Nanak summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Guru Nanak.

Nanak , (born April 15, 1469, Rai Bhoi di Talvandi, near Lahore, India—died 1539, Kartarpur, Punjab), Indian founder of Sikhism. Born into a Hindu merchant caste, he worked as a storekeeper until a spiritual experience incited him to leave his job and family and begin a 20-year phase of travel. He eventually settled in Kartarpur, a village in Punjab, to which he attracted many disciples, and he became the first Guru of the Sikhs. His doctrine stressed the unity and uniqueness of God and offered salvation through disciplined meditation on the divine name. It stipulated that meditation must be inward and rejected all external aids such as idols, temples, mosques, scriptures, and set prayers. After his death the stories told of his life were collected in anthologies called the Janam-sakhis.

Sikhism Summary

Sikhism, religion and philosophy founded in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent in the late 15th century. Its members are known as Sikhs. The Sikhs call their faith Gurmat (Punjabi: “the Way of the Guru”). According to Sikh tradition, Sikhism was established by Guru Nanak (1469–1539) and

meditation Summary

Meditation, private devotion or mental exercise encompassing various techniques of concentration, contemplation, and abstraction, regarded as conducive to heightened self-awareness, spiritual enlightenment, and physical and mental health. Meditation has been practiced throughout history by

hymn Summary

Hymn, (from Greek hymnos, “song of praise”), strictly, a song used in Christian worship, usually sung by the congregation and characteristically having a metrical, strophic (stanzaic), nonbiblical text. Similar songs, also generally termed hymns, exist in all civilizations; examples survive, for

poetry Summary

Poetry, literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm. (Read Britannica’s biography of this author, Howard Nemerov.) Poetry is a vast subject, as old as history and