Second Udasi

Guru Nanak Second Udasi (1506 to 1513)

The Guru started his second travel towards the south in late 1506. He met Duni Chand, a rich man, and his wife. Duni Chand had amassed a lot of wealth and property and lived a life of luxury. He came to Guru Nanak to pay homage to him, as he was leaving Guru Ji pulled a out a needle from his pouch and gave it to Duni Chand asking him to keep it safe; he would ask for it in the next world. “But how can one carry a needle into the next world?” remarked Duni chand. “Then what have you collected all these riches for?” asked Guru Nanak. Duni Chand and his wife heard the Guru and their eyes suddenly opened. They went back and distributed all their wealth to the poor. They became God-fearing and thereafter started sharing their earnings with the needy.

Guru Nanak then visited Ajodhan, the seat of Baba Farid, the great sufi saint of the twelfth century and met one of his successors, Sheikh Ibrahim. He had a long discourse with him until Sheikh was fully satisfied and said “Guru Nanak, you have indeed found God. This is no difference between Him and you.”

On his journey south, Guru Ji crossed the Vindhyachal ranges and came upon a Jain temple. Its priest, Narbhi, heard about the Guru and came to meet him. He was aware that Guru Sahib Ji did not believe in the exaggerated view of life in every form the way the Jains do. He asked a series of questions : Do you eat old or new corn? Do you drink fresh or boiled water? Do you shake a tree for fruit? Who is your Guru and what power has he to save you? Guru Ji replied:

The Jain priest heard this and was satisfied.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji travelled right down to Ramashwaram and Kanyakumari and across the sea to Sri Lanak (Ceylon).

Guru To Sangladeep (Ceylon)

From Puri the Guru went to Gantur of present Andhra Pradesh district, Kanchipuram, Tiruvannamalai and Tiruchchirupalli. All these places have Gurdwaras to mark the visit of the Guru. From Tiruchchirupalli he sailed down to Kaveri river and reached Nagapatnam, a very old port of south India. From there he proceeded to Sangladeep (Ceylon) and Betticola was the first place of his stay in the island. He went to Matiakalam (now known as Matalai) which was the capital of Sangladeep under Raja Shiv Nabh.

Bhai Mansukh, a trader from Punjab and a disciple of the Guru, had been to Sangladeep in connection with his business long before the Guru's visit to the island. By reason of his trade, Bhai Mansukh had access to Raja Shiv Nabh and thus he had told the Raja all about Guru Nanak. The Raja inquired how he could meet the Guru. Mansukh told him,"Rise early in the morning and recite Moolmantar. If you earnestly pray, the Guru will respond to your prayers."

Every morning Raja Shiv Nabh meditated and prayed for the holy sight (darshan) of the Guru. Time passed on but the Guru did not appear. Learning of the king’s anxiety to meet his Guru, many a charlatan tried to cheat the king by pretending to be the Guru. Many persons came and claimed to be the Guru but all were found to be the fake claimants. One day news was brought to the Raja that a holy man, with a rare glory beaming on his face (spiritual aura), had arrived in the old neglected garden, and as soon as he set his foot in the garden, the withered trees sprouted into green foliage.

Due to the previous fake claimants, the Raja devised a plan to test the visitors before he could bow his head to any one of them. The Raja, therefore, sent beautiful girls to seduce the new-comer with their beauty and charm. Accordingly, he sent out two most captivating dancing girls to try their charms on the visiting holy man. The moment the girls set eyes on Guru Nanak Dev Ji they forgot all about their designs. They came and sat down in utter devotion. The king meanwhile was waiting impatiently to know what had happened to his girls. When he learned about their submission to the Guru, he rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Ji and fell at his feet. The Guru placed his hand on his head and blessed him. Who could describe the ecstatic joy that had dawned upon Raja.

The whole city rushed to the garden to have holy sight of the Master. A dharamsala, a religious common place, was built where the Guru held daily religious congregations and preached his divine doctrine. People were enlightened with God's Name and they became Guru's followers.

After staying there for some time the Guru started in the southerly direction and reached Katargama. Then he reached Sita Eliya, a place where Sita spent her period of captivity. At the time of Guru Nanak's visit, this place was in the Kotte kingdom of Raja Dharma Prakarma. The inscription discovered by Dr. Karuna Ratna and Parana Vitana in the famous museum of Anurodh Pura, furnishes a brief account of the encounter of Jnanakacharya (Nanak) with the Buddhist Bhikshu, Dharma Kirt-sthavira. This inscription also informs that the Raja Dharma Prkramabahu had promised to embrace Guru Nanak's creed if he won in the debate. Guru Nanak won. But before he could embrace the Guru's creed, the Brahmans very cleverly arranged another public debate, this time between the Guru and Dharma Dvajapandita and maneuvered the result in favor of the latter. In this way they did not let the ruler fall under the influence of the Guru.

Return From Sangladeep

Worship of Shiv's idol was very common in southern India at that time. There were twelve Shivling temples and six of them were situated in the south. Southern India was also ridden with caste system. Guru Nanak had to visit all such places to show the people the path of Eternal Truth i.e. the worship of Almighty, the Formless. This was superior and fruitful than the worship of the idols.

After staying for some time (may be a year) in Sangladeep, the Guru reached Cochin on his wayback journey. There is a Gurdwara at this place to mark the memory of the Guru. Delivering his divine doctrine he passed through Palghat, Nilgiri Hills, Rangapatan and then reached Pandharpur. Saint Nam Dev whose Bani is included in Guru Granth Sahib, passed most of his life at this place. From there he reached Barsi which was the native place of Saint Trilochan whose two Sabads are included in Guru Granth Sahib. From there he passed through Poona, Amarnath, Nasik, Aurangabad and reached Amreshwar where there was famous temple called Onkar Mandir. Here the worship of Shivling (Shiv's idol) was considered as a worship of God. The people considered Sanskrit as the language of the gods and learning of Sanskrit language was considered as an act of holiness.

The Guru preached against the idol worship and stressed that one should only worship One but One God, the Formless. The gospel preached by the Guru at the Onkar Mandir, is included in Guru Granth Sahib as Ramkali Mohalla 1- Dakhni Onkar, page 929.

Then he proceeded to Indaur, Ujjain, Baroda and finally reached Palitana where there was a famous Jain temple. Jaini Sadhus would not take bath for many days thinking bathing killed some life in the water. Here he had discussion with a Jain Sadhu named Ambhi. He explained to the Sadhu that running away from water would not do any religious good but the worship of the Almighty was the only answer.

The Guru went through almost all the famous Hindu pilgrimage places in the area and delivered his message of Oneness of God and to have belief in none other than One Supreme Being only. He visited Somnath, Sudhana, Puri and Dwarka. From Kathiawar through Kachh and Chataur, he reached Ajmer. There was a famous Muslim saint, Khawaza Mai-u-din Chisti, who propagated Islam for about seventy years at Ajmer. It was an annual Muslim gathering to celebrate Khawaza's day when the Guru reached there. He forbade the Muslims from worshipping the Makbras (the tombs of their saints), but asked them to worship only One God.

Passing through Pushker, he reached Gokal Mathura-Bindraban. People were in full preparation for celebrating Lord Krishna's birthday. The Hindus placed Krishna's idol (which they call Thakur) in a small cradle.They were swinging it and were putting all their offerings before the idol. The Guru exposed the futility of idol worship and preached them to worship God, the Formless.

After that he arrived at Delhi and stayed at Majnu da Tilla. There is a Gurdwara at this place at the bank of river Jamna. A Gurpurb of Baisakhi is celebrated at this place every year in April. Thence he went to Panipat where he met a Muslim saint Sheikh Sharf or Taher and urged him to worship only one God, the All- Pervading Divine Spirit instead of worshiping the tombs of the saints.

Passing through Pehwa, he reached Kurukshetra, a place where the famous battle of Mahabharat was fought between the Kauravs and the Pandavs. It was an occasion of solar eclipse when the Guru visited Kurukshetra. Thousands of people including a large number of Brahmans and saints had gathered there. Hindus consider it sacred to go to Kurukshetra at the time of solar eclipse, bathe in the holy tank and give alms to Brahman priests. According to Hindu belief, solar eclipse occurs when sun, the god, is harassed by its enemies, the demons. None is required to eat anything during the eclipse.

The Guru went there to draw attention of the erring Hindu community towards the fact that eclipse was nothing but only a natural phenomenon. The Guru took his seat near the sacred tank and when the sun was eclipsed he began to cook deer which was presented to him by Prince Rai Singh. A big crowd gathered around the Guru, for it was a sacrilege to cook meat. The Brahmans led by Nanu besieged the Guru and were ready to club him to death. The Guru stood up and spoke. His words worked like a magic and the crowd stood spell-bound. The Guru uttered the following two Sabads on this occasion:

     "Man is first conceived in flesh, he dwelleth in flesh,
     When he quickeneth, he obtaineth a mouth of flesh; his bone,
     skin, and body are made of flesh.
     When he is taken out of the womb, he seizeth teats of flesh.
     His mouth is of flesh, his tongue is of flesh, his breath is
     in flesh.
     When he groweth up he marrieth, and bringeth flesh home
     with him.
     Flesh is produced from flesh; all man's relations are made
     from flesh. By meeting the true Guru and obeying God's order,
     everybody shall go right.
     If thou suppose that man shall be saved by himself, he shall
     not: Nanak, it is idle to say so." (Var Malar ki- Slok Mohalla 1- 25.1, p-1289)

The Guru continued:

     "Fools wrangle about flesh (meat), but know not divine
     knowledge or meditation on God.
     They know not what is meat, or what is vegetable, or in what
     sin consisteth.
     It was the custom of the gods to kill rhinoceroses, roast
     them and feast.
     They who forswear flesh and hold their noses when near it,
     devour men at night.
     They make pretenses to the world, but they know not divine
     knowledge or meditation on God.
     Nanak, why talk to a fool? He cannot reply or understand
     what is said to him.
     He who acteth blindly is blind; he hath no mental eyes.
     Ye were produced from the blood of your parents, yet ye eat
     not fish or meat.
     When man and woman meet at night and cohabit,
     A foetus is conceived from flesh; we are vessels of flesh.
     O Brahman, thou knowest not divine knowledge or
     meditation on God, yet thou callest thyself clever.
     Thou considereth the flesh that cometh from abroad bad,
     O my Lord, and the flesh of thine own home good.
     All animals have sprung from flesh, and the soul taketh its
     abode in flesh.
     They whose Guru is blind, eat things that ought not to be
     eaten, and abstain from what ought to be eaten.
     In flesh we are conceived, from flesh we are born; we are
     vessels of flesh.
     O Brahman, thou knowest not divine knowledge or
     meditation on God, yet thou callest thyself clever.
     Meat is allowed in the Purans, meat is allowed in the books
     of Musalmans, meat hath been used in the four ages.
     Meat adorneth sacrifice and marriage functions; meat hath
     always been associated with them.
     Women, men, kings, and emperors spring from flesh.
     If they appear to you to be going to hell, then accept not
     their offerings.
     See how wrong it would be that givers should go to hell and
     receivers to heaven.
     Thou understandest not thyself, yet thou instructest others;
     O Pandit, thou art very wise!
     O Pandit, thou knowest not from what flesh hath sprung.
     Corn, sugar-cane, and cotton are produced from water;
     from water the three worlds are deemed to have sprung.
     Water saith,'I am good in many ways'; many are the
     modifications of water.
     If thou abandon the relish of such things, thou shalt be
     superhuman, saith Nanak deliberately." (Ibid, 25-2, p-1289)

Guru To Sarsa

From Kurukshetra the Guru passed through Jind where there is Gurdwara in his memory and then reached Sarsa. Here he met a Muslim saint. The Muslim Pir had great influence over his disciples and he had given them the guarantee of securing a place in heaven for them. In return of such a guarantee, the disciples would bring big offerings in cash and kind to the Pir. The Guru explained to them that in order to get salvation, they should worship One God, the mere offerings would lead them no where.

To Sultanpur

Sultanpur was about 135 miles north east of Sarsa and after eight years and covering more than six thousand miles on foot, the Guru reached Sultanpur. The elder sister, Bibi Nanki and her husband, and other acquaintances were overjoyed to see him back.

After staying sometimes at Sultanpur, the Guru started towards Talwandi. His father was about 75 years old. There was no postal service in those days. The old parents were waiting for their son to return. At last their son reached home and their joy knew no bounds. People from far and near came to have holy sight of the Guru. They started rejoicing his company again. At that time the Guru's children and his wife were with his in-laws at Pakhokey, a place about 110 miles towards Lahore. So in 1513, he proceeded to return home to see his wife and children.

Ajita was the Chaudhry (chief) of that village. He had heard about the Guru but he had never met him before. Ajita was so much impressed with the first holy sight of the Guru that he immediately became his disciple.

Note

There is some discussion amoung Sikh scholar whether the first and second udasis were infact just one continuous journey. It is stated by some that: "If the Guru had returned from Puri on the first Udasi, he must have visited some important places on his way back, but there is no mention of it in the Janamsakhi. However, the Meharban version of the Janamsakhi treats the eastern and the southern journeys as a single Udasi. Others argue that the geographical location of Puri is as such that a visitor planning to visit south India, would not return to Punjab and then start for the southern journey. Many writers therefore, believe that the Guru continued his southward journey from Puri."

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