Guru Teg Bahadur was born in Amritsar, India, on April 18, 1621. The name Teg Bahadur, means “mighty of the sword” and was given by his father, Guru Hargobind, after showing unimaginable valor in a the battle of Kartarpur against the Mughals.
As a child, Guru Teg Bahadur was trained in the martial-arts of archery, horsemanship, and swordsmanship. He learned the classics of Gurmukhi, Hindi, and Sanskrit. Extended periods of time in seclusion and meditation are said to have given him a deep mystical temperament.
Around 1640, Guru Teg Bahadur, his wife Mata Gujri, and his mother Nanaki, the wife of Guru Hargobind moved as a family to the village of Bakala in Amritsar. There, Guru Teg Bahadur meditated for 27 years in an underground cell leaving the community with 21 imposters proclaiming to be the 8th Gurus’ successor. When the time was right he was found by Makhan Shah who publicly proclaimed he had found the 9th Guru.
He is known and beloved for his defense of the Hindu community before the tyrant kings of the Moghul Court.
Guru Teg Bahadurs Salok’s, the closing compositions in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib (1430 pages of sacred teachings and songs) are full of the deep wisdom of life, death, and the beautiful poetic structure of the Naad (sound current) of Gurbani (voice of the Guru).
He was eventually beheaded in 1675 in Delhi by Mughal Emperer Aurangzeb for upholding religious freedom for Sikhs, the Brahmin Pandits of Kashmir who would have been beheaded themselves had Guru Teg Bahadur not gone to Delhi to offer himself in their place, and for the religious freedom of all people of all faiths.
~ Sikh Dharma International, “Guru Teg Bahadur,” Sikh Dharma International (https://www.sikhdharma.org/guru-teg-bahadur/).