The ensuing appraisal of the Japji is a down-to-earth, matter of fact analysis of the poem. It can be well described by the adjective that its author uses to describe Japji’s treatment of God as impersonal.
One may not accept the thesis propounded by this reviewer regarding the Japji’s structure, the peculiar relevance of the various portions to the central theme or the central theme of the Japji itself. But here, no doubt, is an attempt at a neat analysis, which shuts out personal inclination except in so far as they may have conditioned the author’s interpretation of the Japji. It is for this reason that this review of the Japji deserves a close study by those who wish to understand the poem well and fully. --Editor, The Sikh Review
The first seven verses of the Japji possess a certain unity of subject. The ideas introduced here form the theme for the remainder of the prayer and are distinctly repeated in certain portions of it. These thematic bases are essentially four: God is unique; God is Truth; God is unknowable; and God is great beyond comprehension.
There is interwoven in these verses an exhortation to the believer: follow “the righteous path.” This path consists of ridding oneself of ego and pride of “hearkening to the Guru’s word.”
Unity of the first seven stanzas, and of certain succeeding groups, is loosely maintained by a structural device. Many verses begin with long expositions, which are different in each case, and end with short, universalized summaries, which are quite similar from one verse to the next.
Whereas the first verses are oriented toward the divine, the next one’s are concerned with man’s relationship with the divine. Verses eight to fifteen expound on “the word” and “the believer.” By hearing the word one achieves what he desires. The believer attains indescribable bliss.
Verses sixteen through nineteen form a sort of exposition of the contents of the preceding portion of the prayer. They are concerned with God’s mystical power, His limitless creations, and man’s duty toward him. The latter is synoptically stated as, “Whatever be Thy wish, I say, Amen.”
At this point1 the verses become much more loosely connected to one another. Verse twenty is concerned with new subjects; prayer and action. Prayer purifies the soul of sin. Action, not words, will determine the saint and the sinner.
Verses twenty-one to twenty-four reiterate in different ways the utter unknowability of God. One may say of Him only:
Great is the Lord, great His name
What He ordains comes to be.
Verses twenty-five tells of His limitless bounty – God the “great Giver.” Coupled with this is the exhortation to the believer to have “gratitude and power to praise.”
Twenty six portrays likewise His boundless goodness, and how it is proclaimed by the creatures of earth and the gods of heaven. This sub-theme is amplified in the next verse, which paints a vision of the gates of heaven where He is exalted by all.
In the next two verses, attention is once again focused on the believer. He should humiliate the fancy and chasten and subdue the mind. Then he will be able to subjugate the world. Also, he should be filled with gratitude to God.
Verses thirty states that the Hindu trinity of creator, preserver, and destroyer are all directed by God. The next attests to His omnipresence and the next to His uniqueness.
The thirty-third verse asserts that man is helpless and that all are equal in His eyes. The thirty-fourth states that man shall be judged on his thoughts and deeds by God under a divine Law. This judgment will be made in fairness and in truth.
A new structural form ties the last four verses together. In each, two realms of endeavor are explored and their relevance to God explained. The last, the thirty-eighth, verse metaphorically epitomizes the entire Japji, particularly the three preceding verses.
The realm of knowledge is compared to the realm of bliss – reason and beauty being their ultimate, respectively. Realms of action and truth are contrasted, with effort and God the supreme examples of each. The meaning of these analogies are revealed in the last verse, the Mint of Truth metaphor. In Truth revere knowledge and reason, the fear of God, prayer and austerity, love and name of the Lord.
The slok forms an analogy, similar in content to the last verse. The analogy is that of man as a babe. We hear the Guru’s word and perform acts, right and wrong. We are judged by the Divine and are as a result either brought nearer to God or cast from Him.
On the whole, the Japji treats God in a somewhat impersonal way. Since He is completely unknowable, it is difficult to concentrate one’s thoughts upon Him or to love Him. A large part of the impact of the prayer is one of over-whelming insignificance of man.
Interestingly, a large emphasis is placed on the value of knowledge. Its unattainability seems to cause an unspoken lament in Nanak.
The balance between praise of God and exhortation of man is also worthy of attention. Man’s duties in life seem to be included almost as after thoughts, scattered here and there with no apparent order. This is in contrast to many Christian writings where list of Commandments appear with great regularity.
In conclusion, the rhythm and flowing style of the Japji, coupled with its single minded themes, entwining and intermixing as they lead to the all-encompassing finale of the Mint parable give the prayer an inescapable force and beauty.
NOTES
1 It is an interesting although probably insignificant observation that this point occurs exactly at the middle, verse-wise, of the Japji.
