Guru Teg Bahadur Ji and Tobacco

During his tour of Malwa, Guru Teg Bahadur Ji reached village Barna from Kaithal. He inquired of a man outside the village, "Brother, does any Sikh of Guru Nanak live in this village ?" He replied, "There is one farmer who is Guru Nanak's Sikh." The Guru Ji said to him, "Please go and tell him that your Guru is outside the village and calls you." That man went and brought the farmer to the Guru.

That Sikh came, touched the feet of the Guru in reverence and requested, "Please honour me by going to my house and make yourself comfortable there. I shall be back in a short time after getting my fields measured by these men. They are to measure my fields to calculate land revenue payable by me to the Zamindar." In those days Zamindars owned all the land and farmers working on the land owe 2/3 of the farm produce. Taking leave from the Guru, the farmer went to his fields with the waiting men. The fields were measured and the measurement came to half of what it used to be in the previous years. This resulted in the land revenue coming to half. Seeing his taxes coming to half, his belief in the Guru was complete because by the honour of seeing the Guru, his land revenue was reduced to half.

That Sikh, served the Guru with great devotion on his return from the fields. The Guru said to him, "My dear Sikh give up the use of tobacco. Do not even touch it. If you bring it in the house, not only disease but poverty also will harass you."

Guru Teg Bahadur had not only prohibited his Sikhs from the use of tobacco but had also asked them not to touch it, because if the use of tobacco could brind disease and poverty to a Sikh, then how could the Guru, who wished welfare of everybody allow his Sikh to produce tobacco in his fields for others.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Tobacco

Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his army were on their way to Anandpur. Guru ji was on his horse when it abrupty halted in front of a field they were about to go through. Guru ji turned his mighty steed around and told the fauj they would take another route going the long way around the field. Later one of the Guru's soldiers asked the Guru, "Guru ji why are we going the long way when we could have just walked through the field that we halted at, surely we would be home by now".

The Guru replied, "That field was planted with tobacco and it wasn't me that halted, rether it was my Blue Horse which having caught scent of the tobacco, refused to go any further. It refused to walk through such an unclean place".

So if my horse was not willing to enter the field of tobacco then neither should my Sikhs be exposed to such pollution.