Image of Mata Krishan by Siri Kartar Kaur

This story is as told in the book Women of Grace and Power, by Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa.

Mata Krishan Kaur was a wife of the seventh Guru. She and Guru Har Rai lived together in Kiratpur for twenty years. In 1661, her husband passed the guruship on to their youngest son, Har Krishan.

When Guru Har Rai breathed his last, he was only thirty-one years old. Mata Krishan Kaur was just twenty- nine. Guru Har Krishan was only five years old at the time.

When her husband, passed from this world, Mata Krishan Kaur did her best to cheer up all the sad and crying Sikhs. “Don’t be sad,” she said. “This is all a part of God’s play.”

Mata Krishan Kaur made herself busy helping and serving her son, now the eighth Guru. She and her husband had taught him well. He was already waking up three hours before sunrise to take his bath and meditate. Afterwards, he would sit with the Sadh Sangat, chant Gurbaanee with them, and enjoy the Keertan.

Guru Har Krishan had an older brother, Ram Rai, who was very jealous. He made friends with the emperor Auranzeb. Ram Rai hoped the powerful emperor would help him defeat his little brother so he could be Guru.

One day, a messenger came with gifts and presents from a friendly Rajput general in Delhi. Raja Jai Singh invited Guru Har Krishan to visit him. He told the Guru that the emperor wanted to see him, but that he should not worry. Raja Jai Singh had a large army, and he would see Guru Har Krishan was safe.

Everyone knew what a dangerous man the emperor of India was. Many of the Sikhs worried that something bad might happen if their young Guru went to see him. Hundreds of Sikhs wanted to come with Guru Har Krishan to keep him safe, but the Guru asked only his mother and about twenty Sikhs to come along.

Raja Jai Singh was a good man. He gave his special guests a big house to stay in. The house was surrounded by Raja Jai Singh’s soldiers, who also lived in Delhi. It seemed safe from the emperor.

Although Guru Har Krishan had come to Delhi because the powerful emperor wanted to see him, he did not want to see Aurangzeb. Instead, Mata Krishan Kaur and the Guru spend their days visiting the poor, the sick, and the homeless. All the money his Sikhs gave Guru Har Krishan was used to buy food, clothes and medicine for the suffering.

Everyone was happy to see the Guru. Some said, that just by seeing him, their sadness and worry went away. Such was the power of Guru Har Krishan’s meditation.

Raja Jai Singh told the emperor what he saw. He told Aurangzeb that Har Krishan was very different from his brother Ram Rai. While Ram Rai wanted to be powerful, Guru Har Krishan only wanted to help the helpless and serve the poor.

While the general did his best to keep the Guru safe and out of the emperor’s hands, Aurangzeb was impatient. He demanded Raja Jai Singh hand Guru Har Krishan over to him.

There was a terrible sickness in Dehli at that time. Thousands and thousands of people were dying from smallpox.

The next morning, Guru Har Krishan had a fever and was not feeling well. He was so sick that he could not even speak when Raja Jai Singh asked him to see the emperor.

The day after that, the Guru’s body was covered with pox. He knew he would not have many more days in this life.

Mata Krishan Kaur began to worry. She had seen her husband pass away just three years before. Now it looked like even her youngest son would leave her.

She said, “My son, why do you want to die? You only just became Guru. You are still a child. It is too soon for you to go. I wish you would live a full life, have a wife and children, and then go to God! Why at such a young age are you turning away from this world?”

The Guru said to his mother, “Mother dear, it is natural you should feel this love for me, but you should not worry. We must do what God wants. Guru Arjun said:

‘The Master may harvest the crop whether it is green, half-ripe, or ripe and ready to be cut.’

“When God, the Farmer, feels it is time, He cuts down the crop. There is no rule that says it cannot be young and green. What torture Guru Arjan suffered, but he did not say a word! Why should we be sad about the body when God wants to take it away. Whatever God does is best.”

While the Guru lay sick in bed, everyone was told to chant and read Gurbaanee. When he could, Guru Har Krishan sat up and taught the Sikhs gathered around his bed. He told them about life and the importance of death.

All this while, Mata Krishan Kaur was busy bringing special food and medicine to her son. She also worked day and night to look after all the people who came to visit.

Some of the Sikhs worried. They said, “Great King, your brother Ram Rai is friends with the emperor. In Punjab, there is Dhirmal and others who want the Guruship. They are only waiting for your passing to try and take over. Simple Sikhs will fall into their traps and smart Sikhs will be hurt. In this way, the tree which Guru Nanak planted will wither away. Everyone will be a guru in their own home and Sikhism will fall apart. Please give us someone like you to help us.”

Guru Har Krishan said, “Why do you worry? The tree planted by Guru Nanak’s holy hands will never wither. Bad weather, storms and heat may come, but that tree will live on. One Guru will blend with another.”

The eighth Guru then asked for a coconut and five pennies. Then, in the same way Guru Har Rai and all the Gurus before him had done it, he made three circles as he meditated on the ninth Guru, and said, “The Guru is in Bakala.”

At that point, he lost his voice. When the Guru was able to speak again, he told the ragis to sing Gurbaanee and chant God’s Name. Each day, Guru Har Krishan became weaker. One night, the Guru’s mother said to him, “What should I do alone in this world, once I have lost my good son and my kind husband? How will I live without them?”

The Guru replied, “Mother dear, do not worry! Most of your life to now has been filled with happiness. For the rest of your life, serve God. Guru Arjan has said:

‘Where the doctor cannot do anything and where there is no sister and no brother, only God can help.’

“By remembering God, you will arrive at a place where you will never be unhappy and never be without us.”

Hearing her son’s words, Mata Krishan Kaur felt peace. The Guru finally told his Sikhs not to cry for him. Instead, he wanted them all to sing Gurbaanee.

After Guru Har Krishan’s cremation, Mata Krishan Kaur took all her son’s important things and went back to Kiratpur. There, she sent a Sikh to the village of Bakala with a message to the ninth Guru: “Please come to Kiratpur to receive a special jewel for your turban, a hawk, a sword, the army, and the horses which have passed to you through Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai, and Guru Har Krishan. These are now yours.”

A few weeks later, Guru Tegh Bahadur arrived with Mata Nanaki and Mata Gujari and many Sikhs. Bhai Gurditta, the grandfather of the eighth Guru, and older brother to Guru Tegh Bahadur, gave him all the things from Guru Har Krishan.

The ninth Guru took most of the things but gave the things that were special to the eighth Guru, his clothes and other things, to Mata Krishan Kaur to keep.

The ninth Guru went on to build the city of Chak Nanaki, which his son would later call “Anandpur”. Mata Krishan Kaur stayed in Kiratpur. She lived there and taught the Sikhs how to live and how to die, and how to live on while others die. Mata Krishan Kaur was a great teacher for many Sikhs.

While Guru Tegh Bahadur travelled far to Patna and Assam, Mata Krishan Kaur kept serving and teaching the Sikhs in Punjab. When the ninth Guru was martyred in Delhi, it was Mata Krishan Kaur who came to Anandpur and lovingly put the turban on Gobind Rai’s head in the ceremony that made him Guru.

The wife of the seventh Guru and mother of the eighth Guru was a humble, peaceful, and noble lady. Mata Krishan Kaur was a great role model. She loved and served and gave hope to many people.