Guru Amar Das (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਮਰ ਦਾਸ) (Sunday 23 May 1479 - Thursday 16 September 1574) was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and became Guru on Saturday, 16 April 1552 at the age of 73 following in the footsteps of Sri Guru Angad Dev Sahib ji, who left for his heavenly abode on 29 March1552 aged 48. Guru Amar Das ji was born in 1479, 10 year after Guru Nanak the First Sikh Guru and founder of the Sikh faith.
Guru Ji was the eldest son of Sri Tej Bhan Ji a farmer and trader and Mata Lachmi Ji, his devoted mother. He was a shopkeeper and lived in a village calledBasarke which is near Amritsar. The third Sikh Guru was married to Mata Mansa Devi and they had four children - Two sons named Bhai Mohan and Bhai Mohri and two daughters named Bibi Dani Ji and younger daughter named Bibi Bhani Ji. Bibi Bhani later married Bhai Jetha who became the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das. See article Platforms of Jetha.
Contributions
The Third Sikh Guru contributed the following to the people of the world:
- All visitors to Gurdwaras were to first take Langar (Free Blessed Food) together before seeing the Guru. "First Pangat then Sangat"
- Further abolished the Caste System.
- Guru lifted the status of women and gave them equality with men. He strictly prohibited the practice of Sati (the dying of the wife on her husband's funeral pyre), "Parrda" (veil to cover the face), etc.
- Established an Administration system for management of the increasing size of the Sikh congregations, called Manjis
- Gift of the prayer called Anand Sahib, which is one of the Five Banis recited daily by devout Sikhs.
- Established the city of Goindval on the banks of river Bias in 1552 A.D.
- The Guru contributed a total of 907 hymns to the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
Before Guru Ji died at the age of 95, he nominated Guru Ram Das (Bhai Jetha) as the fourth Guru of the Sikhs.
Social Changes
He preached against Sati and advocated the re-marrying of widows. He asked the women to discard 'Purdah' (veil). He introduced new birth, marriage and death ceremonies. Thus he raised the status of women and protected the rights of female infant who were killed without question as they were deemed to have no status. These teachings met stiff resistance from the Orthodox Hindus and Muslim fundamentalists. He fixed three Gurpurbs for Sikh celebrations: Dewali, Vaisakhi and Maghi. Visiting of Hindu pilgrimage centres and paying tributes to the Muslim places were prohibited.
Guru Amardas Sahib constructed Baoli at Goindwal Sahib having eighty-four steps and made it a Sikh pilgrimage centre for the first time in the history of Sikhism. He reproduced more copies of the hymns of Guru Nanak Sahib and Guru Angad Sahib. He also composed 869 (according to some chronicles these were 709) verses (stanzas) including Anand Sahib, and then later on Guru Arjan (fifth Guru) made all the Shabads part of Guru Granth Sahib.When the Raja of Haripur came to see the Guru. Guru Amar Das insisted that he first partake a common meal from the community kitchen, called langar, irrespective of his caste. The Raja obliged and had an audience with the Guru. But one of his queens refused to lift the veil from her face, so Guru Amar Das refused to meet her. Guru Amar Das not only preached the equality of people irrespective of their caste but he also tried to foster the idea of women's equality. He tried to liberate women from the practices of purdah (wearing a veil) as well as preaching strongly against the practice of sati (Hindu wife burning on her husband's funeral pyre). Guru Amar Das also disapproved of a widow remaining unmarried for the rest of her life.
Once during several days of rain while Guru Amar Das was riding by a wall which he saw was on the verge of falling he galloped his horse past the wall. The Sikhs questioned him saying; "O Master, you have instructed us, 'fear not death, for it comes to all' and 'the Guru and the God-man are beyond the pale of birth and death', why did you then gallop past the collapsing wall?" Guru Amar Das replied; "Our body is the embodiment of God's light. It is through the human body that one can explore one's limitless spiritual possibilities. Demi-gods envy the human form. One should not, therefore, play with it recklessly. One must submit to the Will of God, when one's time is over, but not crave death, nor invite it without a sufficient and noble cause. It is self surrender for the good of man that one should seek, not physical annihilation."