Nanak An Introduction

Nanak and Sikhism cannot be separated from each other. In fact, Sikhism is nothing but Nanak in practice. Hence, we shall deal with the entire subject as Nanak only. The beauty of it is that Nanak or his manifestation the Sikh Church is assuming even greater dimension as it is growing and evolving. And it is this aspect that we have tried to highlight more than anything else. For, it makes Nanak universal.

Even so, the book seeks to study Nanak as Ten Nanak and lastly as eternal Nanak in whom each Sikh finds himself in the immanent protection of his Guru. Perhaps our fugitive world needs nothing better than this to be able to cope with the multifarious challenges of today and tomorrow. The Prologue and the Epilogue in the main help us understand this aspect.

Happily, there is nothing pedantic about either Nanak or Sikhism. Both are a living lore of Punjab. They spran up from the soil, as it were, as a spiritual faith of unimaginable proportions. Thus, only simple tools are needed to understand them as they grew from stage to stages.

We have divided the subject matter into ten chapters to see how one aspect flows out of the other in a natural way. Besides, the book is suitably illustrated to help even the uninitiated to grasp the real import.

To add further value to this introduction, the Annexure One contains the English rendition of the Japuji as Nanak's unrivalled prayer for the entire humanity. It is accompanied by the original Punjabi text of the Japuji and its Devanagari Transliteration. Those interested in knowing Nanak's wondrous God and his own philosophy of the Nam will it is hoped, immensely enjoy reading it.