Nanak

Na·nak

N0009600 (nä′nək) 1469-1538? Indian religious leader who broke from orthodox Hinduism to found Sikhism.

Nanak

(ˈnaːˌnʌk) n (Biography) See Guru Nanak

Na•nak

(ˈnɑ nək)

n. ( “Guru” ) 1469–1539, Indian founder of Sikhism.

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Noun

Nanak - Indian religious leader who founded Sikhism in dissent from the caste system of Hinduism; he taught that all men had a right to search for knowledge of God and that spiritual liberation could be attained by meditating on the name of God (1469-1538)Guru NanakSikhism - the doctrines of a monotheistic religion founded in northern India in the 16th century by Guru Nanak and combining elements of Hinduism and Islam

Nanak

enUK

Nanak

Born Apr. 15, 1469, in the village of Rai Bhoi di Talvandi, district of Shekhupura, Punjab; died Sept. 22, 1539, in Kartarpur. Indian poet, preacher, and ideologist of Sikhism. Wrote in Punjabi.

Nanak was the son of a merchant. His teachings were based on the doctrine of bhakti. He preached religious unity, social and caste equality, and spiritual self-improvement. He rejected the rituals of existing religions and advocated the active participation of his Sikh disciples in secular life. He founded a community in which unquestioning obedience to the authority of the guru (teacher) was required. The members of the Sikh community included members of the upper castes, untouchables, and Muslims; for the most part, they were from the trading and artisan strata of society. There were also members of the Jat peasantry, whose antifeudal views were reflected in Nanak’s teachings. In his verse, Nanak used Indian and Persian measures. The Granth, the holy book of the Sikhs, contains 974 works by Nanak, of which the most important are his “Prayer,” “Hymn to Hope,” and “Twelve Moons.”

WORKS

In English translation:
Selections From the Sacred Writings of the Sikhs. London, 1960.

REFERENCES

Reisner, I.M. Narodnye dvizheniia ν Indii ν XVI1-XVIII vv. Moscow, 1958.
Serebriakov, I. Pendzhabskaia literatura. Moscow, 1963.
Guru Nanak: K 500-letiiu so dnia rozhdeniia poeta i gumanista Indii. Moscow, 1972.
Mahankavi guru Nanak. Patiala, 1956.

Nanak

Na·nak

Nanak

Na•nak

Nanak

Nanak

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Nanak

Synonyms for Nanak

noun Indian religious leader who founded Sikhism in dissent from the caste system of Hinduism

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