In the year 1615 A. D., the entire city of Ajmer wore a festive look and Mughal emperor Shahjahan distributed gold coins to his subjects and special prayers were offered at the mosques to express gratefulness to Allah — all because queen Mumtaz Mahal gave birth to a boy, Dara Shuko.

Subsequently, she gave birth to other children Murad, Shooja and Aurangazeb. Dara's marriage was performed with Nadira at a fabulous expenditure of 32 lakh rupees. Thus, Dara was the darling of the Mughal court and the people. But Aurangazeb and the other two brothers became Jealous of Dara.

Aurangazeb imprisoned his own father Shahjahan, rebelled against Dara and finally imprisoned and beheaded Dara Shuko and even without any religious ritual buried his body in a corner near the tomb of Humayun. Dara's sons were also killed and daughters were pushed into the Mughal harem. Thus ended, most tragically, the life of one of would have been Mughal emperors. Subsequently, Aurangazeb became the Mughal emperor, ruled the country with an iron hand, committed many blunders and became responsible for the downfall of the Mughal Empire.

Even as a young man, Dara liked Allahabad and Lahore because the former was a great Hindu religious centre and the latter was the seat of the great Sufi saint Miyan Meer. Dara studied Koran and Persian literature under the guidance of Abdul Latif Sultanpuri. At the same time, he learnt Sanskrit from the pandits of Kashi and Allahabad and normally, one or two pandits used to be in the camp of Dara whenever he was on tour. With the help of these pandits, he translated Bhagavad - Gita into Persian.

Another philosophical text by name Prabodha Chandrodaya attracted Dara most and with the help of two Sanskrit scholars Bhavanidas and Janavalidas, translated it into Persian under the title Guljar – il - hal. Another work Dara liked was yoga Vasishta Ramayana and he got it translated into Persian and himself wrote a foreword to this work. He wrote, “after reading this work, I had a dream in which sage Vasishta and Sri Rama were standing by my side. The saga Vasishta touched my back and told Sri Rama thus; this person (Dara) is also searching for truth like you and hence he is your brother; please embrace him. Soon, Sri Rama embraced me with love and affection”.

Dara admired the Upanishads and translated them into Persian under the title Sir – I - Akbar (great secrets) or Sir – ul - asrar (secret of secrets). Dara states that he has referred to the commentary of Sri Adi Shankaracharya whenever there was a doubt in his mind. Dara also wrote some independent works in Persian dealing with religion and Philosophy and also the lives of few saints. Mujmava – ul - Bahren was another work of Dara on comparative religion. Tarkal – ul - ariful, another work of Dara impounds the concept of equality of all religions. The following passage is worth quoting;

You are seen in Kaba
also in Somanath shrine
you are light and also glow - worm
you are intelligent and also dull
you are a friend but also a stranger
you are the rose and also the fragrance
I am you; you are you
I and you are also you

Dara was an admirer of Babalal of Lahore. Whenever Dara was in Lahore, he used to visit Babalal's ashram and sought enlightenment.

The conversation between Babalal and Dara has been recorded in a book form. Dara asked why Hindus worshipped images. Babalal replied: "an unmarried girl of a tender age plays with a doll, but she does not require it after her marriage; Images are required to go nearer the truth; after realizing the truth their help is not required." Dara wanted to know the difference between Jeevatma and Paramatma. Babalal replied, "they are the same but look different from external eyes: internal eyes do not see any change." Ultimately, Dara wrote," The Hindu says I am great; Muslim feels he is great; both are like two parts of a grain without any superiority; one is a worshipper of Rama while the other is a devotee of Rahim; both sail towards the same goal." What a noble sentiment!

Thus Dara Shuko synthesized the two religions of this country and emphasized the oneness of both, which we have been trying to under-stand for the past four centuries, perhaps without significant success. Dara was too ahead of his times. He lived in the medieval age but believed in modern ideas.