Guru Gobind Singh arrived in this world on 22 December, 1666. According to the vernacular calender it was Vikarami Samvat 1723, Paush, Seventh day of Shukla Paksha. Some scholars put the date of his birth on 26 December, 1666.
He was sired by the 9th guru of Sikhs, Teg Bahadur and the mother was Gujri Devi. At the time of his birth the family was living in Patna in a haveli of its own. The father was not at home. He was on the tour of North-Eastern states preaching the holy messages of Guru Nanak. He received the news of the birth of his child while he was in Assam. Guru Teg Bahadur did not return because he could not interfere with his mission.
Later Guru Gobind Singh wrote about his birth in his own literary style. He revealed that he was sent on the earth by Almighty to defend the faith and to show the right path to the misguided. About his previous life he postdicted that he used to do penance on Hemkunt mountain before joining Creator. As a part of Power Supreme he was wished to take birth on the earth as a mission.
There is a Sikh shrine today on the bank of the holy lake of Hemkund situated at the bottom of that mount which is visited by thousands of faithfuls every year. It is a very scenic spot surrounded by snow clad peaks.
Guru Teg Bahadur
Before the birth of Gobind Singh, his father Guru Teg Bahadur had been going around relentlessly on his preaching missions accompanied by his wife Gujri and his disciples. Aurangzeb suspected that the real mission of Guru was to forment trouble for the Mogul empire. So, he ordered the arrest of Guru Teg Bahadur. But in the Mogul court Jaipur Raja Jai Singh’s son Ram Singh held a high place and he had a great respect for Guru. He intervened and Guru Teg Bahadur was let free. After the release Guru reached Patna via Allahabad, Banaras and Gaya. Patna was his base. There it became known that his wife Gujri was in the family way. So, he left his wife, some disciples behind in the care of his mother and brother-in-law Kripalchand and set out on his mission onward to continue preaching. He went to all those places that ware visited by the supreme deity of Sikhs, Guru Nanak, the spiritual guide of the faith.
The family duly celebrated the arrival of the new member of the family in the absence of the father. The womenfolk of the family began to call the child ‘Bala Pritam’, literally meaning ‘child dearest’. The maternal uncle of the child was overjoyed. Whenever he looked at the child something inside him made him think of God and pray—‘O Gobind! I know it is you who has taken birth as my nephew.’ In the vernacular expression ‘Gobind’ is yet another name of God.
Kripalchand would go on repeating those words. The family took it for some prophetic inspiration and formally named the child ‘Gobindrai’.
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