Teachings of Guru Nanak Ji

Gurū Nānak Ji (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ (Gurmukhi); گرو نانک (Shahmukhi); Gurū Nānak; [gʊɾuː naːnəkᵊ], pronunciation; born as Nānak on 15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539), also referred to as Bābā Nānak ('father Nānak'),^[1] was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Katak Pooranmashi ('full-moon of Kattak'), i.e. October–November.

Nanak is said to have travelled far and wide across Asia teaching people the message of ik onkar (ੴ, 'one God'), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the eternal Truth. With this concept, he would set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.^[

Nanak's words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns, or shabda, in the holy text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, with some of the major prayers being the Japji Sahib (jap, 'to recite'; ji and sahib are suffixes signifying respect); the Asa di Var ('ballad of hope'); and the Sidh Gosht ('discussion with the Siddhas'). It is part of Sikh religious belief that the spirit of Nanak's sanctity, divinity, and religious authority had descended upon each of the nine subsequent Gurus when the Guruship was devolved on to them.

Nanak was born on 15 April 1469 at Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī village (present-day Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan) in the Lahore province of the Delhi Sultanate,^[6][7] although according to one tradition, he was born in the Indian month of Kārtik or November, known as Kattak in Punjabi.^[8]

Most janamsakhis (ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ, 'birth stories'), or traditional biographies of Nanak, mention that he was born on the third day of the bright lunar fortnight, in the Baisakh month (April) of Samvat 1526.^[8] These include the Puratan ('traditional' or 'ancient') janamsakhi, Miharban janamsakhi, Gyan-ratanavali by Bhai Mani Singh, and the Vilayat Vali janamsakhi.^[9] The Sikh records state that Nanak died on the 10th day of the Asauj month of Samvat 1596 (22 September 1539 CE), at the age of 70 years, 5 months, and 7 days. This further suggests that he was born in the month of Vaisakh (April), not Kattak (November).^[10]

 

Kattak birthdate

In as late as 1815, during the reign of Ranjit Singh, the festival commemorating Nanak's birthday was held in April at the place of his birth, known by then as Nankana Sahib.^[ However, the anniversary of Nanak's birth—the Gurpurab (gur + purab, 'celebration')—subsequently came to be celebrated on the full moon day of the Kattak month in November. The earliest record of such a celebration in Nankana Sahib is from 1868 CE.

There may be several reasons for the adoption of the Kattak birthdate by the Sikh community. For one, it may have been the date of Nanak's enlightenment or "spiritual birth" in 1496, as suggested by the Dabestan-e Mazaheb.

The only janamsakhi that supports the Kattak birth tradition is that of Bhai Bala. Bhai Bala is said to have obtained Nanak's horoscope from Nanak's uncle Lalu, according to which, Nanak was born on a date corresponding to 20 October 1469 CE. However, this janamsakhi was written by Handalis—a sect of Sikhs who followed a Sikh-convert known as Handal—attempting to depict the founder as superior to Nanak. According to a superstition prevailing in contemporary northern India, a child born in the Kattak month was believed to be weak and unlucky, hence why the work states that Nanak was born in that month.

Bhai Gurdas, having written on a full-moon-day of the Kattak month several decades after Nanak's death, mentions that Nanak had "obtained omniscience" on the same day, and it was now the author's turn to "get divine light."

According to Max Arthur Macauliffe (1909), a Hindu festival held in the 19th century on Kartik Purnima in Amritsar attracted a large number of Sikhs. The Sikh community leader Giani Sant Singh did not like this, thus starting a festival at the Sikh shrine of the Golden Temple on the same day, presenting it as the birth anniversary celebration of Guru Nanak.

Macauliffe also notes that Vaisakh (March–April) already saw a number of important festivals—such as Holi, Rama Navami, and Vaisakhi—therefore people would be busy in agricultural activities after the harvest festival of Baisakhi. Therefore, holding Nanak's birth anniversary celebrations immediately after Vaisakhi would have resulted in thin attendance, and therefore, smaller donations for the Sikh shrines. On the other hand, by the Kattak full moon day, the major Hindu festival of Diwali was already over, and the peasants—who had surplus cash from crop sales—were able to donate generously.

Family and early life

Nanak's parents, including father Kalyan Chand Das Bedi (commonly shortened to Mehta Kalu) and mother Mata Tripta,^[were both Hindu Khatris and employed as merchants. His father, in particular, was the local patwari (accountant) for crop revenue in the village of Talwandi.

According to Sikh traditions, the birth and early years of Nanak's life were marked with many events that demonstrated that Nanak had been blessed with divine grace. Commentaries on his life give details of his blossoming awareness from a young age. For instance, at the age of five, Nanak is said to have voiced interest in divine subjects. At age seven, his father enrolled him at the village school, as per custom.Notable lore recounts that, as a child, Nanak astonished his teacher by describing the implicit symbolism of the first letter of the alphabet, resembling the mathematical version of one, as denoting the unity or oneness of God. Other stories of his childhood refer to strange and miraculous events about Nanak, such as the one witnessed by Rai Bular, in which the sleeping child's head was shaded from the harsh sunlight by, in one account, by the stationary shadow of a tree or, in another, by a venomous cobra.

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartar Pur in Narowal, Pakistan marks the site where Guru Nanak is said to have died

Nanaki, Nanak's only sister, was five years older than him. In 1475, she married and moved to Sultanpur. Jai Ram, Nanaki's husband, was employed at a modikhana (a storehouse for revenues collected in non-cash form), in the service of the Delhi Sultanate's Lahore governor Daulat Khan, at which Ram would help Nanak get a job. Nanak moved to Sultanpur, and started working at the modikhana around the age of 16.

As a young man, Nanak married Sulakhani, daughter of Mūl Chand (aka Mula) and Chando Raṇi. They were married on 24 September 1487, in the town of Batala, and would go on to have two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand (or Lakhmi Das). Nanak lived in Sultanpur until c. 1500, which would be a formative time for him, as the puratan janamsakhi suggests, and in his numerous allusions to governmental structure in his hymns, most likely gained at this time.^[

Final years

Around the age of 55, Nanak settled in Kartarpur, living there until his death in September 1539. During this period, he went on short journeys to the Nath yogi centre of Achal, and the Sufi centres of Pakpattan and Multan. By the time of his death, Nanak had acquired several followers in the Punjab region, although it is hard to estimate their number based on the extant historical evidence.

Guru Nanak appointed Bhai Lehna as the successor Guru, renaming him as Guru Angad, meaning "one's very own" or "part of you". Shortly after proclaiming his successor, Guru Nanak died on 22 September 1539 in Kartarpur, at the age of 70. Guru Nanak's body was never found. When the quarreling Hindus and Muslims tugged at the sheet covering Nanak’s body, they found instead a heap of flowers — and so Nanak’s simple faith would, in course of time, flower into a religion, beset by its own contradictions and customary practices.^[

The 4 Udasis and other locations visited by Guru Nanak

The abandoned Gurudwara Chowa Sahib, located near the Rohtas Fort in Pakistan, commemorates the site where Guru Nanak is popularly believed to have created a water-spring during one of his udasis^[31]

 

Journeys (Udasis)

During first quarter of the 16th century, Nanak went on long udasiya ('journeys') for spiritual pursuits. A verse authored by him states that he visited several places in "nau-khand" ('the nine regions of the earth'), presumably the major Hindu and Muslim pilgrimage centres.

Some modern accounts state that he visited Tibet, most of South Asia, and Arabia, starting in 1496 at age 27, when he left his family for a thirty-year period. These claims include Nanak's visit to Mount Sumeru of Indian mythology, as well as Mecca, Baghdad, Achal Batala, and Multan, where he would debate religious ideas with opposing groups.^[  These stories became widely popular in the 19th and 20th century, and exist in many versions.

In 1508, Nanak visited the Sylhet region in Bengal. The janamsakhis suggest that Nanak visited the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya in 1510–11 CE.

The Baghdad inscription remains the basis of writing by Indian scholars that Guru Nanak journeyed in the Middle East, with some claiming he visited Jerusalem, Mecca, Vatican, Azerbaijan and Sudan.

Disputes

The hagiographic details is a subject of dispute, with modern scholarship questioning the details and authenticity of many claims. For example, Callewaert and Snell (1994) state that early Sikh texts do not contain such stories. From when the travel stories first appear in hagiographic accounts of Guru Nanak, centuries after his death, they continue to become more sophisticated as time goes on, with the late phase Puratan version describing four missionary journeys, which differ from the Miharban version.

Some of the stories about Guru Nanak's extensive travels first appear in the 19th-century Puratan janamsakhi, though even this version does not mention Nanak's travel to Baghdad. Such embellishments and insertion of new stories, according to Callewaert and Snell (1993), closely parallel claims of miracles by Islamic pirs found in Sufi tadhkirahs of the same era, giving reason to believe that these legends may have been written in a competition.

Another source of dispute has been the Baghdad stone iption in a Turkish script, which some interpret saying Baba Nanak Fakir was there in 1511–1512, while some state 1521–1522 (and that he lived in the Middle East for 11 years away from his family). Others, particularly Western scholars, argue that the stone inscription is from the 19th century and the stone is not a reliable evidence that Guru Nanak visited Baghdad in early 16th century. Moreover, beyond the stone, no evidence or mention of Guru Nanak's journey in the Middle East has been found in any other Middle Eastern textual or epigraphical records. Claims have been asserted of additional inscriptions, but no one has been able to locate and verify them.

Novel claims about his travels, as well as claims such as Guru Nanak's body vanishing after his death, are also found in later versions and these are similar to the miracle stories in Sufi literature about their pirs. Other direct and indirect borrowings in the Sikh janamsakhis relating to legends around Guru Nanak's journeys are from Hindu epics and puranas, and Buddhist Jataka stories.

 

Posthumous biographies

The earliest biographical sources on Nanak's life recognised today are the janamsakhis ('birth stories'), which recount the circumstances of the guru's birth in great detail.

Gyan-ratanavali is the janamsakhi attributed to Bhai Mani Singh, a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh who was approached by some Sikhs with a request that he should prepare an authentic account of Guru Nanak's life. As such, it is said that Bhai Mani Singh wrote his story with the express intention of correcting heretical accounts of Guru Nanak.

One popular janamsakhi was allegedly written by a close companion of the Guru, Bhai Bala. However, the writing style and language employed have left scholars, such as Max Arthur Macauliffe, certain that they were composed after his death. According to such scholars, there are good reasons to doubt the claim that the author was a close companion of Guru Nanak and accompanied him on many of his travels.

Bhai Gurdas, a scribe of the Guru Granth Sahib, also wrote about Nanak's life in his vars ('odes'), which were compiled some time after Nanak's life, though are less detailed than the janamsakhis.

Teachings and legacy

Fresco of Guru Nanak

Nanak's teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib, as a collection of verses recorded in Gurmukhi.

There are two competing theories on Guru Nanak's teachings. The first, according to Cole and Sambhi (1995, 1997), based on the hagiographical Janamsakhis,  states that Nanak's teachings and Sikhism were revelations from God, and not a social protest movement, nor an attempt to reconcile Hinduism and Islam in the 15th century.

The other theory states that Nanak was a Guru, not a prophet. According to Singha (2009):

Sikhism does not subscribe to the theory of incarnation or the concept of prophet hood. But it has a pivotal concept of Guru. He is not an incarnation of God, not even a prophet. He is an illumined soul.

The hagiographical Janamsakhis were not written by Nanak, but by later followers without regard for historical accuracy, containing numerous legends and myths created to show respect for Nanak. In Sikhism, the term revelation, as Cole and Sambhi clarify, is not limited to the teachings of Nanak. Rather, they include all Sikh Gurus, as well as the words of men and women from Nanak's past, present, and future, who possess divine knowledge intuitively through meditation. The Sikh revelations include the words of non-Sikh bhagats (Hindu devotees), some who lived and died before the birth of Nanak, and whose teachings are part of the Sikh scriptures.

The Adi Granth and successive Sikh Gurus repeatedly emphasised, suggests Mandair (2013), that Sikhism is "not about hearing voices from God, but it is about changing the nature of the human mind, and anyone can achieve direct experience and spiritual perfection at any time." Guru Nanak emphasised that all human beings can have direct access to God without rituals or priests.

The concept of man as elaborated by Guru Nanak, states Mandair (2009), refines and negates the "monotheistic concept of self/God," where "monotheism becomes almost redundant in the movement and crossings of love." The goal of man, taught the Sikh Gurus, is to end all dualities of "self and other, I and not-I," attaining the "attendant balance of separation-fusion, self-other, action-inaction, attachment-detachment, in the course of daily life."^[50]

Guru Nanak, and other Sikh Gurus emphasised bhakti ('love', 'devotion', or 'worship'), and taught that the spiritual life and secular householder life are intertwined. In the Sikh perspective, the everyday world is part of an infinite reality, where increased spiritual awareness leads to increased and vibrant participation in the everyday world  Guru Nanak described living an "active, creative, and practical life" of "truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" as being higher than the metaphysical truth.^[

Through popular tradition, Nanak's teaching is understood to be practised in three ways:

·       Vand Shhako (ਵੰਡ ਛਕੋ, 'share & consume'): Share with others, help those who are in need, so you may eat together;

·       Kirat Karo ('work honestly'): Earn an honest living, without exploitation or fraud; and

·       Naam Japo (ਨਾਮ ਜਪੋ, 'recite His name'): Meditate on God's name, so to feel His presence and control the five thieves of the human personality.

Legacy

Nanak is considered the founder of Sikhism. The fundamental beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the sacred scripture Guru Granth Sahib, include faith and meditation on the name of the one creator; unity of all humankind; engaging in selfless service, striving for social justice for the benefit and prosperity of all; and honest conduct and livelihood while living a householder's life.

The Guru Granth Sahib is worshipped as the supreme authority of Sikhism and is considered the final and perpetual guru of Sikhism. As the first guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak contributed a total of 974 hymns to the book.

Influences

Many Sikhs believe that Guru Nanak's message was divinely revealed, as his own words in Guru Granth Sahib State that his teachings are as he has received them from the Creator Himself. The critical event of his life in Sultanpur, in which he returned after three days with enlightenment, also supports this belief.

Many modern historians give weight to his teachings' linkage with the pre-existing bhakti, sant,  and wali of South Asian/Islamic tradition.  Scholars state that in its origins, Guru Nanak and Sikhism were influenced by the nirguni ('formless God') tradition of the Bhakti movement in medieval India. However, some historians do not see evidence of Sikhism as simply an extension of the Bhakti movement. Sikhism, for instance, disagreed with some views of Bhakti saints Kabir and Ravidas.

The roots of the Sikh tradition are perhaps in the sant-tradition of India whose ideology grew to become the Bhakti tradition. Fenech (2014) suggests that:^[

Indic mythology permeates the Sikh sacred canon, the Guru Granth Sahib and the secondary canon, the Dasam Granth and adds delicate nuance and substance to the sacred symbolic universe of the Sikhs of today and of their past ancestors.

In the Bahá'í Faith

In a letter, dated 27 October 1985, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India, the Universal House of Justice stated that Guru Nanak was endowed with a "saintly character" and that he was:

…inspired to reconcile the religions of Hinduism and Islám, the followers of which religions had been in violent conflict.… The Bahá'ís thus view Guru Nanak as a 'saint of the highest order'.

 

(Courtsy Wikipedia)

 

 

The founder of Sikhism

Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was one of the greatest religious innovators of all time and the founder of the Sikh religion.

Guru Nanak's birthday is celebrated by Sikhs on April 14th by the Nanakshahi calendar. (The date according to the lunar calendar changes annually but is usually in November.)

Nanak's religious ideas draw on both Hindu and Islamic thought, but are far more than just a synthesis. Nanak was an original spiritual thinker and expressed his thoughts in extraordinary poetry that forms the basis of Sikh scripture.

Little is known about the life of Nanak, but Sikh tradition has a much-loved set of stories or janam sakhis which relate various incidents from his life, and include many of his important teachings.

Nanak was born about 40 miles from Lahore (now in Pakistan) in 1469. Sikh traditions teach that his birth and early years were marked with many events that demonstrated that God had marked him out for something special and was keeping an eye on him.

His family were Hindus, but Nanak soon showed an advanced interest in religion and studied Islam and Hinduism extensively. As a child he demonstrated great ability as a poet and philosopher.

One famous story about Guru Nanak tells of his rebellion at the age of eleven. At this age Hindu boys of his caste would start to wear the sacred thread to distinguish them. Nanak refused, saying that people should be distinguished by the things that they did, and their individual qualities, rather than by a thread.

Nanak continued to demonstrate a radical spiritual streak - arguing with local holy men and sages, both Hindu and Muslim, that external things like pilgrimages, penances, and poverty were of far less spiritual importance than internal changes to the individual's soul.

He worked for a while as an accountant but while still quite young decided to devote himself to spiritual matters. He was inspired by a powerful spiritual experience that gave him a vision of the true nature of God, and confirmed his idea that the way to spiritual growth was through meditation and through living in a way that reflected the presence of the divine within each human being.

In 1496, although married and having a family, Nanak set out on a set of spiritual journeys through India, Tibet and Arabia that lasted nearly 30 years. He studied and debated with the learned men he met along the way and as his ideas took shape he began to teach a new route to spiritual fulfilment and the good life.

The last part of his life was spent at Kartarpur in the Punjab, where he was joined by many disciples attracted by his teachings.

The most famous teachings attributed to Guru Nanak are that there is only one God, and that all human beings can have direct access to God with no need of rituals or priests. His most radical social teachings denounced the caste system and taught that everyone is equal, regardless of caste or gender.

Sikhism in India

Peter Owen-Jones explores the Sikh faith in India, travelling to a festival in Nanded and explaining the origins of Sikhism in the conflict between Hinduism and Islam 300 years ago.

He visits the temple where Guru Gobind Singh was assassinated and joins worshippers honouring the institution of the Guru Granth Sahib as the living guru. Noting the display of weapons at the temple he comments on the martial prowess of the Sikhs and meets some Sikh soldiers. He discusses key beliefs in the one God and their rejection of caste.

(Courtsy BBC .com)

 

 

Top 10 Key Lessons & Teachings from Guru Nanak Dev Ji life

 

1 Submission to the Will of God (WAHEGURU)

Guru Nanak Dev ji gave the message of “Hukam Rajayee Chalna Nanak Likheya Naal“. Guru Nanak Dev ji says that everything happens by God’s Grace, so Rest assured that God knows better what is right or wrong for us.  We should, therefore, accept His decisions without any grudge or question. 

2. There is One God

Guru Nanak Dev ji said, ” I am neither Hindu Nor Muslim, I am a follower of god”, which actually spoke about his belief in one god. In Sikhism, the god is omnipresent, shapeless, timeless, and sightless. ( Nirankar, akar, alakh). Sikhism stress that, before creation there was God, and because of His will ( Hukam), the Illusion ( maya of attachment and enticement) came into being. The God in Sikhism is not male/female, and can only be seen through inward eye. Guru Nanak Dev ji explained one thing clearly that there is only One who gives to Everyone and we should not forget to Him. The Guru stressed that full knowledge of god is impossible in human form.

3. Goodwill for all – SARBAT DAA BHALAA

Guru Nanak dev ji passed the message of Universal brotherhood. He said that religion is not mere consistence of words but actually looks all men and women equally. Universal brotherhood is a strong theme in Gurbani written by Guru Nanak Dev ji. In our prayer, we say this line towards the end of daily Ardaas – “Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat da bhala”, which can be translated as “Nanak asks for ‘Naam’ (name of God) with which comes well being, happiness and positive spirit and with your blessings, Lord may everyone in the world prosper and be in peace“ or can be broken down as:

Nanak, With Naam comes Chardi Kala and with your blessings, may there be peace for all

We request Him for the welfare of the whole humanity and not just of our community or our family alone.

 4. SACH SUNAISI SACH KEE BELA – (to speak the truth)

Guru Nanak Dev Ji told in front of King Babar “You are not Babar but JABAR”. We should always speak the truth without any fear. According to the Guru’s doctrine, the victory of truth is not dependent on ending or suppressing falsehood but in standing firmly by truth. That is why Guru Nanak Dev ji exhorts that to stick to truth and to remain on the side of truth when it is necessary is very essential –

SACH KI BANI NANAK AAKHAI SACH SUNAISI SACH KI BELA

I HAVE RELATED THE TRUE WORD OF THE TRUE LORD AS PER HIS WILL. 

 5. SEWA AND SIMRAN

Guru Nanak says that no one can save anybody else. It is only Guru who guides us to safety, and to be saved, one have to follow the right path of SEWA and SIMRAN told by him.  Further the Guru is not to be found in big palaces, he lives with poor.  Let us love the poor, God will bless us.  If we recite Gurbani with love, we will find the Guru is speaking to us.  We have been reminded of his observations many times in our life. When we barely make both ends meet, we are usually sincerely devoted to GURBANI and the Sikh way of life.  But when we have excess money to spend on worldly pleasures we follow vices and ignore the real mission of human life.  DHARAM is usually the first casualty when we become rich. About SEWA Gurbani explains:  (In the midst of this world, do SEWA and you shall be given a place of honour in the Court of the Lord)

6  The three Principals

·       Vand Chako: Sharing with others, helping those with less who are in need

·       Kirat Karo: Earning/making a living honestly, without exploitation or fraud

·       Naam Japna: Chanting the Holy Name and thus remembering God at all times (ceaseless devotion to God)

7 Shun five Evils

Guru Nanak Dev Ji asked his followers to shun five evils which leads to illusion ( maya) which eventually acts as roadblock towards attainment of salvation. The five evils are

Ego, Anger, Greed, Attachment and Lust.

8 Importance of Guru

Guru Nanak Dev ji lay great emphasis on having the importance of Guru in one’s life. He put forward the thought that salvation occurs not from pilgrimage or rites etc, but through heart, spirit and soul. For this to happen continuous seeking of knowledge must take place which is dependent on one’s guru. Guru according to him is the voice of the god, the true source of knowledge and salvation.

9. No Discrimination

Guru Nanak Dev ji was strongly against all artificially created divisions and all discrimination, both in word and deed. He said that the caste of a person is based on what he does. His idea of a caste-free society transpired also in his concepts of Sangat and Pangat.

10. Against Rituals/Superstitions

Guru Nanak Dev Ji preached against superstitions, false rituals, worship of demi-gods and goddesses. He stressed that only One God, the Formless, is to be glorified. In this way, he showed the path of truth and enlightenment.

(Courtsy singh station.net)

 

The essence of Guru Nanak’s teachings

 

Nanakism is a revolutionary movement, against the plethora of empty rituals, hypocrisies and superstitions which were holding the people in a tight grip with the authority of an orthodox religiosity

Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara

SS Minhas

Opening the doors for the commoners of the Gurdwara in Kartarpur Sahib is the real tribute to humanity on the pious occasion of 550th Anniversary of first Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is located across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. It was established by the Sikh Guru in 1522. The first Gurdwara named Kartarpur Sahib was built here, where Guru Nanak Dev is said to have left for heavenly abode.

In Kartarpur Sahib only, Guru Nanak Dev Ji had done the agriculture and irrigation with his own hands. Here only he had given the universal message of Kirat Karna (Work hard with honest labour), Naam Japna (Remember Almighty God), Vand Chhakna (Share your bounties).

Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru was born in a small village called Talwandi, now known as Nankana Sahib situated in Pakistan.

At the age of 11 years, he was to be given janeu or sacrificial thread as a badge of the upper caste to which he belonged. On the ceremonial presence of all, his near ones, he refused to take janeu and uttered these words:

“Let compassion be the cotton,

Spin it into the yarn of contentment

Give it knots of countenance and the twist of truth

Thus, will thou make janeu for the soul

If such a one thou hast put it on me

The thread so made will neither snap nor become soiled

It will neither be born nor lost

Blessed is the man O Nanak

Who weareth such a thread around his neck”

Nanak thus told Pandit ji, “Let me know if you have such a ‘sacred thread’, which is unbreakable, which enables a person to be merciful, satisfied and with patience. If you have such a thread, I am willing to put it around.”

As Nanak was growing, he became serious and started remaining indoors, he was least interested in interacting with anyone. The parents were worried and hence called for a physician to examine Nanak. When the physician caught the wrist of Nanak to read his pulse, he immediately uttered the following words.

“They have called the physician to try his physics,

And he grips the arm and searches it for ailment.

little doth the good physician know that the ache is in his heart.”

It means, Nanak said, “I am not suffering from ‘physical ailment, I am ailing with such a disease that is beyond your understanding. A good vaid is the one who understands the ailment and finally provides the treatment. You are not the actual vaid who is able to understand the cause of ailment and provide treatment.’ Thus, the vaid told Mehta Kalu that his son needed no healing, “He himself is free from infirmity and might be the healer for others".

Nanak was finally appointed as a storekeeper at Sultanpur Lodhi at the request of his sister’s husband to Daulat Khan Lodhi. On one fine day, he was distributing ration to the public after weighing in balance and was continuously reciting Terah-Terah. The other members complained to the higher authorities that Nanak was distributing free ration and emptying the store. Hence, Nanak was removed before the stock checking of the store but to their surprise all the things in the store were intact and as per records only.

As it was a regular practice to take bath in rivers in those days, Nanak too went to take a dip in Kali Bein, a river in Sultanpur Lodhi but did not come out for three days. All were worried and tried to locate him. Only his elder sister Bebe Nanaki, who was senior by five years to Nanak, had full faith in God. On the third day, Nanak came out of the river Kali Bein after being enlightened and uttered the following words:

Ek Onkar – There is One God

Satnam – His Name is Truth

Karta Purakh – A Purusha who is the Creator.

Nirbhau – Without any fear

Nirvair – without any enmity

Akal Murat – a being whom death cannot assail.

Ajooni– Unborn

Saihbang – Self existent

Gurprasad – with the grace of Guru the preceptor

Nanakism is a revolutionary movement, against the plethora of empty ceremonials, rituals, hypocrisies and superstitions which were holding the people, especially the Indian masses in a tight grip with the authority of an orthodox religiosity. All these had not only lost their original significance and merit, if there was any but were proving a dead weight for people’s spiritual and temporal progress. Guru Nanak gave a shattering blow to this house of cards in order to create a realistic, progressive and scientific outlook.

Guru Nanak himself was certainly in the sublime spiritual stage which came through meditation of His name, and complete surrender to His will. His life’s mission was not of achieving any personal ends, comforts or worldly aggrandizement but it was his extreme humility and very hard work to elevate humanity spiritually and lead it to a high path of virtue and morality.

He extensively travelled in four of his important voyages (Udasis) towards East, West, South and North directions. Even though these tours require more research yet indications are forthcoming that he went to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Africa, Arabia, Rome Turkey, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.

Throughout he preached the concept of Ek Onkar, i.e. God is one, and asked people to live in the will of Almighty God. In about 80% places, he was misunderstood by the masses; he was stoned and called by other names but he stood firmly on his stand and took out water at maximum places for the common masses.

Guru Nanak is popularly known as: ‘Nanak Shah Faqir’ and ‘Hindu ka Guru Musalmaan ka peer’.

Today, Guru Nanak is known with different names in different religions – i.e. Nanakacharya in Sri Lanka, Nanak Lama in Tibet and Leh, Rinpoche in Sikkim and Bhutan, Nanak Rishi in Nepal. Nanak Peer in Baghdad, Vali Hind in Mecca, Nanak Vali in Misr (Egypt), Nanak Kadamdar in Russia, Peer Balagdaan in Mazahar Shareef and Baba Foosa in China etc.

Guru Nanak laid emphasis on “Truthful living is higher than truth itself”and taught the common masses to meditate in God’s name, work honestly and share the gains with the needy. He laid the seed for new religion based on secularism, also started his four voyages in different four directions with his two beloved disciples: Mardana, a Muslim and Bala, a Hindu. He covered a distance of around 40,000 kms on foot on treacherous paths, through jungles with no communication, no light, no rationing facilities besides other means of transportation.

During his last voyage, Guru Nanak’s friend and companion who was with him for most of his journeys, Baba Mardana died on the banks of river Tigris in Baghdad. Thereby, Guru Nanak abandoned the voyages and finally settled in a place on the banks of river Ravi in Pakistan, now known as Kartarpur Sahib. He himself did ploughing and tilling of the land for almost 18 years till he finally left for his heavenly abode at the age of 72 years.

Before leaving the world, he had asked his assembled followers not to disturb him and covered his body with white sheet. Then after long hours of undisturbed sleep, the followers removed the white bed-sheet and found flowers on the bed. These flowers were thus equally divided between Hindus and Mohammadans and now on 550 years of Guru Nanak’s Prakash Utsav, Pakistan Government has given permission to all pilgrims to pay a visit to this historical place also known to be Sikh model of Utopia.

Guru Nanak lived here with his wife and two sons till he breathed his last and preached the Sikh way of life and gave a message that one could do meditation even while staying with the family instead of wandering like hermits to mountains, river beds or to jungles.

(Courtsy National Herald India.com)