A principled fearless warrior,
Born in the suburbs of Amritsar.
Son of Guru Har Gobind ,
He was the protector of hind.
Named Tyaga Mal at birth -
Master of renunciation on earth.

Baba Buda and Bhai Gurdas taught him religious philosophy,
An amateur swordsman and archer, he fought fiercely.
Displaying great gallantry and valour,
At the battle of Kartarpur,
He was renamed as Guru Teg Bahadur,
By Miri Piri de Malik, his father.

Delved into studies, he eventually moved to Bakala’s isolation,
With Mata Gujri Ji, his wife, spent 26 years in cave contemplation.
As mysteriously as he disappeared,
As miraculously, he reappeared.

Once Makhan Shah Labana, a wealthy trader,
Promised to himself, in the face of danger,
To offer 500 coins to the Sikh Guru, if he sustain,
He went to Bakala, and was surprised to see 22 claimant.

So, he offered two gold coins to each,
Who in the village proclaimed and preach,
He offered Guru Teg Bahadur too, the coins,
Who smiled and said, “You had pledged 500 coins”.

The trader was up with elation,
Saying, “Guru Ladho re” at such invention.
Everyone was beaming,
At such a pioneering.

He was thus made the ninth guru,
Spreading teachings of wellbeing and truth.
He said, “Ones, who considered praise, dispraise the same,
For whom greed and attachment don’t sustain,
And pain and pleasure don’t imprison,
Appraise them to be safe and enlightened. ”

His life in austerity, was well – tread,
He composed 15 ragas and 116 shabads.
He said, “Like a dream and a show,
Is this whole world, you must know.
None of this whole panorama is true,
O the creator Nanak, without you. ”

He settled the town of Anandpur,
Enthralled in a spiritual splendour.
But the sky was overcast with a caliginous canvas,
Made of people’s cries and relentless thunders,
A complete religion unanimity was being forged,
A rainbow multeity unified world, being scourged.

At this time, Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor,
Was prosecuting, non – Muslims and spreading terror.
The country was condoning brutally under,
The savagery of the tyrannical ruler.

The Hindu Brahmin Pandits who were great scholars,
Were under great threat and pressure.
Unable to bear the Mughals’ torture,
They sought help from Guru Teg Bahadur.

He now became thoughtful of the next course of action,
The only end to the atrocities, was the sacrifice of a holy person.
He was motivated to sacrifice himself, by his son.
He came to the Pandits rescue and handled the situation.

He declared his son, Gobind Rai, as his, successor,
And went on an unending journey, to meet the emperor.
He was accompanied by the Kashmiri Pandits,
And three devout disciples, who insisted.

When Aurangzeb heard the report,
He ordered Guru’s immediate arrest and escort.
The Guru was brought to Delhi,
And confined in the fortress of the city.

While in the prison, he was asked to accept Islam,
He refused to convert and maintained his calm.
Aurangzeb, patience to an end and he was enraged,
Guru’s followers were tortured and scourged,
In the most inhuman ways.

The Mughal emperor urged an end or a great wealth,
But the Guru said that he didn’t fear death.
Aurangzeb, now showed his devilish wrath,
And ordered Guru’s public behead.

To preserve the tradition of the Hindu,
To save their ‘Tilak’ and ‘Janeu’,
He, the epitome of “Tyag and Bairaag”,
Submitted his soul to God’s might,
Gave up his head for the noble right.
Chandni Chawk witnessed the rending sight.

The sword beckoned in an agonising wrath,
Leaving apart the head and body at bloodbath.
His blood is the Hindu’s tilak, their janeu his soul’s string,
Misery is the character hearth, that day the grim reaper sing,
The savage brutalities wrecked,
Failed to scare the sacred.

As he said,
Whatever has been created,
Shall be destroyed,
Everyone shall perish,
Today or subsequent.

Darkness had murdered the light of day,
A light was born, from the ichor of day.
After having wiped away the gloom connate,
A beaming sun did again incarnate.
The ego, which burnt on the city’s stage that day,
Was the dawn of a contemporary life’s way...