About the Gurus

The Muslims of Central Asia had been invading and ruling Punjab for nearly five hundred years prior to the birth of Guru Nanak ( G N ) in 1469. Forcible conversions, destruction of temples were some of the miseries that Hindus had to face. GN was a witness to the treatment meted out to the people of Punjab by Babur in 1521. Thousands of people were massacred and taken prisoners. The barbarous treatment of prisoners including women broke the tender heart of GN ( he was a Khatri by birth ).

Muslim oppression and the Bhakti ( devotion to God ) movement were responsible for the growth and development of Sikhism ( SK ).

GN was against the caste system and idol worship. GN laid emphasis on five things. 1. Nam or singing the praise of God. 2. Dan or charity. 3. Ashnan or daily bath. 4. Seva or service to humanity. 5. Simran or constant prayer for the deliverance of the soul. Nanak's religion consisted of the love of God, love of man. Nanak's God was the Creator, unborn, formless, omnipresent. To GN the relationship between man and god was similar to the one between husband and wife ie constant companionship. God was everywhere and could be attained by repeating his name continuously. Thus S's greeted each other with Sat Sri Kal or True Timeless one.

GN held that for the realization of God, having a Guru was essential. Without the Guru god could not be realized and one wanders in the darkness of ignorance. A faithful disciple must follow the Guru's instructions implicitly. But the Guru was to be obeyed and not worshipped. GN laid stress on devotion, service and culture of emotions.

Basically God is formless, not something which changes. The very quest for God is a quest for something eternal, and anything which is changing is in the realm of time and is therefore ephemeral, transient. 'Life' of anything which is changing starts with birth and ends with death. None of this applies to God. If God too was something like this then he is not worth praying. Moreover, the famous manta like words SAT SRI AKAL, means God is Sat - i.e. that which exists in all the three periods of time - past, present & future; Sri - means glorious with great power; and Akal - i.e. that which transcends time. So it is very evident that the God which lovingly found a place in the heart of GN was the one which transcended time, he was changeless, eternal truth. This is also what Vedanta reveals.

He emphasized the importance of overcoming the ego to realize God. Realizing the law of cause and effect in the moral and physical world, man realizes the justice of God. GN emphasized the importance of Karma to escape from the transmigration of the soul. Right conduct is closely associated with GN's idea of right belief and worship. GN believed that true renunciation consisted in living a pure life amidst the impurities of attachment. Anyone who has read the Holy Geeta would be familiar with this philosophy. GN only reiterated some of the principles of Vedanta.

He was against fasts, penance, pilgrimages, renunciation of the world. He wanted to create a castles society in which all were equal. Women received great consideration from GN. ( reformists approach )

GN called his religion Gurmat or Guru's wisdom. This word occurs in GN's hyms more than two hundred times. His disciples call themselves Nanak Panthis or Sikhs from the Sanskrit word Sishya, meaning a person who takes spiritual lessons from a teacher. .

Second Guru - Angad or Bhai Lahna Trehan.

Before he died GN nominated a kshatriya, GA as his successor ignoring the demand of his son Srichand. GA started collecting GN's hyms which were written in Lande Mahajani, written in a rather rough/crude script. To avoid their misinterpretation, GA decided to beautify the Lande alphabets to give birth to a new script called Gurumukhi meaning that which came out from the mouth of the Guru.

Third Guru - Amar Das Bhalla - GA nominated a kshatriya, GAD as his successor. GAD was against torturing the body, the Purdah system. Starting with GAD the gurudom began to be hereditary.

Fourth Guru Ram Das added to the growing solidarity of the community with a sacred tank in the city of Amritsar, earlier known as Ramdaspur or the town of Guru Ram Das. The tank got expanded into todays Harmandir by GHG. He composed Lavan for the solemnization of the Sikh marriage.

Fifth Guru Arjunmal or Guru Arjun - Born in 1563 GA was an original thinker, illustrious poet, philosopher, organizer. His greatest achievement was the compilation of the Granth Sahib. Written in Gurumukhi script it was completed in 1604. For helping the rebellious son of emperor Jahangir, GA was tied in the burning sun over hot sand and was tortured. Exhausted under its impact he collapsed under the strain and died at the age of forty two only. This event proved to be a turning point in the Sikh attitude towards the Mughals.

Sixth Guru Har Govind - Instructed by his father GHG began the arming of his followers. In front of the Harmandir ( temple dedicated to God ) he constructed the Akal Takt or God's Throne. Tales of valor of Chittor rulers were sung to encourage his followers. After being imprisoned by Jahangir he realized the art of diplomacy. On his release he became a friendly collaborator of the Mughal emperor. This ended with the death of Jehangir. GHG was busy in warfare from 1634 to 1640.

He spent the last two years of his life converting Muslims to Hinduism. While some people have criticized the Guru for engaging the Mughals in a battle that could not be won, he was trying to change the age old mentality of the Hindus of meekly submitting to the oppressor. GHG rendered a great service to the country by showing the true path of deliverance from spiritual bondage. After all, spirituality, must inspire a person to resist the wrong with courage and boldness. The Holy Geeta talks about it too.

The next two Gurus, Har Rai and Har Kishan have not left much of history behind them.

Guru Tegh Bahadur, was the youngest son of GHG. At this time Aurangzib was determined to establish an Islamic state in India and took various measures to oppress the Hindus. Locals were forced to convert to Islam in Punjab and Kashmir. This angered GTH who travelled across Punjab and inspired the Punjabis and Kashmiris to fight against such oppression. Not wanting to face a rebellion, Aurangzib summoned GTH to Delhi. In Delhi he was asked to perform a miracle as proof of his nearness to God. He refused that occult powers were a proof of ones nearness to God. Having failed to perform a miracle, he was asked to accept Islam. He refused and was beheaded in 1675.