50+ Best Motivational Quotes by Guru Nanak on Truth, God and Spirituality
Last updated on May 3rd, 2024 at 07:54 am
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was a spiritual teacher, poet, and social reformer. His mission was to unite communities and bridge religious gaps. Guru Nanak emphasized living an honest and ethical life, treating everyone equally regardless of their gender, caste or creed. He taught the concept of “Ik Onkar,” representing the belief in the oneness of God, the supreme creator and sustainer of the universe. His teachings laid the groundwork for Sikhism, a religion that promotes love, equality, and devotion to God.
Let’s go through the timeless wisdom of Guru Nanak through these inspiring quotes that encapsulate his spiritual teachings.
The world is a drama, staged in a dream. – Guru Nanak
Speak only that which will bring you honor. – Guru Nanak
He who regards all men as equals is religious. – Guru Nanak
Those who have loved are those that have found God. – Guru Nanak
Wherever the Protector of all keeps me, there is heaven. – Guru Nanak
He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God. – Guru Nanak
I don’t die… He who is merged with the omnipresent is never gone. – Guru Nanak
Death would not be called bad, o people, if one knew how to truly die. – Guru Nanak
Before becoming a Muslim, a Hindu, a Sikh or a Christian, let’s become a Human first. – Guru Nanak
Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru, none can cross over to the other shore. – Guru Nanak
Through shallow intellect, the mind becomes shallow, and one eats the fly, along with the sweets. – Guru Nanak
What should the yogi have to fear? Trees, plants, and all that is inside and outside is He Himself. – Guru Nanak
God is one, but he has innumerable forms. He is the creator of all and He himself takes the human form. – Guru Nanak
See the brotherhood of all mankind as the highest order of Yogis; conquer your own mind, and conquer the world. – Guru Nanak
Alone let him constantly meditate in solitude on that which is salutary for his soul, for he who meditates in solitude attains supreme bliss. – Guru Nanak
Be kind to all beings, this is more meritorious than bathing at the sixty-eight sacred shrines of pilgrimage and donating money. – Guru Nanak
Blessed, blessed is the True Guru, the Immaculate, Almighty Lord God, meeting Him, I meditate on the Name of the Lord. – Guru Nanak
By singing the Guru’s hymns, I, the minstrel spread the Lord’s glory. Nanak, by praising the True Name, I have obtained the perfect Lord. – Guru Nanak
Do not wish evil for others. Do not speak ill of others. Do not obstruct anyone’s activities. – Guru Nanak
Dwell in peace in the home of your own being, and the Messenger of Death will not be able to touch you. – Guru Nanak
Emotional attachment to Maya is totally painful, this is a bad bargain. – Guru Nanak
Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God. – Guru Nanak
False is the body, false are the clothes; false is beauty. – Guru Nanak
From its brilliancy everything is illuminated. Let no man in the world live in delusion. – Guru Nanak
I am a song bird, I am a meek song bird, I offer my prayer to the Lord. – Guru Nanak
I am in constant bliss, day and night, egotism has been dispelled from within me. – Guru Nanak
I am neither a child, a young man, nor an ancient; nor am I of any caste. – Guru Nanak
I am not the born; how can there be either birth or death for me? – Guru Nanak
I bow at His Feet constantly, and pray to Him, the Guru, the True Guru, has shown me the Way. – Guru Nanak
Let God’s grace be the mosque, and devotion the prayer mat. Let the Quran be the good conduct. – Guru Nanak
Like the juggler, deceiving by his tricks, one is deluded by egotism, falsehood and illusion. – Guru Nanak
Make of the Silence your to-do tasks, of the compassion your wealth and of the meditation your beggar’s bowl. – Guru Nanak
May liberal men abound with us! May our knowledge of the Vedas and our progeny increase! May faith not forsake us! May we have much to give to the needy. – Guru Nanak
One cannot comprehend Him through reason, even if one reasoned for ages. – Guru Nanak
Realization of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living. – Guru Nanak
Sing the songs of joy to the Lord, serve the Name of the Lord, and become the servant of His servants. – Guru Nanak
That one plant should be sown and another be produced cannot happen; whatever seed is sown, a plant of that kind even comes forth. – Guru Nanak
The highest religion is to rise to universal brother hood; to consider all creatures your equals. – Guru Nanak
There, where neither your children nor your spouse shall accompany you, the Name of the Lord shall emancipate you. – Guru Nanak
Thou has a thousand eyes and yet not one eye; Thou host a thousand forms and yet not one form. – Guru Nanak
Whatever kind of seed is sown in a field, prepared in due season, a plant of that same kind, marked with the peculiar qualities of the seed, springs up in it. – Guru Nanak
Asceticism doesn’t lie in visiting burial places; it lies not in wandering about nor in bathing at places of pilgrimage. Asceticism is to remain pure amidst impurities. – Guru Nanak
Build the raft of meditation and self-discipline, to carry you across the river. There will be no ocean, and no rising tides to stop you; this is how comfortable your path shall be. – Guru Nanak
Giving no pain to any creature, let him slowly accumulate spiritual merit, for the sake, of acquiring a companion to the next world, just as the white ant, gradually raises its hill. – Guru Nanak
Owing to ignorance of the rope the rope appears to be a snake; owing to ignorance of the Self the transient state arises of the individualized, limited, phenomenal aspect of the Self. – Guru Nanak
If the people use the wealth bestowed on them by God for themselves alone or for treasuring it, it is like a corpse. But if they decide to share it with others, it becomes sacred food. – Guru Nanak
The word is the Guru, The Guru is the Word. For all nectar is enshrined in the world, Blessed is the word which reveal the Lord’s name, But more is the one who knows by the Guru’s grace. – Guru Nanak
Those who have not obtained the Blessed Vision, the Blessed Vision of the Darshan of the True Guru, the Almighty Lord God they have fruitlessly, uselessly wasted their whole lives in vain. – Guru Nanak
Those who conquer their minds are beings of renunciation and detachment. They are beings of renunciation and detachment they are lovingly focused on the True One, they realize and understand themselves. – Guru Nanak
No calamity happens to those who eagerly follow auspicious customs and the rule of good conduct, to those who are always careful of purity, and to those who mutter, sacred texts and offer burnt oblations. – Guru Nanak
Asceticism doesn’t lie in ascetic robes or in walking staff nor in the ashes. Asceticism doesn’t lie in the earring nor in the shaven head nor blowing a conch. Asceticism lies in remaining pure amidst impurities. – Guru Nanak
Only fools argue whether to eat meat or not. They don’t understand truth, nor do they meditate on it. Who can define what is meat and what is plant? Who knows where the sin lies, being a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian? – Guru Nanak
If there is one God, then there is only His way to attain Him, not another. One must follow that way and reject the other. Worship not him who is born only to die, but Him who is eternal and is contained in the whole universe. – Guru Nanak
For each and every person, our Lord and Master provides sustenance. Why are you so afraid, O mind? The flamingos fly hundreds of miles, leaving their young ones behind. Who feeds them, and who teaches them to feed themselves? Have you ever thought of this? – Guru Nanak
There are worlds and more worlds below them, and there are a hundred thousand skies over them. No one has been able to find the limits and boundaries of God. If there be any account of God, then alone the mortal can write the same; but God’s account does not finish, and the mortal himself dies while still writing. – Guru Nanak
There is but One God. His name is Truth; He is the Creator. He fears none; he is without hate. He never dies; He is beyond the cycle of births and death. He is self-illuminated. He is realized by the kindness of the True Guru. He was True in the beginning; He was True when the ages commenced and has ever been True. He is also True now. – Guru Nanak