Guru Nanak Dev: Encyclopedia - Guru Nanak Dev

Guru Nanak Dev

Guru Nanak Dev (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਦੇਵ) (20 October 1469 – 7 May 1539), the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Gurus of the Sikhs, was born in the village of Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, near Lahore. His parents, Kalu Mehta and Matta Tripat, were Hindus of the Khatri caste.

Guru Nanak Dev married Sulkhni, of Batala, and they had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das. He continued his religious pursuits as always. 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, he 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 was supposed he was filled with the spirit of God, he said, "There is no Hindu and no Muslim." It was then he began his missionary work.

Tradition states that he made four great journeys, traveling to all parts of India, and into Arabia and Persia; 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 or many faiths. Wherever he went, Guru Nanak Dev spoke out against empty religious rituals, pilgrimages, the caste system, the death of widows 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.

After the last of his great journeys, Guru Nanak Dev settled in the town of Kartapur, in Punjab on the banks of the Ravi where he taught for another fifteen years. Followers from all over came to settle in Kartapur 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 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.

Just before Guru Nanak Dev died, he called his disciples together and requested them to sing Sohila, the evening hymn. To satisfy his followers of different faiths as to the funeral arrangements it is said he did not allow his body to remain behind.

Guru Nanak Dev | Guru Angad Dev | Guru Amar Das | Guru Ram Das | Guru Arjan Dev | Guru Har Gobind | Guru Har Rai | Guru Har Krishan | Guru Teg Bahadur | Guru Gobind Singh | (Followed by Guru Granth Sahib, Perpetual Guru of the Sikhs)

See also

• List of founders of major religions
• List of Punjabi poets
• Sikhism
• Sikhs
• Sikh Sites

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Guru Nanak Dev", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki