Page 29 - Gurmat Book 4

Lesson 15: Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji

Tyag Mal Ji was born in 1621 at Guru Ke Mahal in Amritsar. His father was

Guru Hargobind Ji and mother Mata Nanaki Ji. He was married to Mata

Gujri Ji. He had one son Gobind Rai who later became our tenth Guru, Guru
Gobind Singh Ji.

Tyag Mal Ji spent his childhood at Amritsar. In his early years he learned

Gurmukhi, Hindi, Sanskrit and Indian religious philosophy from Bhai Gurdas,

and archery and horsemanship from Baba Budha while his father Guru

Hargobind Ji, Master of Miri and Piri taught him swordsmanship. He fought

his first battle when he was only 12 years old. When his father Guru
Hargobind Ji saw him fighting so bravely with his sword, he changed his

name to Tegh Bahadur.

Tegh Bahadur Ji had many friends and they listened to him. One of his

friend’s mother came to him one day, and said, “My son eats too much guV.

Please tell him to stop”.

He had a dilemma. He himself ate guV every day! How could he tell his friend

to stop when he was eating it too?

So Tegh Bahadur Ji told the mother of his friend, “Mata Ji, give me one

week, then I will talk to your son.” He decided to stop eating guV himself.

After a week, Guru Ji told his friend, “Stop eating so much guV. It’s not

good for you”.

The mother was surprised that Tegh Bahadur Ji took one week to stop her
son from eating guV. She asked, “Why didn’t you tell him that last week?”

Tegh Bahadur Ji replied, “Mata Ji, last week, I was eating guV too. I had to

stop eating before I could tell him to stop.” She was amazed at his honesty.

She bowed to him. We should learn to do the right thing before we tell

someone else to do the same.

Stepping Stones Gurmat Sikhia Book 4G 2023 Edition Page 27