Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder and first Guru of Sikhism, was born in 1469 in the village of Talwandi, which is located in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. The village, now known as Nankana Sahib, is situated near the city of Lahore in present-day Pakistan.
Guru Nanak Dev ji's father, Mehta Kalu ji, was a village accountant. His mother, Mata Tripta ji, was described as a simple and very religious woman. He also had an elder sister named Bebe Nanki ji, who cherished her younger brother. From an early age, it was evident that Guru Nanak ji was an extraordinary child, distinguished by his divine grace. Blessed with a deeply contemplative mind and rational thinking, young Nanak Ji would often astound his elders and teachers with the sublimity of his knowledge, particularly on divine matters.
Growing up, he refused to partake in traditional religious rituals and often spoke out against several prevalent societal practices such as the Caste System, idolatry, and the worship of demi-gods. By age 16, Guru Nanak Dev ji had mastered multiple religious texts and languages, including Sanskrit, Persian, and Hindi, and was writing what many believed were divinely inspired compositions.
In the year 1487, Guru Nanak Dev ji was married to Mata Sulakhni ji, and they had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das. The family, accompanied by Bhai Mardana, a Muslim childhood friend of Guru Nanak Dev ji, then moved to the town of Sultanpur Lodhi, where Guru ji took the job of an accountant in charge of the stores of the local Governor. Here, Guru Nanak ji worked during the days, but during the early mornings and late nights, he meditated and sang hymns accompanied by Bhai Mardana on the rabab (a stringed instrument).
Nanak meets Sant Kabir
Shri Nanak Ji was the worshipper of Brahm and used to chant the ‘OM’ mantra with great reverence. One day Sant Kabir met Shri Nanak Dev Ji in the form of Jinda Baba on river Bein. He provided him with true spiritual knowledge and proved from holy scriptures that the God whom Nanak Ji worships, considering him to be the complete God, is actually mortal and is the owner of only twenty-one universes. The Supreme God is not him, but rather, one who resides in the eternal world - Satlok. He is attainable by chanting true salvation mantras - Satnam, which only an enlightened saint who is truly the representative of Sant Kabir provides.
Guru Nanak Ji agreed with the sacred words of Sant Kabir that God is in human form. Jinda Baba (Kabir) told Nanak Ji that since you have been separated from Sat Purush, you have attained 60,000 human births, where you lead a royal life relishing all comforts. You are a devout soul who was King Ambresh in the Sat Yuga, and King Janak, the father of Sita Ji in Treta Yuga. Now you are Nanak Ji in Kali Yuga.
Earlier, you had servants; now, you yourself are a servant. But with the worship you did all through your illness of birth and rebirth, it did not finish. Such a devout soul like you, when suffering from birth and rebirth, then what would be the condition of any ordinary soul? You did good worship but are still trapped in a vicious circle of birth and death. Sant Kabir told Nanak Ji; had you been doing true worship, then why did you come back to this earth? Without chanting true salvation mantras, you will remain trapped in Brahm's web or lower Brahmandas (our lower universe).
Trusting Jinda Baba's (Sant Kabir) words, Nanak Ji expressed a desire to visit Satlok and meet Sat Purush. Then Sant Kabir took the pious soul Nanak Ji to the eternal world, kept him there for three days, and later released the soul back into the body. After returning from Satlok the eye-witness Nanak Ji praised Sant Kabir and sang several sacred Amritwani that have been scripted in the pious book of Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
During one of those early mornings while bathing in “Vain Nadi” (a small river), Guru Nanak ji heard God‘s call to dedicate himself completely to the service of humanity. The very first sentence which he uttered then was, "There is no Hindu, no Musalman (Muslim)." Stating that he had been taken to the God's court and given a divine mission, Guru Nanak ji then began the next stage of his life to preach his unique doctrine (Sikhi) to the entire world.
Spiritual Journeys
Guru Nanak Dev ji made four great Spiritual journeys, traveling to all parts of India, Sri Lanka, Arabia and Persia. He visited head centers of all religions and had discourses with head priests of various sects of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Parsees, and Muslims. Everywhere he outcome in Spiritual discussions; therefore having followers from all religious backgrounds.
He spoke in the temples and mosques and at various pilgrimage sites. Wherever he went, Guru Nanak Dev ji spoke out against empty religious rituals, pilgrimages, the caste system, the sacrifice of widows, depending on books to learn the true religion, and of all the other tenets that were to define his teachings. Never did he ask his listeners to follow him. He asked the Muslims to be true Muslims and the Hindus to be true Hindus.
After the last of his great journeys, Guru Nanak Dev ji tried a new experiment - he asked a wealthy follower to donate a large tract of land. Here, he built a town called Kartapur (in Punjab) on the banks of the Ravi, where he taught for another fifteen years. Followers from all over came to settle in Kartapur to listen, and sing, and be with him. During this time, although his followers still remained Hindu, Muslim, or of the religion to which they were born, they became known as the Guru ji's disciples, or Sikhs. It was here his followers began to refer to him as teacher, or guru.
The Guru ji told his followers that they were to be householders and could not live apart from the world -- there were to be no priests or hermits. Here is where the Guru ji instituted the common meal, requiring the rich and poor, Hindu and Muslim, high caste and low caste, to sit together while eating. All worked together, and all owned the town. Here is where Lehna, later to be Guru Angad, came to be with Guru Nanak Dev ji.
A well-known legend states that when Guru Nanak Dev ji met Babur (1483-1530), the Emperor of India offered him a shared pipe of Bhang. Guru Nanak ji replied that he had a bhang whose wonderful effects never wore off. Inquiring of Guru Nanak ji where he could find such a wonderful bhang, Guru Nanak ji declined the emperor's offer, saying GOD the SAT GURU was his bhang.
Teachings
Guru Ji taught people that the 'One' God dwells in every one of his creations and that all human beings can have direct access to God without the need for any rituals or priests. Setting up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality and fraternal love, Guru Nanak Dev ji attacked the citadel of the Hindu Caste System and condemned the theocracy of Mughal rulers.
He described the dangers of egotism, falsehood, and hypocrisy and called upon the people to engage in worship through the "Naam" (the name of God). He rejected the path of renunciation (Tyaga), emphasizing a householder's (family) life based on honest conduct, selfless service (Sewa), and constant devotion and remembrance of God's name.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji promoted the equality of all mankind and upheld the causes of the downtrodden and the poor, laying special emphasis on asserting the equality of women by spreading this message: "From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to the woman, he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman." (page 473). In so doing, he promoted women's rights and equality — a first for the 15th century!
Later Years
In the later years of his life, Guru Ji founded and settled down in the township of Kartarpur ("creator's town") on the banks of the Ravi river in Punjab. Here, he donned the robes of a peasant, earning his own honest living by cultivating the lands. Followers came from near and far to listen to the Master. He introduced the institution of Langar (free communal kitchen) at Kartarpur, establishing basic equality for all people regardless of their social and economic status. In the year 1539, knowing that the end was drawing near, Guru Ji, after having tested his own two sons and some followers over the years, installed Bhai Lehna ji (Guru Angad Dev Ji) as the Second Nanak, and after a few days passed into Sachkhand.
Guru Nanak Dev ji's writings, 974 spiritual hymns comprising the Japji Sahib, Asa di Var, Bara Mah, Sidh Gosht, and Dakhni Onkar, were incorporated in the scripture Guru Granth Sahib by the fifth Guru Arjan Dev ji. All the Sikh Gurus after Guru Nanak Dev ji continued to identify themselves as Nanak while writing their sacred writings. Thus, Sikhs believe that all the Gurus possessed the same divine light and further strengthened the same doctrine as Guru Nanak Dev Ji propagated.
Among people of various faiths and traditions, Guru Nanak Dev Ji is variously revered as Satguru Nanak, Jagat Guru Nanak, Baba Nanak, Nanak Shah Faqir, Bhagat Nanak, Nanak Kalandar.
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