JAP JI
by Guru Nanak
THE LIGHTSONG OF ETERNAL LOVE: SATSANGS ON GURU NANAK'S JAP JI
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ASB7496
(Based on Kirpal Singh Translation)
Prologue
There is One Reality, the Unmanifest-Manifested;
Ever-Existent, IT is Naam,
The Creator; pervading all;
Without fear; without enmity;
The Timeless, the Unborn and the Self-existent;
Complete within ITSelf.
Through the favor of ITs true Servant, the Guru,
IT may be realized.
IT was when there was nothing;
IT was before all ages began;
IT existeth now, O Nanak,
And shall exist forevermore.
I
One cannot comprehend IT through reason,
even if one reasoned for ages;
Once cannot achieve inner peace by outward silence,
not though one sat dumb for ages;
One cannot buy contentment with all the riches of the world,
nor reach It with all mental ingenuity.
How may one know the Truth
and break through the cloud of falsehood?
There is a way, O Nanak, to make ITs will our own,
ITs will which is already wrought in our existence.
II
All things are manifestations of ITs Will;
But ITs Will is beyond description.
By ITs Will is matter quickened into life;
By ITs Will is greatness obtained;
By ITs will some are born high and others low.
By ITs Will are men’s joys and sorrows ordained;
By ITs Will the pious obtain salvation;
By ITs Will the impious wander in endless transmigration.
All exist under ITs Will,
And nothing stands outside.
One attuned with ITs Will, O Nanak,
is wholly freed from ego.
III
Some sing of ITs greatness,
But only according the power bestowed upon them;
Some sing of ITs bounties,
Taking them as ITs signs;
Some sing of IT as incomprehensible;
Some sing of IT as transmitting dust into life,
And life into dust again:
Creator and Destroyer,
The Giver of life and its Withdrawer.
Some sing of IT as at once the nearest,
And the most remote.
There is no end to ITs description.
Countless have tried to describe IT,
But IT still stands beyond all description.
ITs recipients may tire, but ITs bounty is untiring;
Ages upon ages, Humanity has fed upon IT.
ITs Will directs the world;
And yet, O Nanak, IT dwells beyond concern or care.
IV
True is the Lord, True ITs Holy Word;
ITs love has been described as infinite.
Men pray to IT for gifts, which IT grants untiringly,
When all belongs to IT.
What can we offer at ITs feet?
What can we say to win ITs love?
At the ambrosial hour of the early dawn,
Be in communion with the Divine Word,
And meditate on ITs Glory.
Our birth is the fruit of our actions;
But salvation comes only from God's Grace.
O Nanak, know the True One as immanent in all.
V
The Lord can neither be established nor created;
The Formless One is limitless, complete in ITSelf.
Those who worship IT are honored;
Nanak, ever sing of the treasure-house of all virtues.
Let us sing of God and hold communion with the Word,
With hearts full of loving devotion;
For then shall all sorrows end and we are led joyously Homeward.
The Master is the Song Eternal personified;
He is the Vedas, the scriptures;
He is saturated with the Divine.
He is Shiva, He is Vishnu, He is Brahma;
And their consorts Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati also.
The greatness of the Master, even if known,
Cannot be described with mortal eloquence.
My Master has taught me one thing:
He is the Lord of everything, may I never forget Him.
VI
If I may only please God, it is pilgrimage enough;
If not, nothing - no rites or toils - avails;
Whichever way I look, I find that in ITs creation,
None has won salvation without ITs Grace - Regardless of Karmas.
You can discover untold spiritual riches within yourself;
If you but abide by the teachings of your Master.
My Master has taught me one lesson:
He is the Lord of everything, may I never forget Him.
VII
If one could extend one’s life to four ages,
Nay make it ten times longer;
If one were known throughout the nine planes of creation,
And everyone therein followed him in respect;
If every creature praised him to the sky;
All this and more has no value
If God’s eye looked not kindly upon him;
Without God's goodwill, he will be reckoned as
The meanest worm among worms;
And sinners shall charge him with sins.
O Nanak, God bestows virtues on those who have none,
And adds to the store of the virtuous.
But there is naught that can bestow aught upon IT.
VIII
By communion with the Word one can attain the status
of a Siddha, A Pir, a Sura, or a Nath;
By communion with the Word,
One can understand the mysteries of the earth,
The supporting bull and the heavens;
By communion with the Word, the earthly regions,
The heavenly plateaux and the nether worlds stand revealed;
By communion with the Word, we can escape unscathed
through the portals of Death;
O Nanak, His devotees live in perpetual ecstasy,
For the Word washes away all sin and sorrow.
IX
By communion with the Word,
One can attain the powers of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu;
By communion with the Word,
One can win esteem from all irrespective of one’s past;
By communion with the Word,
One can have yogic insight with the mysteries of life and self all revealed;
By communion with the Word,
One can acquire the true import of the Shastras, Smritis and Vedas.
O Nanak, His devotees live in perpetual ecstasy,
For the Word washes away all sin and sorrow.
X
By communion with the Word,
One becomes the abode of Truth, contentment and true knowledge;
By communion with the Word,
One gets the fruit of ablution at sixty-eight pilgrimages;
By communion with the Word,
One wins the honor of the learned;
By communion with the Word,
One attains the state of Sahaj;
O Nanak, His devotees live in perpetual ecstasy,
For the Word washes away all sin and sorrow.
XI
By communion with the Word,
One becomes the abode of all virtues;
By communion with the Word,
One becomes a Sheikh, a Pir and a true spiritual king;
By communion with the Word,
The spiritually blind find their way to Realization;
By communion with the Word,
One crosses beyond the Limitless Ocean of illusionary Matter;
O Nanak, His devotees live in perpetual ecstasy,
For the Word washes away all sin and sorrow.
XII
None can describe the condition of One
Who has made God’s Will his own;
Whoever tries to do so, must realize his folly.
No supply of paper, pen or scribe
Can ever describe the state of such a one.
O, great is the Power of the Word;
But few there be that know IT.
XIII
By practice of the Word,
One rises into universal consciousness and develops right understanding;
By practice of the Word,
One develops clairvoyance and transvision of the whole creation;
By practice of the Word,
One is freed from sorrow and suffering;
By practice of the Word,
One shall not go to Yama after his death.
O, great is the Power of the Word,
But few there be that know IT.
XIV
By practice of the Word,
One speeds on to the Higher Spiritual Planes unhindered;
By practice of the Word,
One gets into the spiritual planes openly and honorably;
By practice of the Word,
One escapes the by-paths of Yama, the king of Death;
By practice of the Word,
One gets in close touch with the Truth.
O, great is the Power of the Word,
But few there be that know IT.
XV
By practice of the Word,
One finally attains salvation;
By practice of the Word,
One leads one’s kith and kin as well to freedom;
By practice of the Word,
One saves not only himself but,
When he becomes an Adept, many others whom he guides;
By practice of the Word,
One freed from desires escapes from the wheel of transmigration.
O, great is the Power of the Word,
But few there be that know IT.
XVI
The Saint is acceptable at ITs Court,
And is the Chief Elect therein;
The saint adorns the threshold of God
And is honored even by kings;
The saint lives by and meditates on the One Word.
Whoever discusses and expounds the mystery of ITs creation,
Realizes that the works of the Creator are beyond reckoning.
Dharma or Word born of ITs Grace
Is the proverbial bull that is harmoniously sustaining the creation,
Whosoever realizes this verily knows the Truth.
It is nothing but the Word that is carrying the crushing load of the entire creation;
For were this earth upheld by a bull,
That in turn must be supported by some other planet
And that by another, and so on ad infinitum:
What a tremendous load!
What other power could support it?
None, but the Word.
There is no end to the creation;
There are countless forms of life
With varied names, species and colors;
Writ on the objective world
By the Everflowing Pen of the Creator.
Who can reckon ITs creation,
And if one could, how great would be the count?
How great is ITs Power,
And how beautiful ITs handiwork?
Who can count the measure of ITs sweet bounty?
With one Word of IT, this vast creation blossomed into being;
And a thousand streams sprang forth into existence;
What power have I to conceive of thy wonderful nature?
Too poor am I to make an offering of my life to Thee;
Whatever pleases thee, is good.
Thou art forevermore; O Formless One!
XVII
Countless there are that remember Thee,
And countless those that love Thee;
Countless there are that worship Thee, and
Countless those that see Thee in austerity and penance;
Countless there are that recite from sacred books Thy praises; and
Countless those that, absorbed in Yoga, stand indifferent to the world;
Countless those Thy devotees who contemplate Thy attributes and wisdom; and
Countless those that practice truth and charity;
Countless are the heroes that boldly face the foeman’s steel; and
Countless those who having vowed silence, Meditate on thee with unceasing love.
What power have I to conceive of thy wonderful nature?
Too poor am I to make an offering of my life to Thee;
Whatever pleaseth thee, is good.
Thou art forevermore; O Formless One!
XVIII
Innumerable are the fools, stark blind in ignorance; and
Innumerable the thieves and crooks that thrive on ill-gotten gains;
Innumerable those that exercise tyranny and oppression; and
Innumerable the cut-throats living by heinous crimes;
Innumerable those that revel in shameless sins; and
Innumerable the liars that practice fraud and falsehood;
Innumerable the impious that live on unwholesome foods; and
Innumerable the slanderers who add to their burden by calumniating others;
Innumerable the many for lowly Nanak to describe.
What power have I to conceive of Thy wonderful nature?
Too poor am I to make an offering of my life to Thee;
Whatever pleaseth Thee, is good.
Thou art forevermore; O Formless One!
XIX
Countless Thy names and countless Thy places;
Unapproachable and inaccessible Thy innumerable heavenly plateaux;
Even by the word countless, we fail to describe Thee;
By words we describe thee and by words we praise Thee.
By words, we acquire Divine knowledge,
And in words are sung Thy hymns and attributes;
It is words we employ in speech and in writing;
In them is our fate ordained;
But he who ordains is above such writ.
As Thou ordaineth, so do we receive.
Thou art immanent in all;
And nothing is where Thy Word is not.
What power have I to conceive of Thy wonderful nature?
Too poor am I to make an offering of my life to Thee;
Whatever pleaseth Thee, is good.
Thou art forevermore; O Formless One!
XX
When the hands, feet and body are besmeared,
They are washed clean with water;
When the clothes get dirty and polluted,
They are cleansed by soap;
When one’s mind gets defiled by sin,
It can be purified only by communion with the Word.
Men do not become saints or sinners merely by words,
But they carry deeds with them wherever they go.
As one sows, so does one reap;
O Nanak, men come and go by the wheel of birth and death
As ordained by ITs Will.
XXI
Pilgrimages, austerities, mercy, charity and alms-giving,
Cease to be of any consequence,
When one gets an ingress into the Inner Eye;
Communion with and practice of the Holy Word,
With heart full of devotion,
Procures admittance into the Inner Spiritual Realms,
Washing away the dirt of sins at the Sacred Fount within.
All virtues are Thine, O Lord;
I possess not one,
There can be no worship without Practicing the Holy Word.
From Thee has emanated the Bani,
Which is the path to salvation.
Thou art Truth, enchantingly sweet,
And my mind yearns for Thee.
What the occasion, what the epoch,
What the week, what the day;
What the season, what the hour,
When Thou first came into being or expression?
The pundits could not discover it,
Else they would have recorded it in the Puranas;
Nor could the qazis determine it,
Else it would have been in the Quran;
Nor could the yogis or any one else divine it.
The Creator alone knoweth the hour,
When IT came into manifestation.
How shall I address Thee or praise Thee, O Lord?
How shall I describe Thee or know Thee?
O Nanak, one and all speak of Thee,
Each wiser than the rest.
Great art Thou, and greater still, is Thy Holy Word,
What IT Wills, cometh to pass.
And those, O Nanak, that claim to know the most,
Shall have no honor in the life beyond.
XXII
There are millions of nether regions, and skies above skies;
Man has wandered endlessly in his search;
The Vedas also say the same.
The Muslim books speak of 18,000 universes,
But it is the same Power that sustains them all;
If IT could be accounted for, an account of IT would have been recorded.
All attempts at description are in vain.
O Nanak, admit ITs greatness;
IT alone knows ITSelf.
XXIII
ITs devotees praise IT,
Yet never attain full knowledge of the Infinite;
Like streams tumbling into the ocean,
They know not the depths therein.
Even kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion,
Compare not with an ant filled with the love of God.
XXIV
Endless are ITs praises,
Endless the words of commendation;
Endless ITs works and endless ITs gifts;
Endless ITs vision, and endless ITs inspiration;
Endless and beyond understanding is ITs purpose;
Endless ITs creation and endless the ends thereof.
Endless men's search in anguish for ITs limits,
But ITs limits cannot be found.
Endless IT is, and none can know IT end.
The more we say, the more IT is.
Exalted is the Lord, and exalted ITs abode;
More exalted still ITs Holy Word.
He who reaches ITs height,
He alone may glimpse IT.
O Nanak, IT alone knows ITs greatness;
And it is only ITs glance of Grace, can lift us to ITs height.
XXV
ITs benevolence is manifold, and none can record IT;
IT is the giver of all, coveting nothing in return;
Many are the warriors who are beggars at ITs door,
And many more, whose number is beyond reckoning;
Many are those who, misusing ITs gifts, wallow in sensuality;
Many who, receiving ITs gifts, deny IT;
Many the fools who only eat and enjoy,
But think not of the donor.
And many lie afflicted by hunger, misery and pain,
Which too are Thy gifts, O Lord.
Bondage and salvation both go by Thy Will;
None else has any say therein.
If some dare claim otherwise,
He shall soon have cause to repent of his temerity.
He knows all and bestows accordingly.
But few there are that, by that, realize this.
O Nanak, he upon whom IT bestows
ITs Gift of the Song Celestial,
Is the king of kings.
XXVI
Peerless are ITs attributes
and priceless the pearls therein.
Peerless are ITs dealers
and priceless ITs wares and stores
Peerless are the customers that come
and priceless the goods they buy.
Peerless is ITs love
and peerless those that lose themselves in IT.
Peerless is ITs Law and peerless ITs Court,
Peerless ITs scales of justice and peerless their measure.
Peerless is ITs generosity, peerless ITs acceptance.
Peerless ITs mercy and peerless ITs commands.
How peerless! How priceless!
Who can describe IT?
ITs devotees singing ITs praises have sunk in silence,
And so have the Vedas, the Puranas and the learned.
The Brahmas and the Indras, sing of IT,
And the Gopis and Govind do likewise.
Shiva, and the holy Siddhas sing of IT,
The mortals and the immortals all,
All, sing ITs praises.
Countless speak of IT,
and countless are about to make an attempt,
and countless more departed, while singing of IT,
Still IT remains and shall remain indescribable.
Man can behold IT only as IT reveals ITSelf unto him,
O Nanak! Know IT as the only True One.
And those that claim to understand IT,
They are surely the most foolish of men.
XXVII
How wonderful Thy gate; how wonderful Thy mansion,
From whence Thou watchest Thy great Creation.
Countless the instruments and harmonies that play therein,
Countless the measures, countless the singers, that sing Thy praises.
The Elements‑ Wind, Water and Fire ‑ sing of Thee,
And of Thee sing the king of Death and his recording angels.
To Thee sing the gods and goddesses whose beauty is of Thy making.
To Thee sing Shiva, Brahma and likewise Indra from his throne.
To Thee sing the Siddhas in their meditation,
And the Sadhus in their contemplation.
To Thee sing the ascetics, the righteous, the contented;
And the heroes no less.
To Thee sing the learned pundits and the rishis from age to age
Reciting from the Holy Vedas.
To Thee sing the heart‑enslaving nymphs in the heaven,
The earth and the nether regions.
To Thee sing thy saints and the sixty‑eight places of pilgrimage.
To Thee sing the mighty warriors, the heroes of great prowess,
And all living creatures.
To Thee sing the earthly regions, the heavens and the universes
Created and supported by Thee.
Those that please Thee also sing Thy praises
And are saturated with Thy love and devotion.
And there are countless more who sing of Thee,
Whom one cannot even remember,
All lie beyond the ken of Nanak.
IT is and is alone the ever‑existent Lord.
IT is the Truth and true is ITs Holy Name.
IT is, and shall exist forevermore.
IT which created all creations shall never depart,
Though worlds be destroyed.
IT which made Nature with its many colours and many forms,
Looks after IT own handiwork, as it behooves ITs own Greatness.
IT is the Supreme Master and does what IT lists,
IT is the King of Kings, the Almighty Lord,
And ours, O Nanak, is only to abide ITs Will.
XXVIII
Let contentment be your ear rings,
And endeavour for the Divine and
Respect for the Higher Self be your wallet,
And constant meditation on IT be your ashes.
Let preparedness‑for‑death be your cloak,
And let your body be like unto a chaste virgin.
Let your Master’s teachings be your supporting staff.
The highest religion is to rise to Universal Brotherhood,
Aye, to consider all creatures your equals.
Conquer your mind;
For victory over self is victory over the world.
Hail, Hail, to IT alone, the Primal, Pure, Eternal,
Immortal and Immutable in all ages.
XXIX
Let Divine Knowledge be your Bread.
Let Mercy be your Steward.
Let the Divine Music Vibrating in All be your Trumpet.
IT is the only Lord
And has strung Creation according to ITs Will.
Wealth and supernatural Powers estrange one from the Lord.
The World goes on the two principles of Union and Separation,
And all receive their share, as IT ordains.
Hail, Hail, to IT alone, the Primal, Pure, Eternal,
Immortal and immutable in all ages.
XXX
The Great Mother, conceiving, brought forth three regents;
The first creating, the second sustaining, and the last destroying.
What IT desires, they perform,
They work under ITs Will.
But great the wonder, though IT watches over them,
They behold IT not.
Hail, Hail to IT alone, the Primal, Pure, Eternal,
Immortal and Immutable in all ages!
XXXI
IT resides in all the planes of creation.
And has in them ITs munificent stores,
Which were supplied only once and need no replenishing.
Whatever we receive, we receive by ITs decree.
It is IT which has created ITs creation,
And IT which watcheth over it.
O Nanak! The works of the True One are genuine.
Hail, Hail, to IT alone, the Primal, Pure, Eternal,
Immortal and Immutable in all ages.
XXXII
Let one tongue grow into a hundred thousand,
Nay even twenty times more,
And each of them endlessly chant ITs Holy Name.
In this way lie the steps that lead Godwards,
By ascending which one becomes one with IT.
On hearing of the Heavens, even worms aspire to reach them,
Not knowing that salvation comes only through ITs Grace,
And those who say otherwise are vain babblers and liars.
XXXIII
You have no power to speak or to be silent,
No power to ask or to give.
You have no power over life or death,
No power over wealth,
Or state for which you are ever restless.
You have no power over spiritual awakening.
No power to know the Truth,
Or to achieve your own salvation.
Let him who thinks he has the power, try.
O Nanak! None is high or low, but by ITs Will.
XXXIV
Creating the day and the night, the months and the seasons,
The fire, the wind, the water and the nether regions,
Amidst all these,
God set up the earth as Dharm Khand,
The Arena of Action.
God peopled it with creatures
Of many colours and many forms,
Creatures of whom there is no count.
All are judged according to their deeds,
For True is the Lord and immaculate ITs Law.
Those acceptable to IT are honoured in ITs Court,
And it is only through ITs Grace that one may gain that distinction.
The imperfect are perfected there.
O Nanak! It is there that this mystery is revealed.
XXXV
Thus much of the Realm of Dharma;
And now Gian Khand, the Realm of Knowledge:
Countless its elements, air, water and fire,
And countless Krishnas and Shivas,
And countless the Brahmas fashioning various creations
Of countless forms and countless hues.
Countless the Fields of Action, countless the golden mountains,
And countless the Dhrus meditating therein.
Countless the Indras, countless the suns and moons,
And countless the earthly and stellar regions;
Countless the Siddhas, the Buddhas, the Naths,
And countless the gods and goddesses.
Countless the Sadhus and the Sages.
And countless the bejeweled oceans.
Countless the sources of creation,
Countless the harmonies,
Countless those that listen unto them,
And countless the devotees of the Word,
Endless and unending, O Nanak! this Realm.
XXXVI
Divine Knowledge illumines all in the Realm of Knowledge,
While Divine Symphonies play unending music,
And Joy and Bliss reign supreme.
Next, Saram Khand, the Realm of Ecstasy,
Where the Word is enrapturing.
Everything created here is marvelously strange,
And beyond description.
Whoever tries to describe the same, must repent his folly.
Herein the mind, reason and understanding are etherealized,
The self comes into its own,
And develops the penetration of the gods and the sages.
XXXVII
Higher still stands Karm Khand, the Realm of Grace,
Here the Word is all in all, and nothing else prevails.
Here dwell the bravest of the brave, the conquerors of the mind,
Filled with the love Divine.
Here dwell devotees with devotion, incomparable as Sita’s.
Illumined with beauty ineffable, all hearts filled with God,
They live beyond the reach of death and of delusion.
Here dwell the Bhagats or Sages drawn from all regions,
Who rejoice in the True One and live in perpetual bliss.
Sach Khand, the Realm of Truth,
Is the seat of the Formless One.
Here IT creates all creations, rejoicing in creating.
Here are many regions, heavenly systems and universes,
To count which were to count the countless,
Here, out of the Formless,
The heavenly plateaux and all else come into form,
All destined to move according to ITs Will.
He who is blessed with this vision,
Rejoices in its contemplation.
But, O Nanak, such is ITs beauty that
To try to describe IT is to attempt the impossible.
XXXVIII
Make chastity your furnace, patience your smithy,
The Master’s Word your anvil,
And true knowledge your hammer.
Make awe of God your bellows
And with it kindle the fire of austerity.
And in the crucible of love, melt the nectar Divine,
Only in such mint, can man be cast into the Word.
But they alone who are favoured by IT,
Can take unto this Path.
O Nanak, one whom IT looks with Grace,
IT fills with Everlasting Peace.
FINALE
Air is the Master, Water the father, and Earth the mother,
Day and Night are the two nurses
In whose lap the whole world is at play.
Our actions, good and evil,
Will be brought before God's court,
And by our own deeds, shall we move higher
Or be cast into the depths.
Those who have communed with the Word,
Their toils shall end,
And their faces shall flame with glory.
Not only shall they find salvation,
O Nanak, but many more shall find freedom with them.