Sunday, October 7, 2012

GURU NANAK - Devotee of Lord JAGANNATH







Guru Nanak

Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh movement, was born on 23 November 1469 at Talwandi (now in Pakistan) in a Hindu family, but his life mission was to mediate between Hinduism and Islam. Since his childhood he made friends with Muslim children, studied Arabic and Persian, discussed philosophy both with Hindu and Muslim scholars, and at the age of 13 when he was expected to accept the sacred thread, he rejected it, stating that compassion, simplicity, austerity and truthfulness were much better than cotton thread and knots.

On the request of his parents he married Sulakhani (Sulakshana) and had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakshmi Chand, but he used all his free time before and after work to meditate and chant, together with his old friend Mardana, a Muslim musician. One morning he went with Mardana to take bath in the river, and while in the water he had a revelation, which is now at the beginning of the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs: “There is only one God, his name is Truth and he is the Creator. He fears none, he hates none, he never dies and is beyond the cycle of births and deaths, is self-effulgent and is realized through the kindness of the genuine Guru”.

After this revelation, he left his job and distributed all his possessions to the poor, saying, “There are no Hindus or Muslims. Let the grace of God be the mosque, devotion the prayer carpet; let the Koran be good behavior, modesty be compassion, fasting be kindness, Kaaba be your good acts and your Imam be truthfulness”. At the age of 30, in 1499, Guru Nanak started to walk around India, traveling over 50,000 miles on foot in 25 years, offering his teachings in the form of songs in the local languages and opening centers called manji, where his followers could gather to sing and meditate. This was the beginning of Sikhism.

On his way to Puri, he rested in the village of Sangat in Balasore district and set up a Guru ka Langar (community kitchen) and community prayer hall. In the village there is still a place called Nanak Diha, where Nanak built his cottage. Guru Nanak reached Cuttack and rested at Kaliaboda on the Mahanadi, was received by the Gajapati. Some envious opponents came to beat him with a Sahaba branch, but he used it as a datan (toothbrush) and planted it as a sapling, which still exists as a tree at the Gurudvara.

Guru Nanak arrived in Puri in 1506 (some say in 1508), accompanied by Mardana and Bala, and they camped on the beach. As they were thirsty, Nanak told them to dig a hole in the sand and they found fresh drinking water at a few feet from the sea, a very amazing and inexplicable feat. Baula is the Punjabi name for fresh water holes, and that’s how the Matha got its name. Still the Grantha Sahib is worshiped there, and there is a Guru ka Langar and Sangats (holy association). Guru Nanak sent his devotee Mardana to get some Mahaprasada, but the Sevakas did not allow him into the temple. Then, during the evening arati, in the presence of the King, a golden pot full of Mahaprasada miraculously flew away by itself towards the seashore to Nanak.

The King went to meet him and in the course of their discussion on Sri Jagannatha asked him if he was not feeling bad not being allowed into the temple. As a reply, Guru Nanak showed the palm of his hand to the King, who with great amazement saw there the forms of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. Nanak also told the King that the real arati (worship) is the one performed within one’s heart. Very impressed, the King offered him the property of the land where he had camped, today called Bauli Matha. Guru Nanak also established the Mangu Matha, where his footprints are visible.

The Grantha Sahib is said to contain a song that Nanak is said to have composed for Jagannatha, comparing the Sun and Moon to arati lamps, the forests to the flower garlands, and the sandalwood scented breeze to incense. Some say that Guru Nanak met Sri Chaitanya in Puri, in 1518, and that they sang and danced together in Harinama Sankirtana.

Nanak died on 22 September 1539, leaving his foremost disciple Angad (a devotee of Durga namedLehna) to continue his mission. Hindus wanted to cremate his body while Muslims wanted to bury it, and when they went to lift the shroud they only found a heap of fresh flowers: the flowers were divided between the two groups, that respectively cremated and buried their share.

Guru Nanak’s son, Sri Chanji was born on Bhadra sukla Navami 1494 in a village named Talbandi (presently known as Nankana Sahib) close to Lahore. His Diksha guru was Abhinash Muni, and his Siksha guru was Purushottama Kol, a Kashmiri pandit.

Sri Chanji is credited to have written Bhasyas on Veda and Gita; some of them are known as Sri Chandra siddhanta sagar, Sri Chandra sabda sudhar, Sri Chandra siddhanta panchakam, Ratna panchakam, Mukti manjari, Sri Chandra siddhanta manjari, Sri Chandra panchadasi, Sri Chandra pancakam, Sri Chandra panchadevashtaka etc. 


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