Sikhs believe that the “voice” with which the word is uttered within the believer’s being is that of the spirit of the eternal Guru. Because Nanak performed the discipline of nam simaran, the eternal Guru took flesh and dwelt within him. Upon Nanak’s death the eternal Guru was embodied, in turn, in each of Nanak’s successors until, with the death of Guru Gobind Singh, it was enshrined in the holy scripture of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib.
The fourth Guru, Ram Das, introduced two significant changes: he introduced the appointment of masands (vicars), charged with the care of defined congregations (sangats), and he founded the important centre of Amritsar. The chief contribution of Arjan, the fifth Guru, was the compilation of the Sikhs’ sacred scripture, using the Goindval Pothis, which had been prepared at the instructions of Guru Amar Das. All of the Gurus continued the teaching of Nanak concerning liberation through meditation on the divine name. The first five Gurus were, therefore, one as far as the central belief was concerned.
Under the sixth Guru, however, the doctrine of miri/piri emerged. Like his predecessors, the Guru still engaged in piri, spiritual leadership, but to it he now added miri, the rule of a worldly leader. The Panth was thus no longer an exclusively religious community but was also a military one that was commonly involved in open warfare. All Sikhs were expected to accept the new dual authority of the Gurus.
The final contribution of the Gurus came with Gobind Singh. As before, there was no weakening of the doctrine affirming meditation on the divine name. Guru Gobind Singh, however, believed that the forces of good and evil fell out of balance on occasion, and at times the latter increased enormously. Akal Purakh then intervened in human history to correct the balance, choosing as his agents particular individuals who fought the forces of evil that had acquired excessive power. Gobind Singh believed that the Mughals, through Emperor Aurangzeb, had tipped the scale too far toward evil and that he had been divinely appointed to restore the balance between good and evil. He also believed that drawing the sword was justified to rein in evil. Guru Angad
In 1539 Nanak died, having first appointed Guru Angad (1504–52) as his successor. Originally known as Lahina, Angad had been a worshipper of the Hindu goddess Durga. While leading a party to the holy site of Javalamukhi (a temple in a town of the same name in Himachal Pradesh state, India), he passed by Kartarpur and was instantly won over by the beauty of Nanak’s hymns. Thereafter the future Guru was completely loyal to his new master, and his behaviour persuaded Nanak that he would be a more suitable successor than either of the Guru’s two sons. A thoroughly obedient disciple, Angad made no innovations in Nanak’s teachings, and the period of his leadership was uneventful. Guru Amar Das
When Angad died, the title of Guru was passed to Amar Das (1479–1574), who was distinguished by his total loyalty to the second Guru. According to tradition, Amar Das was a Vaishnava who had spent his life looking for a Guru. While on a trip to the Ganges River, he decided to become a Sikh when he overheard the daughter of Angad singing a hymn by Nanak. Amar Das, who was 73 years old when he became Guru, assumed responsibility for the Panth at a time when it was settling down after the first flush of its early years. Many Sikhs had been born into the Panth, and the enthusiasm and excitement that characterized the religion under Nanak had dissipated. Believing that rituals were necessary to confirm the Sikhs in their faith, Amar Das ordered the digging of a sacred well (baoli), which he designated as a pilgrimage site; created three festival days (Baisakhi, Maghi, and Diwali); and compiled a scripture of sacred hymns, the so-called Goindval Pothis. In addition, because the Sikhs had spread throughout the Punjab, he established manjis (dioceses) to help spread the faith and better organize its adherents. Despite these changes, there was no weakening of the obligation to meditate on the nam. Guru Ram Das
Guru Ram Das (1534–81), the fourth Guru, was the son-in-law of Guru Amar Das. He is perhaps best known as the founder of the town of Amritsar (“Pool of Nectar”), which became the capital of the Sikh religion and the location of the Harmandir Sahib (later known as the Golden Temple), the chief house of worship in Sikhism. He also replaced the manjis with masands (vicars), who were charged with the care of defined sangats (congregations) and who at least once a year presented the Guru with reports on and gifts from the Sikh community. Particularly skilled in hymn singing, Guru Ram Das stressed the importance of this practice, which remains an important part of Sikh worship. A member of the Khatri caste and the Sodhi family, Ram Das appointed his son Arjan as his successor, and all subsequent Gurus were his direct descendants. Guru Arjan
Prithi Chand, the oldest brother of Guru Arjan (1563–1606), took a distinctly hostile view of his brother’s appointment and in retaliation attempted to poison Hargobind, Arjan’s only son. Prithi Chand and his followers also circulated hymns that they alleged were written by the earlier Gurus. This prompted Arjan to compile an authentic version of the hymns, which he did using Bhai Gurdas as his scribe and the Goindval Pothis as a guide. The resulting Adi Granth, in a supplemented version, became the Guru Granth Sahib. It remains the essential scripture of the faith, and Sikhs always show it profound respect and turn to it whenever they need guidance, comfort, or peace.
During Arjan’s lifetime the Panth steadily won converts, particularly among members of the Jat agrarian caste. The Mughal governor of the Punjab was concerned about the growth of the religion, and Emperor Jahāngīr was influenced by rumours concerning Arjan’s alleged support for Jahāngīr’s rebellious son Khusro. Guru Arjan was arrested and tortured to death by the Mughals. Before he died, however, he urged his son—Hargobind, the sixth Guru—always to carry arms. Guru Hargobind: A new direction for the Panth
The appointment of the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind (1595–1644), marks a transition from a strictly religious Panth to one that was both religious and temporal. Arjan’s command to his son was later termed miri/piri (“temporal authority”/“spiritual authority”). Hargobind was still the Guru, and as such he continued the pattern established by his five predecessors. He was, in other words, a pir, or spiritual leader, but he was also a mir, or chieftain of his people, responsible for protecting them against tyranny with force of arms. The new status of the Guru and the Panth was confirmed by the actions of Hargobind and came to be reflected in the architecture of Amritsar. Opposite the Harmandir Sahib, the symbol of piri, there is a building known as the Akal Takht, the symbol of miri. Thus, when Hargobind stood between the Harmandir Sahib and the Akal Takht and buckled on two swords, the message was clear: he possessed both spiritual and temporal authority.