Guru Nanak was born on the 15th of April 1469 into the Kshastriya caste in Talwandi, West Punjab. His father, Kalyan Chand kept revenue records for a prosperous landlord named Rai Buler, a Rajput convert to Islam. There was rejoicing and celebration at Nanak’s birth as the family’s Brahmin priest, Pandit Hardyal, and a midwife agreed that the child had an exceptional aura about him. The horoscope prepared by Hardyal predicted that Hindus and Muslims alike would acknowledge Nanak as a philosopher-teacher and that he, in turn, would make no distinction between them.
Not very surprisingly, one of Nanak’s earliest observations was:
There is no Hindu.
There is no Mussulman (pg 1136)
The founder of Sikhism was a Hindu by birth, In thecourse of time the practice of Hinduism disturbed him very much. Nanak was the only son to his parents. He also had a sister who was born a few years later. His given name in the tradition of the Hindus of the day was Nanak Rai.
At the age of 11, boys of the twice-born castes had to don the Janeu, or the sacred thread of the Hindus, consisting of strands of cotton woven into a thin cord which looped from the left shoulder around the right hip. Nanak refused to wear the thread, prompting the presiding Brhamin priest to remonstrate at him and explain the difference this could make.
Just like the thread to a Hindu could make a difference in the religious belief, so the Sikhs following the guru’s teaching of the 5-k. What is to a Hindu is what to a Sikh?
Later in his life, Nanak would take care of his father’s cattle. That allowed him many hours of listening to the mystics, saints, and spiritualists who had always been a part of India’s human mosaic and who led lives of self-denial and introspection, expounding the virtues of their faith. Although Nanak had been exposed to the many saints, mystics and to his own introspection of thier teachings with undivided attention, he drew his own conclusions. He questioned most of them:
Pilgrimages, penances, compassion and alms-giving Bring a little merit, the size of a sesame sed. But he who bears and believes and loves the Name Shall bathe and be made clean In a place of pilgrimage within him.
The author’s question:
Did Nanak find him?
Did he know the Name?
The phrase “in a place of pilgrimage within him” speaks of seekin God within oneself. Nanak crystallized his ideas and gave sharper definition to the contours of the faith he was developing and then travelled to propagate his doctrines
Today, Sikhism is the youngest established religion in the world. The Sikhs have had a total of ten Gurus over a period of 200 years from 1469 to 1708.
Faith in one God. Not a God with a physical form but an amalagam of truth, integrity, courage and enlightened thinking. An inner God present in every one. (Sikhs pg 23, pa 3)
Nanak, whenever he sang, went into a trance, and as it were tripped on his lips and composed hymns extemporaneously.(Sikh Guru, pg8, para 1) There was a time when Nanak was with the sacred thread according to a custom prevalent among his caste of Hindus. It was a sacrament similar in significance to baptism among Christians, signifying the spirtiual rebirth of a Hindu.
Young Nanak had no faith in the ritual. He would have nothing to do with a thread which must sooner or later wear out. They tried to reason with the child but none succeeded in persuading him. When the priest persisted, Nanak went into a trance and sang:
Let mercy be the cotton, contentment the thread, Continence the knot and truth the twist. O priest! If you have such a thread, Do give it to me. It’ll not wear out, nor get soiled, nor be burnt, nor lost: Says Nanak, blessed are those who go about wearing such a thread. (Rag Asa) (Pg 10, Sikh Gurus)
The statement by Nanak about the thread shows that he sought the truth and promoted the teachings by interpreting the symbols of the rituals. There were many incidents recorded by his followers that showed that Nanak went into a trance before he sang.
What puzzles me is why did Nanak go into a trance? What force came upon him?