Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born in 1469 at Talwandi (Nanakana Sahib), a. small village in Sheikhupura District: To distinguish this village from other Tilwandis, people called it a Talwandi of Rai Bhoe after ‘the name of a person who had rebuilt it. His father was Mehta Kalu and mother Tripta. Guru Nanak came to the world when there was no confusion among the various schools of thought; when the rulers were cruller, corrupt and the subjects were submissive; when ‘there was a complete darkness around; when the religious practice had vanished and taken ‘over by the superstitious and magical rites,
Guru Nanak was considered to be an unusual child right from the very childhood His mind was generally fixed on God. He ‘was made to graze cattle, to do business for living, to follow a married life, and to do ‘employment for living. But all of these things did neither change him nor kept him away from meditating on God. At his tenth birth: day, a ceremony was arranged for him to ‘wear janean (Hindu thread), Gura Nanak questioned and challenged the validity of wearing the janeau. He flatly rejected the ‘sacred thread. Instead of wearing the janeau, he recited the following hymn
Out of the cotton of compassion
Spin the thread of contentment
Tie the knot of continence
“Give it the twist of virtues
‘Make such a sacred thread
Pandit, for your soul
Such a thread will not break
“Nor get soiled, be burnt or lost
Blessed is the man O Nanak
Who makes it a part of his life.
At Sultanpur, there came the most momentous day in the life of Nanak. The day proved to be the turning point in his life. The Sikh Religion, the youngest in the world, germinated in what Nanak experienced on that day ‘0f 1499, On that day, Nanak, as usual went to take a bath in the stream and then disappeared for three days. It’s believed that he ‘went homeward and received the following ‘mulmantra from God:
There is one God, The supreme truth
Maker of alt things, fearless, without enmity
Timeless in image
Not born, nor dies to be reborn
By the grace of the Guru, made know of man,
It is further believed by the devoted Sikhs that the Lord enjoined on Nanak to preach mulmantra to the world which has become increasingly ungodly and sinful for some time. Nanak was further (old to elaborate on the mulmantra by stating:
God was True in the beginning,
True before the ages began
True now, and will be True in the future
Guru Nanak travelled far and wide to spread the Word (shabad) and his teachings from Tibet in the North to Ceylon in the South, from Burma in the East to the Middle East in the West. it is recorded in chronicles that whenever Guru Nanak felt inspired, he used to say:
Strike the note of rabab, Mardana!
Bani (shabad) has come
‘As the Word of Lord comes to me
So make it known, O Lalo!
Guru Nanak bad dual purpose in his teaching social and spiritual His social views ‘depicted his reaction (other times, whereas the spiritual was the call of his own soul The social code was based on Nam Japna, Kirt Kama and Vand Chakna. These were the ideals Truth, Contentment and Intellect (Gat, Saniokh, and Vichar) which he prescribed for the society. In order (o uplift the society through a moral code, he reinstated ‘woman to her place of honor. Women are a respectable pan of the society. She is the mother of humanity. Guru Nanak says:
Condemn not from whom great men of
God are born
No one is born without a woman
Nanak, only the True One, God,
is independent of woman.
During the Inset days of his life, Guru Nanak settled at Kartarpur in 1528, There, he com posed one of the most remarkable spiritually inspired poetry, JAPII, the morning prayer of the Sikhs. It is a prelude to the Guru Granth Sahib. The Guru did not affix any one oregano Japji as he has done in the case of all other hymns of his in Guru Granth Sahib. The thoughts contained in Japji arc of the nature of meditation. They are deep and compact Japji imparts the knowledge of the Creator and shows a practical path of the realization of Truth. It is packed with spiriwal thoughts and insight as to make one believe that its creation completely involved ‘a mystical process of the highest order, Guru says:
In the Region of knowledge,
knowledge dominates
There is eternal bliss coupled with celestial music.
The attribute of the Region of Honor is beauty
In this Region, creation is fashioned most exquisitely
But it cannot be described
If someone does, he will repent afterwards
Created in that Region are the cognition,
the reason, the mind, and the intellect
Also, there is fashioned consciousness of angels
And men of occult powers.
At Kartarpur, Gur Nanak also composed Var Malhar, Var Majh, and Very As a. He began to hold daily congregations and teaching all live in the world and work, while at the same time thinking of God always and praying for nothing but His grace. The Vars and the slok as produced a tremendous impact on the residents of Kartarpur and the daily congregation became favorite feature of the life there
Guru says
Singh the praises of the Lord and remember the Creator
The time of coming and going (death) recorded
Remember the CALLER, that day will come to everyone
“The success of Guru Nanak’s mission was obvious from the fact that when he passed away in 1539, an argument broke between the Hindus and the Muslims the body, Hindus wanted to cremate, whereas Muslims wanted to bury it. Someone has rightly said Baba Nanak Shah Faqr Hindu Ka Guru, Musallmaan Ka Peer
Article extracted from this publication >> November 10, 1995
