November 2nd: Shaerae -Punjab

[SanmukhKaur]

On this day a ruler was born that would beat all odds to become Shaerae Punjab. At age 5 he lost his eye to chickenpox but that did not stop him from becoming the next maharaja after his father at age 10. Once he became Maharaja, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, practiced Miri and Piri, as taught by the Sikh Guru Sahiban; he played politics and loved Waheguru Ji.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji had a interesting policy of giving back the States won the rulers they were won from, if they promised to live under his government. This policy was interesting because it was as much negative as it was positive. It was a nice deed to give the states won back but it is unheard of to keep giving them back, even after the rulers kept defying Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Rule. But that is exactly what Maharaj Ranjit Singh did, no matter how many times a ruler would prove himself unworthy, Maharaj would just win the battle and give back the state for the ruler to run. He did not put his own men in charge of newly won states.It seems a bit foolish that he would trust the same untrustworthy rulers but at same time is shows his compassion. He didn’t hate nor punished the rulers in a harsh manner to speared fear, instead was fair and compassionate.

Being fair and compassionate are traits that all Sikhs should have, they too should have the same love for Sikhi as Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji. When Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji issued money for his kingdom, he issued it under the name of Sikh Gurus. He was so attached to Sikhi, that Sikhi always came first for him. Whenever he received a valuable gift, he would present it to Darbar Sahib, saying it was worthy of Guru Ji only. Almost all the gold work done on Harmandir Sahib is the courtesy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the merciful hand of Waheguru Ji that he had on his head. Even after giving many valuable gifts, Maharaja Ranjit Singh stayed humble and did not all ego to come between him and his faith. When he was the wrong, he was willing to accept any punishment handed out by Akal Thakt Sahib. Unlike Sikhs today he knew that everything was given by Guru Ji, he never tried to play politics as far as religion was considered.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji might not have been the perfect Sikh but the fact that he loved Sikh and tried his hardest to be a good Sikh, is what makes him a great Sikh. All Sikhs should read his biography to learn what Sikhs are capable of. To learn how one should behave after having Waheguru Ji give you more then you could ever imagine off.