A beginner's guide to Japji Sahib: Mool Mantar, Salok & Pauri 1

 

ikk oh’ann-kaar,  sat,  naam,  kar-taa pu-rakh, 
nir-bhau,  nir-vair,  a-kaal moorat,  a-joo-nee,
sai-bhunn,  gur prasaad.  ||
There is only the One (ikk) - the source of all existence, whose Sound (oh’ann) creates & expands through all creation (kaar).● The Eternal Truth (sat). Manifested¨ in the Word (naam). The Doer (Creative Power) (kartaa) within all (purakh). Without (nir) Fear (bhau). Without (nir) Hatred (vair). Timeless (akaal) Existence (moorat). Beyond the cycle of rebirths (a’joonee). Self-Existing (sai) Divine Light (bhann). Bestower of Divine-Wisdom (gur)× & Grace (blessings) (prasaad).
The Oneness, Truth, Word, Creative Power, Fearlessness, Love, Timelessness, Freeness, and Light of Vaheguru is the root of our existence, which can be experienced within ourselves through the Power of God’s Infinite-Wisdom.

 ||   JAP.   ||
‘Jap’ò (‘name of the scriptural prayer’):
Just as the holy text of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and a Sikh’s day begins with the scriptural prayer of ‘Jap,’ meaning ‘to chant’ or ‘to meditate,’ one’s spiritual journey begins with chanting and meditation.

aad  sach,  ju-gaad  sach.
The Eternal One (sach) is the origin (aad) that existed before the start of the Agesð (i.e. history) (jugaad).

hai  bhee  sach,  naa-nak,  ho-see  bhee  sach.  ||1||
The Eternal One (sach) exists now (hai bhee). (Guru) Nanak (Ji) says- the Eternal One (sach) will exist forever (hosee bhee). ||1||

so-chai,·  soch  na  ho-vayee, 
jey  so-chee⁽ⁿ⁾  lakh  vaar.
The mind cannot become purified through outer cleansing of the body, even one washes themselves a hundred thousand times.
One cannot experience the Ultimate Truth (Sach) by merely looking the look (i.e. looking clean).

 chu-pai,  chup  na  ho-vayee,
jey  laa-e  r-haa  liv  taar.
The mind does not become silent (i.e. attain inner peace) by outwardly staying quiet, even if one remains sitting in a meditative prayer pose.
One cannot experience the Ultimate Truth (Sach) by running away from the noise of the world around us (i.e. family life and living around others).

bhukh-yaa,  bhukh  na  ut-ree,
jey  ban-naa  pu-ree-yaa  bhaar.
The mind’s hunger for desires does not go away by staying outwardly hungry (i.e. total abstinence), or even by collecting loads of worldly goods.
One cannot experience the Ultimate Truth (Sach) through either depriving oneself of the essentials of life or by over-indulgence.

s-hass  si-yaaN-paa  lakh  ho-eh,
ta  ikk  na  chal-lai  naal.
One may posess a hundred thousand worldly wisdoms and intellect but a single one will not accompany you in the end (and be help of in the Court of Vaheguru).
One cannot experience the Ultimate Truth (Sach) through just knowing what to say and remembering facts and verses.

kiv,  sach-yaaraa ho-ee-yai,
kiv,  koo-Rai  tu-ttai  paal.
So how can one become the living Truth (enlightened)? How can the screen of untruth (within us) be torn away?
How can we overcome the inner wall or barrier of ego that we have created around us and prevents us from experiencing the Ultimate Truth (Sach)?

hukam  razaa-ee  chal-Naa,
naa-nak,  likh-yaa  naal.  ||1||
(Guru) Nanak (Ji) says- lovingly walk the Path of Hukam (the Universal Divine Law) that has been written down for you.ò ||1||
The answer is to walk the walk of the Ultimate Truth (Sach), to let go and embrace the Will and Way of Vaheguru that has been assigned to each individual with love and happiness.

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● Some religious groups held that there is only one God, but that God is not present in the creation. Other religious systems regarded every aspect of creation as a god because they held that God is present in everything. However, Guru Nanak Dev Ji paints a complete picture that there is only one God, yet the One's Light is present within every aspect of creation.

¨ Manifested means present.

× Guru is made of two words – Gu meaning darkness, and Roo meaning light. Guru is therefore the Power that takes one from darkness (ignorance) to light (enlightenment or wisdom). Here, Guru refers to God in the form of Divine-Enlightener or Spiritual Guide. Guru is the Eternal Light of God, the Living Voice of God, and Infinite Wisdom of God. 

ò Jap means ‘to repeat’ or ‘to meditate.’ However, in the original Gurmukhi script, the word is grammatically written with a symbol that indicates that here the word ‘Jap’ is a noun, i.e. the name of the Bani (scriptural prayer).

ð Early traditions divided the timeline of creation into four Yugs, ages, or periods.

· In Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the word ‘soch’ has been used in two different ways: (1) thinking, and (2) bathing or cleansing. Similarly, ‘sochai’ can mean (1) by thinking, or (2) by bathing or by outwardly cleansing oneself.

ò One perspective is that following the Path of Hukam has been written by Vaheguru in our destiny, i.e. this is the higher purpose to which we were assigned. Another perspective is that as a Sikh, the Hukam (Universal Divine-Law) has been outwardly written down for us in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji to make it easier for us to understand and follow the Way of Vaheguru.