BY: SHARDA LAL, BHADERWAH
Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, was born to his parents Mata Tripta Devi and father Mehta Kalu of the Hindu Khatri
clan on Full Moon day Puranmashi of Indian Lunar Month Kartik (October-November). The birth date is also claimed by Bhai
Bala Janamsakhi, in the year 1469 of the Vikram Samvat calendar in Rai-Bhoi-di Talwandi in the present Nankana Sahib
District earlier Shekhupura district, of Pakistan.
Some scholars and organizations believe the Birthday should be celebrated on Vaisakhi, which falls on 14 April according to
the original Nanakshahi Calendar passed by Sri Akal Takht in 2003. However, many people and organizations would like to
keep the traditional date by celebrating it on the Puranmashi or Purnima of the Lunar Month Kartik and therefore, the
Nanakshahi Calendar follows the tradition and celebrates it on the day, as ingrained in Sikh Traditions. The day is also called
Guru Nanak Gurpurb, Guru Nanak's Prakash Utsav or Guru Nanak Dev Ji Jayanti in India.
A Gurudwara called Gurudwara Janam Asthan, stands constructed at Guru Nanak Dev Ji's birthplace in the city now known
as Nankana Sahib. The city was founded by Rai Bhoi. His great-grand son Rai Bular Bhatti, renamed it as ‘Nankana Sahib'
after the name of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The Gurudwara, originally constructed in around 1600 CE to mark the birth place of Guru
Nanak Dev Ji, was renovated in 1819–20 CE by Gian-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh, The Sikh Conference of Punjab, Jammu
and Kashmir, Peshawar, Kangra and Hazara. Sikhs celebrate Gurupurb with great devotion and enthusiasm all over the world
and notably at the Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Rai-Bhoi-di-Talwandi in Nanakana Sahib in Pakistan.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji grew up and lived during the times of huge inequality that prevailed in the society then. By the time Guru
Nanak was born, Islam had already arrived in India long ago in the 7th century and taken roots in the religious and political life
in this part of India by the eleventh century. Guru Nanak was born in the 15th century when large swathes of North and Central
India were ruled by Lodhi Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. Lodhis were followed by the Mughals.
Hindus and Muslims had lived side by side for four centuries from eleventh century onwards. During this period the
relationship between them was ‘sometimes in open conflict', but was ‘always in uneasy tension'. According to David S. Noss,
“the two traditions strongly influenced each other.” They had a deep impact on the culture, traditions, literature, art and
architecture of each other. Though each of them borrowed and learnt from the other, they retained their distinctive
characteristics in their methods of worship and the core doctrines.
Guru Nanak was born in such a milieu in 1469 and at a time when religious pluralism pervaded the society. He learnt his
native language from a Pandit and Persian and Arabic from a mullah. Sikh traditions reveal that the Guru Nanak's birth and
early years were marked with many events that demonstrated that God had marked him out for something special and was
keeping an eye on him. Guru Nanak Ji is said to have had a melodious voice and from his childhood and in his school, he
would sing praises to God and surprise his teachers with his spirituality.
Sikhism arose when various forms of Bhakti movement in Hinduism were at their peak, and Sufism was at its zenith in Islam.
Though the Bhakti movement originated in southern parts of India, it soon spread to all parts of the country. Saint poets sang
with intense devotion in praise of God and advocated complete and unquestioning surrender to Him. Islamic Sufism marked by
mysticism ‘postulated the approach to God through love and voluntary suffering until a unity of will was reached'. Both accepted
intuition as a source of knowing God.
Sufis in Islam, like saints in Hinduism, are regarded as ‘friends of God'. They have a direct experience of God. In both, the
spiritual master—Sant or Guru in Hinduism, and the Pir in Sufism—plays a key role in guiding one to realise God. According to
Teja Singh, both agree that “the best way to approach God was to resign oneself to His will. The easiest way to find God's will
was by becoming a disciple and seeking the guidance of a Guru or Pir”. Both believed that He has to be reached by internal
craving and intensive personal devotion to Him.
However, the renowned writer and journalist Khushwant Singh wrote in the Outlook magazine, “The roots of Sikhism lie deep
in the Bhakti form of Hinduism. Guru Nanak picked what he felt were its salient features”. At the age of thirty Nanak Dev Ji had
his first revelation which changed the course and mission of his life. It is believed that he drowned in the river where he had
gone for his morning ablutions. He remained under water for two days during which time it is believed that he had “in fact been
raised to the presence of God. Been given a drink of nectar and charged with the duty of spreading God's name”.
On the third day he emerged from the river. The first words uttered by Guru Nanak after his emergence from the river were,
“There is no Hindu, there is no Musalmaan.” So, Guru Nanak decided to “follow God's path”. He argued that “God is neither a Hindu
nor a Musalmaan and the path I shall follow is God's path”.
To spread the message of oneness and purity of mankind Guru Nanak stressed on the importance of leading a simple life,
avoiding idol worship and treating all men and women equally. He emphasized on the oneness of God and taught the people
not to discriminate between a Hindu and a Musalmaan.
Guru Ji's teachings mainly involved three things, namely ‘Vand Chhakko', ‘Keerat Karo' and ‘Naam Japo'. ‘Vand Chakko'
refers to sharing the resources with others and helping the needy persons. ‘Keerat Karo' means making an honest living
without deceit or exploitation of anyone, and ‘Naam Japo' involves meditating in the name of God by controlling our sense
organs. Those who formally accepted his teachings came to be known as Sikhs and thus, he was considered the founder of
Sikhism and became the first Sikh Guru.
To complete the mission allotted to him, Guru Nanak undertook several travels. Janam Saakhis give an account of Guru
Nanak's life. According to Puratan Janam Saakhi, he travelled to Assam in the east, Mecca, Madina and Baghdad in the west,
in the Himalayan region in the north, and Sri Lanka in the south. The exact itineraries of his travel are not known. The attire he
wore was a “mixture of Hindu and Muslim modes of dressing”.
After wandering and preaching his gospel for about twenty years, Guru Nanak finally settled down in Kartarpur, where he lived
until his death in 1539. Guru Nanak Dev Ji was an original spiritual thinker and expressed his thoughts and ideas in poetry that
forms the basis of holy Sikh scripture Shri Guru Granth Sahib.
The purpose of his teachings was to ‘turn people from futility to truth'. He criticised the rituals of both Hindus and Muslims. In
the Adi Granth, he described the Hindus as “having strayed from the primal lord” and as “going the wrong way”. He criticised
several rituals of Hinduism which according to him were ceremoniously performed superficially and as a matter of routine,
without realising their true spirit. For example, in the thread ceremony ‘the wearer despite wearing it… does wrong and
therefore is not approved by God'.
About Hinduism, Guru Nanak says: “There are six Hindu schools of thought, each with its own founder and teacher. The Guru of
gurus is One but with many manifestations. In whatever school the glories of the Creator are sung, accept it as your own. As there
is one Sun but time is divided into many seasons, hours and minutes so there is one God tough with many forms.”
Likewise, in Islam referring to the obligatory five prayers that have to be performed five times a day, and have been assigned
five different names, Guru Nanak made alternative suggestions. He said, “Let truthfulness be the first, honest living the second,
and charity in the name of God the third. Let your fourth be purity of mind and good intentions, and the fifth the praise and
adoration of God. Let good deeds be your article of faith. Thus, you may be called a true Muslim.”
Guru Nanak had an attitude of reverence towards the scriptures of all religions. He compared the religious scriptures with a
lamp. According to him, “When a lamp is lit darkness is destroyed. Similarly, by reading the religious books evil mindedness is
destroyed.” The foundation of Sikhism is Shabad (word). The manifestation of God as an eternal word is found in Vedas,
Puranas and Quran. The Guru, time and again says that ceremonial formalism and ritualism lead to distractions, resulting in the
loss of its true meaning.
About the Vedas which are the foundations of Hinduism, Guru Nanak said, “The Vedas preach the sermon of devotional
service to God. Whoever continually hears and believes them beholds the divine light.” He would uphold the same view about
other scriptures too.
In saying that there are no Hindus and no Muslims, Guru Nanak implied that both the faiths have forgotten the true spirit of their
respective religions and lost it in the jungle of externals. He described the externals as involvement in frivolous rituals and
ceremonies. These, he says, are the ‘chains of the mind'. The chains of mind cloud our vision and tempt us to confuse between the
peripheral and the core. The peripherals may be different, rather radically different, but the core is the same namely being one with
God. By drawing the attention of all to the hypocritical attitude of both Hindus and Muslims he was making a crucial distinction
between Hindus and Hinduism on the one hand and Muslims and Islam on the other.
Despite his severe criticism of both Hinduism and Islam, Baba Nanak was dear to the adherents of both the religions as is
clear from the following couplet: “Baba Nanak Shah Fakir/Hindu ka guru, Musalmaan ka pir (The sage Nanak, Prince of holy
men/A guru of the Hindus and a pir of the Muslims).”
Khushwant Singh writes, “There is little doubt that Nanak felt that he had a new message that needed to be conveyed after him,
as he nominated his closest disciple Angad to be his successor in preference to his two sons.”
