Nanak panthi: Difference between revisions

The Sikh sect founded by [[Nanak]], a [[Khatri]] of Talwandi, in [[Lahore]]. 'Nanak', wrote Maclagan in 1892, was born in 1469 AD and died in 1538 or 1539, and of his life and miracles many wonderful stories are told. There is nothing in his doctrine to distinguish it in any marked way from that of the other saints, who taught the higher forms of Hinduism in Northern India. The unity of God, the absence of any real distinction between Hindu. and [[muslim]], the uselessness of ceremonial, the vanity of earthly wishes, even the equality of castes, are topics common to Nanak and the [[Bhagats]]; and the [[Adi Granth]], or sacred book, compiled by Nanak, is full of quotations from elder or contemporary teachers, who taught essentially the same doctrine as Nanak himself. Nor, in spite of the legends relating to him, does he appear to have had any very remarkable following during his lifetime. And yet the persons now returning themselves as his special adherents very largely outnumber the followers of any of the Bhagats or reformers of the same period. The particular success of Nanak's teachings, as compared with that of the other reforming preachers, had its foundation in a variety of circumstances, of which not the least important were the character of his successors and the nature of the people who listened to hint. Most of the other Bhagats were men of the southeast, teachers from Benares, Rajpu'ttana, or Delhi. Nanak alone had his origin in the Punjab Proper, removed equally from the centre of the empire and of Hinduism, and found his following among castes who possessed such sterling qualities us the Punjabi Khatris and Jats. But if Nanak had had no successors, or successors of no moment, his following would doubtless have remained a trifling one; and it must not be supposed that the large number of Nanak-panthis shown in our tables would have been so returned if Sikhism had not a subsequent political history.