Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 1.djvu/291

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DIVINE SERVICES BY GURU NANAK

AND OTHER GURUS

THE JAPJI[1]

There is but one God whose name is true, the Creator,[2] devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent;[3] by the favour of the Guru.[4]

Repeat His Name

The True One was in the beginning; the True One was in the primal age.

The True One is[5] now also, O Nanak; the True One also shall be. [6]

  1. The Japji is considered by the Sikhs a key to their sacred volume and an epitome of its doctrines. It is silently repeated by the Sikhs early in the morning. Every Sikh must have it by heart, otherwise he is not deemed orthodox. It is the duty of all Sikhs, even if they cannot read, to have themselves taught this great morning divine service. The composition appears to have been the work of Guru Nanak in advanced age.
  2. Karta purukh. It is perhaps not necessary to translate the word purukh. It means male or creative agency. The all-pervading spirit in union with a female element uttered a word from which sprang creation.
  3. Saibhan is derived from the Sanskrit swayambhu, which we have found in this passage in a very ancient Sikh MS.
  4. Gur Parsād. We have translated these words in deference to the opinions of the majority of the Sikhs ; but with several learned gyānis we have no doubt that they were intended as epithets of God - the great and bountiful. Guru Nānak had no human guru ; as we have already seen, his guru was God. It was during the spiritual supremacy of his successors the favour of the Guru was invoked, and deemed indispensable for deliverance. Moreover, though gur parsād does sometimes in the Granth Sāhib mean the Guru s favour, this appears to be more often expressed by gur parsādi.
  5. Bhi. There are two bhis in this line which some say are idiomatic. We have very little doubt that the first bhi is an obsolete past tense of the defective verb bhu, and that the verse ought to be translated—'The True One is, was, and also shall be. Compare –'Guru Nānak, Shahu hai, bhi, hosi.'—Sūhi Ashtapadi I.
  6. Also translated-
    God was true in the beginning, He was true in the primal age;
    He is true now also, Nanak, and He also will be true.
    This translation appears to be unmeaning, for it is not doubted that God was true in all ages. With the translation in the text compare Έγο εἰμι πᾴν τὁ γεγονὁς, καὶ ὸν, καὶ ὲσὀμενον, 'I am all that was, and is, and will be.'—Inscription on a Greek temple.

O 2