Guru Nanak and Sikh Gurus

Many of his hymns were composed during this period. They represent answers to the major religious and social problems of the day and cogent responses to the situations and incidents that he came across. Some of the hymns convey dialogues with Yogis in the Punjab and elsewhere.

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He denounced their methods of living and their religious views. During these tours he studied other religious systems like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Islam. At the same time, he preached the doctrines of his new religion and mission at the places and centres he visited. Since his mystic system almost completely reversed the trends, principles and practices of the then prevailing religions, he criticised and rejected virtually all the old beliefs, rituals and harmful practices existing in the country.

This explains the necessity of his long and arduous tours and the variety and profusion of his hymns on all the religious, social, political and theological issues, practices and institutions of his period. F inally, on the completion of his tours, he settled as a peasant farmer at Kartarpur, a village in the Punjab. Bhai Gurdas, the scribe of Guru Granth Sahib, was a devout and close associate of the third and the three subsequent Gurus. He was born 12 years after Guru Nanak's death and joined the Sikh mission in his very boyhood.

He became the chief missionary agent of the Gurus. Because of his intimate knowledge of the Sikh society and his being a near contemporary of Sri Guru Nanak, his writings are historically authentic and reliable. He writes that at Kartarpur Guru Nanak donned the robes of a peasant and continued his ministry. He organised Sikh societies at places he visited with their meeting places called Dharamsalas. A similar society was created at Kartarpur. In the morning, Japji was sung in the congregation. In the evening Sodar and Arti were recited.

The Guru cultivated his lands and also continued with his mission and preachings. His followers throughout the country were known as Nanak-panthies or Sikhs. The places where Sikh congregation and religious gatherings of his followers were held were called Dharamsalas.

These were also the places for feeding the poor. Eventually, every Sikh home became a Dharamsala. O ne thing is very evident. Guru Nanak had a distinct sense of his prophethood and that his mission was God-ordained. During his preachings, he himself announced. His statements clearly show his belief that God had commanded him to preach an entirely new religion, the central idea of which was the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God, shorn of all ritualism and priestcraft.

During a dialogue with the Yogis, he stated that his mission was to help everyone. He came to be called a Guru in his lifetime. In Punjabi, the word Guru means both God and an enlightener or a prophet. During his life, his disciples were formed and came to be recognised as a separate community. He was accepted as a new religious prophet. His followers adopted a separate way of greeting each other with the words Sat Kartar God is true.

Twentyfive years of his extensive preparatory tours and preachings across the length and breadth of the country clearly show his deep conviction that the people needed a new prophetic message which God had commanded him to deliver.

Guru Nanak - Wikipedia

He chose his successor and in his own life time established him as the future Guru or enlightener of the new community. This step is of the greatest significance, showing Guru Nanak s determination and declaration that the mission which he had started and the community he had created were distinct and should be continued, promoted and developed.

By the formal ceremony of appointing his successor and by giving him a new name, Angad his part or limb , he laid down the clear principle of impersonality, unity and indivisibility of Guruship. At that time he addressed Angad by saying, Between thou and me there is now no difference. In Guru Granth Sahib there is clear acceptance and proclamation of this identity of personality in the hymns of Satta-Balwand. This unity of spiritual personality of all the Gurus has a theological and mystic implication. It is also endorsed by the fact that each of the subsequent Gurus calls himself Nanak in his hymns.

Never do they call themselves by their own names as was done by other Bhagats and Illyslics. That Guru Nanak attached the highest importance to his mission is also evident from his selection of the successor by a system of test, and only when he was found perfect, was Guru Angad appointed as his successor. He was comparatively a new comer to the fold, and yet he was chosen in preference to the Guru's own son, Sri Chand, who also had the reputation of being a pious person, and Baba Budha, a devout Sikh of long standing, who during his own lifetime had the distinction of ceremonially installing all subsequent Gurus.

A ll these facts indicate that Guru Nanak had a clear plan and vision that his mission was to be continued as an independent and distinct spiritual system on the lines laid down by him, and that, in the context of the country, there was a clear need for the organisation of such a spiritual mission and society.

In his own lifetime, he distinctly determined its direction and laid the foundations of some of the new religious institutions. In addition, he created the basis for the extension and organisation of his community and religion. T he above in brief is the story of the Guru's life. We shall now note the chief features of his work, how they arose from his message and how he proceeded to develop them during his lifetime. This principle formed the foundation of his new spiritual gospel.

It involved a fundamental doctrinal change because moral life received the sole spiritual recognition and status.

Guru Nanak (1469-1539)

This was something entirely opposed to the religious systems in vogue in the country during the time of the Guru. All those systems were, by and large, other-worldly. As against it, the Guru by his new message brought God on earth. For the first time in the country, he made a declaration that God was deeply involved and interested in the affairs of man and the world which was real and worth living in. Having taken the first step by the proclamation of his radical message, his obvious concern was to adopt further measures to implement the same. He, therefore, refused to remain at Sultanpur and preach his gospel from there.

Having declared the sanctity of life, his second major step was in the planning and organisation of institutions that would spread his message. As such, his twentyfive years of extensive touring can be understood only as a major organizational step. These tours were not casual. They had a triple object. He wanted to acquaint himself with all the centres and organisations of the prevalent religious systems so as to assess the forces his mission had to contend with, and to find out the institutions that he could use in the aid of his own system.

Secondly, he wanted to convey his gospel at the very centres of the old systems and point out the futile and harmful nature of their methods and practices. Simultaneously, he desired to organise all his followers and set up for them local centres for their gatherings and worship. The existence of some of these far-flung centres even up-till today is a testimony to his initiative in the Organizational and the societal field. His hymns became the sole guide and the scripture for his flock and were sung at the Dharamsalas.

He proclaimed their equality in all respects. In his system, the householder's life became the primary forum of religious activity. Human life was not a burden but a privilege. His was not a concession to the laity. In fact, the normal life became the medium of spiritual training and expression. The entire discipline and institutions of the Gurus can be appreciated only if one understands that, by the very logic of Guru Nanak's system, the householder's life became essential for the seeker.

On reaching Kartarpur after his tours, the Guru sent for the members of his family and lived there with them for the remaining eighteen years of his life.

Guru Angad (1504-1552)

For the same reason his followers all over the country were not recluses. They were ordinary men, living at their own homes and pursuing their normal vocations. The Guru's system involved morning and evening prayers. Congregational gatherings of the local followers were also held at their respective Dharamsalas. He straightaway took up work as a cultivator of land, without interrupting his discourses and morning and evening prayers.

It is very significant that throughout the later eighteen years of his mission he continued to work as a peasant. It was a total involvement in the moral and productive life of the community. His life was a model for others to follow.

Like him all his disciples were regular workers who had not given up their normal vocations Even while he was performing the important duties of organising a new religion, he nester shirked the full-time duties of a small cultivator. The wisdom and teachings of all can be accessed by anyone at any time in this Sikh holy book. Guru Nanak was a pioneer of his time, advocating for gender equality, social justice, and religious freedom amid the oppressive social restrictions of the day.

He traveled to far-off lands to share messages of social equality, service to others, and oneness with God. As Guru Nanank neared the end of his life, he announced Guru Angad as his successor, chosen for his loyal faith and strong work ethic.

As the second Sikh Guru, Angad developed the written form of the Pubjabi language that is the basis of the Sikh holy scripture still in use today. Guru Angad was an advocate for education and built several schools for Sikh children to learn to read and write. He authored the first biography of Guru Nanak and followed his teachings with fierce dedication.

Guru Amar Das was a strong advocate for social justice and cultural reform. Guru Amar Das also fought persistently for the rights and safety of women. He banned the treacherous cultural practice of widow burning, which required widows to cremate themselves along with their husband when their husband passed way.

Guru Amar Das encouraged widows to remarry, which, at the time, was very controversial. So that women could fully participate in society, Guru Amar Das also called for the abolishment of purdah , a practice which required women to hide their faces behind veils. An industrious Guru committed to bringing people together, Guru Ram Das founded the Sikh holy city of Amritstar, where he began the construction of the famed Golden Temple.

Retrieved 27 May Diversity and Unity in Federal Countries. McGill Queen University Press. Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. Owen Cole; Piara Singh Sambhi A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism: Sikh Religion and Philosophy. United States of America: State University of New York Press. Postclassical and modern Editors: Colors of Truth, Religion Self and Emotions. Pashaura Singh, Louis E. The predominant ideology of the Sant parampara in turn corresponds in many respects to the much wider devotional Bhakti tradition in northern India.

The Sikhs of the Punjab. Sikhism and Indian Civilization. The Sikh University Press. Callewaert; Rupert Snell Hagiographical Writing in India.

Guru Nanak

Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action. Essays in Sikh History, Tradition and Society. Comparative Religious And Philosophies: The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition. University of Chicago Press.

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