Guru Gobind Singh had three wives. His first
marriage was to Mata Jeeto of Lahore, who gave
birth to three sons, Jujhar, Zoravar, and Fateh.
He later married Mata Sundari of Lahore, who
gave birth to another son, Ajit. She survived
Singh and was revered as a great teacher by Sikhs
after her husband’s death. His last wife, Mata
Sahib Devi of the Jehlam District, went to Guru
Gobind after vowing to marry no one else. He
did not wish to marry but agreed to a platonic
relationship in which she could share her life
with him.
Singh taught the oneness of humankind,
love and worship of God, self-awakening, and
social justice, all part of the Sikh heritage. His
unique contribution, however, was to organize
the Khalsa (pure ones) order in 1699, probably
in response to his father’s martyrdom decades
before. The purpose of the Khalsa was to pro-
mote sacrifice for DHARMA, the right way of liv-
ing. Members were enjoined to resist any form
of slavery based on class, caste, or religion and
to prioritize their commitment to social justice.
Guru Gobind even advocated the use of arms
when in resistance to oppression. He also insti-
tuted the five K’s, observed by male Sikhs to
the present day: (1) kesh, long hair; (2) kangh,
a comb; (3) kach, short pants (for quick move-
ment); (4) kara, a steel bracelet; and (5) kirpan,
a knife.
Guru Gobind Singh declared that upon his
death the line of individual gurus would end and
the authority of the guru would rest solely in
the scripture—the Adi Granth (called the Guru
Granth Sahib)—and in the Khalsa, the fellowship
of pure followers. Guru Gobind Singh died on
October 7, 1708.
Further reading: Surinder Singh Johar, Guru Gobind
Singh (New Delhi: Enkay, 1987).
Singh, Jaimal See RADHASOAMI MOVEMENT;
SANT MAT MOVEMENT
Singh, Kirpal Maharaj (1894–1974) teacher
of Sant Mat and Radhasoami
Kirpal Maharaj Singh was a dynamic and influen-
tial reformer and international champion of inter-
faith cooperation. He helped disseminate the Sant
Mat teachings in India and around the world.
Kirpal Singh was born on Februrary 6, 1894,
in Sayyad Kasran in the Rawalpindi District of
the Punjab in what is now Pakistan. He was
educated at the Edwards Church Mission High
School in Peshawar. In January 1912 he signed up
for government service in the Military Accounts
Department, an occupation that he pursued until
retirement in 1947 as deputy assistant control-
ler of military accounts. Throughout his early
life he studied the basic scriptures of the Sikhs,
Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, and Zoroastri-
ans and began to believe that various religious
philosophies communicate the same basic truth,
which is the need for each person to attain both
self-knowledge and God-knowledge.
In 1917 he first had contact with his teacher,
Baba Sawan Singh of the Beas lineage of RADHA-
SOAMI teachers. He was later married and became
the father of two sons. In February 1924 he
was formally initiated by Baba Sawan Singh and
given the name Naam, “the word.” It is said that
his teacher Sawan Singh passed all his spiritual
knowledge onto his disciple through one look in
the eyes. In 1935 he began writing and composing
his text, Gurmat Sidhant. On April 2, 1948, after
the death of his teacher, he began his ministry in
the Radhasoami lineage. At the end of that year
he started his mission and began giving regular
initiations.
In June of 1951 he founded the Sawan Ashram
in Shakti Nagar, Delhi. Four years later he went
on his first world tour. In 1956 in Delhi, he gave
the inaugural address to the Ninth General Ses-
sion of UNESCO. In 1957 he became the founding
president of the World Fellowship of Religions; he
later presided over four World Religious Confer-
ences over a period of 14 years. In 1962 he was
the first non-Christian to be honored with theSingh, Kirpal Maharaj 417 J