Artist Kanwar Singh’s new painting titled, Ik Onkar depicts Guru Nanak Sahib disappearing into the dark waters of the Kali Bein rivulet and merging with Waheguru. Most paintings of Guru Nanak portray him as an elderly and spiritually wise man. Here the Guru is shown as a young man at a pivotal moment in Sikh lore. He is shown emerging from the water of the Bainee stream at Sultanpur, inaugurating the “Mool Mantar”, the first paragraph of the Japji Sahib, a Sikh prayer that appears at the beginning of the Guru Granth Grahib – the Holy scripture of the Sikhs. The essence of this painting is to capture a feeling of a merger with the divine and a departure from the mundane world of the Guru’s daily life in Sultanpur as a tax collector.
Guru Nanak walked the same world of small thinking as the rest of us, but he would not allow it to belittle him. Instead the Guru had sought a deep connection with Waheguru from an early age. After leaving his birth village of Sabo ki Talwandi, Guru Nanak Sahib moved to Sultanpur Lodhi. It was here that one morning Guru Nanak Sahib disappeared into the dark waters of the Kali Bein rivulet. While in the water, Guru Nanak had a deeply mystical experience with the Divine Creator and recognized the profound spiritual path ahead of him.
Nanak was born into an ordinary home of ordinary expectations where his father hoped he would earn a respectable living as a businessman. By adhering all his life to that innocent light which illumines ordinary people only in the bloom of childhood, Guru Nanak proved himself extraordinary, earning honour and respect from the four directions.
PAVAN GURU PAANEE PITHAA MAATHAA DHHARATH MEHATH
Air is the Guru, Water is the Father, and Earth is the Great Mother of all.
Taking up an all-embracing mindset, Nanak found support in Mother Earth. He found life in Father Water. Taking breath as his Guru, even as he immersed himself in the Bein River for a long and solitary meditation, he achieved the purest state of enlightenment.
All around him, the sensitive Nanak experienced a painful world turned against itself by oppressive social hierarchies and intolerant religious creeds. Opposing the crippling calculus of separation, the Guru’s magnanimous heart celebrated and bolstered our common humanity.
In India, weakened by centuries of self-serving elitism, Nanak witnessed the horrors of Babur’s sudden invasion. When Guru Nanak faced the bloody-minded Babur, he was galvanized not only by his singular love of his people, but by a fierce inner discipline that he passed on to his disciples.
Where Guru Nanak could have readily raised the easy banner of victimhood, he chose instead to speak and live as master of his own mind and a conqueror of hearts. Where others saw tragedy, he recognized instead boundless blessings and opportunity. Ekongkaar
While others spoke of truth or hid in darkness, the great Guru lived authentically, true to himself and ever renewing himself in the blast furnace of pre-dawn meditation. Sat Naam
From his example, Guru Nanak’s Sikhs learned to shed the poison of conceit and act each moment as humble instruments of divine grace. Karta Purkh
In the fiery forge of meditation, they – long accustomed to settling scores – gave up their habits of fright and rancour. Nirbhao Nirvair
In this world of fake appearances where real self-acceptance is hard come by, the Guru’s Sikhs confidently proclaimed themselves: long-haired, made handsome by Mother Nature’s unerring design and radiant by the light of holiness. Akaal Moorat
Having lived many times before, growing numbers of Guru Nanak’s Sikhs put a stop to the tortuous wheel of karma, fueled by delusion and shame. Leaving old ways, they blossomed. Shedding carelessness, they lived carefree. Ajoonee
Having learned well from their Guru, exceptional Sikhs found the infinite God within. Living their lives joyfully in selfless service of others, they shed their miserable infatuation with wealth, power and sensuality. Saibhang
Having learned from the Guru, who was at once gracious and kind, fearless and wise, blessed Sikhs found no alternative but themselves to live and die in irrepressible courage and light. Gur Prasaad.
Blessed is Guru Nanak! His peace-giving truth lived then, lives through the centuries, lives now, and – to the extent that it lives – it lives in us.
Painting by Kanwar Singh – artofpunjab.com
Text by: Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa