1 BdM Ndnak. 21
2 will find all the details they require in Trumpp's
3 translation of the Adi Granth, or in the more
4 recent and comprehensive work of Max Arthur
5 Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion.
6 Baba Nanak belonged to the Khatri or trading
7 caste. He was the only son of his father, Kalu,
8 who held in the village of Talwandi the respect-
9 able office of patwdri, or village accountant. Even
10 in his early childhood, Nanak appears to have
11 been of a pious disposition, and much given to
12 contemplation. His preternatural gravity and in-
13 difference to the life around him caused his parents,
14 and his father in particular, no little concern. One
15 day, with a view to turning his son's thoughts into
16 a more practical channel, Kalu entrusted him with
17 twenty rupees, and bade him go forth and trade
18 with it and make what profit he could. Obedient
19 to his father's instructions, Nanak, taking with
20 him his servant Bala, set out for a neighbouring
21 village where he thought to lay out his money to
22 advantage. He had not proceeded far on his way
23 when he fell in with a company of fakirs, with
24 whom he entered into a discussion on the unity
25 of God. The learning and pious demeanour of
26 the fakirs so greatly pleased him that, on discover-
27 ing that they had tasted no food for four days,
28 and were without the means of procuring any, he
29 took from his bag the money which his father had
30 given to him and distributed it amongst them.
31 Kalu was greatly enraged at the loss of his
32 twenty rupees. He punished Nanak severely for
33 his disobedience, and strove more than ever to