A Shaheed’s Light Never Dies

Simranjit Sokhi
Nov 25
3 min read

Every era believes it’s living through the loudest storm. We tell ourselves, “It’s never been this bad before.” We defend ourselves with opinions and performances. We argue with shields, building our walls higher each time. The world keeps telling us to be strong, but somehow, we’ve started confusing strength with hardness and resilience with numbness.

Sikhi begins with the opposite instruction.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji stepped out of the river after three days of silence, but he didn’t return with commandments. Instead, he returned with Oneness.

ੴ — (Ek Onkār) — the vibration that everything is One Light, wrapped in numerous names. This declaration didn’t come with the power of authority, but rather the concept that we are connected to everything around us. It’s an ask for humanity to accept that even the enemy belongs to the same story.

Centuries later, with the same Jot, the same Divine Light, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji faced Aurangzeb’s sword, and the same truth was tested.

Guru Ji had the freedom to yield to Aurangzeb’s demands. He could have chosen survival over principle. Instead, he embodied the gentleness of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in its most radical form.

He refused to harm even those who sought his death. He protected another’s right to faith. That is what fearlessness looks like: being so grounded in your belief that you remain immovable, even when death hovers near.

From Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s awakening to Guru Tegh Bahadur’s sacrifice, there lies an arc of Sikhi that cannot be shaken. Recognize the Divine in all, and then defend that vision with compassion, not cruelty.

To live in Hukam isn’t passive acceptance. It’s the courage to trust that truth doesn’t require domination to survive. It means speaking with love, serving without hierarchy, and allowing your acceptance of the Divine to flow naturally.

We often mistake that for inaction. But sometimes, gentleness is the higher discipline. It’s the sword that resists without becoming the very thing it resists.

Gurbani teaches this paradox clearly:

ਮਤਿ ਹੋਦੀ ਹੋਇ ਇਆਣਾ ॥ – If you are wise, be simple.

ਤਾਣ ਹੋਦੇ ਹੋਇ ਨਿਤਾਣਾ ॥ – If you are powerful, be weak.

ਅਣਹੋਦੇ ਆਪੁ ਵੰਡਾਏ ॥ – And when there is nothing to share, then share with others.

ਕੋ ਐਸਾ ਭਗਤੁ ਸਦਾਏ ॥੧੨੮॥ – How rare is one who is known as such a devotee.

True mental strength is measured not by force, but by the courage to embody humility, generosity, and simplicity even in the face of challenge.

In today’s world, we might refer to it as emotional intelligence or mindfulness. But those are small words for what our Gurus reflected. What our Gurus did is a state where the mind dissolves its separations and acts as the extension of the Lord, of the Divine. Action and surrender are not opposites. You can fight for justice and still carry peace in your heart.

When Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji offered his head, he didn’t do it to be remembered as a martyr. He did it to prove that spiritual sovereignty and social freedom are the same fight. That the Light of ੴ cannot coexist with coercion. His shaheedi was not a tragedy; it was a completion. It lived out Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s truth until its final breath.

So, as November settles in, with its shortening days, the days of shaheedi and remembrance, we remind ourselves that courage is not always shouting louder. It’s about being so grounded in truth that no cruelty can make you cruel.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji began this path of seeing the Divine in everyone. Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji carried it through shaheedi, and centuries later, we are asked to continue it. This isn't just done simply by dying for the truth, but by living it in the way we speak, in the way we think.

Every time you choose tenderness over ego,

You keep that Jot alive.

And that Jot does not need to shout to be seen.