Sikh Mantra

Shri Guru Nanak is the founder of Sikhism. Sikhism is still based on his teachings and

those of the nine Sikh Gurus who followed him. Guru Nanak Gurpurab also known as Guru

Nanak Dev Ji's Prakash Utsav, marks the birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru, Guru

Nanak. This is one of the most sacred festivals in Sikhism. Apart from Sikhs, the

Nanakpanthi Hindus and other followers of Guru Nanak's philosophy also celebrate this

festival.

Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in what is now Pakistan. At the age of 30 he mysteriously

disappeared for 3 days. When he reappeared, he began to preach the Sikh faith and spent

the rest of his life teaching, writing and traveling around the world to discuss religion

with Muslims and Hindus. Shiri Guru Nanak's divinity and religious authority made him

popular all over the world. He believed that “God” is neither Hindu nor Muslim and the

path which he follows is the path of God.

Guru Nanak's concept and vision of the Supreme Being is embodied in terse terms in the

Sikh Fundamental Creed, Mool Mantra, literally meaning the Root Formula. Because of its

importance as a basic theological declaration around which revolves the whole Sikh

philosophical thought, it is most appropriately placed in the very beginning of the Sikh

scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. It affirms in unequivocal terms Guru Nanak's

uncompromising belief in monotheism. In the original the text read as:

"Ik Onkar Satnam Karta Purakh Nirbhau Nirvair Akaal Murat, Ajuni Saibhang Gurprasad"

The English rendering would approximate to:

There is One and only One God who is transcendent as well as immanent. True and Eternal

Name. Creator and Person. Without Fear and without Enmity. Timeless Form, Unborn, Self-

existent. Realized by Divine Grace.