Guru Har Rai Ji (1630-1661)
Guru Har Rai Ji was the seventh guru and the guru that carried the tradition of the Sikh militarization. He was born on January 31, 1630, in Kiratpur. His mother was Mata Nihal Kaur and his father was Baba Gurditta, son of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji. Guru Ji’s father died when his son was at the young age of 8 years old. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji acted as a father to Har Rai and immersed him in Naam. Har Rai Ji was a very tender person. Not much has been recorded about his childhood but there are a few. While in his garden, Har Rai’s robe got stuck in the thorns of a rose. When he pulled his robe the rose fell to the ground, broken. He was so sad that he 
started to cry, someone told Guru Hargobind and he came to comfort his grandson. He told him that this was a warriors message and that a warrior must master themselves when they walk their path. He continued and said it is good to be gentle. He was given the guruship on March 19, 1644, by his grandfather and was called Guru Har Rai Ji. Even though he was a peaceful guru he did not disassemble the Sikh Army, in fact, he actually enlarged it. Once when Guru Ji was coming back from a trip to other regions he was attacked by one of the sons of a person Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji killed. The Sikhs were greatly outnumbered but the enemy still suffered greatly and fled the battle.
Guru Har Rai Ji married Mata Kishan Kaur Ji who was the daughter of Sri Daya Ram Ji on June 19, 1640. Mata Ji gave birth to Ram Rai Ji in 1646 and Guru Harkrishan Ji in 1656. Guru Ji created missionary seats in Lahore, Sialkot, Pathankot, Samba, Ramgarh, and several locations in the Jammu Kashmir area. Shah Jahan the Emperor had four sons t
wo of them were Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb. The heir to the throne Dara Shikoh. Aurangzeb was jealous because he wanted the throne for himself. He came up with a way to put Tiger’s Whiskers in his brother’s dish and Dara became sick. Shah Jahan called all the astronomers, philosophers, fakirs, etc. and came up with a conclusion – unless the whisker was removed his health would get worse. There was one alternative, the medicine could be made of 
Chebulic Myrobalan and Cloves which
are both known for their helpfulness in digestion. The ingredients could not be found, that was until the Emperor found out they were in Guru Ji’s storage.
The Emperor wrote a letter requesting for the herbs. When Guru Sahib read the letter he was pleased and immediately arranged for the ingredients to be sent to the Emperor. Along with the 
needed resources, Guru Ji also gave a pearl to ground and take with the herbs. The Sikhs asked why he gave medicine, Guru Ji responded,” man breaks flowers with one hand and offers them with the other, but the flowers perfume both hands alike. The axe cuts the
sandal tree, yet the sandal perfumes the axe.” This means that return good for evil. Shah Jahan was so happy that he forgot all about the troubles with the guru and even said that he would never cause trouble. On top of that Dara Shikoh recovered fully, but Aurangzeb’s anger at the Sikhs was brewing.
Aurangzeb became Emperor after killing his siblings and the death of Shah Jahan. Unlike Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb did not respect the non-Muslims especially the Sikhs. He framed Guru Sahib with false charges and commanded him to come to Delhi. Guru Ji sent Ram Rai (his oldest son) on behalf of the Sikh Court. Ram Rai went to clarify the troubles, but there was one trap that he did not know how to escape. Aurangzeb asked him to clear the definition of a Sikh passage and Ram Rai changed the meaning of Gurbani to please the Emperor. When Guru Sahib found out he excluded him from the Sikhs and never met him again. This showed a great message saying that no one should ever change the meaning of Gurbani. Guru Har Rai Ji died on October 20, 1661.
