1 Guru Govind Singh. 43
2 imperial mission, history is again silent. All we
3 know is that he went as far south as the Godavery,
4 and that he made Nander, on the banks of that
5 river, his headquarters. Here he spent much of
6 his time in the company of a Bairagi hermit, after-
7 wards known as Banda, the "slave," whom he con-
8 verted to his own faith and baptized, and to whom
9 he became so much attached that he nominated
10 him his successor, not as guru, but as commander
11 of the forces of the Khalsa.
12 Govind Singh was not destined to return to
13 his native country. One day, after preaching his
14 doctrines at Nander, he was stabbed by a Pathan
15 assassin ; and though the physicians of Bahadur
16 Shah were sent to attend him, they were unable
17 to save his life. He died at the age of forty-eight,
18 in the year 1708, having reigned as guru for nearly
19 thirty-three years.
20 Guru Govind Singh left no successor. Before
21 his death he called his disciples about him and
22 told them that the mission of the gurus was com-
23 pleted, and that thenceforth their spirits would dwell
24 in the Granth Sahib and the Khalsa. " I have
25 entrusted you," he said, "to the immortal God.
26 Ever remain under His protection, and trust to
27 none besides. Wherever there are five Sikhs
28 asse.mbled, know that I am in the midst of them.
29 Henceforth the guru shall be in the Khalsa and
30 the Khalsa in the guru. I have infused my mental
31 and bodily spirit into the Granth Sahib and the
32 Khalsa." 1
33 1 SeelTheWikh Religion, vol. v. p. 244.