Culture and Traditions | The Guru Purab celebrations were huge but what is the legend!

‘Some facts that the readers may be knowing but could have forgotten! Anyone can!

Burn worldly love, rub the ashes and make ink of it, make the heart the pen, the intellect the writer, write that which has no end or limit……. Guru Nanak, Sri Guru Granth Sahib’!

‘The stories are many about the great man Guru Nank but I will list out two of them which I came to know from Reena’s mother in Shillong! Reena was in St. Peters and I in St Edmunds! The travelling distance was from Happy valley to Nogthomai and beyond!’

That evening was a dinner party at Colonel Khazan Singh’s house. To be honest I did not know the occasion but we knew it was a huge
occasion! Aunt (Reena’s mother was a fabulous cook but that evening was special as far as story telling and food went!’ It was not Guru Purab that day but the occasion was of the couple’s marriage anniversary!’

Lot many people had gathered and also the children. One amongst the kids was me also!

November 8this year marked Guru Nanak Jayanti this year. Guru Nanak was one of India’s great mystics, who wandered across the subcontinent and beyond.’

‘It was late in the evening and it was raining in Shillong and it was in torrents! Afterall Meghalaya and it was after dinner story telling
time and Reena’s mom a very religious lady had semethin to tell tore us and it was an absorbing story telling and hearing session for we kids!’

‘It was something that at least I have not forgotten and I’m sure none of us who were there would have’!

This is how she opened up, the significance of Guru Nanak’s life is not about starting a new religion, as most people think he did. Guru
Nanak was someone who knew no scriptures, he knew life. What we know of him today, in the form of his teaching, is very little.

‘ I would say not even two to five percent of what he said is with the world today. But we can imagine what he could have said because
anyone who comes from an inner experience will say the same thing. Scriptures may become outdated, but inner experience is never outdated. It has no date. Times and dates are for physical nature.What is within belongs neither to this time nor that time.’

‘He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God.’! Was another great thoughts of the great mn and yet another one was even
kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.’

Guru Nanak was a very compassionate and courageous being. There is a beautiful story about him. Once, he was traveling by foot, walking from village to village, offering his teachings to people. He was not one of those all-the-time smiling, gentle saints. He knew when to be hard and when to be soft.

Story-I of that rainy bight: One day, he (Guru Nanak) happened to be a guest in the home of a very rich man in the area. After a few days, as he was leaving, he gave this man a sewing needle and said, ‘keep this with you. Sometime later when you see me, you can give it back to me.’ After Guru Nanak had
left, the man told his wife about the incident. The wife immediately scolded the man, ‘you fool, why did you take a needle from a guru? He is an old man. Suppose he dies and you don’t get to give back this needle, what will you do?’ Offering him something is fine but you should not receive anything from a man like him. If he dies, you will be in debt forever. You will be unable to wash out that one karma, and this may mean another thousand lifetimes for you. This is not a good thing. Somehow try to find him and return it to him immediately. So the man started trekking behind Guru Nanak. Slowly, after a couple of
months, the man caught up with him and said, “Guruji, I don’t want to carry this needle with me. You are an old man. In case you die, I
cannot carry this needle to heaven and return it to you there. I will be in debt forever. Guru Nanak replied, ‘so you know that you cannot
carry this needle to heaven, right?’ The man said, ‘Yes.’ ‘When you know you cannot carry a needle, what about all those other things you
are accumulating? You will not be able to carry any of that either.’The man got the message. He fell at Guru Nanak’s feet. He went back home, just kept what was needed for his family, and went about building whatever was needed for the wellbeing of people around. The world is a limited space and a limited resource. Whether it is individuals, societies or nations, when they go about accumulating endlessly, all that can happen is strife and pain for themselves and
everyone else. Unless every individual fixes this within himself:
‘This is what I need.’ The rest of my capabilities, I will use for everyone’s well being,” if this does not come in a human being, he is a disaster to himself and to the world. The true disaster on this planet is not an earthquake, volcano or tsunami; it is human
ignorance. Ignorance is the only disaster. Enlightenment is the only solution.

This was an enlightening story! The immediate demand to the aunt was one more! Story-II and many more of that night amidst thundering clouds!

The Birth of Guru Nanak: Early one morning before the light of dawn, Tripta, the wife of Kalu Bedi, gave birth to a baby boy. The baby
charmed the midwife who attended his delivery. The parents called an astrologer to predict his fortune. They named their son Nanak, after his older sister Nanaki. The family lived in the town of Nankana,
which is now a part of Pakistan!
Nanak, the Herdboy: When Nanak became old enough, his father gave him the job of watching cattle. Nanak would slip into deep meditative trances while the cattle grazed. He got into a lot of trouble couple of times when the cattle wandered into the neighbors fields and ate up their crops. Nanak’s father often became very upset with him, and scolded him severely for his laziness. Some villagers noticed very unusual things happening when Nanak meditated. They became convinced
that Nanak must be a mystic or saint!

Nanak, the Scholar: One of the villagers, named Rai Bullar, noticed that Nanak tended to meditate at every opportunity. He became
convinced that Nanak had devout disposition. He persuaded Nanak’s father to put him in a class where he could receive an education in
religious studies. Nanak learned very quickly astounding his teacher with the spiritual nature of his school work. The teacher believed that Nanak wrote divinely inspired compositions!

Nanak, the Reformer: When Nanak came of age, his father arranged for him to participate in the Hindu thread tying ceremony symbolizing man’s connection with God. Nanak refused, objecting that the thread
had no value because it would eventually wear out. He also rejected the Hindu caste system of Brahman hierarchy. Nanak denounced idolatry, and the worship of diemi-gods!

Nanak, the Merchant: As Nanak matured, his family arranged a marriage for him with a girl named Sulakhani. She bore him two sons.
Nanak’s father attempted to set him up in business as a merchant, so that he could support his family. He gave Nanak money and sent him to make purchases. Nanak spent all the money feeding homeless, and hungry, holy men that he met on the way. When he returned empty handed, his father became very angry and scolded him severely. Nanak
insisted that doing good deeds for others had earned an excellent profit!!

Nanak, the Householder Nanak’s father became increasingly frustrated with him. His sister, Nanaki, lived with her husband in a town called Sultanpur. They found Nanak a job working in a granary. Nanak left his wife and sons with his parents promising to send for them as soon as he could support them. Nanak did well in his new position. He treated
everyone generously, and dealt with them fairly. Before long his family joined him, and they moved into a house of their own. Nanak
became acquainted with a Muslim minstrel, named Mardana. They met every morning at a local river, where they meditated before going to work. The entire community expressed astonishment that men of different faiths could worship together.Obviously I never wanted that aunt should stop but it was well past the midnight and the rain had subsided! She did tell the kids that she would come up with many more and she did and I have scribbled many bits in my diaries! I thought why not relate these to my dear readers! Finally he great lady offered this as a parting gift from her ever smiling mouthpiece, i incidentally another saying by the great man, ‘ dwell in peace in the home of your own being, and the Messenger of Death will not be able to touch you!’ I will never forget that great night of enlightenment!