the second, Pirthi Dds, turned out a worldly
15 minded man, and the third, Arjan, or Arjan Mal, who was a favourite with his
16 father, succeeded him in the Guruship. From this time the succession to the
17 gadi became hereditary, which materially contributed to the growth of the
18 Sikh power, for henceforward the Guru was looked upon by his disciples not
19 only in the light of a spiritual guide, but also as a worldly lord and a ruling
20 sovereign. '
21 Ram Das died in March, 1586, having reigned as a Guru for seven years,
22 and a tomb was erected on the banks of the Bids in honour of his memory.
23 5.—GURU ARJAN.
24 Bheni, the daughter of Amar Das, aspired to become the mother of all
25 future Gurus, and, with this object in view, she endeavoured to please her
26 father, in whom she believed was the power of granting her desire, Her
27 father was sensible of the great love which Bheni, on all occasions, manifested
28 towards him, and determined to reward her to the utmost of his ability. He,
29 accordingly, asked her, on one occasion, how he could reward her for the great
30 love which she invariably bore him, upon which the sagacious young lady
31 demanded that the Guruship be made hereditary in her offspring. On the
32 death of her husband, her wishes were accomplished, and her son, Arjan, the
33 youngest child of Ram Das, ascended the masnad of Guruship in 1581.
34 Arjan, on assuming the dictatorship, established himself at Amritsar.
35 He was the first of the Gurus who laid aside the rosary and the garb of a faqir,
36 and dressed himself in costly attire and converted the saintly gadi of his
37 pious predecessors into a princely rostram. He kept a numerous retinue,
38 fine horses and elephants, and lived in splendour. He was an energetic
39 and aspiring Guru, and his aims were high, He organized the Sikhs into
40 a community, and devised measures for extending his spiritua] authority.
41 His first consideration was to ascertain whether the teachings of the
42 great Nanak were equally suited to the multifarious religious denominations
43 and societies that then existed. He attempted to raise the followers
44 of Nanak in the scale of society, and, with-a view to uniting them by one
45 common religious tie, he gave them a religious code, which they held in
46 the greatest veneration. In this code he incorporated the sayings and
47 verses of Ndnak, the compositions of his predecessors, and his own, and the
48 choicest literary productions of other religious reformers of those times,
49 whose memory was still fresh in the minds of the people. This code he
50 called the “Granth,” or the holy book, and if was handed over to the
51 Guru's successors with an assurance that all it contained was pure and
52 binding on all true disciples. A copy was kept in the Harmandar, or holy
53 temple, and recited each day to the crowds who came to bathe in the
54 sacred tank, Hymns were sung in ge of the Lord by bands of musicians,
55 Sri Satguru Jagjit Singh Jie
56 Gains for him great
57 Popularity among the
58 zemindars.
59 _ He lays the founda-
60 tion of the future
61 greatness of the Sikhs,
62 His three sons.
63 The Guruship be-
64 comes hereditary.
65 Death of Ram Ds
66 1581, ene
67 Arjan succeeds, 1561.
68 He established him-
69 self at Amritsar.
70 Lives in state.
71 Compiles the
72 “Granth,” or holy
73 book.
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