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| Guru Nanak (in center) |
Accounts of Nanak's youth derive from these sources: the Janamsakhis
(life accounts) and the vars (verses) of the scribes Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Bala (although some scholars believe that other authors could have been involved after Nanak's physical death). These accounts portray Nanak as having an extraordinary
degree of spiritual awareness from early on.
For example, Nanak astonished his childhood teacher by giving a detailed explanation of the symbolism that the alphabet's first letter entailed. Within the Persian and Arabic alphabets, the first letter's almost straight stroke resembles the numeral one. Nanak compared that to God's unified oneness. Another account tells of a poisonous cobra deliberately shielding Nanak's head from the sun as the young boy slept.
According to Wikipedia, Nanak's birth has also been described in great detail within the Janamsakhis. It is said that an astrologer insisted upon seeing the newborn Nanak. This
astrologer then clasped his hands and exclaimed: I regret that I shall never live to see young Guru Nanak as an adult. At the tender age of five, Nanak "voiced interest in divine subjects."
Other accounts tell of a time that young Nanak was washing in the river.
He suddenly disappeared into what appeared to be a whirlpool. Thinking that his dear friend was drowning, Mardana swam to that spot to save him.
When Mardana reached the spot, there was no Nanak and no whirlpool to be found – "just the depths of the river."
For the next two days, Mardana feared that Nanak was gone forever. On
the third day, Nanak "walked out of the river."
When asked by many worried souls what had happened, Nanak simply replied: I spoke
to God and he said there
is no Muslim or Hindu. Both Guru and Sikhism had now truly been born.
Resource
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Nanak
Copyright November 26, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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