The
founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus is our own Guru Nanak
Dev ji. He is preached till date only because of his teaching and therefore,
was given the name ‘Guru’. His core teaching says that we are on this earth as
human beings and the purpose of a human being is to do good deeds at first and
rest everything afterwards. Purity of thoughts and actions lead to a peaceful
and prosperous environment. He is considered hoy not only by Sikhs but also by
Punjabi Hindus as well as Muslims due his close connections with Hazrat Sheikh
Farid-ud-din Ganj Shakar, the Punjabi Sufi saint. His birth is celebrated
world-wide on Kartik Puranmashi, the full-moon day which falls on different
dates each year 9tithis according to Hindi calendar) in the month of Katak,
October–November.
Childhood
He
was born on October 20, 1469 in Nankana Sahib in Punjab to Kalyan Chand Das
Bedi and Mata Tripta. He had only one sibling. She was his elder sister, Bibi Nanaki,
who moved to Sultanpur after her marriage. He was so attached to his sister
that he went to Sultanpur after her to live with her family. He found work with
Daulat Khan at the age of sixteen and started working there in Sultanpur
itself.
Education
At
the age of seven, as a custom of village he started going to a school in the
village itself. He was brilliant as a student. As a child Nanak astonished his
teacher by describing the implicit symbolism of the first letter of the
alphabet, which is an almost straight stroke in Persian or Arabic. But on the
other hand, he used to be a menace for Gurus.
The
Divine Life
It
is said that once he was taking bath in the river and suddenly God appeared and
took him with him to heaven. Everyone thought he died including his family. He
returned after three days with a message. This was enlightenment to him and he
gave up his job to spread the word he got from God. He saw the world trapped in
sins and hatred, so he took the responsibility of educating the people to follow
the path of God. He travelled to many places across the world, spreading his
divine teachings.
At
the End
Guru
Nanak appointed Bhai Lehna (Guru Angad) as the successor Guru and died in
Kartarpur on September 22, 1539, at the age of 70.
