The Path of Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak followed the not-unusual path of the prophets who preceded him. He would forego a job with the governor for a life of traveling and teaching. He taught in far outlying areas and set up communities of followers along the way. In time, he became known as Guru (“teacher)” Nanak. Part of his teaching was that public rituals are not the essence of worship and that God is ill defined by any one religion. He spoke out against what he saw as inequities (the Hindu caste system, for example), stressing that all people were equal.
Nanak's childhood friend, Mardan, a professional musician, accompanied him on his travels. Nanak liked to sing and did so in the form of hymns. So he and Mardan entertained the local populace while getting the message out. As part of his message, Nanak wore a mixture of Hindu and Muslim clothes when he and Mardan toured.
Many of the Hindu and Muslim audiences became followers of the fledgling religion. As he gathered followers around him, his spiritual ideas bore fruit and his composed hymns, which were written down, eventually became the core of the Sikh sacred text, the Adi Granth (“original book”).
In the final phases of his life, Guru Nanak returned from all the traveling to his established Sikh community at Kartarpur and settled down with his wife and sons. It was time for him to consider a successor and most people thought he would appoint one of his sons. But his insistence on the principle of equality that he had been teaching for years and had made part of the religion made him choose Lehna, a man who had become an ardent disciple. Nanak blessed Lehna and gave him a new name, Angad, meaning “part of me.” He anointed him with a saffron mark on his forehead. When Guru Nanak gathered his followers together for prayers, he invited Angad to occupy the seat of the Guru. In that way, Guru Angad was ordained as the successor to Guru Nanak.
The myth goes that when he died, Guru Nanak asked for flowers to be placed on either side of him, from the Hindus on his right and from the Muslims on his left. He explained that those whose flowers remained fresh the next day would have their way. He then asked his disciples to pray, and he lay down and covered himself with a sheet. In the early hours of the next morning, September 22, 1539, Guru Nanak merged with the eternal light of the Creator.
After Nanak's death, his followers lifted the sheet covering him and found nothing except the flowers, all of which were fresh. The Hindus took theirs and cremated them. The Muslims took theirs and buried them.
