Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born in the year 20 October 1469. He was born in the village of Rāi Bhōi dī Talwandī, near Lahore in Pakistan. Now it is called Nankana Sahib. Tripta Devi was Guru Nanak's mother. Mehta Kalu was his father, he was the patwari (accountant) of the village. He use to keep an account of the revenue from crop, for a Muslim landlord, Rai Bular Bhatti. He had one older sister, named Bebe Nanaki.

In his childhood, he left his home to explore the hidden mysteries that leads to pure life, as he was very much influenced by religion. Guru Nanaks ji's father got him admitted to school but he was never interested in studying, but was interested only in religion. Besides religion, he also learnt Persian and Arabic. In his childhood only, the landlord of the village was very much influenced by him, as he was got to know about the divine qualities he was blessed with. He also witnessed many incidents and got influenced. Also, his sister Bebe Nanki, also knew that Guru Nanak dev ji, was blessed with many divine powers. The event of poisonous cobra which worked to give shed to the sleeping child (Guru Nanak) from the scorching sunlight, as seen by Rai Bular, astonished him. In the school also, as a child Guru Nanak dev ji astonished his teacher by describing the implicit symbolism of the first letter of the alphabet, resembling the mathematical version of one, denoting the oneness of God.



When Guru Nanak Dev ji was 12 years old, though he was not interested in studying, his father gave him twenty rupees and asked to do a business. While walking through he saw some saints. Guru Nanak dev ji bought food for all the money and distributed among saints and the poor. In the evening when he came home, at his fathers question about the business done, he replied that he had done a "True business". Thus a gurdwara was made and named Sacha Sauda.

At Sultanpur, It was Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s daily routine to go to Bein stream for a bath. After bath he used to spend time in meditation. According to Janamsakhis, one he plunged into the stream, and remained missing for three days. It is said that Guru Nanak Dev Ji had a face to face talk with the Almighty, who assigned him with the mission of preaching the glory of his name. Then God blessed him and commanded, “O Nanak ! When you look at anyone gracefully, it is not yours, but my graceful look.”

Nanak was married to Sulakhni, the daughter, Moolchand Chona, a rice trader from the town of Bakala. They had two sons. The elder son, Sri Chand, was an ascetic, and he came to have a considerable following of his own, known as the Udasis. The Udasis served as guardians of the historical Sikh sites. The younger son, Lakshmi Chand, on the other hand, was totally immersed in worldly life. To Guru Nanak, both his sons were unfit to carry on the Guruship.