*/\* Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti */\*

"Satguru Nanak Pragateya, 

Mitti Dhundh Jagg Chanan Hoya

Jyon Kar Suraj Nikalyea, 

Taare Chape Andher Paloyea"

Translation: 

"With the emergence of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the mist cleared and the light scattered all around.

As if at the sun rise the stars disappeared and the darkness dispelled."

Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji was the founder of the Sikh religion. He was born in Talwandi district which is now present in Lahore and belonged to a Merchant Family. His birthday is celebrated by all Sikhs on 14th April by Nanakshahi calendar, which according to the lunar calendar is usually in November.

 

Guru Ji spent his early youth working as a clerk in Lodi administration and when he was around 30 years old, he experienced a direct encounter with the Almighty which transformed his life completely.

   

 

There is not much known about Nanak's life, but the stories told by Sikhs later, also referred to as Janam Sakhis reveal various incidents that occurred in his life and highlight how in his early years of life, Nanak had a special connection with the Almighty. One such story includes his rebellion at the age of 11. Nanak had rebelled against wearing a traditional sacred thread called Janeu to distinguish himself from others arguing that people should be distinguished by their behaviour and actions and not by their caste and religious beliefs.

 

Another story revealed his near to death experience he had encountered. One day, he has gone to bathe in a river with a friend and had disappeared. He was assumed to have passed away, when suddenly, three days later he emerged from the water and revealed "There is neither Hindu nor Muslim." He revealed that the Almighty was neither Hindu nor Muslim and that he chose to follow God's path. Guru Nanak described his encounter with the Almighty stating how he had been taken to the court of God and was given "Amrit" to drink.

 

Thus, began Nanak's journey of preaching to all humans how there is only one God and we must dedicate our lives in serving/pleasing the Almighty and do good deeds for ourselves and for others.

 

He returned to Punjab and worked as a farmer and established a village for Sikhs called Kartarpur. This is where he continued to preach his teachings and encouraged people to tread upon the right path and be spiritual/religious. He devoted a latter part of his life shaping the Sikh community and before his death, he appointed a successor (Shri Guru Angad Dev Ji) to continue leading the community.  

 

Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's message- which he preached all his life was that there is ONLY one God and he dwells in every human's heart and pleasing the Almighty should be the ultimate goal for every human. He also preached the equality of all humans, eliminating the idea of rich/poor and other caste systems, arguing that we all were the Almighty's creation and no one individual or caste was superior to another.