The Beauty of Jap Ji Sahib
A Poetic Rendition
Commencing Verse
Oneness, Being and Becoming
Named Truth, Essence of Existence
The Doer Primal Being,
Without Fear, Without Malice,
Timeless Form,
Untouched by Birth and Death
Uncaused, Self-Existent
Revealed by the Grace of the Guru
Pauri 1
Not by cleansing, not even by cleansing forever,
Not by silence, not even by being silent forever,
Not by possession, not even by possessing all worldly treasure,
Not by all this, nor by a million mental guiles.
How, then, will the Truth be revealed, the veil of falsehood repealed?
Says Nanak, surrender to that Will that is inscribed in all Creation.
Pauri 2
Through Hukam, all forms originate;
That Hukam, no one can state.
Through Hukam, all Life is manifest;
By Hukam are we richly blessed.
Through Hukam is rank and order maintained;
Through Hukam, joy and sorrow ordained.
Hukam spells release for some;
Endless wandering for others it becomes.
Writ large in all creation is Hukam’s rule;
Immune not even the smallest molecule.
Says Nanak, if to Hukam we attune,
Lose forever the sense of separate self we assume.
Pauri 3
Many acclaim Your might, but who can describe your sway
Many praise your gifts as signs of your display
All virtue springs from you, the virtuous seem to say
In knowledge you reside, proclaim pundits of the day,
Many worship you as Creator, the One who also reduces to clay
Many glorify you as the Destroyer who redeems as well as slays
Far away you appear to some,
Your omnipresence by many is sung
You defy all description
Try as many a legion,
You provide without tiring, we tire from receiving,
For eons we have been sustained
Your Will shows the Way
Says Nanak, You are forever in blossom – without a care.
