Shri Guru Nanak Dev Sahib Ji
Shri Guru Nanak Dev Sahib Ji
Guru Nanak Ji About this sound pronunciation; born as Nanak on 15
April 1469 – 22 September 1539), also referred to as Baba Nanak 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 in October or in November.
Nanak is said to have travelled far and wide across Asia teaching
people the message of ik onkar (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, Shri 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 Rai Bhular Ki Talvandi village
(present-day Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan) in the Lahore province
of the Delhi Sultanate, although according to one tradition, he was
born in the Indian month of Kartik or November, known as Kattak in
Punjabi.
Most janamsakhis (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. These
include the Puratan ('traditional' or 'ancient') janamsakhi,
Miharban janamsakhi, Gyan-ratanavali by Bhai Mani Singh, and the
Vilayat Vali janamsakhi. 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).
Around the age of 55, Nanak Ji 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 Ji
had acquired several followers in the Punjab region, although it is
hard to estimate their number based on the extant historical
evidence.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji appointed Bhai Lehna Ji as the successor Guru,
renaming him as Guru Angad Dev Ji, meaning "one's very own" or "part
of you". Shortly after proclaiming his successor, Guru Nanak Dev Ji
died on 22 September 1539 in Kartarpur, at the age of 70. Guru
Nanak's Dev ji 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.
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 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 Mul Chand 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. 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.
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 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.
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, 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.
Nanak is considered the founder of Sikhism. The fundamental
beliefs of Sikhism, articulated in the sacred
scripture Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 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.
Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji 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 Ji contributed a
total of 974 hymns to the holy book.
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