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| Guru Nanak -poet, philosopher and humanist' | | | PS Prakash
Nanak found the key to life in the five Jewels', (Pancharathnas): Labour, Poverty, Silence, Prayer and Service to the people. Guru Nanak, a great social reformer and religious teacher of the 15th Century preached Purity, Justice, Goodness and Love of God. He tried to put an end to religious strife, teaching that ˜God Is One, Whether He Be Allah Or Rama Or Christ. His followers are SIKHS.
The word Sikh means a 'disciple'. A Sikh is a person who believes in one God. Sikhism consists of practical living in rendering service to humanity and brotherly love towards all. Sikhism does not accept the ideology of pessimism. It advocates optimism and hope.
Nanak was born in the year 1469, in a village named Talwandi, thirty miles from Lahore (now in Pakistan). He was born on a full moon day of Karthik month. His father was Mehta Kalu, a farmer and his mother was Tripta. She was full of devotion to God and full of tender love for her son. Today Talwandi, the birthplace of Nanak, is called Nankana Sahib.
Right from his childhood his keen mind would not accept all the groundless rituals, superstitions and dogmas that passed for religion in those days. As a child, Nanak's radiant face won the hearts of men and women of Talwandi village.
Even as a boy, Nanak was full of devotion to God and spoke of God and sang of God. When he was asked to be a cowherd, he let the cows out to graze and sat alone to meditate on the mystery of life.
One morning surprisingly, as he plunged for a bath in the river Ravi, Nanak had a vision of the infinite. A voice spoke to him in the music of the waters: Nanak! I am with you. Repeat my name, and ask others to repeat. Mingle unaffected by the world! Worship, Meditate, and Serve the poor!
Three days later, Nanak prepared to go forth among the people to sing and ask people to sing the Name of God. Before he moved out on his travels, he gave away his possessions to the poor. Guru Nanak wandered from place to place to show the path of salvation to all.
In his four rounds, Nanak covered India, Tibet, Ceylon, Bengal, Deccan, Myanmar, Thailand, Kandahar, Turkey, Baghdad (Iraq), Mecca and Madina (Arabia), etc. Nanak preached to the King and Queen of Ceylon. He spoke of his Lord to the yogis in the Himalayan ashrams.
The emphasis in his message was not on scriptures and ceremonies, but on love of God and right action. He advised the people to dedicate themselves to the remembrance of God, whom he called Waheguru.
Nanak spoke of God, the universal Spirit, in front of the Kaaba in Mecca. Once unknowingly Nanak was sleeping in Mecca with his feet towards Kaaba. As the Arab priest saw this and said to Nanak, Why did you, O sinner! turn your feet towards the Kaaba - the seat of God? Nanak, in deep humility, said, Brother! Turn my feet to where God is not! One of the officials turned Guru Nanak's feet but all saw 'Kaaba' there. Then all realized that Nanak was God's man.
Guru Nanak proclaimed that all people were the people of God. He stood against idol worship and the dogmas of casteism. In all castes he saw the one sacred Brotherhood of Humanity. In all the nations he saw one Race of Love, - 'Race of Humanity'. Nanak found the key to life in the five Jewels', (Pancharathnas): Labour, Poverty, Silence, Prayer and Service to the people.
Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Scripture, is the sacred book of the Sikhs. The Sikhs do not worship the picture of master and do not display the picture of any other teacher near the sacred book Guru Granth Sahib. They revere the book.
The main five things a Sikh is supposed to keep are 'Kesa' (hair), 'Kangha' (comb), 'Kacch' (drawers), 'Kirpan' (sabre) and the 'Kara' (bracelet of steel).
The world famous Gurudwara - Darbar Sahib at Amritsar in Punjab is the nucleus of Sikhism. Guru Nanak and the nine Gurus, who succeeded him, set an inspiring example of living spiritually while yet taking an active and secular part in the world.
Guru Nanak was not only the founder of the Sikh religion but also a great poet, philosopher, and humanist. Rabindranath Tagore called him the Teacher Of Mankind. It was in the year 1539, Guru Nanak passed away in the holy colony of Kartarpur, where he raised the first Sikh temple. |
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