Ikoaʼnkār saṯ nām karṯā purakẖ nirbẖao nirvair akāl mūraṯ ajūnī saibẖaʼn gur parsāḏ.
Karta translates literally as the Doer, the Creator. Purukh translates literally as man, husband, basically a male person.
He is thus Omniscient, knowing each one's inner mind, and Omnipotent, doing everything everywhere - evoluting, sustaining, and involuting.
Joon is a feminine noun which translates as 'birth, existence', the A- means not.
God is Unborn, Uncreated, Beyond Incarnation: God, being the source of all, no existance prior to Him can be conceived.
Sikhism rejects out of hand the theory of incarnation of God. The Guru-Saint thus is not God-incarnate, even though he has all the attributes of a living, human God and so identified with Him, as is his Word the (disembodied) embodiment of the Gur through which he reveals his God-nature.
Saibhan is derived from the Sanskrit swayambhu and as stated above, is translated as self-existent. The meaning of self-existent is that God is self-creating, existing alone without external support; God is self-begotten and has no origin.
The above translation is that which is given by the majority of Sikhs. Both Macauliffe and Dr.Gopal Singh have suggested that the Mool Mantar was intended as epithets of God - Macauliffe suggest the phrase to mean, "the great and bountiful."
Guru Nanak Dev ji had no human Guru; his Guru was Satgur. Sat(TRUE/TRUTH)gur(In Gurmukhi litteraly meaning IDEA/SOLUTION/KEY to a problem) It was during the spiritual supremacy of his successors the favour of the Guru was invoked, and deemed indispensible for deliverance. Moreover, suggests Macauliffe, though Gur Prasad does sometimes in the Guru Granth Sahib means the Guru's favour, it more often expressed by Guru Parsadi.
Dr.Gopal Singh says that "...many Sikh and European translators have joined the word Gur and Prasad together to suggest: "By favour (or Grace) of the Guru (is He dwelt upon)". But here Guru Nanak is giving, in monosyllables, the attributes of God. The Guru here, therefore, is Guru-in-God whose Grace is invoked. As such Guru can only be rendered as "Enlightener" which is also its literal meaning in Sanskrit."
Yet Guru Nanak Dev refers to God as Guru in the Japji Sahib.
Bhai Gurdas, a purported scribe of the Gurū Granth, also wrote about Nanak's life in his vārs. Although these too were compiled some time after Guru Nanak's time, they are less detailed than the Janamsākhīs. The Janamsākhīs recount in minute detail the circumstances of the birth of the guru. The Janamsakhis claim that at his birth an astrologer, who came to write his horoscope, insisted on seeing the child. On seeing the infant, he is said to have worshipped him with clasped hands and remarked that "I regret that I shall never live to see young Guru Nanak as an adult.
Guru Nanak Dev was married to Mata Sulakhni. His marriage to her took place in the town of Batala. The marriage party had come from the town of Sultanpur Lodhi. He had two sons from this marriage; Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand. Sri Chand founded a renunciate/ascetic sect known today as Udasis when Nanak did not choose him as his successor.
Rai Bular Bhatti, the local landlord and Nanak's sister Bibi Nanaki were the first people who recognised divine qualities in Guru Nanak. They encouraged and supported Nanak to study and travel. Around c. 1499 at the age of thirty, Sikh tradition stated that Nanak went missing and was presumed to have drowned after going for one of his morning baths to a local stream called the Kali Bein. One day, he declared: "There is no hindu, there is no muslim" (in Punjabi, "nā kōi hindū nā kōi musalmān").The true meaning of this declaration was that "human being can not be bound by his religion because the Almighty is everywhere.He is in the soul of everyone." The Universe is the Will of the Almighty. God is the absolute Truth, He can not be bound by a particular religion. If one looks in himself with deep insight and the condensed state of mind, this truth will be revealed itself.It was from this moment that Nanak would begin to spread the teachings of what was then the beginning of Sikhism.
Although the exact account of his itinerary is disputed, he is widely acknowledged to have made four major journeys, spanning thousands of kilometres, the first tour being east towards Bengal and Assam, the second south towards Tamil Nadu, the third north towards Kashmir, Ladakh, and Tibet, and the final tour west towards Baghdad, Mecca and Medina on the Arabian Peninsula.
Guru Nanak's teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth, a vast collection of revelatory verses recorded in Gurmukhi.
From these some common principles seem discernible. Firstly a supreme Godhead who although incomprehensible manifests in a variety of religious forms, the Singular 'Doer' and formless source of all forms. It is described as the indestructible or timeless form and in both impersonal and personal forms.
Guru Nanak describes the dangers of the self (haumai- 'I am') and calls upon devotees to engage in worship through God's name[dubious – discuss] and singing of God's qualities, discarding doubt in the process. However such worship must be selfless (sewa). God's name cleanses the individual to make such worship possible. This is related to the revelation that God is the Doer and without God there is no other. Guru Nanak warned against hypocrisy and falsehood saying that these are pervasive in humanity and that religious actions can also be in vain. However the practice of satsang is considered exalted. It may also be said that ascetic practices are disfavoured by Guru Nanak who suggests remaining inwardly detached whilst living as a householder.
Through popular tradition, Guru Nanak's teaching is understood to be practiced in three ways:
Naam Japna: Chanting the Holy Name and thus remembering God at all times (ceaseless devotion to God)
Kirat Karō: Earning/making a living honestly, without exploitation or fraud
Vaṇḍ Chakkō: Sharing with others, helping those with less who are in need
Guru Nanak put the greatest emphasis on the worship of the True Name (Naam Japna)[clarification needed]. One should follow the direction of awakened individuals rather than the mind (state of manmukh- being led by the mind)- the latter being perilous and leading only to frustration.
In the context of his times, reforms that occurred in the wake of Guru Nanak Ji's teachings and the bhakti movement at large included Bhakti devotion being open to all castes, women not to be marginalized from its institutions, and both Godhead and Devotion transcending any religious consideration or divide, as God is not separate from any individual.
As the end approached Guru Nanak Ji would frequently test the devotion of his sons and nearest followers and in doing so demonstrate their state of mind to one another. There were numerous such occasions and one particular devotee, Baba Lehna, rose to eminence because he never faltered in his faith in Guru Nanak.
Guru Nanak Ji appointed Baba Lehna as the successor Guru, renaming him as Guru Angad Dev, meaning 'one's very own' or 'part of you'. Shortly after proclaiming Baba Lehna as the next Guru, Guru Nanak Ji left this world on 22 September 1539 in Kartarpur, Punjab, Pakistan at the age of 70.
Sikhism was established by Guru Nanak and nine other Sikh Gurus over the period of 1469 to 1708. Most of the Gurus were born in Northern India, although they traveled extensively from as far west as Iraq to Assam in the east and Sri Lanka in the south. Guru Nanak, the first Guru was born in modern day Pakistan, and Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru was born in Patna, Bihar in modern day India. Before his death, Guru Gobind Singh nominated the Sikh holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib as the final and eternal Guru of Sikhism. All Sikhs are required to follow the teachings of the Gurus, which upon meditation leads to salvation. The Gurus are considered as a path to reach union with God.
Waheguru (Punjabi: ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ, vāhigurū or ਵਾਹਗੁਰੂ, vāhgurū; also transliterated as Vahiguru) is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God, the Supreme Being or the creator of all. It means "The Wonderful Teacher" in the Punjabi language. "Wah" translates to "wonder" and "Guru" (Sanskrit: गुरु), is a term denoting "teacher".