Pauri Four:

Verily true

When a person, through application of his physical / mental faculties achieves some success, his sense of I’ness gets further accentuated.  He gets a feeling that the achievement is the result of his own efforts.  Guru Sahib states the truth that the whole world has been created by Almighty and is perishable.  Only Almighty Himself is the eternal Truth.  Along with Him, His Name too is true.  As per Guru Sahib one ought to say this, feeling utmost filled with abundant love and happiness:

True Lord, true (His) Name,

(Have) said (with) emotional abundance.

Further Guru Sahib explains that it is the bountiful Almighty Himself Who fulfils everybody’s wishes.

(People) demand,

(and) beg (of Him,

 to) give (and) give,

Lord gives (them) alms. 

When Almighty Himself is the source of fulfillment of wishes of everyone, then is it possible to please Him by offering to Him any worldly present or gift?  

Then what (offering,

be) placed before (Him),

whereby (His) court (may be) glimpsed? 

What prayer can be made unto Him? 

What words,

(may be) spoken (from) mouth,

(by) hearing which,

(He would) bestow (His) love? 

Without leaving any scope for doubt, Guru Sahib has given the candid answer that getting up early in the morning, reciting Divine Name and pondering over Almighty’s praises is the way to earn His grace:

 (At the) time (of) pre-dawn,

Ponder (on the) true Name (and His) praises.

Rumination of Divine Name and recitation of Gurbani, understanding the full import of its meaning, is itself pondering over His praises.  Guru Sahib explains that human life has been granted to an individual by The Almighty. 

(His) benevolence,

begets (human) body,

(His) grace (gets us,

the) door (of) deliverance. 

He is to be praised, not with any wish, but by being devoid of desires, because the resultant benefit / salvation for one’s soul is to flow not because of his own efforts but due to Almighty’s grace.  But at the same time, only those are eligible for His grace, who have toiled and made effort in this direction.

Guru Sahib clearly instructs that one must feel the whole worldly creation as The Almighty personified:

Nanak (says), consider as (if),

(The) truthful (Almighty) Himself (is) Everything.

     There is thus but One Almighty and He is Truth all by Himself.

JAPJI Sahib tells me to (Seven):

Sing, listen, filling (the) mind (with) feelings.

Apart from singing, Guru Sahib lays extreme stress on the faculty of listening.  He asks everyone to listen to the praises of Almighty combining the feelings of love, faith, regard and joy. The importance of the art of listening can not be overemphasized. It leads to dissipation of unhappiness.  

JAPJI Sahib tells me to (six):

Sing (of the) Treasure (of) virtues.

Guru Sahib bids everyone to sing praises of Almighty since He Himself is the fountainhead of all goodness.

JAPJI Sahib Tells me that (Five):

Those (who) serve, 

they get honoured.

Thus need is to engage in the service of whoever is in need of being helped.

Remembering that it is the Almighty Himself who has manifested Himself and brought this creation into existence, helping anyone in need of help is serving Almighty Himself.

It is this action that brings honour.

Japji Sahib tells me to (Four):

Consider as (if), (The) Truthful (Almighty) 

Himself (is) Everything.

Guru Sahib clearly says this entire Universe has been created by Almighty from His Own Self. Even after creation He is not separated from the creation and Almighty Himself pervades the whole universe. 

Everyone must perpetually continue to carry this fact in his remembrance at all times. The whole worldly creation is The Almighty personified.

JAPJI Sahib tells me that (Three):

"(At the) time (of) pre-dawn,

Ponder (on) True Name (and His) praises."

Guru Sahib explains that it is Almighty Himself who fulfils all the wishes of everybody.  When Almighty Himself is the source of fulfilment of wishes of everyone, then is it possible to please Him by offering to Him any worldly present or gift?  Without leaving any scope for doubt, Guru Sahib has given the candid answer that getting up early in the morning, reciting Divine Name and pondering over Almighty’s praises is the way to earn His grace.

JAPJI Sahib tells me that (Two):

"True Name (of The) True Lord

(be) spoken (with) abundance (of) emotional (attachment)."

Guru Sahib states the truth that the whole world has been created by Almighty and is perishable.  Only He Himself is the eternal Truth.  Alongwith Him, His Name too is True.  As per Guru Sahib, one ought to say this with abundant love.

JAPJI Sahib tells me to (One):

"Live (as per) Almighty’s ordains,

(that are) written (in) life."

Inherent in this direction of the way to lead human life, conveyed to us by Guru Nanak, are the questions that who or what is the Almighty and what are his ordains.

Guru Nanak explains in the Mool Mantra of JAPJI Sahib that Almighty - whatever the different religious paths may say - is 1. He has presented Himself as this entire existence and He Himself is the ultimate / everlasting truth. Every occurrence / happening is in accordance with the rules framed and made applicable to this creation.

Concept of Hukam (Divine Ordain / Decree / Writ):

Almighty is both formless as well as in form.  To the true seeker, He is available in any or every form.

An example may be considered.  The fire in Sun, travels through light and warms the seed – a matter of Earth and combines with air & water.  All the four jointly fuse into each other and take the shape of a plant, which grows into a particular shape and occupies a definite space.  The plant matures and produces fruit & seeds, which are ready to repeat the cycle.  Parts / fruits of the plant are consumed by insects, birds, animals and the four elements then convert themselves into their flesh, bones, blood etc. taking separate shapes and occupying different spaces.  Some of these species are also then consumed by each other.  They too reproduce their own species.  When these creations end / die, they get dissolved and return back to the original elements.  In this way the entire cycle moves on and on.

It needs to be understood that all this does not happen on its own or by chance.  Every particle of each basic element is manifestation of Almighty Himself.  He is present in miniature / invisible form everywhere & in everything.  A system of interconnection like gravitational pull exists, not known to us, whereby every activity takes place according to a pre-programmed order.  On this account a great many features of this creation are able to move jointly or in combination with each other and often create upheavals.  This pre-programmed order is the Almighty’s ordain/decree/writ for all happenings and is called ‘Hukam’.  There is no good or bad in this Hukam.  It is the will of the Almighty.  There is no element of remorse or punishment in this order.  It should, therefore, be respected as such.

Human being is the special creation of Almighty.  It has been created as His own Self though with limited powers.  However, he has been given independence of decision making and provided with the liberty to perform in the environment of ‘Maaya’ & ‘Haumai’ (explained separately).  Depending upon the quality of one’s performance, his future opportunities are enhanced or restricted. 

It is thus possible for a human being to break the shackles of worldly existence.  Guru helps him by showing the way through the tools of ‘Naam’ & ‘Simran’ (explained separately) to reach the position of culmination.  In this manner he is one with Almighty and breaks free from the cycle of doing the actions and reaping the results as per the Hukam.

Third Step:

Awesome grandeur and magnificence

Great is the glory of The Lord of the Universe.  Such enormous is His power that it can not be equalled by anyone else.  As per one’s own understanding / capability, everybody describes the quality and praise shaped ordains of Almighty. 

(Those) who have strength,

they sing (of Almighty’s) strength. 

Some sing (of His) creations,

considering (them as His) symbols. 

Some sing (of His) virtues,

(and) beauteous praises. 

Some sing (of Him through) knowledge,

(though His) comprehension (is) difficult. 

Some sing (that He) creates,

(and then) converts body (to) dust. 

Some sing (He gives) life,

takes (back and) gives again. 

Some sing (He) appears,

(and) looks (to be) far (away). 

Some sing,

seeing (His) presence everywhere. 

However, despite making effort at great length, the complete explanation of Almighty eludes everyone. 

Describing (His) description,

can’t be overdone. 

(Even by) saying over (and) over (again),

many million times. 

Any attempt to say everything about that great Almighty would finally result in expression of one’s helplessness.  It is so because complete explanation can only be given if what is being described has a limit.  How is it possible to describe the limitless?  The whole Universe is progressing in accordance with His wishes.  His power of creation and expansion is unlimited.  This realisation itself would, in part, be enlightening.

Almighty makes provision for everyone at all times. 

(Almighty) continues giving,

(those) receiving (may) get tired. 

Through (the) Ages,

(they) continue availing (His bounties). 

It is Almighty’s will that prevails.  An individual has been given limited choice of option.  It is not possible for him to totally break away from the influence of The Almighty.

(The) Ordainer,

(through) ordain,

(makes everyone) follow,

 (the chalked) path. 

Almighty cheerfully takes care of all.  

Nanak (says,

 He) merrily (is) carefree. 

Almighty is independent and free of all kinds of bondages.

About this Blog:

As the title of the blog suggests, and the first post indicates, this blog is dedicated to discuss the significance of JAPJI Sahib, passed on to us by Shri Guru NANAK DEV Ji, founder of the ‘Sikh’ religion.

All renderings attempting to explain the Divine path are quite difficult to comprehend. JAPJI Sahib, first of all, like all other explanations of the divine path, suffers from the major handicap of using words of the languages coined by humans which are incapable of fully describing the process, experiences & realisations of spiritual journey. Further, it being more than 500 years old, the fact that languages are not static but dynamic, and Punjabi language is no exception to this, has not helped in the matter but has rather made it more complex.

In this blog through periodical posts, attempt will be made to explain, in simple language, the fundamental nature of the message contained in JAPJI Sahib that is universally applicable to all human beings irrespective of language, caste, creed, belief, region, religion etc.

This attempt is to facilitate the understanding of ‘JAPJI Sahib’, the daily Morning Prayer of Sikhs, which is to be viewed as a single continuous and compact message of GURU NANAK, depicting unity of the directive principles of Sikhism. There is a school of thought, which explains ‘JAPJI Sahib’ as expansion of the introductory ‘Mool Mantra’. In this context, ‘JAPJI Sahib’ is also stated to be the essence of whole ‘Guru Granth Sahib’. Conversely, the whole ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ is said to be the expansion of ‘JAPJI Sahib’.

This effort, attempts to unravel the message contained in the prayer of this most modern & universal religion.

Different periodical posts, initially given on the main (Home) page will be subsequently shifted to the relevant pages with appropriate headings. 

Comments / suggestions for improvement of this effort are welcome.

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JAPJI Sahib: Sikh Way of Life

        Japji Sahib, placed at the beginning of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is that truthful rendering, daily recitation of which is an integral part of life routine of not only Sikhs, but also a great many other followers of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

What we need to analyse is that apart from recitation, do we really make effort to actually live our life in tandem / conformity with the teachings which have been conveyed to us through Japji Sahib.  Should we not spare some time from our mindless race of materialistic pursuits and try to understand what is the message communicated to us by Guru Sahib?

Mool Mantra, the introduction to Japji Sahib, contains Guru Sahib’s description of the attributes of The Almighty that He is One, Om is His primal sound and He is All-Pervasive.  His Divine Name is the real truth.  He is the real Creator.  He is the Supreme Being.  He knows no fear.  He has no enmity.  He is an Entity beyond the effect of time.  He is free from the cycles of birth and death.  He is Self-illumined / Self-effulgent.  His comprehension can be had through Guru’s grace.

          In Japji Sahib, at the very outset, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, declares that the actual truth in this world is the existence of Almighty.  He has always been True, is presently True and shall verily ever remain True.  Guru Sahib referring to the religious practices then in vogue, explains that mere cleanliness (baths at holy places), keeping silence (being in samadhi), attempting to satiate one’s worldly desires or reasoning of mind alone are worthless on the spiritual path.  Thus the question that naturally arises is whether it is possible for a human being to rend the veil of worldly untruth and attain the position of truthfulness?  Guru Sahib clearly affirms this possibility and also mentions that in such a state the human being also becomes capable of happily accepting whatever is ordained for him by The Almighty:

Live (as per) Almighty’s ordains,

(Says) Nanak (that are) written (in) life.

                                  *************************************

          It can be said that Japji Sahib helps us in understanding the very purpose of human life.  It explains the specific acts to be performed in life and the manner in which they are to be performed for achieving the laid down objective.  There can’t be a simpler version of why and how of human life than the one detailed in Japji Sahib.  Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s rendering of Japji Sahib is a service to mankind to which it is very difficult to find another equal.