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{{Short description|Seventh Sikh guru from 1644 to 1661}}
]
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{{Sikhi}}
{{Infobox religious biography
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| religion = ]
] in the handwriting of Guru Har Rai.|right]]
| name = Guru Har Rai
'''Guru Har Rai''' ({{lang-pa|ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿ ਰਾਇ}}) (] ] - ] ]) was the seventh of ] and became Guru on ]] following in the footsteps of his grandfather, ]. Before he died, he nominated ], his youngest son as the next Guru of the Sikhs. The following is a summary of the main highlights of Guru Har Rai's life:
| alt = Guru Har Rai
| image = Guru Har Rai, Guler-Basohli painting.jpg
| caption = Guru Har Rai receives a devotee. Family workshop of Nainsukh of Guler, Punjab Hills, ca.1790
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1630|01|16}}
| birth_place = ], ], ]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1661|10|06|1630|01|16}}
| death_place = Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
| period = 1644–1661
| other_names = ''Seventh Master''<br>''Seventh Nanak'
| predecessor = ]
| successor = ]
| parents = ] (father) ,
] (mother)


] (father in law)
*Continued the military traditions started by his grandfather ].
] (mother in law)<ref>"Sri Gur Panth Prakash" by Rattan Singh Bhangoo:</ref><ref>"Sri Gur Sobha" by Sainapati</ref><ref>Bhai Gurdas Vaaran</ref><ref>"Gurbilas Patshahi 6" by Koer Singh</ref>
*Maintained a cavalry of 2,200 soldiers throughout his Guruship.
| spouse = Mata Krishen Devi (also known as Sulakhni, Kot Kalyani,<ref>{{cite web |title=History - Darbar Shri Guru Ram Rai Ji Maharaj - Dehradun |url=http://www.sgrrdarbar.org/history.aspx |website=www.sgrrdarbar.org}}</ref> or Kishan Kaur)
*As a very young child he was disturbed by the suffering of a flower damaged by his robe in passing. Though such feelings are common with children, Guru Har Rai would throughtout his life be noted for his compassion for life and living things. His grandfather who was famed as an avid hunter is said to have saved the Moghul Emperor Jahangir's life during a tiger's attack. Guru Har Rai continued the hunting tradition of his grandfather, but he would allow no animals to be killed on his grand Shikars. The Guru instead captured the animal and added to his zoo.
| children = ]<br> ]
*Made several tours to the ] and ] regions of the ].
| native_name = ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿ ਰਾਇ
*His son Ram Rai, seeking to assuage concerns of Aurangzeb over one line in Guru Nanak's verse (''Mitti Mussalmam ki pede pai kumhar'') sugested that the word Mussalmam was a mistake on the copyist's part, therefore distorting Bani. The Guru refused to meet with him again. The Guru is believed to have said, "Ram Rai, you have disobeyed my order and sinned. I will never see you again on account of your infidelity." It was also reported to the Guru that Ram Rai had also worked miracles in the Mughal's court against his father's direct instructions. Shikhs are constrained by their Gurus to not believe in, magic and myth or miracles.
| native_name_lang = pa
| native name lang = pa
| signature = Nisan (signature) of Guru Har Rai, at the beginning of a Guru Granth Sahib manuscript dated 1716 Bikrami Samvat (1659 C.E.).jpg
}}
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'''Guru Har Rai''' (]: ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿ ਰਾਇ, pronunciation: {{IPA-pa|gʊɾuː ɦəɾ ɾaːɪ|}}; 16 January 1630 – 6 October 1661)<ref name=eosghr>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/TheEncyclopediaOfSikhism-VolumeIiE-l/page/n275 |title=Har Rai, Guru (1630–1661) |author=Bhagat Singh |editor=Harbans Singh|display-editors=etal| website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala |access-date=16 January 2017}}</ref> revered as the ''seventh ]'', was the seventh of ten Gurus of the ] religion.<ref name=britharrai>, Encyclopedia Britannica (2015)</ref> He became the Sikh leader at age 14, on 3 March 1644, after the death of his grandfather and the sixth Sikh leader ].<ref name="Mandair2013p50">{{cite book|author=Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdhLAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4411-0231-7|pages=50–51}}</ref> He guided the Sikhs for about seventeen years, till his death at age 31.<ref name="Mandair2013p50"/><ref name="Grewal1998p67">{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|url= https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-63764-0|pages=–69}}</ref>
Just before his death at age 31 Guru Har Rai passed the Gaddi of Nanak on to his younger son, the five year old &mdash; ].


Guru Har Rai is notable for maintaining the large army of Sikh soldiers that the sixth Sikh Guru had amassed, yet avoiding military conflict. He supported the moderate Sufi influenced ] instead of conservative ] influenced ] as the two brothers entered into a war of succession to the Mughal Empire throne.<ref name="Mandair2013p50"/>
Guru Har Rai was the son of ] and ] (also known as Mata Ananti Ji). ] was son of the sixth Guru, ]. Guru Har Rai married to ] (sometimes also referred to as Sulakhni) daughter of Sri Daya Ram of Anoopshahr (Bulandshahr) in UttarPradesh on Har Sudi 3, Samvat 1697. Guru Har Rai had two sons: ] and ].


After Aurangzeb won the succession war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Guru Har Rai sent his elder son ] to represent him. Aurangzeb kept Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the ] – the holy text of Sikhs at that time. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims.<ref name=britharrai/><ref name="Grewal1998p67"/> Ram Rai changed the verse to appease Aurangzeb instead of standing by the Sikh scripture, an act for which Guru Har Rai is remembered for excommunicating his elder son, and nominating his younger son ] to succeed him.<ref>{{cite book|author1=William Owen Cole|author2=Piara Singh Sambhi|title=The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIC_MgJ5RMUC&pg=PA33 |year=1995|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-13-4|pages=33–34}}</ref> Har Krishan became the eighth Guru at age five after Guru Har Rai's death in 1661.<ref name=britharrai/>
Although, Guru Har Rai was a man of peace, he never disbanded the armed Sikh Warriors (Saint Soldiers), who earlier were maintained by his grandfather, ]. He always boosted the military spirit of the Sikhs, but he never himself indulged in any direct political and armed controversy with the contemporary Mughal Empire. Once, Dara Shikoh (the eldest son of emperor Shah Jahan), came to Guru Har Rai asking for help in the war of succession with his brother the Murderous Aurangzeb. The Guru had promised his grandfather to use the Sikh Cavalry only in defense. He, never the less,helped him to escape safely from the bloody hands of Aurangzeb's armed forces by having his Sikh warriors hide all the ferry boats at the river crossing used by Dara Shikoh in his escape.


== Background == == Names ==
Some Sikh literature spell his name as '''Hari Rai'''.<ref name="Singh2014p400">{{cite book |author1=Pashaura Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |author2=Louis E. Fenech |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |page=400}}</ref> Some modern Sikhs refer to him as the '''Green Guru''' due to the sensitivity he displayed to the natural world.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Prill |first=Susan E. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |date=27 March 2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191004117 |editor-last=Singh |editor-first=Pashaura |pages=223–234 |chapter=19. Ecotheology |editor-last2=Fenech |editor-first2=Louis E.}}</ref>


==Biography==
Once, while the Guru Har Rai was returning from a tour of the Malwa and Doaba regions, Mohamad Yarbeg Khan, (son of Mukhlis Khan, who was killed in a battle by ]) attacked the kafla of the Guru with a force of one thousand armed men. The revengeful attack was repulsed by a few hundred Saint Soldiers of the Sikhs with great courage and bravery. The enemy suffered a heavy loss of life and fled the scene. This self-defense measure, was a reply to the surprise attack of the Muslims overlords. Normaly the Gurus professed the practise of non-violence (Ahimsa Parmo Dharma). Guru Har Rai often bestowed Sikh warriors with gallantry awards.
Guru Har Rai was born to Ananti (also known as Nihal Kaur) and Baba Gurditta into a ] ] household. His father died when he was 8 years old. At age 10, in 1640, Guru Har Rai was married to Mata Kishan Kaur (sometimes also referred to as Sulakhni) the daughter of Daya Ram. They had one daughter Rup Kaur<ref>Harjinder Singh Dilgeer: Sikh History in 10 Volumes. </ref> and two sons, Ram Rai and Har Krishan (the latter of whom became the eighth ].<ref>{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew|url-access=registration| year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-63764-0|pages=–63, 67–69}}</ref>


Guru Har Rai had brothers. His elder brother Dhir Mal had gained encouragement and support from ], with free land grants and Mughal sponsorship. Dhir Mal attempted to form a parallel Sikh tradition and criticized his grandfather and sixth Guru, Hargobind. The sixth Guru disagreed with Dhir Mal, and designated the younger Har Rai as the successor.
The Guru also established an Aurvedic (herbal medicine) hospital and a research centre at ] Sahib. There he also maintained a zoo. Once Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan fell seriously ill by some unknown disease. The best hakims (physicians) both Indian and European were consulted, but there was no improvement. At last the emperor made a humble request to the Guru for the treatment of his son. Accepting the request Guru Har Rai, handed over some rare medicine to the messenger of the emperor. Dara Shikoh was cured of his near fatal illness. The emperor, whole heartedly thanked the Guru and offered a jagir (title to land with villages and the profits derived from it), which Guru Har Rai did declined.


Authentic literature about Guru Har Rai life and times are scarce, he left no texts of his own and some Sikh texts composed later spell his name as "Hari Rai".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Louis E. Fenech|author2=W. H. McLeod|title= Historical Dictionary of Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 |year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|page=148}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Pashaura Singh|author2=Louis E. Fenech|title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8|page=41}}</ref> Some of the biographies of Guru Har Rai written in the 18th century such as by Kesar Singh Chhibber, and the 19th-century Sikh literature are highly inconsistent.<ref>{{cite book|author=Surjit Singh Gandhi|title=History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708 C.E |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZFBp89UInUC&pg=PA590 |year=2007|publisher=Atlantic Publishers |isbn=978-81-269-0858-5|pages=590–591 with note 2}}</ref>
Guru Har Rai also visited ], Sialkot, Pathankot, Samba, Ramgarh and many places of Jammu and Kashmir region. He established 360 Sikh missionary seats (Manjis). He also tried to improve the old corrupt Masand system and appointed pious and committed personalities like Suthre Shah, Sahiba, Sangtia, Mian Sahib, Bhagat Bhagwan, Bhagat Mal and Jeet Mal Bhagat (also known as Bairagi), as the heads of Manjis.


===Dara Shikoh===
Guru Har Rai Sahib faced some serious difficulties during the period of his guruship. The corrupt massands, Dhir Mals and Minas always tried to preclude the advancement of Sikh religion. He was a man of god.
Guru Har Rai provided medical care to ], possibly when he had been poisoned by Mughal operatives.<ref name=britharrai/><ref name="Mandair2013p50"/> According to Mughal records, Guru Har Rai provided other forms of support to Dara Shikoh as he and his brother Aurangzeb battled for rights to succession. Ultimately, Aurangzeb won, arrested Dara Shikoh and executed him on charges of ] from Islam. In 1660, Aurangzeb summoned Guru Har Rai to appear before him to explain his relationship with Dara Shikoh.<ref name="Mandair2013p50"/>


In the Sikh tradition, Guru Har Rai was asked why he was helping the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh whose forefathers had persecuted Sikhs and Sikh Gurus. Guru Har Rai is believed to have replied that if a man plucks flowers with one hand and gives it away using his other hand, both hands get the same fragrance.<ref>{{cite book|author=Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdhLAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA226 |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4411-0231-7|pages=226 with note 7}}</ref>
==Recitation of Gurbani==


After Aurangzeb won the succession war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Guru Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent him. Aurangzeb kept the 13 year old Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Adi Granth – the holy text of Sikhs. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims. Ram Rai changed the meanings of the verse to appease Aurangzeb instead of standing by the Sikh scripture, an act for which Guru Har Rai excommunicated his elder son, and nominated the younger Har Krishan to succeed as the next Guru of Sikhism.
One day the Sikhs asked the Guru whether those who read the Gurus' hymns without understanding them derived any spiritual advantage from it. The Guru gave no reply at the time, and next morning went hunting. En route, the Guru came across a broken pot which had held butter. The rays of the sun were melting the butter on the broken pot fragments. The Guru took one of these fragments in his hand and said, "Look my Sikhs, broken pot shards - when they are heated, the butter that adhered to them readily melts. As the grease adheres to the potshards, so to do the Gurus' hymns to the hearts of his Sikhs. At the hour of death the Gurus' instruction shall assuredly bear fruit. Whether understood or not, it has within it the seed of salvation. Perfume still clings to a broken vase." The meaning of the parable is that whoseoever daily reads the Gurus shabads shall assuredly obtain peace. And even though he may not fully understand them, God will undoubtedly assist him.


=== Influence ===
Guru Ram Das has said: "The Word is the Guru, and the Guru in the Word, and in the Word is the essence of ambrosia."
He started several public singing and scripture recital traditions in Sikhism. The ''katha'' or discourse style recitals were added by Guru Har Rai to the '']'' singing tradition of Sikhs. He also added the '']'' or continuous scripture singing tradition of Sikhism, as well as the tradition of ''jotian da kirtan'' or collective folk choral singing of scriptures.<ref name="Singh2014p400" />


==Bhai Gonda== ==== Reforms ====
The third Sikh leader ] had started the tradition of appointing '']'' (zones of religious administration with an appointed chief called ''sangatias''),<ref name="cole20">{{cite book|author1=William Owen Cole|author2=Piara Singh Sambhi|title=The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIC_MgJ5RMUC&pg=PA22| year=1995| publisher= Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-13-4|pages=20–21}}</ref><ref name="FenechMcLeod2014p29">{{cite book|author1=Louis E. Fenech|author2=W. H. McLeod|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|pages=29–30}}</ref> introduced the '']'' ("the tenth" of income) system of revenue collection in the name of Guru and as pooled community religious resource,<ref name="Farhadian2015p342">{{cite book|author=Charles E. Farhadian|title=Introducing World Religions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VV-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT342 |year=2015|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn=978-1-4412-4650-9|pages=342}}</ref> and the famed '']'' tradition of Sikhism where anyone, without discrimination of any kind, could get a free meal in a communal seating.<ref name="FenechMcLeod2014p29" />


The organisational structure that had helped Sikhs to grow and resist the Mughal persecution had created new problems for Guru Har Rai. The donation collectors, some of the ]s (local congregational leaders) led by Dhir Mal – the older brother of Guru Har Rai, all of them encouraged by the support of ], land grants and Mughal administration – had attempted to internally split the Sikhs into competing movements, start a parallel guruship, and thereby weaken the Sikh religion. Thus a part of the challenge for Guru<ref name="eosghr" /> Har Rai was to keep Sikhs united.<ref>{{cite book|author=Surjit Singh Gandhi|title=History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1469–1606 C.E |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qw7-kUkHA_0C&pg=PA365 |year=2007|publisher=Atlantic Publishers |isbn=978-81-269-0857-8|pages=365–367}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&pg=PA345 |year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-355-1|page=345}}</ref>
A devout Sikh called Bhai Gonda used to stay with the Guru. He was a saint in thought, word and deed. The Guru was very much pleased with his sincere devotion and asked, “Bhai Gonda, go to Kabul, and instruct the Sikhs there in the worship of the true Name, and preach the Sikh faith. Feed holy men and pilgrims with the offerings you receive and send whatever remains here for the upkeep of the ]. These are to be your duties, and I am confident that you will succeed in them.”


He appointed new masands such as Bhai Jodh, Bhai Gonda, Bhai Nattha, Bhagat Bhagwan (for eastern India), Bhai Pheru (for Rajathan), Bhai Bhagat (also known as Bairagi), as the heads of Manjis.
Although Kabul was a foreign country and there was danger from Muslim bigotry in living there, Bhai Gonda cheerfully accepted the task given to him. On arriving there he built a ] and carried out all the Guru’s instructions.


===Death and succession===
One day, while Bhai Gonda was repeating the Japji, he felt as though clinging to the Guru’s feet. He was in such a state of abstraction that he became quite unconscious. He grew as absorbed in the sight of the Guru as a drop of rain in the ocean. The Guru knew what was passing through Bhai Gonda’s mind, and sat firmly on his throne keeping his feet together. At mid-day, when dinner was announced, the Guru made no response. When the announcement was repeated an hour later, he still remained silent. A longer interval later, the call was again made for the third time and cook asked permission to serve the food, but again the Guru did not speak. Several Sikhs gathered together and were about to make a representation to the Guru, when he finally spoke. “Brother Sikhs. Bhai Gonda is in Kabul. He is in thought, word, and deed, a saint of the Guru. He today clasped my feet. How can I take them away from him? How can I go take my dinner until he lets go? I am therefore waiting until the conclusion of his meditation and obeisance.” Bhai Gonda did not awake from his trance before twilight, and it was only then that the Guru felt free to take his meal.
He appointed his 5-year-old youngest son ] as the eighth Guru of the Sikhs before his death.


== Environmental stewardship ==
==Dara Shikoh==
Guru Har Rai is associated in the Sikh tradition for his interest in the natural world.<ref name=":02" /> Guru Har Rai taught that the environment should be cared for by Sikhs.<ref name=":02" />
]
According to a traditional '']'' (with there existing variations of the same tale), when Guru Har Rai was a youth, he was strolling in a garden when the cloak of his garb happened to break a flower off of its stem after coming into contact with it.<ref name=":02" /> After seeing what had happened, he felt a strong sense of remorse for what had occurred, leading him to carefully ensuring his clothing does not harm any other plants for the rest of his life by being cautious through gathering his clothing while walking.<ref name=":02" /> This story depicts the Guru's sensitivity to harm of flora.<ref name=":02" />


Guru Har Rai is said to have participated in hunting much like the previous gurus.<ref name=":02" /> However in-contrast to his predecessors, he never actually killed the animals he hunted but rather kept them in a zoo located in Kiratpur.<ref name=":02" />
]


=== Medicinal knowledge ===
The Emperor Shah Jahan had four sons: Dara Shikoh, Shuja Muhammad, Aurangzeb, and Murad Baksh. Dara Shikoh was the heir-apparent, and was very dear to his father. Aurangzeb was very cunning, clever and ambitious, and was fixated on succeeding to the throne. He administered tiger’s whiskers in a dish to his eldest brother and he became dangerously ill as a result. Astrologers were sent for, pirs and fakirs were called, all known charms, spells and incantations were tried but to no avail. Wise men were assembled together and they came to the decision that until the tiger’s whiskers could be removed, there was no hope of a recovery. They were of the opinion that if two ounces of chebulic myrobalan (scientific name: ''termininalia chebula''; known in Ayurvedic medicine as ''Aralu'', credited with having laxative and stomachic properties) and a clove weighing one ''masha'' were administered, his health could be restored.
A traditional Sikh garden located in ], known as Naulakha Bagh (meaning "garden of 900,000 plants"), was believed to have been founded and cared for by Guru Har Rai during his guruship period.<ref name=":02" /> It was large and contained many ].<ref name=":02" /> One story narrates that Dara Shikoh was close to death after having been poisoned by tiger whiskers, as per tradition, and the treatments offered by his father, Shah Jahan, failed to absolve his illness.<ref name=":02" /> After trying every treatment with no resolve, Shah Jahan eventually made contact with Guru Har Rai for his assistance, with the latter freely offering it to the Mughal prince.<ref name=":02" /> Guru Har Rai sent medicinal plants to Shah Jahan to treat his son's condition.<ref name=":02" /> Despite the hostility that existed at that time between the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and the Sikhs, the Sikh guru still helped the emperor's poisoned son, which is a reflection of Guru Har Rai's far-reaching compassion.<ref name=":02" />


== Salok Mahalla Satvaan (7) ==
The Emperor searched everywhere for the ingredients but they could not be found – it was only until his Prime Minister, who had heard of the Gurus’ fame, was informed that there were available from the Gurus’ storehouse, that hope was restored. Although the Emperor was hostile to the Guru, yet as the Guru’s house was a mine of sympathy and compassion for all, there was no doubt that he would grant the articles required. The Emperor humbled himself before the Guru and sent a letter. The Guru was pleased that the Emperor had such confidence in him as to write such a friendly letter, and consented to give the required medicines. “Behold,” said the Guru, “with one hand man breaks flowers and with one hand offers them, but the flowers perfume both hands alike. The axe cuts the sandal tree, yet the sandal perfumes the axe. The Guru ought, therefore, to return good for evil.”
The common Sikh belief is that Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai and Guru Harkrishan did not contribute to any Bani at all.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Sardar Harjeet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fleka3YEE8sC&q=a+couplet+attributed+to+Guru+Har+Rai&pg=PA100 |title=Faith & Philosophy of Sikhism |date=2009 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |isbn=978-81-7835-721-8 |pages=103–104 |language=en}}</ref> This is not entirely true as Guru Har Rai is said to have written the Salok Mahalla Satvaan.<ref name=":0" />


This mahalla is in the Kiratpuri Bir of the Guru Granth Sahib. Although it is clearly marked as a composition of Guru Har Rai the seventh Mina Guru Miharban also used the marker leaving open the possibility of mistaken attribution.<ref name=":0" /> The Salok does not appear in any of the texts containing the writings of Miharban. At the same time no text about the Sikh Gurus lives reference Guru Har Rai writing Bani.<ref>Faith and Philosophy of Sikhism Pg.103</ref> It cannot therefore be securely attributed to Guru Har Rai. Gurus each had their own way of starting poems or couplets.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Sardar Harjeet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fleka3YEE8sC&q=a+couplet+attributed+to+Guru+Har+Rai&pg=PA100|title=Faith & Philosophy of Sikhism|date=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|isbn=978-81-7835-721-8|language=en}}</ref>
The ingredients were weighed and it was explained that these medicines would cause the hardest substance taken to be digested. To these ingredients, the Guru added a pearl which was to be ground and used as a subsidiary remedy. The Emperor was naturally very pleased and forgot all his enemity with the Guru, and vowed that he would never again cause him annoyance. His medicine was administered and effected a speedy and complete cure.


Guru Har Rai's was: ''Through the voice of Har Rai, the Guru.''<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Pashaura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiwpDwAAQBAJ&q=a+couplet+attributed+to+Guru+Har+Rai&pg=PT212|title=The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and Authority|date=26 September 2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-908773-0|language=en}}</ref>
==Ram Rai==


== Legacy ==
Shah Jahan like his father and granfather had largely ignored the fundamentalist Muslim Ulema, the pious holy men who wanted a strict Sharia government. Angered by years of being pushed out of power they saw in their hero Aurangzeb who had been raised under their tuteledge a chance to put themselves back in power. Aurangzeb ended the liberal 'excesses' of his ancestors. He had accused his brother Dara Shikoh of being more of a Hindu than a Muslim which charge lead to his brothers death. It is said that he had Dara's head served to their father as pay back for Shah Jahan's open support of Dara Shikoh. He had the Jazia, a sort of protection tax levied in the Rasul's time on non Muslims living under Muslim rule. The only trouble was that the protection of the others' religious as proposed by the Rasul was ended. Now forced conversion of the whole population of his subjects became the rule.
In 2011, 14 March was the date selected to celebrate Sikh Environment Day because it was the anniversary date of Guru Har Rai's '']'' (ascension to the guruship).<ref name=":02" />


In 2013, the president of EcoSikh described Guru Har Rai as the "green guru", emphasizing the Sikh guru's close-bond with nature, in a press-release statement.<ref name=":02" />
Emperor Aurangzeb citing the help rendered to Dara Shikoh Mirza by Guru Har Rai during the war of succession had the Guru summoned to Delhi. Guru Har Rai sent his son Ram Rai on his behalf. At the Mughal Court he tried to clarify some mis-understandings, regarding Guru Ghar and Sikh faith, created by Dhirmals and Minas. Yet another trap, which he could not escape, was to clarify the meaning of the verse ''"The Ashes of the Mohammadan fall into the potter's clot, it is moulded into pots and bricks, and they cry out as they burn"''. Ram Rai in order to please the emperor and gain his approval (see intro) distorted ]. When Guru Har Rai was informed about this incident, he immediately excommunicated Ram Rai from the Sikh Panth and never met with him again, though he later pleaded repeatedly for forgiveness. Thus Guru Sahib established a strict property for the Sikhs against any alteration of original verse in Guru Granth Sahib and the basic conventions set up by Guru Nanak Sahib. An aged Ram Rai was later forgiven by Guru Gobind Singh.

== Popular culture ==
In 2013, a painting by Rahi Mohinder Singh was gifted to ] which depicts Guru Har Rai giving a tree to a petitioner to plant, however the tree species portrayed in the painting is an ], a ] that was not found during the lifetime of Guru Har Rai, making the painting ].<ref name=":02" />

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Guru Hargobind with his grandson, the young Guru Har Rai.jpg|] (right) with his grandson, the young Har Rai (left).
File:Painting of Guru Har Rai holding a flower, kept in the Sursinghwala collection.jpg|Guru Har Rai, Pahari painting.
File:Painting of Guru Har Rai holding a flower, kept in the Bhai Rupa Chand collection.jpg|Portrait of Guru Har Rai holding a blue flower
File:Guru Har Rai painting.jpg|Guru Har Rai, the Seventh Guru (ca.1800–1825 Pahari painting)
</gallery>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
* {{cite book | author=Macauliffe, M.A | title=The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus Sacred Writings and Authors| publisher=Low Price Publications | year=1909 | id=ISBN 81-7536-132-8}}

* {{cite book | author=Singh, Khushwant | title=A History of the Sikhs: 1469-1839 Vol.1 (2nd ed.)| publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1963| id=ISBN 0-19-567308-5}}
===Bibliography===
* {{cite book | author=Macauliffe, M.A. | title=The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus Sacred Writings and Authors| publisher=Low Price Publications | year=1909 | isbn=81-7536-132-8}}
* {{cite book | author=Singh, Khushwant | title=A History of the Sikhs: 1469-1839 Vol.1 (2nd ed.)| publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1963| isbn=0-19-567308-5}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{commons category|Guru Har Rai}}
*
{{Portal|India|Biography|Punjab}}
*
* * , Sikhs.org
* , Sikh-History.com
*
* , Official Website of Gurudwara Shri Guru Har Rai Village Bhungarni
*
*


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{{Sikh Gurus|Guru Hargobind|(] ] - ] ])|Guru Har Rai|Guru Har Krishan|(] ] - ] ])}}
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| title = ]|years=3 March 1644 – 6 October 1661
| after = ]
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{{Sikhism|state=collapsed}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Sikhism}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Guru Har}}
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Latest revision as of 07:45, 6 October 2024

Seventh Sikh guru from 1644 to 1661

Guru Har Rai
ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿ ਰਾਇ
Guru Har RaiGuru Har Rai receives a devotee. Family workshop of Nainsukh of Guler, Punjab Hills, ca.1790
Personal life
Born(1630-01-16)16 January 1630
Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
Died6 October 1661(1661-10-06) (aged 31)
Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
SpouseMata Krishen Devi (also known as Sulakhni, Kot Kalyani, or Kishan Kaur)
ChildrenBaba Ram Rai
Guru Har Krishan
Parent(s)Baba Gurditta (father) ,

Mata Nihal Kaur (mother)

Baba Daya Ram (father in law)

Mata Ananti (mother in law)
Other namesSeventh Master
Seventh Nanak'
Signature
Religious life
ReligionSikhism
Religious career
Period in office1644–1661
PredecessorGuru Hargobind
SuccessorGuru Har Krishan
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Guru Har Rai (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿ ਰਾਇ, pronunciation: [gʊɾuː ɦəɾ ɾaːɪ]; 16 January 1630 – 6 October 1661) revered as the seventh Nanak, was the seventh of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He became the Sikh leader at age 14, on 3 March 1644, after the death of his grandfather and the sixth Sikh leader Guru Hargobind. He guided the Sikhs for about seventeen years, till his death at age 31.

Guru Har Rai is notable for maintaining the large army of Sikh soldiers that the sixth Sikh Guru had amassed, yet avoiding military conflict. He supported the moderate Sufi influenced Dara Shikoh instead of conservative Sunni influenced Aurangzeb as the two brothers entered into a war of succession to the Mughal Empire throne.

After Aurangzeb won the succession war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Guru Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent him. Aurangzeb kept Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Adi Granth – the holy text of Sikhs at that time. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims. Ram Rai changed the verse to appease Aurangzeb instead of standing by the Sikh scripture, an act for which Guru Har Rai is remembered for excommunicating his elder son, and nominating his younger son Har Krishan to succeed him. Har Krishan became the eighth Guru at age five after Guru Har Rai's death in 1661.

Names

Some Sikh literature spell his name as Hari Rai. Some modern Sikhs refer to him as the Green Guru due to the sensitivity he displayed to the natural world.

Biography

Guru Har Rai was born to Ananti (also known as Nihal Kaur) and Baba Gurditta into a Sodhi Khatri household. His father died when he was 8 years old. At age 10, in 1640, Guru Har Rai was married to Mata Kishan Kaur (sometimes also referred to as Sulakhni) the daughter of Daya Ram. They had one daughter Rup Kaur and two sons, Ram Rai and Har Krishan (the latter of whom became the eighth Guru).

Guru Har Rai had brothers. His elder brother Dhir Mal had gained encouragement and support from Shah Jahan, with free land grants and Mughal sponsorship. Dhir Mal attempted to form a parallel Sikh tradition and criticized his grandfather and sixth Guru, Hargobind. The sixth Guru disagreed with Dhir Mal, and designated the younger Har Rai as the successor.

Authentic literature about Guru Har Rai life and times are scarce, he left no texts of his own and some Sikh texts composed later spell his name as "Hari Rai". Some of the biographies of Guru Har Rai written in the 18th century such as by Kesar Singh Chhibber, and the 19th-century Sikh literature are highly inconsistent.

Dara Shikoh

Guru Har Rai provided medical care to Dara Shikoh, possibly when he had been poisoned by Mughal operatives. According to Mughal records, Guru Har Rai provided other forms of support to Dara Shikoh as he and his brother Aurangzeb battled for rights to succession. Ultimately, Aurangzeb won, arrested Dara Shikoh and executed him on charges of apostasy from Islam. In 1660, Aurangzeb summoned Guru Har Rai to appear before him to explain his relationship with Dara Shikoh.

In the Sikh tradition, Guru Har Rai was asked why he was helping the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh whose forefathers had persecuted Sikhs and Sikh Gurus. Guru Har Rai is believed to have replied that if a man plucks flowers with one hand and gives it away using his other hand, both hands get the same fragrance.

After Aurangzeb won the succession war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Guru Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent him. Aurangzeb kept the 13 year old Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Adi Granth – the holy text of Sikhs. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims. Ram Rai changed the meanings of the verse to appease Aurangzeb instead of standing by the Sikh scripture, an act for which Guru Har Rai excommunicated his elder son, and nominated the younger Har Krishan to succeed as the next Guru of Sikhism.

Influence

He started several public singing and scripture recital traditions in Sikhism. The katha or discourse style recitals were added by Guru Har Rai to the sabad kirtan singing tradition of Sikhs. He also added the akhand kirtan or continuous scripture singing tradition of Sikhism, as well as the tradition of jotian da kirtan or collective folk choral singing of scriptures.

Reforms

The third Sikh leader Guru Amar Das had started the tradition of appointing Manji (zones of religious administration with an appointed chief called sangatias), introduced the dasvandh ("the tenth" of income) system of revenue collection in the name of Guru and as pooled community religious resource, and the famed langar tradition of Sikhism where anyone, without discrimination of any kind, could get a free meal in a communal seating.

The organisational structure that had helped Sikhs to grow and resist the Mughal persecution had created new problems for Guru Har Rai. The donation collectors, some of the Masands (local congregational leaders) led by Dhir Mal – the older brother of Guru Har Rai, all of them encouraged by the support of Shah Jahan, land grants and Mughal administration – had attempted to internally split the Sikhs into competing movements, start a parallel guruship, and thereby weaken the Sikh religion. Thus a part of the challenge for Guru Har Rai was to keep Sikhs united.

He appointed new masands such as Bhai Jodh, Bhai Gonda, Bhai Nattha, Bhagat Bhagwan (for eastern India), Bhai Pheru (for Rajathan), Bhai Bhagat (also known as Bairagi), as the heads of Manjis.

Death and succession

He appointed his 5-year-old youngest son Har Krishan as the eighth Guru of the Sikhs before his death.

Environmental stewardship

Guru Har Rai is associated in the Sikh tradition for his interest in the natural world. Guru Har Rai taught that the environment should be cared for by Sikhs.

Miniature painting of Guru Har Rai holding a flower, circa 1685. Kept in the collection of the mahant of the Ram Rai Darbar complex in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.

According to a traditional sakhi (with there existing variations of the same tale), when Guru Har Rai was a youth, he was strolling in a garden when the cloak of his garb happened to break a flower off of its stem after coming into contact with it. After seeing what had happened, he felt a strong sense of remorse for what had occurred, leading him to carefully ensuring his clothing does not harm any other plants for the rest of his life by being cautious through gathering his clothing while walking. This story depicts the Guru's sensitivity to harm of flora.

Guru Har Rai is said to have participated in hunting much like the previous gurus. However in-contrast to his predecessors, he never actually killed the animals he hunted but rather kept them in a zoo located in Kiratpur.

Medicinal knowledge

A traditional Sikh garden located in Kiratpur, known as Naulakha Bagh (meaning "garden of 900,000 plants"), was believed to have been founded and cared for by Guru Har Rai during his guruship period. It was large and contained many medicinal species of plants. One story narrates that Dara Shikoh was close to death after having been poisoned by tiger whiskers, as per tradition, and the treatments offered by his father, Shah Jahan, failed to absolve his illness. After trying every treatment with no resolve, Shah Jahan eventually made contact with Guru Har Rai for his assistance, with the latter freely offering it to the Mughal prince. Guru Har Rai sent medicinal plants to Shah Jahan to treat his son's condition. Despite the hostility that existed at that time between the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and the Sikhs, the Sikh guru still helped the emperor's poisoned son, which is a reflection of Guru Har Rai's far-reaching compassion.

Salok Mahalla Satvaan (7)

The common Sikh belief is that Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai and Guru Harkrishan did not contribute to any Bani at all. This is not entirely true as Guru Har Rai is said to have written the Salok Mahalla Satvaan.

This mahalla is in the Kiratpuri Bir of the Guru Granth Sahib. Although it is clearly marked as a composition of Guru Har Rai the seventh Mina Guru Miharban also used the marker leaving open the possibility of mistaken attribution. The Salok does not appear in any of the texts containing the writings of Miharban. At the same time no text about the Sikh Gurus lives reference Guru Har Rai writing Bani. It cannot therefore be securely attributed to Guru Har Rai. Gurus each had their own way of starting poems or couplets.

Guru Har Rai's was: Through the voice of Har Rai, the Guru.

Legacy

In 2011, 14 March was the date selected to celebrate Sikh Environment Day because it was the anniversary date of Guru Har Rai's gurgaddi (ascension to the guruship).

In 2013, the president of EcoSikh described Guru Har Rai as the "green guru", emphasizing the Sikh guru's close-bond with nature, in a press-release statement.

Popular culture

In 2013, a painting by Rahi Mohinder Singh was gifted to EcoSikh which depicts Guru Har Rai giving a tree to a petitioner to plant, however the tree species portrayed in the painting is an eucalyptus, a non-native species that was not found during the lifetime of Guru Har Rai, making the painting anachronistic.

Gallery

  • Guru Hargobind (right) with his grandson, the young Har Rai (left). Guru Hargobind (right) with his grandson, the young Har Rai (left).
  • Guru Har Rai, Pahari painting. Guru Har Rai, Pahari painting.
  • Portrait of Guru Har Rai holding a blue flower Portrait of Guru Har Rai holding a blue flower
  • Guru Har Rai, the Seventh Guru (ca.1800–1825 Pahari painting) Guru Har Rai, the Seventh Guru (ca.1800–1825 Pahari painting)

References

  1. "History - Darbar Shri Guru Ram Rai Ji Maharaj - Dehradun". www.sgrrdarbar.org.
  2. "Sri Gur Panth Prakash" by Rattan Singh Bhangoo:
  3. "Sri Gur Sobha" by Sainapati
  4. Bhai Gurdas Vaaran
  5. "Gurbilas Patshahi 6" by Koer Singh
  6. ^ Bhagat Singh. Harbans Singh; et al. (eds.). "Har Rai, Guru (1630–1661)". Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Punjabi University Patiala. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  7. ^ Har Rai: Sikh Guru, Encyclopedia Britannica (2015)
  8. ^ Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-1-4411-0231-7.
  9. ^ J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. pp. 67–69. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
  10. William Owen Cole; Piara Singh Sambhi (1995). The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-898723-13-4.
  11. ^ Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 400. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
  12. ^ Prill, Susan E. (27 March 2014). "19. Ecotheology". In Singh, Pashaura; Fenech, Louis E. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 223–234. ISBN 9780191004117.
  13. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer: Sikh History in 10 Volumes.
  14. J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–63, 67–69. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
  15. Louis E. Fenech; W. H. McLeod (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  16. Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
  17. Surjit Singh Gandhi (2007). History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708 C.E. Atlantic Publishers. pp. 590–591 with note 2. ISBN 978-81-269-0858-5.
  18. Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 226 with note 7. ISBN 978-1-4411-0231-7.
  19. William Owen Cole; Piara Singh Sambhi (1995). The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-1-898723-13-4.
  20. ^ Louis E. Fenech; W. H. McLeod (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  21. Charles E. Farhadian (2015). Introducing World Religions. Baker Academic. p. 342. ISBN 978-1-4412-4650-9.
  22. Surjit Singh Gandhi (2007). History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1469–1606 C.E. Atlantic Publishers. pp. 365–367. ISBN 978-81-269-0857-8.
  23. Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. 2004. p. 345. ISBN 978-1-57607-355-1.
  24. ^ Singh, Sardar Harjeet (2009). Faith & Philosophy of Sikhism. Gyan Publishing House. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-81-7835-721-8.
  25. Faith and Philosophy of Sikhism Pg.103
  26. Singh, Sardar Harjeet (2009). Faith & Philosophy of Sikhism. Gyan Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7835-721-8.
  27. Singh, Pashaura (26 September 2003). The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and Authority. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-908773-0.

Bibliography

  • Macauliffe, M.A. (1909). The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus Sacred Writings and Authors. Low Price Publications. ISBN 81-7536-132-8.
  • Singh, Khushwant (1963). A History of the Sikhs: 1469-1839 Vol.1 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-567308-5.

External links

Preceded byGuru Hargobind Sikh Guru
3 March 1644 – 6 October 1661 		Succeeded byGuru Har Krishan
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