Guru Nanak

He died on 22 September 1539 in Kartarpur, at the age of 70.

Guru Nanak was born on 15 April 1469, in Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī (present day Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan) near Lahore, into a Hindu family. His father Mehta Kalu and mother Mata Tripta belonged to the merchant caste. His father was the local patwari (accountant) in the village of Talwandi. He had one elder sister, Bebe Nanaki, to whom he was very close.

From a young age he started displaying his brilliance. He became interested in spirituality and divine subjects when he was just five.

He started attending school when he was seven years old. Legend has it that he described the symbolism of the first letter of the alphabet in Persian, which resembles the mathematical version of one, to represent the unity or oneness of God.

When he attained the age of 11, his father arranged for him to participate in the sacred thread ceremony, a Hindu ritual symbolizing man’s connection with God. But the boy rebelled and refused to participate in this ritual as he felt that it was a meaningless one.

When he was old enough, his father told him to graze cattle. But instead of watching the cattle he would slip into meditative trances and get into trouble because of his carelessness. This made his father angry with him.

When Guru Nanak was around 16, he started working under Daulat Khan Lodi, under whom his brother-in-law also worked. This marked an important period in his life as he would make numerous allusions to the governmental structure in his future hymns.

He performed well in his job as he was a very hardworking and sincere employee. He also proved to be a very kind and generous person. In spite of being a married man and father now, he was not distracted from his quest for spiritual knowledge.

He became friends with a Muslim minstrel named Mardana with whom he used to pray and meditate. One morning he went to bathe in the Kali Bein or Black River with Mardana. He walked into the river and disappeared beneath the water. There was no sign of him and everyone believed that he had drowned in the river.

Three days later he miraculously appeared out of the river and told everyone that he had been taken to God’s court. He was spiritually reawakened by this incident and was completely enlightened. From this point onwards, people stared calling him “Guru Nanak”.

He lost all interest in worldly affairs like family and work and soon quit his job. He left his wife and children in the care of his parents and told his family that God had called him to spread His divine message and he had to abide with the Almighty’s wish.

Guru Nanak founded Sikhism which is now the fifth-largest organized religion in the world, with approximately 30 million adherents. He also established the system of the Langar, or communal kitchen, in order to demonstrate the need to share and have equality among all people.