Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
279
Extract 2: Nicky-Guninder Kaur-Singh, ‘Guru Nanak and the Origins
of Sikhism (2011)
Taken from: Nic ky-Guninder Kaur-Singh, Sikhism: An Introduc tion (I.B. Taurus,
2011 ), Chapter 1, Guru Nanak and the Origins of Sikhism, pp.1-12.
Chapter 1: Guru Nanak and the Origins of Sikhism
Sikhism began with the birth of Guru Nanak in 1469 at Talwandi, a village in North
India, whic h is now in Pakistan. There is not muc h fac tual documentation on the
founder Guru, but in spite of the lac k of this, Guru Nanak’s biography is strongly
imprint ed in t he c ollec t ive memory of Sikhs. ... For t he more t han 23 million Sikhs
ac ross the globe, Guru Nanak is the starting point of their heritage, as most begin
t heir day by rec it ing his sublime poet ry. Sikh homes and plac es of business display
his images. Guru Nanak is typically represented as a haloed, white bearded person
wearing an out fit c ombining Hindu and Islamic st yles; his eyes are rapt in divine
c ont emplat ion, and his right palm is imprint ed wit h t he symbol of t he singular
Divine, Ikk Oan Kar...
Janamsakhi Literature
Shortly after he passed away, Guru Nanak’s followers wrote ac c ounts of his birth
and life. These are the first prose works in the Punjabi language, using the
Gurmukhi sc ript. They are c alled the Janamsakhi, from the Punjabi words janam,
whic h means ‘birth’, and sakhi, whic h means ‘story’. Through the years, they have
been passed down in a variety of renditions suc h as the Bala, Miharban, Adi and
Puratan. The dominant motif of the Janamsakhis is not c hronologic al or
geographical accuracy. As an eminent Sikh historian explains: ‘These ac c ounts were
written by men of faith. They wrote for the faithful – of a theme, whic h had grown
into their lives t hrough t he years as a real, vivid t rut h. St raight forward hist ory was
not their c onc ern, nor was their desc ription objec tive and c onc eptual.’...
Despit e t he personal loyalt ies and proc livit ies of t heir various aut hors, t he
Janamsakhis invariably undersc ore the importanc e and uniqueness of Guru Nanak’s
birt h and life. In the language of myth and allegory, they depic t the divine
dispensation of Nanak, his concern for kindness, social cohesiveness, and his stress
on divine unity and the c onsequent unity of humanity. Some of the stories
inc orporat e verses from Guru Nanak’s works t o illuminat e his t heologic al and et hic al
t eac hings in a biographic al framework. The quic k and vigorous style of the
Janamsakhis lent it self easily t o oral c irc ulat ion, and t hey became very popular.
They c ontinue to be read and told by both the young and the old. At night in many
Sikh households, parents and grandparents read them as bedtime stories to young
c hildren... T he Janamsakhis provide Sikhs wit h t heir first lit erary and visual
introduc tion to their heritage, and c ontinue to nurture them for the rest of their
lives.
They begin with the illustrious event of Nanak’s birth to a Hindu Khatri c ouple.
His father, Kalyan Chand, worked as an ac c ountant for a loc al Muslim landlord; his
mother Tripta was a pious woman. In their c entral c onc ern and luminous
desc riptions, Nanak’s birth narratives have a great deal in c ommon with those of
Christ, Buddha and Krishna (c ollec ted by Otto Rank in his study, The Myth of the
Birth of the Hero). The prophets told Buddha’s father, King Suddhodhana, that his