Guru Arjun Dev (1563 A.D. to 1606 A.D.) was the fifth Guru who occupied Guru Nanak Dev’s gaddi. Guru Ram Das was his father and Guru Amar Das his maternal grandfather. He was absorbed in deep meditation and Bhakti since childhood. Guru Arjun Dev’s mother, Bibi Bhani had an unparalleled record of devotion and service in Sikh history. He was born in a spiritual atmosphere dominated by noble personalities and saints.

Guru Arjun Dev was born at Goindwal, near Amritsar in 1563 A.D. His martyrdom occurred on May 30, 1606 after a spell of imprisonment and severe torture. He was the founder builder of Harminder Sahib, now called the Golden Temple, the foundation of which was laid down by the Sufi Muslim divine of Lahore, Mian Mir. However the most outstanding achievement of Guru Arjun Dev was the compilation of the Holy book known as ‘Adi Granth’ or ‘Granth Sahib’ or ‘Guru Granth’. This voluminous work contains the hyms of the Gurus, and of Hindu and of Muslim saints. The Holy Granth contains 5894 hyms in all, out of which the largest number is by Guru Arjun Dev (2216), Guru Nanak Dev has 976, Guru Angad Dev 61, Guru Amar Das 907, Guru Ram Das 479, Guru Teg Bahadur 118 and other bhaktas and bards 937.

The Granth Sahib is now revered as the Word of God by the Sikhs, and others the world over, as the ‘living embodiment of the Gurus’. We are fortunate that, as per the dictates of Guru Gobind Singh, "shabda" in the Guru Granth Sahib is our Guru and no personal Guru can be influenced, bribed or impressed with our external credentials. The only focus that one discovers by study of Guru Granth Sahib is that we must always and constantly meditate on Him and His name, and follow Guru Granth Sahib in thought, word and deed to change our lives for the better. We have to keep reciting Gurbani, Satnaam or Wahe Guru during all our work.

Guru Ram Das had installed Arjun Dev, who was his third son, as spiritual successor, considering him to be the fittest person to occupy the Guru’s seat. He ignored the protest of the two older sons, namely, Prithi Chand and Mahadev. The latter son virtually carried on a virulent campaign against Guru Arjun Dev. Guru Arjun Dev was hardly 43 years of his life when he made his supreme sacrifice.

Akbar and Jahangir were the two Mughal rulers during the tenure of Guru Arjun Dev. In 1605, Emperor Akbar was at Batala during his visit to Punjab. The contents of Adi Granth were contested as a complaint was lodged with him that the Granth contained some blasphemous passages on Islam. The Granth was brought in the presence of Akbar by two revered Sikhs - Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Buddha. The contents were read out. No blasphemous material was found written in the Granth against Islam, only praise and adoration of God and His creation of the Universe and nothing else. Emperor made an offering of 51 gold coins to the Granth and awarded robes of honour for the Guru and to both custodians of the Granth.

However, Emperor Jehangir was already looking for an opportunity to put an end to the ever-widening influence of Guru Arjun Dev resulting in vast increase of his disciples. He summoned Guru Arjun Dev to Lahore in May 1606 and ordered to confiscate his property and torture him to death. He was also heavily fined and on his refusal to pay the fine, he was arrested. Even Sufi Saint Mian Mir, who had laid the foundation of Golden Temple, offered to intercede on his behalf, but the Guru didn’t permit him to do so. The Guru observed that whatever God or Almighty ordained for him, he would accept it joyfully, and devotion to Him is the only boon he seeks. The Guru refused to give up his faith to save his life. He was imprisoned in the Lahore Fort. For days he was subjected to extreme physical torture. He was forcibly seated on red-hot iron plates, and burning sand was poured on him. He was made to take a dip in boiling water. In his agony, the Guru used to utter: tera kia mitha lage/Naam padarath Nanak mange. The Guru was then taken to the river Ravi where prolonged dip in the River’s cold water was more than the blistered body could bear.

Wrapped in meditation, the Guru passed away on 30th May 1606. Gurudwara Dera Sahib, in Lahore, stands as a monument to the sacred memory of the Holy Guru Arjun Dev. Guru’s martyrdom proved to be a turning point in the history of the Sikh faith.

In the present-day word, the Holy Granth Sahib is a great example of freedom from religious or caste narrowness. All the Sikh Guru’s preached devotion to God in their utterances and nothing else. They advocated that use of any kind of force in matters of religion was highly unjust and made no distinction between one holy man and another.