` Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji was born on 15th April 1469 in Talwandi, a village in the Sheikhupura district, 65 kms. West of Lahore. His father Mehta Kalu was a village official in the local revenue administration. Guru Nanak's mother was Tripta and his elder sister's name was Bibi Nanki.
As a boy, Guru Nanak learnt, besides the regional languages, Persian and Arabic. When Guru Nanak Dev was 12 years old his father gave him twenty rupees and asked him to do a business, apparently to teach him business. Guru Nanak Dev bought food for all the money and distributed among Saints, and poor. When his father asked him what happened to business? He replied that he had done a "True business". Later on at the place where Guru Nanak Dev had fed the poor persons Gurdwara was made and named Sacha Sauda.
At one time he preferred to dine at the place of a low caste artisan Bhai Lallo, instead of accepting the invitation of a high caste rich landlord Malik Bhago, because the latter lived by exploitation of the poor and the former earned his bread by the sweat of his brow. This incident has been depicted by a symbolic representation of the reason for his preference. Sri Guru Nanak pressed in one hand the coarse loaf of bread from Lallo's hut and in the other the food from Bhago's house. Milk gushed forth from the loaf of Lallo's and blood from the delicacies of Bhago. This prescription for honest work and living and the condemnation of exploitation, coupled with the Guru's dictum that "riches cannot be gathered without sin and evil means," have, from the very beginning, continued to be the basic moral tenet with the Sikh mystics and the Sikh society.
During his tours, he visited numerous places of Hindu and Muslim worship. He explained and exposed through his preaching the incongruities and fruitlessness of ritualistic and ascetic practices. At Haridwar, when he found people throwing Ganges water towards the sun in the East as oblations to their ancestors in heaven, he started, as a measure of correction, throwing the water towards the West, in the direction of his fields in the Punjab. When ridiculed about his folly, he replied, "If Ganges water will reach your ancestors in heaven, why should the water I throw up not reach my fields in the Punjab, which are far less distant?"
One thing is very evident. Guru Nanak had a distinct sense of his prophet hood and that his mission was God-ordained. Guru Nanak refers to God as his Enlightener and Teacher. His statements clearly show his belief that God had commanded him to preach an entirely new religion. During a dialogue with the Yogis, he stated that his mission was to help everyone. He came to be called a Guru in his lifetime. In Punjabi, the word Guru means both God and an enlightener or a prophet. During his life his disciples were formed and came to be recognized as a separate community. He was accepted as a new religious prophet. His followers adopted a separate way of greeting each other with the words Sat Kartar (God is true).
According to the Guru, moral life was the sole medium of spiritual progress. In those times, caste, religious and social distinctions, and the idea of pollution were major problems. Unfortunately, these distinctions had received religious sanction. The problem of poverty and food was another moral challenge. The institution of 'langar' had a twin purpose. As every one sat and ate at the same place and shared the same food, it cut at the root of the evil of caste, class and religious distinctions. Besides, it demolished the idea of pollution of food by the mere presence of an untouchable. Secondly it provided food to the needy. The Guru among all his followers started this institution of langar and pangat wherever they had been organized. It became an integral part of the moral life of the Sikhs.
Considering that a large number of his followers were of low caste and poor members of society, he, from the very start made it clear that persons who wanted to maintain caste and class distinctions had no place in his system. In fact, the twin duties of sharing one's income with the poor and doing away with social distinctions were the two obligations which every Sikh had to discharge. On this score, he left no option to anyone, since he started his mission with Mardana, a low caste Muslim, as his life long companion.
While Guru Nanak was catholic in his criticism of other religions, he was unsparing where he felt it necessary to clarify an issue or to keep his flock away from a wrong practice or prejudice. He categorically attacked all the evil institutions of his time including oppression and barbarity in the political field, corruption among the officials and hypocrisy and greed in the priestly class. He deprecated the degrading practices of inequality in the social field. He criticized and repudiated the scriptures that sanctioned such practices. After having denounced all of them, he took tangible steps to create a society that accepted the religious responsibility of eliminating these evils from the new institutions created by him and of attacking the evil practices and institutions in the social and political fields. It was a fundamental institutional change with the largest dimensions and implications for the future of the community and the country. The very fact that originally poorer classes were attracted to the Gurus, fold shows that they found there a society and a place where they could breathe freely and live with a sense of equality and dignity.
Dr H.R. Gupta, the well-known historian, writes, "Nanak's religion was above the limits of caste, creed and country”. He gave his love to all, Hindus, Muslims, Indians and foreigners alike.
The life of Guru Nanak shows that the only interpretation of his thesis and doctrines could be the one, which we have accepted. He expressed his doctrines through the medium of activities. He himself laid the firm foundations of institutions and trends, which flowered and fructified later on. As we do not find a trace of those ideas and institutions in the religious milieu of his time or the religious history of the country, the entirely original and new character of his spiritual system could have only been mystically and prophetically inspired. Apart from the continuation,consolidation and expansion of Guru Nanak's mission, the account that follows seeks to present the major contributions made by the remaining Gurus.
Guru Nanak's teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture “Shri Guru Granth Sahib”, a vast collection of revelatory verses recorded in Gurmukhi. Through popular tradition, Guru Nanak's teaching is understood to be practiced in three ways:
Naam Japa: Chanting the Holy Name and thus remembering God at all times. (ceaseless devotion to God)
Kirat Karo: Earning/making a living honestly, without exploitation or fraud.
Vand Chakko: Sharing with others, helping those with less who are in need.
So it is not wrong if anyone says that Guru Nanak was an appostle of peace and communal harmony.
As a boy, Guru Nanak learnt, besides the regional languages, Persian and Arabic. When Guru Nanak Dev was 12 years old his father gave him twenty rupees and asked him to do a business, apparently to teach him business. Guru Nanak Dev bought food for all the money and distributed among Saints, and poor. When his father asked him what happened to business? He replied that he had done a "True business". Later on at the place where Guru Nanak Dev had fed the poor persons Gurdwara was made and named Sacha Sauda.
At one time he preferred to dine at the place of a low caste artisan Bhai Lallo, instead of accepting the invitation of a high caste rich landlord Malik Bhago, because the latter lived by exploitation of the poor and the former earned his bread by the sweat of his brow. This incident has been depicted by a symbolic representation of the reason for his preference. Sri Guru Nanak pressed in one hand the coarse loaf of bread from Lallo's hut and in the other the food from Bhago's house. Milk gushed forth from the loaf of Lallo's and blood from the delicacies of Bhago. This prescription for honest work and living and the condemnation of exploitation, coupled with the Guru's dictum that "riches cannot be gathered without sin and evil means," have, from the very beginning, continued to be the basic moral tenet with the Sikh mystics and the Sikh society.
During his tours, he visited numerous places of Hindu and Muslim worship. He explained and exposed through his preaching the incongruities and fruitlessness of ritualistic and ascetic practices. At Haridwar, when he found people throwing Ganges water towards the sun in the East as oblations to their ancestors in heaven, he started, as a measure of correction, throwing the water towards the West, in the direction of his fields in the Punjab. When ridiculed about his folly, he replied, "If Ganges water will reach your ancestors in heaven, why should the water I throw up not reach my fields in the Punjab, which are far less distant?"
One thing is very evident. Guru Nanak had a distinct sense of his prophet hood and that his mission was God-ordained. Guru Nanak refers to God as his Enlightener and Teacher. His statements clearly show his belief that God had commanded him to preach an entirely new religion. During a dialogue with the Yogis, he stated that his mission was to help everyone. He came to be called a Guru in his lifetime. In Punjabi, the word Guru means both God and an enlightener or a prophet. During his life his disciples were formed and came to be recognized as a separate community. He was accepted as a new religious prophet. His followers adopted a separate way of greeting each other with the words Sat Kartar (God is true).
According to the Guru, moral life was the sole medium of spiritual progress. In those times, caste, religious and social distinctions, and the idea of pollution were major problems. Unfortunately, these distinctions had received religious sanction. The problem of poverty and food was another moral challenge. The institution of 'langar' had a twin purpose. As every one sat and ate at the same place and shared the same food, it cut at the root of the evil of caste, class and religious distinctions. Besides, it demolished the idea of pollution of food by the mere presence of an untouchable. Secondly it provided food to the needy. The Guru among all his followers started this institution of langar and pangat wherever they had been organized. It became an integral part of the moral life of the Sikhs.
Considering that a large number of his followers were of low caste and poor members of society, he, from the very start made it clear that persons who wanted to maintain caste and class distinctions had no place in his system. In fact, the twin duties of sharing one's income with the poor and doing away with social distinctions were the two obligations which every Sikh had to discharge. On this score, he left no option to anyone, since he started his mission with Mardana, a low caste Muslim, as his life long companion.
While Guru Nanak was catholic in his criticism of other religions, he was unsparing where he felt it necessary to clarify an issue or to keep his flock away from a wrong practice or prejudice. He categorically attacked all the evil institutions of his time including oppression and barbarity in the political field, corruption among the officials and hypocrisy and greed in the priestly class. He deprecated the degrading practices of inequality in the social field. He criticized and repudiated the scriptures that sanctioned such practices. After having denounced all of them, he took tangible steps to create a society that accepted the religious responsibility of eliminating these evils from the new institutions created by him and of attacking the evil practices and institutions in the social and political fields. It was a fundamental institutional change with the largest dimensions and implications for the future of the community and the country. The very fact that originally poorer classes were attracted to the Gurus, fold shows that they found there a society and a place where they could breathe freely and live with a sense of equality and dignity.
Dr H.R. Gupta, the well-known historian, writes, "Nanak's religion was above the limits of caste, creed and country”. He gave his love to all, Hindus, Muslims, Indians and foreigners alike.
The life of Guru Nanak shows that the only interpretation of his thesis and doctrines could be the one, which we have accepted. He expressed his doctrines through the medium of activities. He himself laid the firm foundations of institutions and trends, which flowered and fructified later on. As we do not find a trace of those ideas and institutions in the religious milieu of his time or the religious history of the country, the entirely original and new character of his spiritual system could have only been mystically and prophetically inspired. Apart from the continuation,consolidation and expansion of Guru Nanak's mission, the account that follows seeks to present the major contributions made by the remaining Gurus.
Guru Nanak's teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture “Shri Guru Granth Sahib”, a vast collection of revelatory verses recorded in Gurmukhi. Through popular tradition, Guru Nanak's teaching is understood to be practiced in three ways:
Naam Japa: Chanting the Holy Name and thus remembering God at all times. (ceaseless devotion to God)
Kirat Karo: Earning/making a living honestly, without exploitation or fraud.
Vand Chakko: Sharing with others, helping those with less who are in need.
So it is not wrong if anyone says that Guru Nanak was an appostle of peace and communal harmony.
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