The Vein river
The disappearance in the river
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji vanished while bathing and returned, the Janamsakhis say, after an encounter with the Divine.
According to the Puratan Janamsakhi, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji went to the river one morning before light, left his clothes with a servant and went in. In the water, the account says, messengers carried him to the divine court. There he was handed a cup of nectar and told to drink, for this was the cup of the Name, and he was sent out to preach that Name to the world.
Meanwhile the servant on the bank grew alarmed and ran to the town. Daulat Khan himself rode down and had the river dragged, but no body was found. On the third day he walked out of the river. Daulat Khan came to see him, but Guru Ji said nothing, and the crowd took it for an injury from the water. Dressed only in a loincloth, he went with Mardana to stay among faqirs.
How do we know?
Several traditional accounts tell this story, without close independent support.
The date is an estimate from age thirty. McLeod puts the start of the travels about 1500, and Miharban's scheme implies 1506.
- Early sourceSays Guru Ji first received the gift at the divine gate and reached Sach Khand before looking on a burning world and setting out, without giving any river or place. (pauri 24)[Src]
- Later traditionSummarises the Puratan account of messengers, a cup of nectar, the command to preach the Name, and a return after three days. (pp. 37-38)[McLeod]
- ScholarshipSays that he was not seen for two days and came out two km upstream at Sant Ghat, and that Gurdwara Ber Sahib stands near his bathing place.[EoS]
- ScholarshipSays that he was missing for three days and nights, and sets his age then at thirty.[EoS]
- ScholarshipSets aside the literal encounter and argues that the core is a real, climactic religious experience, a conclusion he rates highly probable. (p. 107)[McLeod]
