Lehal Library

The Punjab and the Birth of Sikhism but it was sufficient to arouse the wrath of Aurangzeb, who, on the conclusion of hostilities, summoned Har Rai to Delhi to explain his conduct. Har Rai sent his elder son, Ram Rai, to represent him. Ram Rai succeeded in winning the confidence of the Emperor. 17 Aurangzeb decided to keep Ram Rai in Delhi in the belief that, with the funrre incumbent of the guruship in his power, he would become the arbiter of the destinies of the Sikh community. Ram Rai's sycophancy at the Mughal Court turned his father's mind against him, and he announced his intention of passing the guruship to his younger son, Hari Krishen. Ram Rai did his best to re-eslablisb himsdf with hi.s fatht:r aud succeeded in winning over a section of the Sikhs to his side. Aurangzeb encouraged him in his pretensions to guruship and gave him land on which to build his community centre. 18 But Har Rai's mind was made up and before he died he proclaimed the succession of his five-year-old son, Hari Krishen. Har Rai's seventeen years of ministry were not marked by any spectacular events. Although he had inherited a militant tradition and a small army, be was a man of peace. He loved to hunt, but only to bring back wild animals for his private zoo at Kiratpur. He hated to hun any living thing. 'You can repair or rebuild a temple or a mosque but not a broken heart,' he said. He adhered strictly to the routine of a life of prayer exhorted by Nanak. One of his disciples asked him whether there was any point io reciting the Guru's hymns without understanding them. 'Yes,' replied Har Rai, 'as the grease sticks to the pot 17 Sikh chronicles narrate an incident which made Ram Rai acceplable lo Aurang-Leb and discredited him in lhe eyes of his father and community. He was asked to explain a passage in Lhe Granth which was considered offensive to Muslims. I.I. ran: 'The dust of a Mussalman's body finds its way in the hands of the poller, who makes pots and bricks out of it. He fires the clay; it cries out as it bums' (Var Asa, VJ, 2). Ram Rai substintled the word ilf'im4n (faithless) for Mussalman and saved his skin. Ram Rai was only a boy in his early teens when he was presented at coon. Jf the above-mentioned incident took place, it is likely that he was prompted by some elder person accompanying him. 18 This was in the present-day Lown of Debra Dun, where descendants ofRam Rai called Ram Ra7as still have a couple of gurdwaras of their own.