Mata Sulakhni

Sulakhni (1473–1545), also known as Choni and often referred as Mata Sulakhni ("Mother Sulakhni"), was the wife of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.

Name In certain Janamsakhi traditions, such as the Merharban Wali Janamsakhi, Mata Sulakhni is known as Ghummi. In the Bala Janamsakhi, her name is given as Sulakhni. According to Kahn Singh Nabha in his Mahan Kosh, only girls with super characteristics were given the name of Sulakhni. Her father held a minor revenue office in the village of Pakkhoke Randhave (Pakhokhi village) in what is today the Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. She was born into a Hindu family in the village of Pakkhoke.

Marriage Wedding of Guru Nanak and Sulakhni. From the Unbound set of Janamsakhi paintings, ca.1755–1800 The marriage of Sulakhni to Nanak was arranged by Jai Ram, the brother-in-law of Nanak. She was selected by Nanak's father partly due to her apparently "comely" appearance. She was wedded to Guru Nanak on 24 September 1487. After she came to Sultanpur, her and her husband moved into a new house in the locality.

Life as a mother

Sulakhni gave birth to two sons, Sri Chand, in 1494 and Lakhmi Das, in 1497. Her son, Sri Chand, would later go on to become a renowned spiritual leader himself. At some point, Nanak's father, Mehta Kalu, tried to tempt his son with the possibility of taking on a second wife but Nanak purportedly refused to entertain the idea as he thought Sulakhni was the most suitable wife for him, having been chosen by God to be his partner, and wanted to stay with her until death. She lived an ordinary life of a trading-class housewife at Sultanpur until the year 1499 or 1502, when her husband's religious preaching began after the River Bein episode. Sulakhni had expressed her desire to accompany Nanak but remained at home to tend to and raise their sons. She was reportedly a devouted wife and mother, who fully supported her husband's spiritual path and partook in it full-heatedly as a devotee herself.

Kartarpur chapter After the founding of Kartarpur by Nanak, Sulakhni moved there with him and was responsible for providing food and ensuring a comfortable stay for the visitors who came to see her husband and those who decided to remain there to live with him. When Nanak chose Lehna as his successor rather than one of their sons, she was apparently displeased with the decision. She survived her husband for a few years and died in 1545 at Kartarpur.

Amrita Pritam, a Punjabi poet, wrote the following poem about Sulakhni, specifically regarding her spiritual life as a wife of a religious man and raising of two sons alone when her husband was travelling: