Hindu ka Guru, Musalman ka Pir Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Biographical Details

Guru Nanak was born on 15th April 1469 was the first of the ten Sikh Guru’s and was the founder of Sikhism, his birth is celebrated as Guru Nanak Jayanti or Gurupurab. He is considered as one who has traveled far across Asia preaching to people the message of ‘Ik Omkar’ (one God) who is the ‘Eternal Truth’. He wrote in ‘Shabd’ which was further added to the Adi Granth or Guru Granth Sahib which is considered as the last and the eleventh Guru. He also wrote prayers such as Japji Sahib, and Asa di Var. Nanak’s parents Kalyan Chand Das Bedi (father) and Mata Tripta (mother) were both Hindu Khatri’s who were employed as merchants. Nanak’s early years are marked with various events that highlight that he was born with the Divine grace of God, at the tender age of five Nanak voiced his interest in Divine subjects.

Source - Shikshanews

The Three Theories

There were three theories on Nanak’s teachings: the first one states that his teachings were revelations from God and not a social protest movement, nor an attempt to reconcile Hinduism or Islam, while the second theory states that Guru Nanak was a Guru and not a prophet which means he is an illuminated soul, the third theory states that he was the incarnation of God. He preached Monotheism and his teachings and ideas were heavily influenced by Hinduism and Islam, and stressed the ideology of doing meditation of the divine to become one with the divine. Since his childhood he witnessed enmity between the two religions of Hindu and Muslim, the incongruous message of God given by pundits, priests, and mullahs, the inhumanity done towards the women who were not considered equals to men in that period, and many other prejudices of the society and due to which he was deeply affected by this. He propounded his Spiritual philosophy. He had followers from both faiths. He was also considered a ‘Hindu ka Guru, Musalman ka Pir’

A Transformative Journey to Sultanpur

He traveled to Sultanapur; the place which changed his life and his mindset and where he had a chance to meet Mardana (who was a Muslim minstrel and played rabab which could make the listeners enthralled. Mardana was allured by Nanak’s melodious voice, spiritual fervor, and the quality of his verses which were soul-touching and meaningful. Guru Nanak spent a huge amount of time composing and praising hymns of God, and his divine hymns combined with Mardana’s Rabbab were sung which highlighted aspects of mysticism and touched the mind of every listener. At thirty, one morning he went to river Vahi/Bein for his bath when he heard call from deep underwater he descended into the waters and reappeared after three days where a divine circle defined his face, and one day he utters ‘na koi Hindu, na koi Musalman’, there is a ‘Karta Purakh’ (creator). He left Sultanapur and wherever he went people were enchanted by his mystic aura, he devoted two decades to his travels. It is often said that he met Mirabai in Rajasthan and Vallabh Acharya in Gujarat.

Bhakti As A Concept

The concept of Bhakti emphasizes here on the devotion to a personal God and the Bhakti movement is a chief movement which changed the outlook of the cultural history in India. Guru Nanak is one of the significant saints whose teachings incorporate ideas from both Islam as well as Hinduism. The Bhakti movement taught devotion to God to attain Nirvana and salvation. To spread the ideology of Bhakti the usage of the local language was made and the movement slowly spread to the north where Bhakti as a social reform can be witnessed where the saints accentuated the equality of all irrespective of class, caste, religion, and attacked the social evils such as female infanticide, caste discrimination and many more which existed in the society. Some saints who played an important role are Tulsidas, Ramdas, Kabir, Ramdas, Mirabai, Nanak, and many more; but the most remarkable contribution was made by Guru Nanak and Kabir who borrowed from both Hinduism and Islamic traditions.

He preached that there is only one God who is Ik Omkar and is the creator of the world. That Ik Omkar is formless, attributeless, which indicates that he is a Nirgun God devoid of any form. He also taught that within every human individual there resides God and everyone is a fragment of God and each soul is connected with the divine. That formless Nirgun God is imminent and merciful to everyone and even to the sinner, moreover, God’s grace can be attained by practicing love with a clean heart. He uses different names for Nirgun God like Gopal, Ram, Rahim, and many more. The preamble to ‘Japji Sahib’ revered as ‘Mool Mantra’ represents Guru Nanak’s concept of God as Nirgun;

Guru Nanak says:

“इक ओंकार सितनाम करता पुरखु िनरभउ िनरवैर। अकाल मूरित अजूनी सैभं गु$ ूसाद।। जपु: आद सचु जुगाद सचु। है भी सचु नानक होसी भी सचु।।”

“There is but one God. His name is truth; he is the creator. He fears none; he is without hate. He never dies; he is beyond the cycle of births and death. He is self-illuminated. He is realized by the kindness of the true guru. He was true in the beginning; he was true when the ages commenced and has ever been true. He is also true now.

God is the ultimate truth, who is beyond time, limitless, and was before time came into being, is present, and will always be forever as the truth. He also taught that devotion i.e. sadhana to god is necessary and by reciting and taking god’s name will purify the soul, which further helps in annihilating one’s ego (I) which is the primary obstacle and evil in the path of becoming one with the god. His composition can be read as a bride waiting for the union with the bridegroom, and when the union happens they become one, two bodies merging into one soul.

Guru - The Mediator Between God and Humans

Guru Nanak Dev Ji emphasized the significance of Guru who will show the right path which will lead to ultimate union with God. it is often said that if there is no Guru then one will not be able to find God and become one with divine. Hence Guru plays a prominent and important role here in enlightening, spiritually guiding, and illuminating the human soul and the guru will show the path to becoming united. The importance of the guru here indicates the complete surrender to the guru, where he plays mediator between the devotee and Divine, and God reveals the ultimate divine light through the guru to humans.

His Beliefs

Guru Nanak believed that all human beings are equal irrespective of caste, creed, and gender and henceforth one should not judge some other individual on these bases. He respected each religion and had an understanding of the Vedas, Koran, and Christianity. The best way to serve God is by performing humanity and he further preached the concept of universal brotherhood where an individual should treat everyone with equality and love. He rejected yogi’s wear, shaven head, and ashes smeared on the body. He didn’t believe in renunciation (tyag) instead he believed that by remaining in the household (grahasth) one can attain spiritual alleviation and communicate with god. He considered the world as reality contrary to other beliefs of the world as an illusionary. What makes a difference is the level of reality where the creator is the ‘true reality’. He not only collected the subject matter for his hymns from everyday life but also attended to things common people faced, his verses sought to improve the quality of social life too.

He didn’t believe in any kind of idol worship because he believed that God is an attribute less and cannot be found in any man-made idol and God is immeasurable hence cannot be described in words, idols, or symbols. He is ‘Nirakar’ (formless) and Nirgun (attributeless). He also believed that by doing good deeds one can unite with the divine one, and bad deeds increase the burden which then further prevents one from being united with the other. Guru Nanak believed in Karm which is a cyclic nature of one’s deed that what you sow is what you shall reap. When he was near death the Hindus wanted to cremate him and Muslims wanted to bury him but the following morning his body was missing and flowers on both sides were kept fresh which symbolizes the communal harmony he wanted to bring amongst people where he felt that he needs to liberate people from the worldly prejudices and evils, and worked to give and provide equal stature to women in society as compared to men. 

His teachings were what encouraged individuals to lead a better life, and he travelled to spread the message of brotherhood, love, and naam. One of his famous sayings was “Abide pure amidst the impurities of the world” which aimed at uniting everyone and curating an atmosphere of harmony, peace, goodwill, and give and take. he used to encourage people to lead an honest truthful life where one should treat others with utmost kindness and give up ideas of selfishness, duping others, and hypocrisy. He also rejected the theory of incarnation. He contributed a lot for the people to form a society of love, and harmony, further introducing the concept of langar which means community kitchen where anyone can come and eat, and that individual is to sit down no matter the caste, or class which symbolizes equality. He often guided people to worship and follow Sach(truth), Khair (wishing well for everyone), and Halal (lawful earning), and his philosophy consisted of three main elements: the Guru who is a divine presence on earth and mediator between devotee and God, the ‘Shabad’ which is the ideology to attain union with the God, and the Sangat which is the organization and fellow mates which were formed to address concerns of people and keep them united.

Guru Nanak and Kabir

Guru Nanak and Kabir shared the common belief of Nirgun God and did a lot for the society. But, Kabir ridiculed the social evils and hypocrites whereas Nanak just pitied them.

His Poetry

Guru Nanak Composed in ‘Doha’, and ‘Shabad’

The Shabad “हम घरि साजन आए” showcases the characteristics of the belief of uniting with god where the soul merges with the divine and the union happens where by walking on the righteous path shown by Guru the union can be attained where all the bad deeds and sins are washed away since the Eternal truth is unbiased who forgives everyone, he also called women to sing hymns due to which the divine will be happy, and only the divine can solve the mystery and no human is as accomplished as the God.

Another Shabad “सभना मरणा आइआ” establishes the fact in the first line itself about death which is universally acknowledged that everyone will face it. Nanak also says that those who have forgotten the name of God will have to face consequences and reconnect with God due to whom individuals stay happy. Consider that God the superior to every human being because he is the only supreme truth who is present and is future. He also says that on earth many emperors have ruled and whose ego doesn’t fit in the sky they are labouring and the mind knows about the ego yet often sways which will lead to nowhere. Here Nanak encourages us to keep the “aham” aside and bow down to the divine. He gives a stark imagery by saying that those who have done more evil deeds will have more chains restraining them around their neck whereas the good deeds (guns) are our brothers and if we have them then there are fewer chains restraining an individual. Moreover, those who don’t have Guru will, after death be discarded from God’s place.

Final Thoughts

Hence Guru Nanak’s poetry cannot be seen as Bhakti as a social reform but more in the sense of Nirgun Bhakti where God is formless and attributeless; walking on the path of monotheism where God is seen as the ultimate reality and supreme truth. He was against idol worship since according to his belief God is devoid of attributes but is present everywhere in everyone. In Guru Nanak’s life when he goes to Sach Khand which is the abode of the eternal one it can be realized as to why water is given importance in Sikhism. He preached that the simplest way to reach or become one with God is ‘Naam-Simran’ which refers to taking the name of the God who is universal and is for everyone. Guru Nanak was unique and different from others since he worked a lot for the upliftment of women and tried to erase the social hierarchy of caste. 

To understand the uniqueness of his poetry it is crucial to know about his life because it aids in forming his beliefs. The Satnam refers to Sat which means ‘sach’ meaning truth whereas Nam refers to ‘name’ meaning the name of Truth. And in order to attain Satnam one must approach a Guru. Here a lot of importance is given to the Guru who acts as a mediator spreading God’s message to his disciples and helping in become one with God. without a guru, an individual is lost. Here instead of God guru is given the stature whereas above without the guru soul is lost. Guru Nanak’s bhakti is very different from others since all his beliefs are reflected in his poetry which is he believes in the theory of Karm and both the consequences positive and negative can be seen where it is an individual choice to select and follow. 

While saints like Kabir ridiculed society for doing injustice and treating people unfairly Guru Nanak just pitied them because they didn’t know the higher reality. Hence these were the different elements of Nanak’s poetry and his contribution to the Bhakti movement where he played a major role in creating harmony amongst religions and making people aware of the divine energy. There are a lot of hymns written for Guru Nanak where Jagjit Singh also contributed in by singing “Satnam Siri Waheguru” which indicates that there is only one true name and that is Waheguru and only his name is supportive and reliable where the body will decay and die but the soul lives forever which ultimately adds upon the philosophy of Guru Nanak. Hence, he (Guru Nanak) was one of the crucial contributors to the Bhakti Movement.
“जिदे अंग संग प्रभु हैं, ओनु फेर किसदा डर है,
सत्यनाम श्री वाहेगुरु, सत्यनाम श्री वाहेगुरु.”
(There is no fear when God is nearby,
Satnam Siri Waheguru, Satnam Siri Waheguru)


Written By Divya


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