Jaap Sahib

Guru Gobind Singh’s Jaap Sahib explicitly employs rhythm and phonetic imitations (onomatopoeia) to evoke warrior spirit, the rhythm of war dance, galloping horses, clashing swords – a war first and foremost against the laziness of consciousness, to overcome the slavery of the Self to the tyranny of the alliance of Maya, mind (man) and the desires of the senses, the latter often exemplified as the five thieves of greed, lust, anger, attachment and ego-pride.

To expand the variety of sound-colours and sound-scapes, Guru Gobind Singh uses a number of languages – all transliterated to the Gurbani script – which provide more primal sound syllables (akhris, phonemes), resonating in turn with a greater variety of elementary energies and activity patterns of the brain and psycho-emotional states. The use of more languages allows more sophistication in sound-scape poetry but also requires from the reader more skill for pronunciation and understanding.

Compared to Guru Nanak’s Japji Sahib, the content of Jaap Sahib seems less concerned with statements of teachings and philosophy than with variously structured praises of uttermost phonetic beauty and sophistication. For the most part, it contains descriptions of the Divine in form of negations: un-dying, no-form, in-vincible, without name, beyond elements. This counteracts the mind’s tendency to try and figure out, categorise and understand in order to feel save and sure of knowing. The continuous negation of tangible attributes makes the mind surrender at the attempt to understand and confine Existence. Japji Sahib, on the other hand, stresses the infinity, endlessness and countlessness of Existence to achieve the same surrender of the controlling mind and to bring us into a state of wonder, innocence and awe.

Reading different translations of this jewel of Divine poetry, we find a variety of possible understandings of its content, different minds reflecting different aspects of its essence ca 300 years after its conception. In this synopsis, seven different English translations are listed next to each other. The original Gurmukhi with transliteration in the first column is followed by translations from:

1. Prof. Gurbachan Singh, Nitnem Transliteration & Translation (1997), from panthrattan.com
2. Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa, from punjabonline.com or sikhnet.com (same translation as above)
3. Surinder Singh Kohli, Sri Dasam Granth Sahib Translation (2003), on searchgurbani.com
4. Dr. Kamalroop Singh Nihang, Jāpu Sāhib – History and Translation (2017), pdf download
5. Shri Surendra Nath & Baba Virsa Singh, Gobind Sadan (1996), from gobindsadan.org
6. Dr. Rabinder Powar, Publication Bureau Punjabi University, Patiala (2005), on archive.org
7. Dr. Jodh Singh & Dr. Dharam Singh, Sri Dasam Granth Sahib (1999), pdf download
8. Dr. Kulwant Singh Khokhar, Nit-Nem Daily Prayer (2001), from punjabonline.com

The preceding introduction touches on the duality of the mind and the thin path of the student, the teachings of balance, the enegrgy and style of the poetry of Jaap Sahib, and some miscellanea about Jaap Sahib.