Religious Problem in India

Author(s): Annie Besant
Publisher: Theosophist Office Adyar

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matters of religion; showing how the spirit of Guru Nanak was ruling, and the attempt was being carried on to bring about peace between the great rival faiths of Hinduism and Islam. Then the next. Guru, the fourth, Guru Ram Das (1574-1581), still on terms of friendship with the liberal-minded and magnanimous Akbar, who gives him a piece of land at Amritsar, where he digs out the famous tank. Then the fifth, Guru Arjummal (1581-1606), the builder of the famous Golden Temple, marks a point in the history of the Sikhs; for this building gives them a centre, a home, a rallying place. The temple is first dedicated to Hari, Hari Mandir it was called, for Guru Nanak ever taught that in the name of Hari lay salvation. Later it became the Darbar Sahab. Now the Sikhs have got, as it were, their own place. They begin to gather round the temple; they begin to form a definite community. Arjunmal, the religious teacher, becomes the head of the definitely organised religious community gathered at a special spot-the beginning of the Sikh State. His great work, again, is to gather together the teachings of his predecessors, and it is he who definitely compiles and who gives out the Idi Grantha Sahab; composed partly of the songs and the teachings of the preceding Gurus, partly also from the songs of the saints in the Sikh movement, and so on.
SIKHISM
Now comes the first touch which tells of the future struggle. Jehangir is on the throne of Akbar, less liberal, less magnanimous than his predecessor. His son rebels against him. Guru Arjummal,