The Life of Guru Nanak

I

It was the fifteenth century when Guru Nanak was born and by this time an ancient prophecy had proven true: a dark age – the Kali Yuga – had arisen and though the Brahmins, priest class, remained, they had lost the knowledge of Brahm – God. The ignorant led the masses and the vast majority of those who sought the Inner Knowledge were lost in a bewildering plight.

This Kali Yuga is like a sword, the kings are like butchers; and Dharma has taken wings and vanished. Falsehood is rampant over the land as a thick veil of darkness hiding the face of the moon of Truth. Saith Nanak, In this Dark Age, where is the Path of Salvation?

Guru Arjan, Rag Magh Ki Var M5¹

But a cry of anguish cannot go unheeded. Where there is suffering there is also compassion, and God then seeks a place to manifest Himself to guide the child humanity. It was one Baba Nanak – Whose heart was pure enough; Whose entire life was dedicated to the knowledge of Truth – Who became this chosen Human Pole; born to revive the Eternal Message of the One God. In a terrible age of darkness, He offered the way out:

In this Kali Yuga, the Word of God is the world’s Light. But only a rare one swims across, through the Guru. On whom He casts His glance of Grace, to him is given the Holy Word. And that man, oh Nanak, receiveth the jewel of the Lord’s Naam.

Guru Amar Das, Rag Magh Ki Var M3

_______________

Explanation: 1) The writings of the Sikh Gurus are contained in two volumes: the Guru Granth Sahib and the Dasam Granth. The former of these contains the hymns of Guru Nanak, Angad, Amar Das, Ram Das, Arjan, Teg Bahadur and one couplet of Gobind Singh; as well as the writings of other Saints – the Bhagats: Kabir, Farid, Namdev, Ravi Das, Dhanna, Beni, Sain, Jaidev, Bhika, Pipa, Ramanand, Sadna, Surdas and Trilochan; and fifteen Bhatts or devotees of the Gurus. After the four main devotional prayers: The Jap Ji: The Morning Prayer; So Daru: First hymn of the evening prayers; So Purkhu; Sohila: the day’s final prayer, before retiring to rest; the writings of the Granth are arranged according to different melodies or Ragas. Within each particular rage, the hymns are arranged according to meter: Shabds, Astpadis, Chants, Vars, etc. Then within each meter, hymns are arranged according to chronology of the writer, i. e., Guru Nanak’s hymns would precede Angad’s, etc. The Sikh Guru’s names are not affixed to Their own hymns: all write under the name Nanak – of all poets other than the Gurus, Mardana is the only one who writes under the name of Nanak. However, preceding each hymn is written Mahala – or M – followed by a numeral which identifies its author. – I. e., ‘M1’ means the first Guru, Nanak; ‘M2,’ the second, Guru Angad, etc. The hymns of the Bhagats and the Bhatts are simply identified by their names. The second volume of Sacred Writings, the Dasam Granth, contains only the compositions of Guru Gobind Singh.