Guru Gobind Singh - A spiritual master

The sole child of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, and Mata Gujri, was Gobind Singh.In the Indian city of Patna, on December 22, 1666, Guru Gobind Singh was born.His father left his family in the care of the local Raja because he was a regular traveller. Tegh Bahadur travelled to Chak Nanki (Anandpur) in 1670 and invited his family to come with him. One of the five most revered locations of religious authority (takht, lit. throne) for Sikhs, Takht Sri Harimandar Sahib, is a sacred shrine located on the site of the Patna home where Gobind Rai was born and raised.The tenth Guru of the Sikhs is Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

When Gobind Rai arrived in Anandpur (then called Chakk Nanaki) in the foothills of the Sivaliks in March 1672, he was taken there and had his early education there, which included learning to read and write Punjabi, Braj, Sanskrit, and Persian. At the age of nine, both his life and the life of the community he was supposed to lead took an abrupt shift. A group of Kashmiri Brahmans, driven to desperation by the Mughal general Iftikar Khan's religious extremism, travelled to Anandpur early in 1675 in search of Guru Tegh Bahadur's intervention.The Mughal officers detained and imprisoned Guru Tegh Bahadur. He was forced to become an Islamist, and when he refused, he endured horrifying torture. The Guru was then publicly executed since he refused to convert and instead decided to endure all the tortures.

After becoming the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh maintained his education in reading, writing, and martial arts including archery and horseback riding. He composed the Punjabi version of the Markandeya Puran, an old Sanskrit literature, in 1684. It tells the story of a supposed battle between good and evil, in which the virtuous fights against oppression and injustice.He resided in Paonta, close to the Yamuna River, till 1685.

Guru Gobind Singh had three wives:-

• On June 21, 1677, he tied the knot with Mata Jito, age 10, at Basantgaṛh, ten kilometres north of Anandpur. Jujhar Singh (1691), Zorawar Singh (1696), and Fateh Singh (1699) were the couple's three sons.
• On April 4, 1684, at Anandpur, at the age of 17, he wed Mata Sundari. Ajit Singh, the couple's only child, was born in 1687.
• He wed Mata sahib Devan on April 15, 1700, in Anandpur, at the age of 33. Despite not having children, she played a significant role in Sikhism. She was declared to be the Mother of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh.

At Sri Anandpur Sahib Ji, Guru Gobind Singh Ji revealed the Khalsa Brotherhood's order. Guru Gobind Singh Ji exhorted the Sikhs to make a vow to live a pure life as instructed by the other nine Gurus on the occasion of Baisakhi in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib Ji.Amrit was prepared and the first five Sikhs were initiated into the order of Khalsa Panth. Thereafter, the Guru took initiation from the Panj Pyaras and merged entity of Guru Ji into Panth and entity of Panth into Guru. Males are to use the name Singh, and females are to use the name Kaur, after their first name, according to Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

The Five Ks, or the five Articles of Faith that distinguish the Khalsa Sikhs, were subsequently established by Guru Gobind Singh. Kesh, or uncut hair, Kangha, or a wooden comb, Kara, or a metal bracelet, Kachera, or a particular type of cotton undergarment, and Kirpan, or a strapped, curved sword, were these five insignia.

He finished writing the Guru Granth Sahib, a compilation of hymns (Shabad) or Baani that expound on the attributes of God. The Granth is considered the sacred text of the Sikhs and comprises the teachings of the ten Sikh Gurus. Guru Gobind Singh acknowledged the holy text as his heir and transferred the scripture's spiritual guidance to it.

Guru Gobind Singh and his Sikh soldiers engaged the Mughal army in a number of significant engagements following the establishment of the Khalsa order. He fought in several engagements, including the Battle of Bhangani, the Battle of Nadaun, the Battle of Guler, the Battle of Nirmohgarh, the Battle of Basoli, the Battle of Anandpur, and the Battle of Muktsar.

Wazir Khan, the Muslim ruler of Sirhind, took the two younger sons of Guru along with his mother Mata Gujri. His youngest boys, who were 5 and 8 years old, were buried alive inside a wall in accordance with Sikh tradition after they refused to become Muslims. Mata Gujri passed away shortly after learning of her grandsons' deaths. In December 1704, while defending their father, his two eldest sons, who were 13 and 17 years old, also lost their lives in combat against the Mughal army.

For as long as Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb ruled, there were conflicts between the Sikhs and the Mughals. After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, his son Bahadur Shah ascended to the throne. Guru Gobind Singh was revered by Bahadur Shah, who also used to attend his lectures. The friendly ties between the monarch and the Guru, however, did not sit well with Sirhind's Nawab, Wazir Khan, who devised a plot to kill Guru Gobind Singh.According to some experts, the Mughal army living nearby may have sent the assassin who killed Guru Gobind Singh rather than Wazir Khan.The Guru passed away on October 7, 1708, from his wounds a few days later. His passing sparked a protracted and ferocious Sikh-Mughal war..

Before his dying in 1708, Guru Ji granted Guru Granth Sahib Ji the title of Guru. The Guru Granth Sahib Ji has more than 1400 pages of gurbani, which Guru Gobind Singh Ji included as a gesture of humility and to demonstrate his thesis that the Guru Granth Sahib Ji was the last Guru of the Sikhs. The writings of the eleventh Sikh Guru are included in a different volume titled Dasam Granth. Guru Gobind Singh gave Banda Singh Bahadur Ji instructions on how to combat oppression and suppression before he passed away. Several Khalsa Panth institutions that presently spread Sikhism's values around the world were also blessed by Guru Ji.