The Beauty of Jap Ji Sahib
A Poetic Rendition Part 10
Pauree 32
If I had a million tongues, multiplied twenty-fold more,
And a million times each tongue proclaimed Your Name.
That is the path, whose steps ascend to You.
Hearing of the sky, crawling ants wish to fly
Nanak, through Your Grace are we but received – all else is drivel.
Pauree 33
The power to speak or remain silent is not ours,
Nor the power to beg and grant
Life and death is beyond our control.
The power to rule, to acquire, or even calm the mind is not ours
Nor the power to remain mindful, reason or contemplate
The way to deliverance is beyond our ken
Only You have the power to create and to tend
Nanak, none is low or high in Your presence.
Pauree 34
The nights and seasons, dates and days,
Air, water, fire and the regions below,
To them is bound the Earth for the practice of righteousness.
Here, all species with their myriad of ways abound,
Infinite their forms, beyond count.
Our deeds will we be weighed,
For You are the Truth and true Your Court.
There, the Panch, the exemplars, stand radiant in acceptance,
Bearing the mark of Your benevolent gaze.
There, the half-baked are separated from the fully made,
Nanak, this truth is revealed there.
Pauree 35
Such is the law on the plane of Dharam
Hear now the workings of the realm of Knowledge
Where endless varieties of air, water and fire are revealed,
Where an infinite array of Krishnas, Shivas,
And Brahmas create endless forms, colors and appearances.
Where endless earths and mountains exist,
And Dhruvas utter sermons without end.
Where countless Indras, moons and suns,
And countless spheres and lands proliferate.
Where countless Siddhas, Buddhas, Naaths
And goddesses live in infinite garbs
Where countless angels, demons and silent sages,
And precious jewels and deep oceans abound.
How many sources of Creation, varieties of speech and rulers and kings,
How many the forms of consciousness and how many that strive to serve,
Says Nanak, there is no end, simply no end.
Pauree 36
In the realm of Knowledge, the light of knowledge blazes forth
There, mystic melodies and spectacles galore, joy and unalloyed bliss.
In the Creative realm the rapture of beautiful form is resplendent,
Here forms of unequalled splendor are fashioned.
Indescribable is the realm of Creativity
To try to speak of it is folly.
Here awareness is heightened, perception is sharpened and the mind awakened.
Here wisdom is deepened and transcendental knowledge gained.
