At five, he began to ask questions about the purpose of life and spiritual subjects
Date : 18/05/2024
(This is Part 2 of the series. Read Part 1 and Part 3)
Nanak was born in A.D. 1469 to Mehta Kalian Das Bedi, a revenue official, in the village Talwandi Rai Bhoe, now the city is called Nankana Sahib and is around 65 km from Lahore in Pakistan.
At birth the family priest Pandit Hardyal spoke very auspicious words about the child and said he will not only be adorer of God but will also lead others to Him. His face bore an unusual radiance and he made friends with all irrespective of the religion or caste of a person. Yet in many ways he was a loner, spending a major part of his time in deep reflective thought.
Nanak was a precocious child. At five, he began to ask questions about the purpose of life, about spiritual and divine subjects quite unlike his peers or normal children. His mind was always in pursuit of matters more spiritual than the material world.
At seven, he was sent to a pandit, Gopal Panda, to learn the alphabet and numerals. He learnt reading and writing very quickly and even composed an acrostic on the Punjabi alphabet. He astonished his teacher by describing the implied symbolism of the first letter of the alphabet resembling the numeral 1 as denoting the unity or oneness of God. Soon his teacher realised that he was a gifted child and he had little to add to his knowledge. Nanak told his teacher that without knowing God all other knowledge was meaningless.
Nanak was then sent to a Maulvi to learn Persian and Arabic. His teacher Ruknuddin too found that he picked up the languages very quickly. He also astonished Ruknuddin with an acrostic composed on the Persian language. He stopped taking lessons from Ruknuddin and liked to spend time with holy men of all religions.
The Janam Sakhis (literally life stories or biographies) based on legend and tradition which had grown around Nanak, provide us with a wealth of information on his precocious, philosophical predisposition. He wandered about in the forest, enjoyed the company of religious men and hermits often pondering over the mysteries of nature. The Janam Sakhis read together with the hymns of Guru Nanak provide us glimpses into the events during his lifetime.
There are sakhis or life stories on how a cobra provided him shade as he slept through a searing summer afternoon. There is also the sakhi of the shadow of a tree covering him and not retreating even as the day advanced. There is also one about Nanak caretaking his cattle. He took his cattle for grazing in the forest but as he sat under a tree he was lost in contemplation. The cattle strayed into a neighbour's farm and destroyed the crop. When the neighbour complained to the head of the village, the field was inspected and the crop was found standing unharmed.
These incidents established in a way that he was God's chosen one though, Nanak himself would have disowned having any powers that could perform a miracle. Many gurdwaras commemorate these events in his life.
Cobra giving him shade as Nanak slept through a searing summer afternoon
But his ways became a cause of great anguish to his parents. They could not understand their son often found meditating in silence or preferring to stay aloof. His father saw it as some kind of an ailment.
Nanak's father called the village physician Hardas to examine the cause of his ailment. His parents told the doctor: "Our son is behaving oddly. Something could be wrong with him. But we do not know what it is?"
Those days doctors practicing Ayurveda just felt the pulse of a person and could diagnose the ailment.
As the doctor felt his pulse Nanak pulled away his arm and said: "What are you doing with my arm?" The doctor said: "I am feeling your pulse. Once I know the cause of your ailment I can treat you."
Nanak was amused. He told the doctor: "You cannot cure me. You only know how to cure bodily ailments. But it is my soul that is in pain. It wants to be with God all the time. I am in pain if I forget him even for a moment. How can you cure me? Nanak often spoke words of wisdom way beyond his age.
The doctor realised that Nanak had a deep love for God. He told his parents: "He is not sick. He is healthier than all of us. Do not worry. He has no physical ailment. He is immersed in love for God. He needs no medicine from a doctor. Stop worrying about your son." Later Nanak wrote in a hymn
They called the physician who felt my pulse:
The simple physician not knowing, the pang from the heart arises! (SGGS p.1279)
Nanak's parents could not understand his yearning for God. Like any ordinary parent, they wanted him to tread the normal path but he was destined for greater things.
Read Part 1 here: https://indiachapter.in/article/1/7,8,19/43
Picture Source:
Banner Image is a depiction of Guru Nanak in school. Both images are pictures of Janamsakhi miniatures, folk idiom, Punjab art, 20th century (Collection Academy of Fine Arts and Literature Museum, Delhi)
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