Japji Sahib - Pauri 29

Amarpal · #1 (**permalink**) 01-Oct-2004, 16:45 PM

Dear Khalsa Jee,

Today, I share with you my understanding of 29th Pauri of Japji Sahib.

1. Bugiq igAwnu dieAw BMfwrix Git Git vwjih nwd ] bhugat gi-aan da-i-aa bhandaaran ghat ghat vaajeh naad.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/jap-ji-sahib/784-japji-sahib-pauri-29-a.html

Let knowledge be your food and compassion your guide, with this done music will be in you with each beat.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib is asking me that I must acquire knowledge (this is what people all around the world are doing at present, Guru Sahib has asked this to all of us some 500 years ago; see the great vision Guru Sahib had, how caring he was towards us).

Success in acquisition of knowledge can make me arrogant, cruel, and contemptuous towards the less knowledgeable – it can give boost to the Ahamkara in me, leading me to my self-destruction. Guru Sahib has protected me by coupling it with the virtue – compassion.

If compassion guides my application of knowledge then I will not use it for unfair purpose or for wrong ends. This knowledge will then be a boon for me. This is what Guru Sahib has told me by saying that every beat of my life will be music to me.

2. Awip nwQu nwQI sB jw kI iriD isiD Avrw swd ] aap naath naathee sabh jaa kee riDh siDh avraa saad.

‘The Sat’ is the supreme; ‘The Sat’ presides over all materials, spirituality and all the rest in the world and keeps them tuned.

My understanding:

Again Guru Sahib is emphasising for me that I should never think that own any thing or to say it is mine, or ‘I’ am doing. It is ‘The Sat’ that is doing all. ‘The Sat’ is the real doer and all entities in this world belong to ‘The Sat’. Again Guru Sahib is helping me so that the sense of possession or ownership i.e. ‘I’ and ‘mine does not enter into my being. In other words, Guru Sahib is telling me how to remain pure – by not developing attachments through ‘I’ and ‘mine’. Guru Sahib has made it clear that all belongs to ‘The Sat’ and all is done by ‘The Sat’.

3. sMjogu ivjogu duie kwr clwvih lyKy Awvih Bwg ] sanjog vijog du-ay kaar chalaaveh laykhay aavahi bhaag.

Union and separation both are the result of what ‘The Sat’ decides.

My understanding:

Before I explain what I understand, I want to explain that ‘Layhka’ to me does not mean some thing preordained. To me it is the transformation of my Karmas into Hukam by the cosmic intelligence - ‘The Sat’. I had dwelt on this in details in one of the earlier Pauri.

After having given me the understanding about the real ownership of all and telling me who is the real doer, Guru Sahib is telling me why some things happen in my life.

Guru Sahib in the above sentence is telling me that all the unions and separations in my worldly and spiritual life are the results of what ‘The Sat’ feels just for me. These are the consequences of my Karmas and the intent of the ‘The Sat’ in bringing me to this world. In other words, all is the result of the ‘Hukam’ coming from ‘The Sat’.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=784

4. Awdysu iqsY Awdysu ] aadays tisai aadays.

Order as his order.

My understanding:

Guru Sahib is telling me that I must willingly in a natural way submit myself to the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’. Guru Sahib is asking me to order and tune my life in accordance with the wishes i.e. the ‘Hukam’ of ‘The Sat’.

5. Awid AnIlu Anwid Anwhiq jugu jugu eyko vysu ]29] aad aneel anaad anaahat jug jug ayko vays. ||29||

The primal one, the pure light, the one without beginning, the one without an end, the one who is ever the same.

My understanding:

In this last sentence of this Pauri Guru Sahib has once again emphasised that ‘The Sat’ is independent of time and is the ultimate in purity.

Summary of my understanding:

Guru Sahib has told me how to become pure i.e. by getting rid of my Ahamkara. He has explained to me that in real sense, I am nobody, I am not the doer, and there is nothing that is mine. All belongs to ‘The Sat’; all is done by ‘The Sat’.

Guru Sahib has told me that I should totally harmonise myself with the life that ‘The Sat’ gives me. Guru Sahib has asked me to acquire knowledge and continue to do my Karmas as demanded by my Dharma based on knowledge tempered by compassion. This way I will be able to move on the right path in this world.

In this way, through his teachings, Guru Sahib has moved me a step closer to becoming a Gurmukh.

Wah-e-Guru

With this I close.

With love and respect for all.

Amarpal