GURUPURAB ESSAY - GURU NANAK STORIES

Tuesday 12 November Gurupurb

Guru Nanak Dev Ji Stories 

Guru Nanak Jayanthi this year falls on November 12. as per English calendar, Guru Nanak Dev Ji birthday was born on 14th November 1469. this date keeps on changing every year beacuse it is calculated in terms of nanakshahi calendar followed by the Sikhs. his place of birth is nankana sahib which is in Pakistan now. Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and is known as the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. the world gurus. the word guru means religious teacher. it is not the Sikhs but many Punjabi Hindus and Sindhis are also the followers of Guru Nanak Dev. many Muslims also consider him as a Sufi saint. Guru Nanak married Mata sulakhani. he had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakshmi Das. according to the Sikh religion, one day he was bathing in the river and god took him up to heaven. his family members were worried as they thought he had died. but after three days, he returned with the message of God. he began spreading the message as to how to become a good person.

Guru Nanak gave a new type of thinking. his way of teaching to the world. His way of teaching differed from other religious gurus. when he was a child, he refused to wear holy thread which was the Hindu custom of those days. from his childhood only. he was devoted to god. many incidents of his childhood tell us that he was going to become a great saint later. Guru Nanak told the world that one can realize God by praying at home as a family man or woman. he said that a person need not do penance or go to the forests in search of gold. one can simply realize god. One can simple realize god by sincerely praying at any place including one's home. he preached good actions, humility, truth, contentment, compassion and existence of god.

After returning from his mission of preaching, guru Nanak stayed in kartarpur in Punjab. there he left for his heavenly abode on 22nd November 1539. as both the Hindus and Muslims were his followers, both wanted to perform his funeral ceremony according to their own custom. guru Nanak realized this. so when he was about to die he called his followers to his bedside. he instructed the Hindus to bring fresh flowers and places them on his right side. in the same way, he asked the Muslims to place the flowers on his left side. he told them that whose flowers remain fresh by the next morning, will have the right to perform the funeral ceremony. then he asked to cover his body with a white sheet and leave until next morning.

To the surprise of his followers, when they returned the next morning, they found only the fresh flowers but the mortal body was not there. this showed guru Nanak belonged to all.