Identify the correct statements regarding Baba Guru Nanak:
(A) Guru Nanak advocated Saguna bhakti.
(B) "Rab" had no gender or form.
(C) Set up rules for congregational worship.
(D) Guru Arjan Dev was his third preceptor.
(E) Baba Farid succeeded him as preceptor.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (B), (C) Only
(A) Guru Nanak advocated Saguna bhakti. Incorrect. His hymns and teachings suggest that he advocated a form of nirguna bhakti; he rejected image worship and other external practices.
(B) “Rab” had no gender or form. Correct. For Baba Guru Nanak, the Absolute or ‘rab’ had no gender or form; he proposed connecting to the Divine by remembering and repeating the Divine Name.
(C) Set up rules for congregational worship. Correct. He organised his followers into a community and set up rules for congregational worship (sangat) involving collective recitation.
(D) Guru Arjan Dev was his third preceptor. Incorrect. Guru Arjan was the fifth preceptor, who compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns in the Adi Granth Sahib.
(E) Baba Farid succeeded him as preceptor. Incorrect. Baba Guru Nanak appointed his disciple Angad to succeed him. Baba Farid was one of the religious poets whose verses Guru Arjan included in the Adi Granth Sahib.
NCERT (2026-27): “8.2 Baba Guru Nanak and the Sacred Word … The message of Baba Guru Nanak is spelt out in his hymns and teachings. These suggest that he advocated a form of nirguna bhakti. He firmly repudiated the external practices of the religions he saw around him. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims. For Baba Guru Nanak, the Absolute or ‘rab’ had no gender or form. He proposed a simple way to connect to the Divine by remembering and repeating the Divine Name, expressing his ideas through hymns called ‘shabad’ in Punjabi, the language of the region. Baba Guru Nanak would sing these compositions in various ragas while his attendant Mardana played the rabab. Baba Guru Nanak organised his followers into a community. He set up rules for congregational worship (sangat ) involving collective recitation. He appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed him as the preceptor (guru), and this practice was followed for nearly 200 years.… … It appears that Baba Guru Nanak did not wish to establish a new religion, but after his death his followers consolidated their own practices and distinguished themselves from both Hindus and Muslims. The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns along with those of his four successors and other religious poets like Baba Farid, Ravidas (also known as Raidas) and Kabir in the Adi Granth Sahib.…” |