Guru Nanak - Founder Of Sikhism Part 3

GURU'S DISAPPEARANCE:
The Janamsakhis narrate that one morning, Guru Nanak went to bathe in the neighboring river called Baeen. People saw him enter the river waters but no one saw him get out. For three days Guru Nanak's whereabouts were unknown. During that period he had a vision of God's presence where he was entrusted by the Almighty with the task of preaching the Divine Name (NAM) to the world. The Almighty commanded:"Thou art welcome, O Nanak, that hath absorbed thyself in Nam.Do go hence and do the work for which thou wast born.People of Kalyug have adopted horrible practices and are extremely degraded in mind.

They worship a variety of gods, have forsaken the Name and are immersed in sin.Go thou, spread Love and Devotion to the Name, and lighten the burden of the earth.Go thou, and glorify the name of God and destroy hypocrisy."The Guru then sang the following Sabad:"Were I to live for millions of years and drink the air for my nourishment;Were I to dwell in a cave where I beheld not sun or moon, and could not even dream of sleeping;I should still not be able to express Thy worth; how great shall I call Thy Name?O true Formless One, Thou art in Thine Own place- As I have often heard I tell my tale- if it please Thee, show Thy favor unto me.Were I to be felled and cut in pieces, were I to be grounded in a mill;Were I to be burned in a fire, and blended with its ashes,I should still not be able to express Thy worth; how great shall I call Thy Name?

Were I to become a bird and fly to a hundred heavens;Were I to vanish from human gaze and neither eat nor drink,I should still not be able to express Thy worth; how great shall I call Thy Name?Nanak, had I hundreds of thousands of tons of paper and a desire to write on it all after the deepest research;Were ink never to fail me, and could I move my pen like the wind,I should still not be able to express Thy worth; how great shall I call Thy Name?"(Sri Rag Mohalla 1, p-14)Then a voice was heard,"O Nanak, to him upon whom My look of kindness resteth, be thou merciful, as I too shall be merciful. My name is God, the Primal Brahm, and thou art the Divine Guru (Mei aad Parmeshar aur tu Gur Parmeshar)."This has been stated in the Puratan Janamsakhi. The Guru himself confirms that the Almighty asked him to go to the world and sing His praises.

The Guru says that after he had done his duty in this world, the Almighty called him again:"Me, a minstrel out of work, God applieth to His work;Thus spake the Almighty unto meNight and day, go and sing My praises.The Almighty again did summon this minstrel to His most Exalted Court.On me He bestowed the robe of Honor of His praise and prayer,On me He bestowed the goblet brimming with Nectar of His Holy Name,Those who at the bidding of the GuruFeast and take their fill of the Lord's Holiness attain Peace and Joy.Thy minstrel spreadeth Thy Glory by singing Thy Word;Nanak, he who uttereth true praises obtaineth the Perfect One."(Majh di Var-pauri 27, p-150)It is said that after three days when he reappeared, some people saw hallow around his head.

Some people say that Guru Nanak's Guruship started with his reappearance from the water. Bhai Gurdas, an eminent Sikh writes that first the Almighty bestowed His blessings on Baba (Guru Nanak) and then He sent him to this world to spread the Divine Word:"Pehlan babei paya bakhash dar, pichhon dei phir ghal kamaee."(Bhai Gurdas- Var 1, pauri 24)Who was Guru Nanak's Guru? When he was asked, who his Guru was, Guru Nanak replied that God Himself was his Guru:"Unfathomable and Infinite is God Who acted as Guru of Nanak."(Sorath Mohalla 1, p-599)The Guru remained silent for a day after the reappearance and then he made this announcement, "There is no Hindu and no Musalman." This meant that there was no difference between man and man.

This declaration made Nawab Daulat Khan and his Qazi very mad. The Nawab asked the Guru to explain whether his Qazi was not a true Muslim. The Guru described the traits of a true Muslim:"He who is firm in his faith,Has a right to be called a Muslim.His acts must be in accord with his faith in Prophet,He must clean his heart of his pride and greed,Not troubled by the two impostors- life and death,Resigned to the Will of God;Knowing Him as the Doer,Free himself from the self, andBe compassionate towards all beings, O Nanak,Such a one may call himself a Muslim."(Majh ki Var Mohalla 1, p-141)The Nawab then asked the Guru, "If there is no difference between the Hindus and the Muslims, why don't you join us in our Namaz (Muslim prayer)?" The Guru agreed to join them to take part in their prayer in the mosque where Qazi led the Namaz.

When Namaz was offered, the Qazi and the Nawab both stood, kneeled and bowed in their prayer but the Guru remained standing. After the Namaz was over, the Qazi said,"Why did you not take part in the prayer?" The Guru replied, "I did take part in the prayer but both of you did not." Then he explained,"While the Qazi performed the service, he remembered that there was a well in his courtyard, and his mind was filled with apprehension lest his newly-born filly should fall in the well. The Qazi's mind was, therefore, not present in the prayer. Also while the Nawab was pretending to pray, his mind was set on purchasing horses in Kabul."Both admitted the truth of Guru's statements and the Nawab cried aloud to the Qazi,"Thou seest not Khuda (God) speaking to us through Nanak?" The Muslims perform five Namaz at five different times a day. The Guru addressed the meaning and virtue of Namaz:"Five prayers thou sayest five times a day,With five different names;But if Truth be thy first prayer, The second to honestly earn your daily living, The third to give in God's name, Purity of mind by thy fourth prayer, And praise and prayer to God thy fifth;If thou practiseth these five virtues, And good deeds be thine Kalma- the article of faith,Then thy can call thyself a true Muslim.

By mere hypocrisy, O Nanak, A man is deemed false through and through."(Majh ki Var Mohalla 1, p-141)Guru Nanak never asked a Muslim or a Hindu to become his disciple to get a place in heaven after death. He told the Muslim to become a true Muslim and to a Hindu to become a true Hindu in order to get salvation.