Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar · Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sikhism

Tradition·Founded 1499 CE·est. ~26 million worldwide

Sikhism → 1 branch

Branch
G Figure of Sikhism

Guru Arjan — sweet is Your will.

Compiled the scripture, built the Golden Temple, and accepted torture without resistance: the tradition's turn toward steel began with his peace.

Names & titlesGuru Arjan
DomainFifth Guru — compiler of the scripture, first of the martyrs
RelationsBuilt the Harmandir Sahib; gathered the Adi Granth
Depicted asSeated on the hot plate, unresisting — sweet is Your will
StandingHis martyrdom in 1606 turned the community's history
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held

Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth, built the Harmandir Sahib with doors on four sides to signal openness in every direction, and was the first Sikh Guru to die under state power — tortured over several days in Lahore in 1606. The tradition reports that he recited "sweet is Your will" throughout, and the Sikh understanding of martyrdom takes its shape from that: not defiance, and not passivity either, but a refusal that does not require hatred. His death is the turning point after which the community began to arm itself, and his son wore two swords.

From the sources — the passages this rests on; concise renderings, cited

Sweet is Your will — what You give, that alone I ask.

Guru Arjan, Guru Granth Sahib (rendered)

Sung as his own words through his execution — the tradition's martyrdom hymn.

The same ground, other faiths

claims that share this one's ideas
The translations, and what they cost. Christianity · scripture Open the book →
The burning of the books. Confucianism · story Read it in full →
Alexander the Accursed. Zoroastrianism · story Read it in full →
The Rigveda. Vedic Religion · scripture Open the book →
The Vedas & Upanishads. Hinduism · scripture Open the book →
The Pali Canon. Buddhism · scripture Open the book →

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