Courage Beyond Empires

“Were you there, when they martyred our Lord?

O Were you there ?

Oh, Sometimes my heart begins to trembles on the thought

Were you there, when they martyred our Lord?

As water gets blended with water,

Thus the light of the Guru merged with the Light Divine.”

Such an evocative rendering of the unmatched valour of Guru Tegh Bahadur is captured in “Divine Poet, Saviour & Martyr.” The spiritual enormity of the afternoon of November 24, 1675, when the ninth Sikh Guru — the saint-soldier of humanity — sacrificed his life with divine composure to save humanity.

On that fateful afternoon, Chandni Chowk became the stage of a moral triumph that no empire could suppress. Guru Tegh Bahadur stood before the Mughal court, serene and unyielding, refusing to surrender either his faith or the freedom of others to theirs. First, his three followers — Bhai Sati Das, Bhai Mati Das and Bhai Dayala — were brutally forced to death. And then, within moments, his head was severed — yet what was meant to silence him became an immortal sermon on freedom.

As the sword fell, a great dust storm swept across Delhi; the sky turned crimson, and people wept in anguish. Amid the chaos, one humble Sikh, Bhai Jaita Singh, lifted the Guru’s severed head, wrapped it in cloth, and carried it through the night to Anandpur Sahib for respectful last rites. When the Guru’s young son Gobind Rai beheld this act, he declared, Rangreta Guru ka Beta — the son of the Guru is he who bears his spirit. Thus were born two legacies on that day: one of sacrifice, and one of equality.

Guru Tegh Bahadur did not sacrifice his life for one sect or religion but for the universal right to conscience. He sacrificed his life to uphold the eternal ethos of Bharat. When the Kashmiri Pandits sought his help against forced conversions, he chose the gallows over compromise. In that act, Hindu and Sikh destinies intertwined forever. He stood as Hind Di Chadar — the Shield of India — embodying the civilizational truth that dharma is a shared moral compass. Those who try to create divisions between Hindus and Sikhs today must not forget that when the Vedas were threatened, it was a Sikh Guru who gave his life so that their chant might continue.

In one of his shabads in Rāg Sorath, the Guru wrote:

“Jo nar dukh mai dukh nahin mānai, sukh sneh arū bhai nahin jā kai.

Kanchan māti māmē ek jānai, nar kēhi kāhe ko kahiai tā kai.”

(He who remains unmoved in sorrow and untouched by joy,

who regards gold and dust as one — such a person has realised the truth of all scriptures.)

The founding of Anandpur Sahib was an act of vision — a city where ananda (bliss) met shakti (strength). It was here that the young Gobind Rai absorbed his father’s teachings, later shaping the Khalsa’s creed of fearless service.

Centuries later, the same spirit animates New India — an India that finds strength in its civilizational roots. Guru Tegh Bahadur’s life bridges these two epochs — from Anandpur’s sanctum to an India of digital prowess and dharmic pride. His legacy reminds us that progress without principle is peril, and that cultural strength springs from spiritual self-belief.

“The martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur set the fire ablaze in the whole of Punjab and elsewhere.” Anandpur became a pilgrimage; thousands flocked there to bow before his memory. Young Gobind Rai — barely ten — faced this storm of grief with serenity beyond his years. He took command of the community, and from that grief was born a new dawn: the rise of the Khalsa, the brotherhood of the fearless.

The martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur sent tremors through the empire. Aurangzeb’s pride was humbled; his dream of converting all of Kashmir collapsed. As recorded in Divine Poet, Saviour & Martyr, “The tyrant felt defeated and disgraced… his prestige received a severe jolt.” His proselytising zeal waned, and the oppressed in Kashmir breathed easier. The stories of courage and unconditional devotion towards their Guru, Bhai Sati Das, Bhai Mati Das and Bhai Dayala, still continue to inspire millions. The story of Bhai Jaita’s bravery spread across the land, igniting courage in countless hearts. Bhai Lakhi defied the guards to cremate the Guru’s body, burning even his own possessions. Their valour became a legend unmatched in the annals of mankind. Entire India realised how the Guru had laid down his life for their right to worship freely. His example awakened a moral revolution: fearlessness became faith’s new language.

Even Khwaja Abdulla, the Daroga of Delhi’s Kotwali, resigned his post after witnessing the Guru’s death and journeyed to Anandpur to live in meditation. Scholars like Pandit Kirpa Ram Saraswati and the Pandits of Kashmir saw in Tegh Bahadur the avatar of this age, the divine protector of liberty and light.

Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom was not a moment of despair but the dawn of India’s moral resurgence. His sacrifice affirmed that spiritual sovereignty is the mother of political freedom. He taught that to live in fear is to die daily, but to die for truth is to live eternally.

“Tegh Bahadur ke chalat bhayo jagat ko shok,

Hai hai hai sab jag bhayo, jai jai jai sura lok.”

After 350 years since the demise of Guru Teghbahadur ji, his life continues to guide not only the entire India but humanity. He taught us how to spread the light of freedom, with courage and fearlessness.

Views expressed are personal. The writer is an author and Member Secretary, IGNCA