RAYAT BAHRA UNIVERSITY

MOHALI

PHC ASSIGNMENT - 2

SUBMITTED BY : RAKHI THAKUR

REG NO : 1807001104
SUBJECT : PHC
BRANCH : BA - LLB
SEMESTER : 4TH
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GURU NANAK DEV JI TEACHINGS

Guru Nanak Dev Ji is known for his political, social and cultural beliefs based on
love, equality, fraternity and virtue. He travelled to far off places and spread the
message of 'one God' and that God constitutes the eternal truth and he resides in his
creations. His teachings can be found in the sacred Sikh scripture Guru Granth
Sahib -- a vast collection of verses recorded in Gurumukhi.

Guru Nanak occupies a high place among the sages and seers of the world. He
spent his whole life in preaching a religion based on all that was beneficial to all
human beings - to the Hindus as well as Muslims. His philosophy was simple but
very meaningful and impressive.

The main significant teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji are as follows -

● The Significance of a Guru in Life : According to Guru Nanak, Guru is
the real incarnation of God. A Guru provides us with true knowledge. Their
enlightening guidance eliminates the darkness from our lives and leads us to
salvation.
● Soul is Divine : Guru Nanak believed in the presence of soul in the body of
every individual. That soul according to him is the divine power within a
human being.
● Diminish 5 Evils from Life : Ego, greed, anger, lust, and attachment are
the 5 evils of life. Guru Nanak laid emphasis on purity of heart, love, and
devotion for the almighty God, which is omnipresent. So, worship him with
a pure soul and leave behind these 5 evils.

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● Equality for Women : The teaching includes that women are equal to men
and there should be no discrimination on the basis of gender. He permitted
women to attend religious gatherings and publicly sing hymns for God.
● Selfless Service : Guru Nanak believed to offer selfless services to others as
the sacred duty of a mankind. The holiest pilgrimage site of Sikhism in India
is the Golden Temple, located in Amritsar. They serve food as ‘langar’ to
100,000 people of diverse religions every day for free.

THREE PILLARS OF SIKHISM

● Naam Japo : The Guru led the Sikhs directly to practise Simran and Naam
Japo—meditation on God and reciting and chanting of God's
Name—Waheguru. The Sikh is to recite the Nitnem banis daily in
remembrance of the grace and kirpa of the Almighty.
● Kirat Karo : He asked the Sikhs to live as householders and practise Kirat
Karo: to honestly earn, with hard work,by one's physical and mental effort,
while accepting God's gifts and blessing. One is to speak the truth at all
times.Live a life of decency, high moral values and spirituality.
● Vand Chakko : The Sikhs were asked to share (the food,Wealth etc.) with
everyone, Irrespective of caste, creed, colour or sexuality by practising Vaṇḍ
Chakkō—“Share and Consume together”. The community or Sadh Sangat is
an important part of Sikhism. One must be part of a community that is
pursuing the values set out by the Sikh Gurus and every Sikh has to give in
whatever way possible to the community. This spirit of Giving is an
important message from Guru Nanak.

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IMPACT OF GURU NANAK'S TEACHINGS

ON THE SOCIETY
The teachings of Guru Nanak had a great impact on the society. Guru Nanak
discovered that the root cause of all the ills of the society was the moral
degradation of people. He felt that the root cause of all the ills of the society
steeped in ignorance and corruption nothing could be done for them. He preached
against idol worship and caste distinctions both by percept and example. He chose
to dine with persons of low castes and classes. He freed them from the bondage of
worshipping many gods and goddesses and led them to accept one Supreme Being
as the creator and sustainer of all, no matter by what name they called him.

Guru Nanak aroused the spirit of patriotism among the people. He vehemently
protested against the invasions of the foreign invaders and atrocities of the kings.
His heart bled to see the sufferings of his countrymen. He called upon them to fight
for the country’s freedom from the tyrants. For his bold challenge to the tyrannical
rule and oppression, he was arrested by the agents of Sikander Lodhi. But the high
handedness of the rulers of the time could not detract him from the path of truth.

Guru Nanak was the first popular leader of the Punjab in the recorded history. And
even though the number of his actual disciples was perhaps not very great, the
number of those who paid homage to the ideal of “there is no Hindu, there is no

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Musalman” was remarkable. It was this ideal which gave birth to Punjabi
consciousness and to Punjabi nationalism.

Guru Nanak stood for the emancipation of women. He declared that women were
in no way inferior to men but had equal responsibilities. He sympathised with the
suffering womanhood and gave it a full share in the goodness of God. Religious
congregations were thrown open to them. They were to partake freely in the
secular and religious observances and no social custom was to hinder them in
doing so.

Guru Nanak’s contribution in improving the moral and spiritual tone of the people
was indeed commendable. His work in the field of social and religious reform was
equally great. Gokal Chand Narang beautifully sums up the impact of his
preachings on society in these words, “Guru Nanak left the Hindus of the Punjab
immensely better than he had found them. Their beliefs had been ennobled, their
worship purified, their rigidity off caste considerably relaxed, their minds greatly
emancipated and they had now become more fit to enter on the carrier of natural
progress to which Nanak’s successors were destined to lead them.

CONCLUSION
It goes to Guru Nanak’s credit that, “No one before him and no one after him in the
Punjab had commended such a profound respect and deep love of the people, as
was enjoyed by this great ‘beloved of God’, the ‘hero of humanity’. Millions of the

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people of Punjab-Hindus, Sikhs and even Muslims-daily recite his hymns (Jupji
and Asa Di War) in the morning before even starting their work”.

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