No CrossRef data available.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
The Japji is the prayer which must be repeated every morning by all true Sikhs. It was composed by Baba Nanak in advanced years, and gives a brief summary of his idea of God, religion, ethics, and cosmogony. His views on these subjects are found much further expanded in his other compositions incorporated in the Ad Granth. The Sikhs regard the Japji as the key to the teaching of the early Gurus.
page 44 note 1 Karta purukh. It is perhaps not necessary to translate the word purukh. It means male or creative agency. The all-pervading spirit in union with a female element uttered a word from which sprang creation. In the Granth Sahib the Gurus speak of God as a male and themselves as females.
page 44 note 2 Saibhan is derived from the Sanskrit swayambhu, which I have found in this passage in a very ancient Sikh MS.
page 44 note 3 Gur Parsad. I have translated these words in deference to the opinions of the majority of the Sikhs; but with several learned gyanis I have no doubt that they were intended as epithets of God, the great and bountiful. Vide Capeller's Sanskrit Dictionary under the words gur and prasadwit. Guru Nanak had no human guru; his guru was God. It was during the spiritual supremacy of his successors the favour of the Guru was invoked, and deemed indispensable for deliverance.
page 44 note 4 Bhi, ‘also.’ There are two bhis in this line which some say are idiomatic. I have very little doubt that the first bhi is an obsolete past tense of the defective verb bhu, and that the verse ought to be translated—The True One is, was, and also shall be.
page 44 note 5 In Oriental poetical works its is usual for the poet to insert his real or assumed name in the end of a composition or section of a composition. This practice is unknown to European poets except in the case of professed imitators of Oriental poetry. Were I therefore to omit the word ‘Nanak’ wherever it occurs, I should be consulting the taste of European readers, but the Sikhs do not desire such an omission.
page 45 note 1 Liv, the Sanskrit lipsa, ‘longing.’ It sometimes appears to correspond to the English word ‘love.’
page 45 note 2 Also translated—How shall the line of falsehood be broken?
page 45 note 3 Rajai, raja, the Arabic raza, the divine pleasure.
page 45 note 4 In these two lines some suppose akar to refer to the non-sentient, jiv to the sentient world.
page 45 note 5 That is, to be blended with God.
page 45 note 6 Literally, would not be guilty of saying haun main, i.e., I exist by myself independently of God. This is the sin of spiritual pride.
page 46 note 1 Also translated—Whoever has the power.
page 46 note 2 Also translated—He who knows his signs.
page 46 note 3 Char is understood to be a contracted form of achar. Some translate the word ‘excellent,’ and make it an epithet of wadiai.
page 46 note 4 The preceding lines of this pauri are also translated:—
Some sing His power according to their abilities;
Some sing His gifts according to their knowledge of His signs;
Some sing His attributes, His greatness, and His deeds;
Some sing His knowledge whose study is arduous;
Some sing that He fashioneth the body and again destroyeth it;
Some that He taketh away the soul and again restoreth it;
Some that He appeareth far from mortal gage;
Some that He is all-seeing and omnipresent.
page 46 note 5 Also translated—His attributes are described in endless languages.
page 47 note 1 This verse is also translated—By our former acts we acquire this human vesture, and by God's favour reach the gate of salvation.
page 47 note 2 This verse is commonly translated—We shall then know that God is all in all Himself—but this translation does not appear to harmonize with the preceding part of the pauri.
page 47 note 3 Also translated—And you shall take happiness to your homes.
page 47 note 4 This very difficult verse is also translated—
(1) The voice of God is found as well in other compositions as in the Vedas; the voice of God is all-pervading.
(2) The pious know the Guru's instruction, that God is everywhere contained.
(3) The voice of the Guru is as the Vedas for the holy; they are absorbed in it.
page 47 note 5 This verse is also translated—
(1) He is greater than Shiva; greater than Vishnu and Brahma; greater than Parbati, Lakhshmi, and Saraswati.
(2) For the holy the Guru is Shiva; the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma; the Guru is Parbati, Lakhshmi, and Saraswati.
The tenth Guru says: “Khanda prithme saj ke Jin sab sansar upaiya.” (God first created the sword, the emblem of Death, and then the world.) So here Shiva obtains precedence as the agent of destruction. The word uttered by God became the source of knowledge of Him through the Guru in the three forms of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma.
page 48 note 1 That is, to show him respect.
page 48 note 2 Jas is praise in one's presence, kirat praise in one's absence.
page 49 note 1 Sidhs are men who have acquired supernatural powers by asceticism; Pirs are Muhammadan saints; Surs are demigods; Naths are superiors among jogis.
page 49 note 2 The bull which the Hindus believe supports the earth. This is not believed in by the Sikhs. See below, pauri XVI.
page 49 note 3 Man shall not die again, but obtain deliverance.
page 49 note 4 Also translated—By hearing the name one is praised by high and low.
page 49 note 5 There are six Shastras, twenty-seven Simritis, and four Vedas.
page 50 note 1 Sixty-eight is the number of holy places in the opinion of the Hindus.
page 50 note 2 Also translated—On hearing the name man obtaineth honour by the knowledge acquired.
page 50 note 3 Or—By hearing the name man easily meditateth upon God.
page 50 note 4 Also translated—Man acquireth the best virtues.
page 50 note 5 Shekhs are really superiors of Muhammadan monks.
page 50 note 6 Literally, he knows it in his own mind, that is, he obtains a pleasure which is incommunicable.
page 51 note 1 Bhawan. According to Hindus and Musalmans there are fourteen worlds all forming the universe.
page 51 note 2 Literally, eateth not blows on his mouth.
page 51 note 3 Jam, the God of Death, known as Yama in Sanskrit writings. This verse means that man shall not die again, but be absorbed in God.
page 51 note 4 Magun. This word is understood to be for magan. Those who read magu na translate—
(1) By obeying Him man proceedeth not by the path of destruction.
(2) Man proceedeth by the broad, not the narrow way.
page 51 note 5 This is explained to mean—Does not wander in transmigration.
page 52 note 1 Panch, literally ‘five.’ The number conveys the idea of selection. There is a Hindustani proverb, “Panchon men Parameshwar hai” (Where five are assembled, God is in the midst of them). Others say that panch refers to the five classes of persons previously mentioned—those who walk according to God's will, who know Him to be true, who praise Him, who hear His name, and who obey Him.
page 52 note 2 This is the interpretation of sohabi given by Bhai Chanda Singh in his commentary on the Granth Sahib.
page 52 note 3 The elect have one God as their Guru or spiritual guide, and meditate on Him.
page 52 note 4 Sut, the thread on which the world is strung. The Guru means by patience the adjusted balance of the world, everything being in equipoise.
page 52 note 5 Here Guru Nanak obviously rejects the Hindu story of the bull.
page 52 note 6 I understand kut as the Arabic kuwwat. If kut be held to mean ‘food,’ a meaning which the word so pronounced also bears in Arabic, the verse will be translated—Who knoweth the extent of Thy gifts of sustenance?
page 52 note 7 The Hindus believe this is “Eko aham, bahu syam”—I am one, let me become many.
page 53 note 1 Literally, repetitions of God's name. Here the word is used by metonymy for those who repeat God's name.
page 53 note 2 Literally, who eat iron with their mouths.
page 53 note 3 Haramkhor. This word literally means ‘eaters of forbidden food.’
page 53 note 4 Also translated—Numberless are those who issue oppressive orders.
page 53 note 5 Malech—Whose desires are filthy, and who are deemed the lowest of the low, complete outcasts.
page 54 note 1 Agam, from a meaning ‘not’ and gam ‘to go.’
page 54 note 2 Also translated—
(1) With their bodies reversed, that is, standing on their heads, a form of religious austerity practised in India.
(2) Those who try to describe Thee shall have to carry loads of sin on their heads.
page 54 note 3 Letters here appear to mean sacred literature.
page 54 note 4 Ban generally means ‘custom.’ Here it is understood to be used for bani.
page 54 note 5 Also translated—His union with God is determined.
page 55 note 1 Rang. Literally, a dye, a colour, water in which the washing powder of the name has been dissolved. Laundrymen in India use indigo in washing.
page 55 note 2 Dat means general almsgiving; dan, gifts at religious festivals.
page 55 note 3 The verse is also translated—“Blessing on Thee!” is said to have been the first salutation that Brahma addressed Thee.
page 55 note 4 Baba Nanak means the scribes who reduced the Kuran to writing.
page 56 note 1 That is, man can do nothing of himself. Whatever he does proceeds from God.
page 56 note 2 “Satyan jnanam anantan Brahm”—God is true, the source of knowledge, without end. The verse is also translated—The Vedas have at last grown weary of searching for God's limits, but they cannot give the slightest description of Him.
page 56 note 3 There are only eighteen Puranas. The expression in the text means a thousand times eighteen or an indefinite number. The word sahans is also understood by the gyanis to refer to rishis and learned men of indefinite numbers.
page 56 note 4 Kiteba is understood to mean the four books accepted by learned Muhammadans—the Old Testament, the Psalms of David, the New Testament, and the Kuran.
page 56 note 5 That is, that God is the root or principle of all things. “Eko Brahm, dutiyo nastyev.”
page 57 note 1 Also translated—As the sea is the king of streams, so is God the monarch of men. Those who possess mountainous wealth, etc.
page 57 note 2 Also translated—There is no limit to the Praised One.
page 57 note 3 Literally, “neither His near nor His further side can he known,” a metaphor taken from the banks of a river.
page 57 note 4 Billah, literally ‘cry in pain.’
page 58 note 1 Karm in Sanskrit is ‘work,’ in Persian ‘kindness, favour, or bounty.’ The context seems to show that the last mentioned is intended.
page 58 note 2 Khaik. This word is also found in the “Sri Rag ki war—thao nahin khaika.”
page 58 note 3 The majority of people suppose that God's favours are obtained through a mediator.
page 58 note 4 Also translated—To those few, O Nanak, the King of kings Giveth the boon of praising and lauding Him.
page 58 note 5 In the True name.
page 58 note 6 That is, religious men who deal in the True name.
page 59 note 1 Also translated—Priceless is thy love, and priceless those who are absorbed in it.
page 59 note 2 I read praman for parwan. If the latter be read, the translation will be—Priceless Thy weights and priceless Thine acceptance of mortals. A third translation is—Priceless Thy scale and priceless Thy weights.
page 59 note 3 Also translated—Repeating that Thou art priceless men continue to fix their attention on Thee.
page 60 note 1 There are six rags or musical measures, which have each five raginis as their consorts, and eight minor rags as their offspring.
page 60 note 2 Chitr and Gupt. Chitr means ‘visible,’ Gupt ‘invisible.’ According to the Sikhs, Chitr records man's overt acts, Gupt the designs of his heart. In Sanskrit literature Chitrgupt is one person, the Recorder of Yama.
page 60 note 3 The Pluto of the Greeks.
page 60 note 4 A title of Shiva.
page 60 note 5 The female energy of nature. She has numerous names in Sanskrit literature.
page 60 note 6 Men who have acquired supernatural power by the practice of jog.
page 60 note 7 There are said to be seven supreme Rikhis, sons of Brahma. The Vedas were written by Rikhis.
page 60 note 8 Mach, literally ‘fish.’ It is here understood to be the earth.
page 60 note 9 According to the Hindus, Vishnu in his Karmavatara assumed the shape of a tortoise which supported the earth while the gods churned the ocean. From the ocean were produced the fourteen gems or jewels here referred to. They are Lakhshmi, wife of Vishnu, the moon, a white horse with seven heads, a holy sage, a prodigious elephant, the tree of plenty, the all-yielding cow, etc.
page 60 note 10 The Hindus enumerate four sources of life, and say that animals are born from eggs, wombs, the earth, and perspiration.
page 61 note 1 Rasale is literally an abode of pleasure. The reading ras nale, which would remove all difficulty, has been suggested.
page 61 note 2 The following is offered as a free blank verse paraphrase of this pauri:—
What is that gate, that mansion what, where thou
Dost sit and watch o'er all Thy wondrous works?
Many the harps and songs which time Thy praise,
Yea, countless; Thy musicians who can tell?
How many measures sung with high delight,
And voices which exalt Thy peerless name!
To Thee sing water, wind, and breathing fire;
To Thee sings Dharamraj in regions drear;
To Thee sing th' angels who men's deeds record
For judgment final by that king of death.
To Thee sing Shiva, Brahma, and the Queen
Of Heav'n with radiant beauty ever crown'd;
To Thee sing Indra and th' attendant gods
Around Thy throne and seraphs at Thy gate.
To Thee sing Sidhs in meditation deep,
And holy men who ponder but on Thee.
To Thee sing chaste and patient of mankind,
Unyielding heroes of true faith approved.
To Thee sing pandits and the chiefs of saints;
The ages four and Veds to them assigned.
To Thee sing maidens who delight the sense,
This world of ours, high heaven, and hell below.
To Thee sing gems from Vishnu's sea that rose,
And eight and sixty spots of pilgrims' haunt.
To Thee sing heroes and the men of might;
The sources four from which all life doth spring.
To Thee sing regions, orbs, and universe,
Created, cherished, and upheld by Thee!
To Thee sing those whose deeds delight Thine eye,
The hosts that wear the colours of Thy faith.
All things beside which sing Thy glorious name,
Could ne'er be told by Nanak's lowly song.
page 61 note 3 Also translated—
(1) Creation shall depart, but not He who made it.
(2) He who made creation shall not be born or die.
page 62 note 1 Jogis wear earrings, patched coats, rub ashes on their bodies, and carry a wallet and a staff. The verse is also translated—Make the chastening of thy body, not yet wedded to death, thy patched coat, and faith thy beggar's staff.
page 62 note 2 A sect of jogis.
page 62 note 3 Adesh! the ordinary salutation of jogis. Baba Xanak means that this salutation should only be offered to God.
page 62 note 4 Anil, literally, not of a blue colour, as Krishna is represented.
page 62 note 5 Also translated—Favourable and unfavourable destinies shape men's actions.
page 63 note 1 Chele, literally “disciples.“
page 63 note 2 Lai may either mean absorption or reaper (lave). Both meanings convey the idea of destruction.
page 63 note 3 To supply human necessities.
page 63 note 4 That is, before man is born, his portion is fully allotted him.
page 64 note 1 Some gyanis translate—In this way I should ascend the stairs of honour by the twenty-one chambers of the vertebral column. That is, I should conduct my breath to the brain where God reposes, and where I should find him. The jogis enumerate five lumbar, seven dorsal, and nine cervical vertebrae through which the breath passes to the brain.
page 64 note 2 Literally, on hearing matters connected with heaven worms grow jealous.
page 64 note 3 This hyperbole means that man has no strength to do anything without God's assistance.
page 64 note 4 Dharmsal. This word generally means a large building in which divine worship is held, where travellers obtain free accommodation, and children receive religious instruction.
page 65 note 1 Or—God marketh those on whom He looketli with favour.
page 65 note 2 The Hindus believe it was through the agency of Brahma God created the world.
page 65 note 3 Where men reap the results of their acts.
page 65 note 4 Dhru, a man who, owing to his virtues, is said to have been raised to the skies as the polar star.
page 65 note 5 Narad, who instructed him to obtain such dignity.
page 66 note 1 Sharm khand. Sharm is here not the Persian sharm ‘shame,’ nor the Sanskrit shram ‘toil.’ It is the Sanskrit sharman, ‘happiness.’ Bani is understood to be for bán. The verse is also translated—Beautiful are the words of those who have obtained the realm of the happy.
page 66 note 2 That is, the world.
page 66 note 3 Sita's name is apparently introduced here as she was the wife of Rama mentioned in the preceding line.
page 66 note 4 Na thage jah, literally ‘are not deceived.’
page 67 note 1 Here the denizens of the world are likened to children. Their father is said to be water, the human sperm; the earth like a mother affords them nutriment; day supplies them with occupation; the night lulls them to rest; and the breath, of the Guru imparts divine instruction. In the East it is usual for the rich to have two nurses for a child—a female nurse by night and a male nurse to accompany and play with it by day.