Bibi Sharan Kaur - Cremation at Chamkaur

Dadi: "Beta, do you know what it means to honor those who have passed away?"

Guddu: "Like when we do prayers for grandpa?"

Dadi: "Yes, beta. But imagine if someone you loved had died, and their enemies wouldn't even let them have a proper funeral. Would you try to help, even if it was dangerous?"

Guddu: "I think I would try, Dadi. It would be the right thing to do."

Dadi: "Then you understand the heart of Bibi Sharan Kaur, a brave Sikh woman who risked everything to honor the fallen warriors of Chamkaur."

Guddu: "What happened at Chamkaur?"

Dadi: "It was December 1704, beta. Guru Gobind Singh's two young sons - just teenagers - and thirty-five of his bravest Sikhs fought against a massive enemy army at the Battle of Chamkaur. They were vastly outnumbered."

Guddu: "Did they survive?"

Dadi: "No, beta. They all became martyrs that day, fighting to the last breath. The Guru himself escaped under cover of darkness to continue his mission."

Guddu: "What happened to the bodies of those who died?"

Dadi: "This is where our story begins. The enemy soldiers were exhausted from burying their own dead. They left the Sikh martyrs where they had fallen on the battlefield - unburied, unhonored."

Guddu: "That's terrible!"

Dadi: "The Guru reached a nearby village where he met Bibi Sharan Kaur. She had served as a nursing sister to the young princes - she knew them, loved them. When she learned they had died without proper cremation, something stirred in her heart."

Guddu: "What did she decide to do?"

Dadi: "She realized it was her moral duty to give these martyrs a proper cremation - even if it cost her own life."

Guddu: "But the battlefield was full of enemy soldiers!"

Dadi: "Exactly, beta. So she thought carefully. She disguised herself as a Muslim woman, covering herself completely. She armed herself with a sword. And under the darkness of night, she ventured toward the battlefield."

Guddu: "Wasn't she scared?"

Dadi: "She must have been terrified, beta. But her sense of duty was stronger than her fear. When she reached the battlefield, she found the enemy soldiers asleep, exhausted from the day's terrible work."

Guddu: "What did she do?"

Dadi: "Moving silently through the darkness, she gathered the bodies of the fallen Sikhs and the two young princes. One by one, she brought them together. Then she collected dry wood and bushes from around the battlefield."

Guddu: "She was building a funeral pyre?"

Dadi: "Yes. All by herself, in the dark of night, surrounded by enemy soldiers, she built a proper funeral pyre. She placed all the sacred bodies upon it. Then, with tears streaming down her face, she said her prayers."

Guddu: "And then she lit it?"

Dadi: "She did, beta. The flames rose into the night sky - and that's when things went wrong."

Guddu: "The soldiers woke up?"

Dadi: "Yes! The light of the flames awakened them. They came running and found her standing armed near the burning pyre."

Guddu: "What did they do?"

Dadi: "They demanded to know who she was. They asked question after question. But Bibi Sharan Kaur faced a terrible choice - if she spoke, she would have to either lie or reveal herself."

Guddu: "What did she do?"

Dadi: "She chose silence, beta. She wouldn't lie, and she wouldn't betray herself with words. She simply stood there, refusing to answer."

Guddu: "The soldiers must have been angry."

Dadi: "Furious! They threatened her, demanded answers. But she remained silent, peaceful, her duty complete. The martyrs were being properly honored by the flames - nothing else mattered."

Guddu: "What happened to her?"

Dadi: "When they saw her sword and realized she wouldn't speak, the soldiers shot her. And then... they threw her burning body into the very fire she had lit for the martyrs."

Guddu: "Oh, Dadi... that's so sad."

Dadi: "She joined the martyrs in that sacred fire, beta. On December 23, 1704, two days after the battle, Bibi Sharan Kaur achieved her own martyrdom. Her sacrifice ensured that the enemy could never desecrate the bodies of those who had died with honor."

Guddu: "She gave her life just to make sure they had a proper funeral?"

Dadi: "Yes, beta. She could have stayed safe. She could have told herself it wasn't her responsibility. But she remembered those young princes she had cared for, those brave warriors who had given everything - and she couldn't bear the thought of them being dishonored."

Guddu: "Is she remembered today?"

Dadi: "A Gurdwara now stands in village Raipur in her memory. Gurdwara Amargarh Sahib at Chamkaur marks the spot where she performed those last sacred rites by the canal."

Guddu: "What does this story teach us, Dadi?"

Dadi: "Beta, it teaches us that honoring others - especially those who have sacrificed - is a sacred duty. Bibi Sharan Kaur didn't wait for someone else to do the right thing. She didn't make excuses about how dangerous it was. She saw what needed to be done, and she did it - with courage, with silence, with her life."

Guddu: "She was so brave to go alone in the darkness."

Dadi: "Sometimes the bravest things happen when no one is watching, beta. No one ordered Bibi Sharan Kaur to go to that battlefield. No one would have blamed her for staying safe. But her heart wouldn't let her rest while those martyrs lay unhonored. That's the deepest kind of courage - the kind that comes from within."

Guddu: "I'll remember her, Dadi. She was a true hero."

Dadi: "She was, beta. And every time we honor someone who has passed, we carry forward a little piece of her spirit."