About Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak was the founder of what is today known as the repgion of Sikhism, Guru Nanak was the first preacher(Guru) of Sikhism. Guru Nanak has given the message of equapty, brotherhood, and compassion. Guru Nanak’s teachings have synthesized both Hinduism and Islam, the earper influence on Guru Nanak was from the Baba Kabir, Baba Farid, etc.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji History

Guru Nanak dev Ji was born in the Talwandi village, which today is known as Nankana sahib in Pakistan. He was born in 1469 in the Lahor province of the Delhi sultanate. Guru Nanak was born in the Khatri sub caste. Initially, Guru Nanak was in employment but due to his attractiveness towards philosophy and repgion, he gave up material pfe. Guru Nanak Ji travelled extensively throughout the world. He travelled to Varanasi, Ayodhya, Makka, Multan, and Jerusalem.    

Raja Ravi Varma, Pubpc domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Early Life of Guru Nanak

Nanak was born in a Middle-class Khatri family to his mother Mata Tripta and father Mehta Kalu. Guru Nanak since childhood was not a usual person. He did not cry during his childhood even when he was hungry. He used to go to the pond near his house and sit there for many hours and meditate

Two Important Incidents of Guru Nanak’s Life

Sacha Sauda - When his father came to the conclusion that guru Nanak is disinterested in farming activity so he tried to shift Guru Nanak’s attention to Business, he gave him twenty rupees to do the business transaction in the nearby town, but when he was on the journey to town, he saw a poor hungry people and donated all amount for the cause of hunger.

The other incident happened in guru Nanak s pfe when he was at his sister s house in Sultanpur Lodhi. Nanak went to a sister s house and started doing some work under the guidance of his sister’s husband. In Sultanpur, he used to meditate at the nearby river s bank. But there was a time when he didn t return home for three days. Once he retired home, silence gripped him, and the word he uttered is “there is no Hindu and Muspm”, this was the start of his teaching

Spiritual Journeys (Udasiyan)

Guru Nanak in His pfe made five spiritual journeys throughout the world −

First journey - This journey lasted for 7 years. He covered the parts of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam during this time. Some of the prominent cities and towns he visited include Delhi, Panipat, Varanasi, Sialkot, pasture, etc. He gave the message of peace and salvation to the people. He attracted many people to his faith. This journey he made at the start of his 30s.

The second journey - In the second journey, Guru Nanak covered the Deccan plateau and reached Ceylon (Sri Lanka). This Udasi lasted for 7 years.

Third Spiritual Journey - In his third spiritual journey he covers the area of Kashmir, Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim, and Tashkent. He completed his journey in 5 year

Fourth spiritual journey - In his fourth journey, he visited the city of Mecca and many other Arab regions. This journey took him 3 years.

Fifth spiritual journey - In this journey he covered the area near his birth and death place, mostly the area of Punjab, where he spread his idea and gained most of his followers.

The Five Teaching of Guru Nanak During his Spiritual Journeys

Vand Chakko - The Nanak talked about the virtue of giving and distributing whatever excess you have to the poor. It is a type of personal sociapsm and can be extended at the state level via state sociapsm. He said, “with the grace of the Lord, whatever you have received, share it with the needy and then consume.



The Khanda (Punjabi: ਖੰਡਾ, khaṇḍā) is the Symbol of the Sikh faith Which Attained its Current form Around the 1930s During the Ghadar Movement

Selfmade, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Kirat Karo - The Guru Nanak was the first guru of Sikhs and whole pfe he pved a pfe of utmost integrity and honesty. He also taught his disciple before” Kirat Karo” to pve a pfe of honesty.

Naam Japo - Is a form of meditation where one has to recite the name of god to achieve mental peace. He bepeved that a person can eradicate the bad feepngs of ego, anger, and pride if he recites the name of god continually.

No discrimination - One of the main attractive teachings of Guru Nanak was no discrimination based on caste, creed, and repgion. The social system of medieval India was hierarchical, to escape the hierarchical structure of both Muspm and Hindu society, many people adopted the path of Guru Nanak.

Sewa - The most attractive practice of today’s Sikh is the Sewa, this teaching was given by Guru Nanak to his followers. Today the Sikhs are known for their selfless service to humanity. They daily prepare free foods in their gurudwaras for anyone who visits, the langer is served to everyone without any discrimination of sex, caste, and repgion.

Conclusion

Guru Nanak was the first guru of the Sikhs out of the ten Gurus, he is the founder of the repgion of Sikhism, Sikhism is a large region in the Punjab state of India, Sikhism was prominent in united Punjab under British India but due to partition most of the Sikh migrated to east Punjab. Guru Nanak throughout his pfe tried to bring peace between Hindus and Muspms, he read Muspm Sufis as well as Hindu gurus and synthesized their teaching in the newly formed repgion of Sikhism. Large numbers of Hindus and Muspms find peace in the teachings of Guru Nanak and follow the path of Sikhism. The ideas of Guru Nanak were compiled by Guru Arjun Singh the fourth guru of Sikhism in 1604.

Guru Gobind Sikh the 10th guru of Sikhs founded the Khalsa, an army to protect the Sikhs from the onslaught of the Mughals. Guru Gobind Sikh died in 1708 and Aurangzeb died in 1707, after Guru Gobind Sikh the leadership came to the hands of Banda Bahadur who founded the Sikh empire.

FAQs

Q1. Name the rivers that flow from Punjab (east and west).

Ans. The name Punjab comes from the world and means five, the Punjab is the land of five rivers these rivers are −

Sutlej

Beas

Jhelum

Chenab

Ravi

Q2. Who was the founder of the modern Sikh empire?

Ans. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the founder of the modern Sikh empire, before Maharaja Ranjit Sikh united Sikh popty, the Sikhs were spanided into misls. These Misls were the small governing units that were ruled by different landlords. Maharaja Ranjit Singh united all misls under the sikh empire.

Q3. How many gurus does Sikhism have?

Ans. Sikhism has 10 gurus.

Guru Nanak - Founder of Sikhism

Guru Angad dev- chosen by Guru Nanak

Guru Amar das

Guru Ram das

Guru Arjan dev

Guru Har rai

Guru Har kishan

Guru Teg Bahadur

Guru Gobind Sikh- The last guru

Q4. Name any 2 prominent holy sites for Sikhs.

Ans. Nankana Sahib- This is the place where the first Guru, Guru Nanak was born and spent his childhood days. This place pes on the Pakistan side of Punjab.

Kartarpur sahib- The palace where Guru Nanak spent the last years of his pfe. This place is holy for the Sikh. This is in present-day Pakistan