Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak Dev was born at Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, a village located near the city of Lahore in present-day Pakistan.His father was Kalayan Das Mehta also known as Kalu Mehta and mother was Matta Tripat. His parents were Hindus. The Guru had an older sister called Bibi Nanki, who was the first to recognize Nanak as an enlightened Soul. Guru Nanak from an early age seemed to have acquired a questioning and enquiring mind and refused as a child to wear the ritualistic “sacred” thread called a Janeu and instead said that he would wear the true name of God in his heart for his protection, as the thread which could be broken, be soiled, burnt or lost could not offer any security at all. As a householder, Guru Nanak continued to carry out the mission of his life – To lead people to the true path of God; to dispel superstition; to bring people out of ritualistic practises; to lead them directly to follow Gurbani – without the need for priests and clergy; restrain and guard against the five thieves within – Pride, Anger, Greed, Attachment and Lust.

Guru Nanak Dev continued his religious pursuits as always. Nanak married Sulkhni, of Batala, and they had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das. His brother-in-law, the husband of his sister Nanki, obtained a job for him in Sultanpur as the manager of the government granary. One morning, when he was twenty-eight, Guru Nanak Dev went as usual down to the river to bathe and meditate. It was said that he was gone for three days. When he reappeared, it is said he was "filled with the spirit of God" (the precise nature of this is open to personal interpretation: is it a mythical divinity or is it an intimate understanding?). His first words after his re-emergence were: "there is no Hindu, there is no Muslim". It is this secularist, humanitarian principle that governed his thought. It was then that he began his missionary work.

Travels

Tradition states that Guru Nanak Dev made four great journeys, traveling to all parts of India, and into Tibet and Arabia and visiting Mecca and Baghdad. He spoke before Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Muslims, and Zoroastrians. He spoke in the temples and at various pilgrimage sites. It was during this period that Guru Nanak Dev met Kabir (1441-1518), a saint revered by followers of many faiths. Wherever he went, Guru Nanak Dev spoke out against empty religious rituals; pilgrimages; the caste system; the practice of Sati, wherein a widow immolates herself on their husband's funeral pyre; of depending on books to learn the true religion; and of all the other tenets that were to define his teachings. Guru Nanak never asked anyone to follow him. He asked that people remain true to their beliefs.

Last Days

After the last of his great journeys, Guru Nanak Dev settled in the town of Kartarpur, in Punjab on the banks of the Ravi where he taught for another fifteen years. Followers from all over came to settle in Kartarpur to listen, and sing, and be with him. During this time, although his followers still remained Hindu, or of the religion to which they were born, they became known as the Guru's disciples, or sikhs. It was here that his followers began to refer to him as teacher, or guru. It was here that the Guru 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 instituted the common meal, requiring the rich and poor, high caste and low caste, and various faiths to sit together while eating. Here is where Lehna, renamed as Guru Angad, came to be with Guru Nanak Dev. Guru Nanak's days before his passing away, installed Guru Angad as the second Guru of Sikhs.

The last part of his worldly life, Guru Nanak spent in Kartarpur. The Great Guru would wake at dawn and recite his daily prayers. At daybreak, he would address his followers. He worked in his free kitchen, which even today is popularly known as 'langar'. This food would be partaken by Hindus, Muslims, rich, poor, high or/and so called low castes. Guru Nanak worked in the field and earned his livelihood.

On 22 September of the year 1539 , at the age of 70 years, Guru Nanak gave up his body after he had requested his disciples to sing the Sohila (the praise of God).

Once when Guru Nanak was asked which religion, Hinduism or Islam was the true path to God, Guru Nanak replied that the true way to attain God was to worship Him who is eternal and contained in the whole Universe.

When Guru Nanak merged into the eternal light, the Hindus wanted to cremate him while the Muslims wanted to bury the body. However on raising the sheet under which the Great Guru's body lay, both found nothing but fresh flowers which were divided between themselves. The Hindus cremated the flowers whereas the Muslims buried theirs.