Nanak had an inquisitive mind and was always seeking answers to logical questions
Date : 04/05/2024
(This is Part 3 of the article on Guru Nanak. Read Part 2 and Part 4)
When Nanak was nine, his parents decided it was time for him to wear the janeu, sacred thread as part of a custom prevalent among caste Hindus. It is considered a ceremony like baptism among Christians signifying the spiritual rebirth of a male Hindu.
The janeu is a thread made from cotton, hempen or wool that is worn by the males of the three upper castes of the Hindus - Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas.
As preparations for the ceremony were in full swing Nanak, who was very close to his sister, Nanaki, and often discussed issues that he could not understand with her, asked her why she never wore a janeu? Nanaki had no answer and told him even mother does not have one and, therefore, he should ask father or Pandit Hardyal, the family priest.
Nanak had an inquisitive mind and was always seeking answers to logical questions he posed. He did not believe in following a ritual because everyone else did. He needed to understand the full import of every ritual. For him, the highest thing was truthful life. All his life he was not afraid of speaking the truth.
For the ceremony, relations of the family, neighbours and the villagers assembled in large numbers. After the preliminary rites were performed by Pandit Hardyal the priest proceeded to invest Nanak with the sacred thread. Nanak caught it with his hand and asked the priest what he was doing and what advantage would it be to put a thread around his shoulder.
The priest explained to him that wearing the thread was an ancient Hindu practice followed since Vedic times and without it, a man would only be a Shudra, lowest of all castes. By wearing it, greatness would be achieved by him in this world and happiness in the next.
Nanak was not convinced as several issues and questions stormed his mind. He asked: "How can you differentiate men by such threads. A man becomes high through his actions and deeds. How can a cruel or wicked man become of high caste by wearing such a thread? Besides, this thread will not last long. When the thread is soiled it will break."
The priest tried to persuade him: "This is a sacred thread and being a Khatri, (Kshatriya caste), it is necessary to wear it like all your ancestors." Nanak smiled and said: "You buy the thread for four cowries from the market place, then twist it to put on your disciple while sitting on a platform. But when the wearer dies, the thread falls off and the soul departs to the next world. If you want that I wear such a thread, then give me one that will accompany me even to the next world. One that will give me spiritual benefit."
The priest was angry and told him: "You are a child and you think you are wiser than we priests?" Nanak persisted: "I want to wear such a janeu which will prevent me from doing evil deeds, direct me to good deeds and usher a spiritual being in me."
The family had to abandon the idea of the ceremony and Guru Nanak explains the concept of janeu and other initiation ceremonies in one of his hymns.
Let mercy be the cotton, contentment the thread,
Continence the knot and truth the twist.
Such a thread is for the soul, O Panday! put it on me only if you have it.
Such a thread will neither get broken nor will it become dirty,
Nor will it get burnt, nor will it go waste.
Nanak says, " Blessed are those persons, who live by wearing such a thread."
A thread purchased for four shells is worn sitting in the courtyard
The priest whispers in the ear and thus he becomes a guru
He dies, the thread falls away and he leaves without it! ( SGGS p. 471)
Job as a storekeeper
Nanak's father persuaded him to take to a business but was unable to succeed. Mehta Kalu was miserable as he was unable to understand the ways of his son.
His sister, Nanaki's husband, Jai Ram, was visiting Talwandi when he learnt Mehta Kalu was unhappy with Nanak. He offered to take Nanak to Sultanpur Lodi and settle him there. Jai Ram was already working with Nawab Daulat Khan, a distant relative of the Sultan at Delhi and the Governor of Punjab. Jai Ram recommended him to the Governor. The Nawab met Nanak and was impressed with his honesty and employed him as a Modi, storekeeper, giving him the charge of his stores.
Nanak performed his duties diligently through the day and was respected for doing his job well. There is a sakhi that when people made purchases at his store he would get stuck at the count of number 13. The number 13 in Punjabi is called terah. Nanak would go into a trance and repeat the word tera tera. It meant everything belonged to God. He was the giver and provider. Some people complained to the Nawab that the Guru was squandering away his stores. He was interned in a room until the stores were checked and everything was found in order. It endeared Nanak to the Nawab.
Nanak's marriage
In Sultanpur, he seemed somewhat settled so Guru Nanak's father thought he should get him married so that he may settle down in life. He was bound in marriage in A.D. 1487 to Sulakhni, the daughter of Mool Chand Chona of Batala.
At nineteen his wife, Sulakhni, came to live with him. Two sons were born to them: Sri Chand in A.D. 1494 and Lakhmi Das in A.D. 1497.
Despite a family, his soul continued to yearn for spiritual pursuits. In Sultanpur Lodi, a minstrel boy Mardana joined him. Every evening the two began to sing hymns. Mardana played the rebec while Nanak sang hymns in his melodious voice. The Janamsakhi describes their life in Sultanpur. "Every night they sang hymns...They fed everyone who came...An hour and quarter before sunrise he would go to the river to bathe, by daylight he would be in the durbar doing his work."
Picture Source:
Cropped picture of a 19th century mural painting from Gurdwara Baba Atal depicting Nanak from Wikimedia Commons
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