By Inder Raj Ahluwalia. His entire life a saga of selfless sacrifice, nobleness of thoughts and actions, and supreme belief in justice and dharma, Guru Gobind Singh was a guru and apostle. In his life span of merely forty-odd years, the Guru left behind a priceless legacy of beliefs and principles that have shaped Sikh thinking and behaviour and are of great relevance today. Guru Gobind Singh’s life was one big struggle. His father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was martyred in Delhi to save Kashmiri pandits, and he had the mortification of seeing all four of his sons killed, the elder two in battle, and the younger two bricked alive. Almost his entire life was spent fighting off the intrigues of the hill chiefs of north India and the ruling sultans. He lived on the edge yet continued undaunted in his quest for dharma.With martial considerations in mind, and to promote the cause of dharma, the Guru created the Khalsa, pure, on Baisakhi day in 1699. This was a new order of followers, a spiritual and social entity rather than a politically dynamic force. Calling the Khalsa pure and his very own, he thus gave a form to the concept of the ‘warrior saint’, which he had championed all his life. The Khalsa were ordained to believe in one God, shun rituals and superstitions, seek respect for women, and consider everyone equal. The Guru’s overall message was that one should look upon all persons as deserving of kind treatment, having a license to lead a peaceful and dignified existence. These virtues propagated by the Guru are precisely the beliefs the world needs today. Despite his turbulent life, the Guru was a great patron of the arts. At Paonta Sahib, he meditated, composed poetry and wrote much of the ‘Dasam Granth’. At Anandpur Sahib, he created the Khalsa. The Guru has inspired millions to look beyond their own, limited vision. As human beings, we tend to ‘take’. The Guru taught us to ‘give’ rather than ‘take’. Because that is precisely what he always did. His presence keeps us going. Whenever one feels lonely, one only has to think of how he might have felt losing his entire family, and all loneliness tends to disappear. When tense or depressed, just think of all the problems he faced. Yearning for homely comforts, you just have to recall how he managed in his harsh surroundings, and suddenly your home starts to appear more comfortable. Guru Gobind Singh left us with a great gift – the ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ – which he designated our ‘eternal Guru’. This ensures blessings for humanity at any Gurdwara in the world.He wasn’t just a Guru for the Sikhs but also a saviour of other communities, instilling in them a sense of pride and dignity. His new order was a mission to ‘do right’. He did it right till the end and paid for his beliefs and ideals with his life, and that of his family. Four of the five Sikh ‘Takhts’, thrones, commemorate Guru Gobind Singh, for if ever anyone deserved a throne, it is him. January 9 is Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti.