Relevance of Guru Nanak dev in present times:

– Guru Nanak declared that God is 1-formless, without birth & death.

– He stood for karma as basis of dharma. Earning bread through honest labour & sharing its fruit with the community.

-He also led sustained attack on social inequality arising out of caste hierarchy.

– He declared that truth has the highest value in life but truthful living is higher still in value.

– He created awareness w.r.t water conservation & importance of clean environment.

-He never preached anything which he did not practice.

– Guru Nanak had courage to say “Na koi Hindu na Musalman”, all are the children of one god.

– 3 things he emphasised :“Kirat karni” – work hard ,earn good karma & honest livelihood; “vand chakhna” – not b selfish & share with others & “naam japa” – to meditate & remember the name of god.

Innovative social institutions(social equality) developed by him:

Langar: Collective cooking & sharing of food

Pangat: Partaking food without distinction Sangat: collective decision making.

He advocated the concept of “dasvandh” or donating one-tenth of one’s earning among needy persons.

– Guru Nanak Dev argued that “How can women be inferior when they give birth to men?”

Therefore respect for women & gender equality is the most important value he taught.