Nanak Dev

Nanak Dev on a wall painting from Gurdwara Baba Atal , early 19th century.

Guru Nanak Dev ( Panjabi ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਦੇਵ , Hindi गुरु नानक Guru Nānak ) (born April 15, 1469 in Talwandi , today Nankana Sahib near Lahore ; † 1539 ) is a saint and founder of Sikhism .

Nanak Dev receives holy men. Miniature painting 1828–30.

Life

Nanak was born in the village of Talwandi, today's Nankana Sahib in Pakistan . His parents were Hindus and he belonged to a merchant caste . Already as a boy he was fascinated by religion and his urge to explore the secrets of life led him to leave home and wander large parts of northwest India. Nanak strictly rejected the concept of Hinduism from a young age. He is said to have heard a divine voice commanding him to teach faith in one God, mercy, purity, devotion, and service.

Nanak repeatedly emphasizes in his writings (recorded in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib ) that he is exclusively a servant and disciple of God. Nanak said he never saw himself as a student of any human teacher.

After several years of wandering with his first disciples, Mardana, a Muslim musician who played the plucked rabab , and a Hindu farmer, Bala, Nanak began to teach. During this time he crossed almost all of India, he is said to have even come to Mecca and Medina. He preached in front of Jain and Hindu temples and in front of Muslim mosques , attracting a large number of Sikhs (disciples). He believed religion should connect people. Nanak therefore rejected asceticism and demanded a disciplined but worldly lifestyle from his successors. Influenced by different local teaching traditions ( Sufism and Bhakti ), he preached the unity of God beyond the diverse religious forms of his followers. A well-known quote from Nanak reads: "There are no Hindus, there are no Muslims, there are only creatures of God."

Nanak criticized the rituals, the belief in the priesthood determined by the ruling Brahmin caste, as well as the caste system in Hinduism, and said that external rituals stand in the way of real religiosity. His followers called him a guru (teacher). Before his death, he named Guru Angad as his successor and head of his community.

Guru Nanak is credited with the Mul Mantar , the first verses of Guru Granth Sahib .

Great Ghazal singers today use his hymns and quotes for music such as: B. Jagjit Singh with his famous song: Main na Hindu, Na Musalman, Dostie Mera Iman, Mujhe Jeen Do ("I am not a Hindu, I am not a Muslim, my religion is friendship, let me live this way!").

Web links

Commons : Guru Nanak Dev  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, speech by Ernst Trumpp (1876)  - sources and full texts