Gur Rai Rai is known for his tenderhearted and compassionate nature.
One day, as young boy, Har Rai the grandson of Guru Har Govind, went out riding to train with his grandfather’s men at arms. During the exercise, he spied his grandfather sitting a ways off in his garden. Excitedly he rode over, jumped from his horse, and ran towards the Guru. Har Rai wore a chola, a kind of robe with a full skirt formed of many panels, favored by Sikh warriors. In his rush to see his grandfather, the chola caught on the thorns of a rose bush which grew alongside the garden pathway. Dismayed, Har Rai discovered that his hasty action had torn a branch and bruised the petals of the flowers, causing some of them to fall. The fact that his negligence caused injury to a living plant of such beauty pierced his heart, and he wept at his carelessness. Guru Har Govind comforted him saying to consider the incident as a reminder that a warrior’s first battle is to master the self while walking the path of world, and that one in service of the Creator kindly looks after his creation.
