The enlightened Guru; Image Source: Daily Excelsior.

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From the Vedic age, we have seen our countrymen give into superstitions, outspread by the minister of the religions, influencing our beliefs of right and wrong, the manner of worship our Gods and Goddesses, and ways to cleanse ourselves from the paap we might have committed. In these modern times, we find ourselves surrounded by a lot of people, spreading the propaganda of *atheism-* scraping out the false belief in deities. Staunch devotees see atheism as a threat to pre-existing religious beliefs. In between these timelines of blind faith and atheism- lies a thin line of not letting these ministers (or, priests) spiral our minds with fallacious principles, drawn by *the father of Sikhism*, ***Guru Nanak***.

Guru Nanak is the *first Guru of Sikhism*, who was born in Talwandi, a village now known as Nankana Sahib, in 1469, to *Mehta Kalu* and *Tripta*. His father was a village accountant, and his mother was a very simple and religious woman. He had an elder sister, *Nanki*, and the family brimmed with affection and constant well wishing for each other.

Nanak’s journey towards enlightenment was set in motion from the very childhood. He was extraordinary- with a refreshing sense of coherence and gifted with a ruminative psyche. Growing up, he challenged the prevalent caste system and idolatry. And by the age of 16, he was a champion in Sanskrit, Persian and Hindi religious texts and compositions and started concocting his divine amalgam.

Guru Nanak, astonishing his elder with his judicious intellect. Image Souce: indiatimes.com

With his lovely wife, *Sulakhni*, and two beautiful children, *Sri Chand* and *Lakshmi Das*, he shifted to the town of Sultanpur Lodhi, accompanied by his faithful friend *Bhai Mardana*, in 1487. He took up the occupation of an accountant in charge of the stores of the local governor. Though he poured all his hard work during the day, he salvaged his soul into singing hymns in the early morning with the rhythms of Bhai Mardana’s *rabab*. On one such morning, he received an eternal message of surrendering himself to preach the words, “*There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim*”, to the world. The voice is accepted as *God’s call* to this day. These words later composed the doctrine of ***Sikhi***.

Hence, Guru Nanak, chaperoned by Bhai Mardana, set out on a spiritual journey for the next 30 years. They covered four major ethereal expeditions around India, South Asia, Tibet, and Arabia. 

> He preached the unraveled truth of God, *"Supreme, All-powerful, and Truthful, Niranka (nebulous), Nirbhau (heroic), Nirvair (non-abomination), Saibhang (Self Existent), Karta Purakh (the baffling and everlasting instigator) and Satnam (the Absolute Truth).”*

Guru Nanak exhorted that we, the people, can bridge a connection with the Supreme without the intervention of the priests. He wanted to establish a spiritual and social ground- based on brotherhood and equality, with the view of upholding the poor and distressed. He denounced the false practices and hypocrisy reigning the Hindu Caste system and peeked into the Mughal times. He made the commoners aware of the evils like egotism or jealousy and asked them to submerge into worshipping by chanting the ‘*Naam*’, God’s name. He censured the idea of *tyaga* and taught others to focus on their lives as the family man in proper conduct, and selflessness while keeping an undisturbed fondness towards God. His words contributed to the empowerment of the position of women in society.

Guruji is seen to be preaching his holy ideals to his followers. Image Source: MustFrills

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As frown lines took shape with his old age, he settled down in Kartarpur. He opted to till his land for earning and wore the robes of a peasant. His devotees came from far and wide, to hear the divine declamation. He brought the langar system into activation, a free communal kitchen to induce the idea of equality, irrespective of social statuses. 

The practise of langar started by Guru Nanak. Image Source: WordPress.com

When Guru Nanak saw his end was near, he passed on his legacy to *Guru Angad Dev*. The Sikhs of today believe that all the Sikh Gurus inherit the same divine enlightenment that Guru Nanak possessed.  His teachings are recorded in the holy scripture of ***Guru Granth Sahib***, in the form of 974 spiritual hymns by *Guru Arjan Dev*, the *Fifth Guru*.

One who torched the shine of reasoning and devotion for the commoners discarded the theory of attaining divinity through unreasonable verdicts of the priests. Guru Nanak and his dynamic story of blessedness and sanctity still stands as the pillar of holiness, on this silver dawn of his memorial.