GURU NANAK

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GURU NANAK

 

Guru Nanak Dev was born in Nankana Sahib, the then Punjab and the Pakistan of

the present, on 20th October, 1467. He was the founder of the religion called

Sikhism and was the very first among the eleven Sikh Gurus.

 

Guru Nanak was a powerful religious figure of his time. He is even now respected

and revered equally by Sikhs, Hindus and even some Sufi masters. His main

message to people was to have 'devotion in thought and good conduct', among

other things. Guru Nanak vastly influenced the cultural history of the Punjab.

In India, he was revered as the one who gave the gospel of unconditional love

and goodwill.

 

Guru Nanak's birth

 

Nanak Dev was born in Talwandi, a small village in the district of Sheikhupura,

about 60kms West of Lahore. At the present time, his birth place has become a

sacred spot, being marked by a Gurdwara Janam Asthan. His father, Kalyan Das

Bedi, was an accountant for crop revenue in the village. He worked for a Muslim

landlord called Rai Bular. Nanak's mother was Tripta Devi and he had a sister,

Nanaki.

There are two varieties of biographies of Guru Nanak's life, namely, the

Janamasakhis' and the vars of Bhai Gurdas. The most popular biography is

supposed to have been recorded by a close associate and friend of the Guru, Bhai

Bala, just before the master's death. But some research also indicates this

could well have been written much after his passing.

 

The Janamasakhis

 

Bhai Gurdas, the one who recorded the Guru Granth Sahib, also talked about

Nanak's life in his vars. But these too might have been recorded after his

passing. Besides, this is a lot less detailed than the Janamasakhis and the

Sikhs also trust the latter more for its genuineness.

 

The Janamasakhis give the minutest details about Nanak's life history. It is

said here that the astrology who visited the household to cast infant Nanak's

horoscope requested to see him. When he was brought before Nanak, he joined his

hands in prayer and sincerely worshipped him. The astrologer said he regretted

that he may never live to see how powerful Nanak would become later in his life

and predicted that he would be revered not only by the Sikhs but also by Hindus

and Muslims too.

 

Nanak had already started developing a deep interest for all things spiritual

and divine by the age of five. He entered the village school and soon got

himself familiarized with all aspects of Hinduism and Islam. He read the Vedas,

Shastras and the Qur'an. He was very saddened by the society's discrimination on

the basis of caste and religion and wished he could do to eradicate the same.

His first teacher was a Muslim. Nanak is said to have astonished his teacher by

asking him what the hidden meaning of the very first alphabet in Persian was.

The alphabet was almost a straight stroke, resembling the figure '1' and denoted

the concept of oneness with God!

 

After completing his academics, Nanak took to more private study and meditation.

It is said that Nanak loved the solitude of the nearby jungle and met with the

religious men who frequented the place. Many of these men were well-versed with

Indian religious literature and had traveled far and wide within the country.

This gave Nanak a good grounding on the changing thoughts and trends of Indian

philosophers and reformers.

 

Nanak's married life

 

Nanak's marriage took place in Batala town to a girl called Sulakhni. He had two

sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand. The elder son followed in the footsteps of the

father, was deeply spiritual and even formed a sect called the Udasi. He was

revered as Baba Sri Chand. The term 'Baba' is used as a mark of respect in

Sikhism. The younger one, on the other hand, was totally worldly and

materialistic.

Neither of the sons took over from where Guru Nanak left off. After Sri Chand's

time, his pagri (position) was taken over by the sixth Sikh Guru, Har Gobind.

All those in the Udasi sect remained within the framework of Sikhism.

 

Guru Nanak's teachings

 

Guru Nanak laid a stress on keeping true faith in God and pursuing the path of

good, which would lead one to God. He asked his followers to be in constant

contemplation and worship God and recite His name always. According to him, God

was transcendent, infinite and limitless. He often said that God was inside

oneself, much like how one's beloved always resided in one's own heart. Guru

Nanak believed in a benevolent, merciful God and kept reiterating that one could

always find God in himself if he sincerely tried for it.

 

Like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, Guru Nanak too denounced any form of idol

worship, binding rites and rituals and asked people to access God's Energy

directly instead, within themselves. He fought to eradicate superstitious

beliefs from people.

 

He propagated Naam Japna (taking the divine name), while also living in this

material world and discharging one's duties. He asked people to earn a decent

livelihood and share their money with others less fortunate than themselves. His

chant, 'Satnam Vaheguru' became the very landmark of Sikhism as a religion. He

used to say, " The name is the God, the God of all Gods. Some propitiate Durga,

some Shiv, some Ganesh and some other Gods but the Guru's Sikhs worship the True

Name and thus remove all obstacles to salvation " .

 

Further, Nanak gave immense importance to the presence of a Guru in one's

spiritual pursuit. In his own words, " Without the Guru, no one can obtain God,

however long the matter be debated. With the help of the Guru, man enjoys divine

pleasure, he does not know any sorrow. The Guru is the raft or the ladder of the

Sikhs. The Guru is found through divine grace. "

 

Karma according to Guru Nanak

 

Guru Nanak staunchly believed in the concept of Karma and described people as

being under the influence of the three-fold qualities of Maya, namely, Rajas

(passion), Tamas (ignorance) and Satva (good). He was of the opinion that all

the three qualities would be present in all people in different measure, thus

binding them to their present worldly life.

 

These qualities make the jivas (individual souls) behave in certain ways, giving

rise to their Karmas in their lives. He is also influenced by Karmas accumulated

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is Creator. This is the Sri Guru Granth Sahib's or the Gurbani's law of Karma

and is much the same as other laws influencing the oriental school of thought in

general and Hinduism in particular.

 

Ram Chugani

Kobe, Japan