Translation of Japji Sahib – Part 1

Translation of Japji Sahib – Part 1

In the history of human beings, there was always a time when a new religion was born to guide the people. With the religions come the religious texts/scriptures/rules that a religious person who is following that religion has to follow. In Sikhism, we have different granths and their meanings were written down by many scholars. Some people even translated the gurbani in English and other languages. The problem that I see in that is it will never give the different meanings of a word but one, nor the reason behind the shabad that was written or for whom it’s said to give the real meaning of life.

I feel that it’s needed to have the tika of gurbani in English rather than translating gurbani. I’m planning to complete the tika of Guru Granth Sahib ji and Dasam Guru Granth Sahib ji in English by using the different tikas that we already have. One extra thing that I will do is answer some questions that people have regarding Sikhism and other religions and how/why they link Sikhism with other religions and misunderstand its meaning.

The first bani that’s written in Guru Granth Sahib ji is Japji Sahib. And in the beginning what’s there is what we call Mool Mantar.

Mool mantar

<>  siqnwmu krqw purKu inrBau inrvYru

Akwl mUriq AjUnI sYBµ gurpRswid

] jpu ]

Awid scu jugwid scu ] hY BI scu nwnk hosI BI scu ]1]

Correct pronunciation of ¡: In the beginning of Guru Granth Sahib ji, ¡ is written. Before starting the meaning of the mool mantar, we should first know the pronunciation of the first padd. Here, the first padd is not written in words but letters. While reading gurbani, many people pronounce it incorrectly and firm that theirs is the correct pronunciation. Following are the incorrect pronunciations of the first padd of Guru Granth Sahib ji.

·        Ik Ohmkaar (iek Emkwr)

·        Ekangkaar (eykMgkwr)

·        Ik Oeangkaar (iek EieAMgkwr)

·        Ekamkaar (eykmkwr)

Without correct pronunciation, the meaning of the word can’t be understood. And many times, the wrong pronunciation leads to the wrong conclusions to falsify the Singhs’ claim of the right meaning. Many non-Sikhs will say ¡ is Shivji by pronouncing it as ‘Ohmkaara.’ Young Sikhs who have never taken any santhea or listened to the katha of gurbani fall into the trap and adopt the philosophy of those who have sowed the seeds in their minds to believe that they are correct.

In all the sampardaas, first the santhea will be given, and then the Singhs will listen to the katha of gurbani and gur-itehaas. Without any further delay, let’s jump into the correct pronunciation.

¡ can be split into three parts to know its pronunciation.

·        1 (iek) – Ik

·        E (EAM) – Oan(g)

·        Æ (kwr) – Kaar

So, the correct pronunciation of ¡ is ‘Ik Oan(g)kaar’ (iek EAMkwr). The ‘g’ inside the brackets should be pronounced in the nostrils.

On the Internet, sometimes it’s written as Oankar, which sounds so wrong.

Meaning of the mool mantar: Guru Nanak Dev ji went to all the four directions to tell the True Path of Waheguru to the people. At that time, the Mughal kings were oppressing the Hindus and forcefully converting them to Islam. The dark time of that period has been written by many historians all over the world.

Guru Nanak Dev ji talked to the Sidhs of that period who were staying on the Sumer Parbhat. Jap Ji Sahib, the first bani of Guru Granth Sahib ji, is the conversation of Guru Nanak Dev ji with the Sidhs. In the Janam-sakhi by Bhai Mani Singh ji, he wrote the same thing and translated the first vaar of Bhai Gurdas ji.

Sidhs asked Guru Nanak Dev ji how he reached there. Guru Nanak Dev ji replied with the power of ¡ he reached there. Sidhs asked more about that. Ik Oan(g)kaar word was not present at that time. If there’s something new that has not been talked of or heard of, people like to know more on that. Guru Nanak Dev ji told them about Waheguru in the form of mool mantar.

Uthanka of mool mantar: Guru Nanak Dev ji’s sister, Bebe Nanaki ji, was married to Jai Ram, and they lived in Sultanpur Lodhi. Guru Nanak Dev ji’s father, Baba Kalyaan Chand ji (he was also called Mehta Kaalu ji), got very angry with Guru Nanak Dev ji when Guru Sahib bought food and gave to the hungry saints. Bebe Nanaki ji called her brother to her place where Guru Sahib got a job in modikhaana.

One day, Guru Nanak Dev ji went to the river (Veyi nadi) to bathe. Through Veyi nadi, Guru Nanak Dev ji reached Sachkhand (many people these days don’t believe in this sakhi. They are trying to detach Sikhs from history as well as gurbani.) This’s just a way to teach the people about the True Path, there’s no difference between Guru Nanak Dev ji and Waheguru. He just created two different forms to show the True Path to people.

guru prmysru eyko jwxu ] jo iqsu BwvY so prvwxu ]1]

Awip nrwiexu klw Dwir jg mih prvirXau ]

inrMkwir Awkwru joiq jg mMfil kirXau ]

When Guru Nanak Dev ji reached Sachkhand, Waheguru ji asked why he didn’t start preaching the people. Guru Nanak Dev ji said in the world that you created, if someone wants to preach someone, he has to follow a guru and there’s no one in the world that I can follow or call my guru. (This thing must be noted that Guru Sahib talked with mulas and pandits in a very young age to teach them that without Waheguru’s name, nothing of these worldly matters will help in the afterlife. Guru Nanak Dev ji was at the age of 7 then. But the preaching was not started at a big level. So this is what Guru Nanak Dev ji is saying to Waheguru.)

Waheguru said that he is the best among all the gods, saints, prophets, etc., that He’s sent on Earth to show the True Path. There is no one who can be equal to Guru Nanak Dev ji. Waheguru further said that He will be Guru Nanak Dev ji’s guru and gave the Maha Mantar (from Ik Oan(g)kaar to Gurparsaad.) Guru Nanak Dev ji added the lines ‘Aad sach to hosi bhi sach’ for the praises of Waheguru.

The same Mool Matar, Guru Nanak Dev ji told to the Sidhs.

·        1 – The One who is only One, without any duality.

·        Eå – Enlightener of all, without Whom there is no life.

·        siqnwmu – siq: One Who can’t be Destroyed. nwmu: He’s famous in the whole world.

·        krqw – He is the Doer.

·        purKu – He is complete.

·        inrBau – He is without any fear.

·        inrvYru – Without any Hatred.

·        Akwl mUriq – His existence is beyond time.

·        AjUnI – He is beyond birth.

·        sYBµ - He is self-illumined.

·        gurpRswid – With Guru’s grace, a person can experience Waheguru.

·        jpu – Meditate on the name of Waheguru. {Here meditation doesn’t mean to close the eyes and do nothing. Mediation here means to chant Waheguru’s name and do the praises. These days there’re some so-called Sikhs who say we will show you the path to God and tell them to just close your eyes and listen to the naad. But listening to naad just by closing your eyes without chanting Waheguru’s name and doing praises is not the way of Sikhi. Although there comes a stage when you just focus on Waheguru without chanting because you have reached that stage when there is no difference between you and Waheguru.}

·        Awid scu – Waheguru was the Truth before the time.

·        jugwid scu – Before the starting of the yug (Satyug, Dvapar, Treta, and Kalyug), Waheguru was the Truth.

·        hY BI scu – Waheguru is the Truth now.

·        nwnk hosI BI scu – [Guru Nanak Dev ji says] Waheguru will be the Truth forever.

After explaining the meaning of ¡and the mool mantar, Sidhs said that in the Vedas only EAM (Oan(g)) mantra was there, but in your mantra, you added 1 before Oan(g)kaar so it’s not powerful and will not give any boon as it is against the Vedas. Guru Nanak Dev ji said that this’s neither against the Vedas nor according to the Vedas but independent of the Vedas. In the Vedas, EAM (Oan(g)) mantra had Raj Gun, Tam Gun and Sat Gun. By adding 1 before EAMkwr (Oan(g)kaar), there’s no duality.

(In different cultures/religions, people have considered the Great Power in different ways. In Christians, they believe in Holy Spirit, Father and Son. In Islam, they believe in Allah and Prophet.)

There were so many meanings of the Oan(g)kaar (Waheguru) among many groups:

·        Followers of Brahma had nine different meanings. The first letter that Guru Nanak Dev ji wrote was One (1) to tell that there is only One God.

Three Syllable, Three Brahm, Three Words.

·        Kapal Muni ji gave nine different meanings:

Three Enlightened Forms, Three Virtue Forms, Three Doers Forms.

·        Apatra Muni ji wrote nine other different meanings:

Three Face Forms, Three Deities Forms, Three Purpose Forms.

·        Among the followers of Sanat Kumar:

Three Time Forms, Three Gender Forms, Three Noun Forms.

·        According to Brahmnishtha:

Three Places Form, Three Levels Form, Three Enlightened Consciousness Forms.

·        Among the Shiv followers:

Three Stages Forms, Three Bhog Forms, Three Consumers Forms.

·        In Vaishnav:

Three Souls Forms, Three Characters Forms, Three Bhoo Forms.

Question: Then the Sidhs asked, is your mantra according to the Vedas also?

Answer: Guru Nanak Dev ji said that the mantra is not influenced or according to the Vedas. But just to tell if it’s according to the grammar that you believe in or not, will explain it further.

The word EAM (Oan(g)) in the Vedas is made of the word ‘Av’ (Av), meaning protection. The One who protects is called Oan(g)kaar.

Question: Is it according to the Kavya Shashtra (the Grammar of Poetry)?

Answer: Guru Nanak Dev ji said that the meaning of Oan(g)kaar can be according to Kavya Shashtra also. In Oan(g)kaar, Akaar (Akwr), Ukaar (aukwr), Makaar (mkwr), and Ardhbind (ArDibMd) are there. By adding all four of them the word Oan(g)kaar is made.

Question: Why you put 1 before Oan(g)kaar and what’s its significant?

Answer: 1 is there to tell there is no duality. In the earlier times, Oan(g) can be said by only the Bahmans; Khatris can read it; Vaish can listen to it; Sudar and women are not allowed to read/listen/sing the mantra. This mantra is for all the people irrespective of the religion or caste {the people who believe in that}.

{Many people who forget to check the first letter i.e. 1 written before Oan(g)kaar explain it as Shiv ji. But there’s not one Shiv ji in the whole universe.

koit mhwdyv Aru kiblws ] - AMg 1162

Millions of Shiv ji are there and millions of Kailash Mountains.

Hope this will give us a better understanding of the meaning of gurbani.}

Second meaning

Sidhs were not some common people who had no understanding of the Vedas and other scriptures that they’d read. Their knowledge was from the scriptures and they tried everything to tell that theirs was the ultimate source of knowledge. Not only in Jap Ji sahib, but in ‘Sidh Ghostt’ too, there was a conversation of Guru Nanak Dev ji with the Sidhs.

They asked another series of questions.

Question: In the Shastras, there are six parts of explaining something. Are all of them there in your mantras? {This is the common question which is asked by the people while debating with someone who’s not of their religion. I remember watching a Muslim having a dialogue with Bhai Jugraj Singh ji from Basics of Sikhi, he said there’re so many nodes in the Quran and if it’s there in your scripture or how many different nodes there are. Bhai Jugraj Singh ji said this is of little importance and just say if there are more than what you have in your Quran, are you going to change your religion? Is your religion just based on the nodes? The same is what Sidhs are asking Guru Nanak Dev ji.

Those who claim that Guru Nanak Dev ji was a Hindu wouldn’t be able to give answer that why the Sidhs were talking with Guru Nanak Dev ji on the basis of the Vedas. There wouldn’t be any need to it if Guru Nanak Dev ji was a Hindu.}

Answer:

(First): Pad-ched, means dividing a word into more than one word. ¡ can be split into two parts: 1 + Eå

(Second):

1 means One who is without any duality. Waheguru is without any Sjati (sjwqI), Vijaati (ivjwqI) and Svegat (sÍYgiq).

Sjati: Someone who is like Him, like we humans can see other humans, but there is no one who is like Waheguru.

Vijaati: E.g. human beings are there and then there are birds and animals, those birds and animals are not created/made by human beings. They were already there. But in the case of Waheguru, there is nothing but Waheguru.

Svegat: To divide it further, a human body can be divided into different parts like ears, eyes, legs, etc. Waheguru is not like that, He’s Parkash Saroop, omnipresent. {We cannot say what is the beginning and end of Waheguru. He’s not like a man whose height can be measured, or who could be weighed. Waheguru is beyond that.}

Guru Nanak Dev ji says that Waheguru is beyond Sjati, Vijaati and Svegat, Waheguru is also not limited to desh (dyS), kaal (kwl) and vastu (vsqU).

Desh: The whole world is divided into several countries. Waheguru is not limited to a specific country or region or island. God is omnipresent; infused in the universe.

Kaal: Existence of the world is in time; our lives are in time. Someone is born in day, someone at night; some people die at night, some in the morning. But Waheguru is not under time. He’s unborn; He’s beyond birth/death.

Eå(EAMkwr) (Oan(g)kaar): {In different religions, people have different ways to tell how the universe was created. In Islam, they say that the word ‘kun’ was said by Waheguru/Allah to create this universe. In Dasam Guru Granth Sahib ji, Guru Gobind Singh ji wrote the word ‘Oan(g)kaar’ was said.}

Oan(g)kaar is Creator of all.

siq (Satt): Waheguru is True in all the time. We human beings live and die after some time, Waheguru is Eternal.

He is present everywhere, He is the Truth.

Because of Him, Maya gets Raj Gun, Tam Gun and Sat Gun.

nwmu (Naam): n (not) + Awm (ordinary) = Means he’s but Extraordinary.

nw (without) + mu (attachment)= He doesn’t have any attachments. {We are connected with people in this or that way, with our families, friends, colleagues, etc. But He’s not like us. Why? Because there is nothing but Him in this whole universe. Our own self is not us but Him.}

n (without) + Awm (sickness) = Waheguru is without any sickness. (He is Prakash Saroop. He doesn’t have any form to be sick of some diseases.)

siqnwmu (Satnaam): Naam (name) leads us to the Truth.

krqw (Karta): Waheguru is Creator.

Waheguru has the life of all human beings in His control.

purKu (Purakh): He is Complete.

He’s the Lord Husband.

pu (one of the hells) + rKu (protector): Waheguru protects us going to hell (if we meditate on His name.)

pur (all the bodies) + Ku (destroy/kill): Waheguru kills everyone at the end; merge into Him.

Purakh is used for Satgur (Enlighted Master) too.

Purakh is used for Waheguru too in gurbani.

inrBau (Nirbhau): Waheguru is without any fear.

Akwl mUriq (Akaal Murat): A (without) + kwl (death). (The exact translation of Murat is something like image or existence.) Waheguru never dies because to die there should be a body. Waheguru is Parkash Saroop; He doesn’t have any body in nirgun.

A (without) + kwl (time). Waheguru is not in time. We humans are in time. We born, grow up, get old and eventually die.

AjUnI (Ajooni): Waheguru is beyond birth. He’s Unborn and Undying. (These words might seem a little bizarre as we human beings always think that something must be born and then die. Many people in today’s world believe that it doesn’t make sense to say God is not born, if he is not born, how is he there then? Our knowledge and understanding of Waheguru is so limited. We can think whatever we want to think and it’s not going to change Him.)

Aj+aUnI: Another meaning of this word can be known by splitting the words into two. This meaning is not very popular among the scholars these days, but the people who are well read in puratan sampardas know this meaning and talk about it in length in the katha. Aj [Aj] (Brahma)+ aUnI [Ooni] (below) – Even Brahma is below Waheguru, or he is created by Waheguru. As Guru Nanak Dev ji is talking with the Sidhs, for them there is only Brahm, Vishnu and Shivji in the world who are controlling the universe. There were only few Sidhs who agreed with Guru Nanak Dev ji (will be talked about in Sidh Ghostt) others just wanted Guru Nanak Dev ji to become like them.

Aj+aUnI: Aj was also the name of a warrior king in Ayodhya. Even Aj king is below Waheguru. He was also created by Waheguru.

sYBµ (Sehbha(g)): sY (He is on his own) + BM (Parkash Saroop – I think this is one of the toughest words to translate. What it means is that Waheguru doesn’t have limbs and body like humans/animals. He is but formless. Only Intense Light he is.)

sY [Seh] (Thousands) + BM [Bha(g)] (Destroyer): With His power, he’s killed thousands of people. The creation never stops. He kills and gives birth to everyone.

gur (Gur): Chetan Saroop. Our body has the jot of Waheguru with the help of which we can walk and talk. But is there some kind of same jot in Waheguru which makes Him do certain things? No. He is Chetan Saroop. He gives us chetna, and He doesn’t have some jot inside Him but He is Chetan Saroop.

gu (Gu) + r (rU): gu (Darkness) + rU (Parkash). Waheguru takes away benighted thoughts and enlighten the people. Gu, in simple words, means agyaan, something that makes you believe in everything that you see every day but not in Waheguru, that we are living in a real world and forget the death which’s the reality. With His blessings only, one can be enlightened, and get away from the worldly pleasures and achieve Oneness with Him.

pRswid (Parsaad): Waheguru is Blissful.

gurpRswid: By collectively, the word means that with Guru’s grace, you can experience Waheguru.

(Third): Third part of explaining is to tell from where the words are originated. The word ‘gur’ came from the Sanskrit word ‘gree’ means to swallow. The person who takes away the agyaan of a follower and gives him gyaan (wisdom.)

(Fourth): The fourth part is to translate the words by scrambling the letters.

]jpu]: Waheguru’s name is mediatable.

This is also the name of bani which comes after this. For reverence, we put ji and sahib after this word.

With the fourth way, it can be translated into this: (pu+j=puj) Waheguru is worshipable.

Awid scu: Waheguru, Who is the root of everyone, was the Truth before time.

jugwid scu ]: Waheguru is the root of all the Yugs.

hY BI scu: Even now, Waheguru is the Truth.

nwnk hosI BI scu ]1]: O Nanak, Waheguru will be the Truth after and forever.

(Fifth): In the fifth way, the questions will be asked.

(Sixth): The answers will be given.

(Above two will be discussed in the next part.)