June 3 – Guru Arjun Dev Sacrifice Day: Due to sticking to his religion, the fifth guru of the Sikhs and the first Guru among the Sikh sacrifices, Arjun Dev, the Chaturthi date of Shukla Paksha of Jyeshtha month, Vikram Samvat 1663, accordingly, on 30 May 1606, on the orders of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, in Lahore in the scorching heat of Jyeshtha month. Sitting on a pan, hot sand and hot oil were poured over him, and when Guru Arjundev fainted due to extreme torture, his body was thrown into the Ravi river. Due to which due to his death, the sacrifice day of Guru Arjun Dev is celebrated on this day, and he is honored by remembering his charitable work. Guru Arjan Dev, who edited the Guru Granth Sahib after studying the scriptures related to Sikhism, is known for his self-sacrifice with all religion equanimity, for the construction of Harmandir Sahib, the biggest pilgrimage site of Sikhism.
Guru Arjan Dev was born on 18 Vaishakh Krishna Saptami Vikram Samvat 1620 accordingly on 15 April 1563 AD in Goindwal, Amritsar, Punjab to Ramdasji and Mata Bhaniji, the fourth Guru of the Sikhs. His maternal grandfather, Guru Amardas ji, was the third guru of Sikhism. Guru Arjandev was married at the age of 16 to Mata Ganga, daughter of Krishnachand in Mau Sahib village of Jalandhar district. He got a son Hargobind Singh from Mother Ganga. After Guru Arjun Dev, his son Guru Hargobind Singh became the sixth Guru of Sikhism. Guru Arjundev was well versed in Devanagari, Gurmukhi, Sanskrit and Mathematics subjects. Guru Arjan Dev was a great poet as well as being a guru. Among his works Adi Granth (Guru Granth Sahib), Sukhmani Sahib are prominent. At present, all Sikhs consider the Guru Granth Sahib as their Guru. The reasons for his fame include being the fifth Guru of Sikhism as well as the construction of the Golden Temple, the establishment of the city of Tarn Taran Sahib. Due to this fame, every year on 15 April, the light of Guru Arjan Dev is celebrated.
Guru Arjun Dev edited the Guru Granth Sahib by collecting the hymns of all the gurus and saints of other religions and got it installed in the Darbar Sahib. It is said that some anti-social elements complained to Emperor Akbar regarding the editing of Guru Granth Sahib that the Adi Granth was written against Islam, but later when Akbar came to know about the greatness of speech, So he expressed regret by presenting 51 seals to Arjundev through Bhai Gurdas and Baba Budha. Akbar liked Guru Granth Sahib amidst his many troubles in the later part of life. It is noteworthy that at that time Akbar was troubled by his son Jahangir’s drunkenness, leaves and many other bad habits, that is why he thought of making his grandson Khusro the heir to his throne. But at the time of his death, he saw his son Jahangir in front and handed it over to him. Due to this, Jahangir became the emperor of Delhi’s power and he put Khusrau under house arrest inside the palace, but taking advantage of the carefree position of the security guards, Khusro one day escaped from the palace with the help of Rajput chieftains. When Jahangir got the news of his escape, Jahangir sent his army to Lahore to capture Khusrau.
Before going to Lahore, Khusrau had met Guru Arjandev and was blessed by Guru Arjandev. But while going from Lahore to Kabul, there was an encounter between the army of Jahangir and Khusrau. Khusrau was defeated in the war and was taken captive and brought to the palace. In front of Khusrau’s eyes, the chieftains who supported Khusrau were put on a spear at the crossroads and thrown into the dungeon by breaking their eyes. After this Jahangir started searching for people who supported Khusrau. In this, the first name of Sikh Guru Arjan Dev appeared. Jahangir was already troubled by the rumor of Arjandev being written against Muslim religion in the Adi Granth edited by him. Hearing this news, he became enraged and ordered Arjundev to be caught. Arjandev was taken captive and brought to Delhi. There he was asked to remove the things written against the Muslims from the Adi Granth by imposing a fine, but Guru Arjun Dev refused to remove it. After this Guru Arjun Dev was sent to Lahore Jail. There he was subjected to many tortures. He was made to sit on a hot pan and hot sand was poured over his head and when he fainted, his body was thrown into the Ravi river.
According to the details received in this regard, after the death of Akbar, the radical Jahangir became the ruler of Delhi. He did not like any religion other than his religion Islam. The religious and social work of Guru Arjun Dev was also not pleasant to him. Jahangir was angry with Guru Arjun Dev for giving shelter to Prince Khusrau. Therefore, on May 15, 1606, Jahangir issued an order to arrest Guru Arjun Dev along with his family. Jahangir sent a message to Guru Arjun Dev. After reading the message of the emperor, Arjundev, considering his last time near, gave gravity to his ten-eleven year old son, Shri Harigobind ji. He entrusted the work outside the house to intelligent Sikhs like Bhai Budda ji, Bhai Gurdas ji etc. And giving patience to all the sangat, Guru Arjundev reached Lahore with him five Sikhs – Bhai Jetha ji, Bhai Paida ji, Bhai Bidhia ji, Langaha ji and Pirana ji. On the second day when Arjundev went to Jahangir’s court along with his five Sikh companions, he said that you have given my rebellious son with supplies and blessings. You will have to pay a fine of two lakh rupees or else you will have to face the royal punishment. When Guru Arjun Dev did not listen to Jahangir, he was also pressured to convert. Guruji was not even ready for this and was ready to lose his life after facing various kinds of grievous sufferings. According to Tuja Ke-Jahangiri, his family was handed over to Muratzakhan and looted from house to house. After this Guru Arjun Dev attained the sacrificial status. He remained calm in spite of many sufferings given by Jahangir, his mind was not disturbed even once by the sufferings. The hot tawa became pleasant in front of his cold nature. Even the scorching sand did not break his loyalty. Guru Arjun Dev offered Ardas after facing every hardship laughingly.
According to historical facts, Jahangir could not bear the growing influence of Arjandev, and he imprisoned Arjundev with the help of his son Khusrau. Guru Arjan Dev was tortured in various ways by Jahangir. Guru Arjan Dev died on May 30, 1606, on the banks of the Ravi river on May 30, 1606.
According to Indian time calculations, that day was of the Jyeshtha Sudi Chauth Samvat 1553 Vikrami, on which Guru Arjun Dev made self-sacrifice in support of the recognition of secular ideology and gave a message to the nation that it was necessary to sacrifice self-sacrifice for the noble values of life. One should always be ready, then only caste and nation can live alive with their pride. According to Jyeshtha Shukla Chaturthi in the calendars prevalent this year, June 3 has been described as his sacrifice day.
