Sikhism: Guru Angad Trivia Quiz

Answer: Matte-di-Sarai

Matte-di-Sarai, known as Sarai Naga in modern times, is located in Punjab, India.

In 1504, a trader named Pheru Mal and his wife, Mata Ramo, had a baby called Lehna. Lehna was part of the Trehan gotra sub-caste of the Khatri caste. Lehna would grow up to become Guru Angad. This connection to Guru Angad has given those with Trehan heritage respected status within the Sikh community.

Answer: Durga

Lehna was a devout Hindu before he met Guru Nanak. Lehna was a priest dedicated to Durga, one of the most prominent goddesses of Hinduism. He was so devoted to Durga that he would travel to the lower Himalayas, leading a pilgrimage to the temple of Jwalamukhi.

While en route to Jwalamukhi in 1532, Lehna passed through the town of Kartarpur, which is said to have been founded by Guru Nanak. Lehna heard a poem written by Guru Nanak being recited in the town and was so affected by it that he requested to meet the author. He was so inspired by Guru Nanak that he would spend seven years from that day undergoing tests of his faith and obedience, renouncing his Hindu faith.

Answer: Langar

Also known as Mata Khivi and Bib Khivi, Khivi (1506-1582) was born in the village of Sangar Kot in Punjab. Khivi married Lehna, the future Guru Angad, in 1519 in an arranged marriage. Lehna was 16 and Khivi was 13. Lehna's family moved to Khivi's village after their wedding.

The langar is the open kitchen of the gurdwara, which is the place of worship in Sikhism. It is open to the public regardless of religion, caste and ethnicity. In a Sikh temple's langar everyone sits together in rows (pangat) on the floor to eat, regardless of their social status. Khivi meticulously ensured that Guru Angad's growing number of disciples would always be fed, as well as anyone in the area in need of food. Her organisation of the kitchen led to the establishment of the langar as a Sikh tradition.

Answer: Lehna demonstrated he had greater moral character

Guru Nanak concocted several tests throughout his companionship with Lehna to establish how suitable he was as a successor. One example of this is when his sons refused to carry bales of wet and muddy hay for the livestock as the task was too dirty and menial; however, Lehna completed the task without complaining. Nanak's wife did not understand the significance of the mud covering Lehna after he had completed the task, and remarked to her husband that his clothes were dirty to which Nanak responded "this is not mud, it is the saffron of God's court."

Lehna demonstrated to Guru Nanak that he possessed humility ("nimrata") and selfless service ("seva"), which are two core teachings of the Sikh faith.

Answer: "My own limb"

Guru Nanak named Lehna "Guru Angad" as "Angad" means "my own limb", and Nanak saw Angad as spiritually one with him, and part of his own body and soul.

By choosing Lehna over his own two sons, Guru Nanak set the precedent in Sikhism of forsaking nepotism and employing meritocracy and piousness over hereditary succession.

Answer: Gurmukhi script

Guru Angad wanted Sikhism to be available to everyone and recorded in a way that everyone could understand it, from the aristocracy to the common people. The common people were largely excluded from reading material that used higher caste scripts, such as Sanskrit. The Gurmukhi script is now the typical writing script for Punjabi in India.

The Punjabi language at the time was written using several scripts, largely the incomplete Landa script, which was mainly used for business situations and devoid of vowels. For the preservation of Guru Nanak's teachings, Guru Angad took all the variants of the scripts used to construct Punjab and standardized them.

A notable feature of the Gurmukhi script is the phonetics included, accurately presenting the sound and pronunciation in Punjabi spoken widely. Guru Angad established schools for the script to be taught in.

Answer: Bhai Paira Mokha

Bhai Paira Mokha was a skilled scribe who was a follower of Guru Nanak. His collection of writings would later be instrumental in the creation of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy writings of Sikhism. His skillful, neat handwriting was noticed when compiling the Gurmukhi script, so Guru Angad saw him as the ideal candidate to record Guru Nanak's holy verses. Gurmukhi was a language that Bhai Paira Mokha was highly proficient in.

After the death of Guru Nanak, Guru Angad invited Bhai Paira Mokha to Khadur Sahib to discuss events around Guru Nanak's life. There was a collaborative effort among Bhai Bala, Bhai Buddha, and other Sikhs that had been close to Guru Nanak, to work with Guru Angad to have every memory and anecdote correctly recorded by Bhai Paira Mokha.

Answer: Humayun

Emperor Humayun (1508-1556) visited Guru Angad in 1540, following the loss of his throne to Sher Shah Suri at the Battle of Kannauj. He sought Guru Angad for spiritual council and advice on how to regain his empire.

When Humayun found Guru Angad, the guru was teaching children and did not rise to greet the emperor immediately as he was heavily engrossed in his work. This infuriated Humayun, who berated Guru Angad for the perceived lack of respect and then drew his sword. This did not alarm Guru Angad, who calmly explained to the emperor that the same sword he drew failed him in the Battle of Kannauj, but here he was, eager to use it against a holy man. Humayun apologised to the guru for his arrogance and short temper.

Answer: Natural causes

In March 29, 1552, Guru Angad died of natural causes aged 48 in Khadur Sahib. He had spent most of his time as guru in Khadur Sahib, and was cremated there. There is no known tomb or final resting place known for his ashes, although there is a memorial Gurdwara to him in the spot where he was cremated.

Answer: Guru Amar Das

Born Bhai Amar Das, Guru Amar Das was 73 years old when he became Guru Angad's successor. He had followed Guru Angad scrupulously for 12 years, proving sincere devotion. This again shows Sikhism valuing strong faith, merit and good works, rather than nepotism, lineage or age.

Guru Amar Das was indeed a wise choice as Guru Angad's successor. He would insist that anyone, even if they were royalty, was required before meeting him to eat with everybody as an equal in the communal langar. He fought tirelessly for women's rights and spoke specifically against the practice of Sati, where a widow would commit suicide by burning herself alive on her husband's funeral pyre.

Before he would succeed Guru Angad, he had proven himself a devoted follower of Sikhism. For 12 years, regardless of weather conditions, he would awaken early to fetch fresh water for Guru Angad's morning bath. This was a testing journey involving a several mile long walk to the Beas River, with the walk back entailing carrying the water backwards as a show of reverence to Guru Angad. Bhai Amar Das did this throughout his 60s and early 70s.

Just like Guru Nanak before him, Guru Angad found his own sons to feel entitled and lacking in humility, especially compared to the devoted elderly man, Bhai Amar Das, who became Guru Amar Das, the third Sikh guru, on March 26, 1552.