The Source Book On Sikhism

Chapter Two

THE FIRST MASTER

GURU NANAK

by

Puran Singh
THE CHILD NANAK

He came like a song of Heaven, and began singing as he felt the touch of the breeze and saw the blue expanse of sky.

He was a child of smiles, and his eyes were silent and wise; he loved quiet of soul, he loved joy and thought.

Whoever saw the child, or touched him accidentally, praised God. A thrill of unknown delight came to anyone who lifted the child, or played with him. But none knew whence came to him that gladness of the soul.

Every one saw that he was the child of Heaven; he was so beautiful, so mysteriously fair in colour and form, with a radiance that was new to earth. He cast a spell that none could escape. Rai Bular, the Moslem Governor of the place of his birth, loved him both as a child and a boy; the Brahman teacher loved him; whoever came in contact with him was irresistibly drawn to him.

His sister Nanki saw from his very infancy in him the light of God, and kept her discovery a profound secret. She was the very first inspired by Heaven to be his disciple. Rail Bular was the second; he had seen that gleam of soul in Nanak, which is seen only once in many centuries, and even then by the rarest chance. In his old age, Rai Bular cried like a child for his saviour.

Nanak the child gave the signs of Nanak the Saint and Guru at a very early age. He composed music, he talked of God and life; his untutored mind was a marvel to every one.