Sikh Founder Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Sikh Founder Guru Nanak Dev Ji

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.