The south and the north
Raja Shivnabh of Sri Lanka
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's visit to a king who had long waited for him is told in several Janamsakhis, and whether it took place is debated.
According to the Janamsakhis, Mansukh, a merchant of Lahore, sailed to the land of Raja Shivnabh, and the Puratan makes him the means of the king's interest. The king longed to meet the perfect teacher Mansukh had described, and Mansukh told him to keep his mind on Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and wait.
The king tested every holy man who arrived by sending slave girls to tempt him. When a stranger came who could not be moved, he knew his wait was over. In the Puratan the king, his wife Chandrakala and their son all became disciples, a dharamsala was built, and a composition called the Pran Sangli was written down by the companion Saido.
How do we know?
The sources conflict on this story, or scholars doubt it.
The inscription argument depends on identifying Jnanakacarya with Guru Ji, which has not been generally established.
- Later traditionTells of Mansukh, Shivnabh, Queen Chandrakala, the dharamsala and the Pran Sangli, with the later mission of Bhai Paira under Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji and the rejection of the work.[EoS]
- ScholarshipArgues there was no ruler named Shivnabh in Sri Lanka, that Bhai Gurdas and Miharban give no support, that B-40 tells the story without naming the island, and that the visit must be rejected. (pp. 114-117)[McLeod]
- ScholarshipHolds that the visit can be upheld with some certainty and cites S. Paranavitana's reading of an inscription at Anuradhapura about a teacher called Jnanakacarya at the court of Kotte. (note to the southern journey)[Singh]
- ScholarshipSays from his own travels in Sri Lanka that Tamil links and sea routes made a crossing from south India quite plausible, and that McLeod was hasty. (preface)[Singh]
- ScholarshipCondemns McLeod's treatment of the Sri Lanka evidence as negative and argumentative.[Singh]
