UC Riverside

This dissertation examines the ways Sikhs relate to Guru Nanak and the tradition he founded through the janam-sakhi (birth stories) narratives that present his life's story. Advancing the claim that pedagogy informs participation and demonstrating how various janam-sakhi authors condition their pedagogical presentations of Guru Nanak's life story through the form and content of their presentation, this dissertation examines the impact of the janam-sakhis, not simply as historical relics, but as holding a continuing role facilitating and conditioning Sikhs' relationships with Guru Nanak and the Panth (community). As social narratives, the janam-sakhis are a shared discourse about how Sikhs choose to commemorate and honor Guru Nanak, conveying interpretations of his life as relevant to their own and acting in accordance with that interpretation. Sikhs reflect on his life, example, and instruction in order to achieve the religious goals he revealed. Participation in the janam-sakhis, then, is a product of the narratives' instructional impact, their social functions, and the participants' direct loving relationship with Guru Nanak himself. All of these processes work in varied and intertwined ways through the pedagogical and participatory projects of the janam-sakhis.

Sikhs' identity, rooted as it is in the relationships constructed by the janam-sakhis, is still being negotiated and defined by their understandings of who Guru Nanak was, how he lived his life, and how they are to live in accordance with the traditions he established. Sikhs participation with the janam-sakhis connects them to Guru Nanak as a personal teacher, their Guru, and all other Sikhs who have or are devoted to the same goals. This study advances previous scholarship regarding historical janam-sakhi manuscripts by taking modern presentations into account, showing how these modern iterations and those same academic treatments continue to refine and define these processes through their specific presentation and discussion of these stories.