from JAPU JI SAHIB: THE CELESTIAL LADDER by madan g gandhi (tr.)
PROLOGUE
PROLOGUE
The revealed Word is Japu Ji
charting Ascent Divine,
Guru’s elixir of Grace,
ambrosia for human race.
Inspired utterance it is
from the One Formless Supreme,
blazing way to the Eternal Truth,
the Abode where He dwells.
A chosen prayer is Japu Ji,
to be recited at an early morn
when everyone is attuned
to the Divine Harmony.
Ultimate Revelation it is
of Nirgun Nirankar Par Brahm,
Mystic Ladder to Truth’s Realm,
The pathway to Home of Om.
Japu Ji enshrines Essence Sublime,
Visible Form of Light Divine
from the Home of Eternal Calm,
charting Ascent Divine,
Guru’s elixir of Grace,
ambrosia for human race.
Inspired utterance it is
from the One Formless Supreme,
blazing way to the Eternal Truth,
the Abode where He dwells.
A chosen prayer is Japu Ji,
to be recited at an early morn
when everyone is attuned
to the Divine Harmony.
Ultimate Revelation it is
of Nirgun Nirankar Par Brahm,
Mystic Ladder to Truth’s Realm,
The pathway to Home of Om.
Japu Ji enshrines Essence Sublime,
Visible Form of Light Divine
from the Home of Eternal Calm,
Nad Brahm beyond name and form.
It’s the True Arc of Grace,
the Beacon Star for human race,
the Sole Saviour That never fails
in the darkest hour of the soul.
Of its Thirty Eight Steps of Eternal Light
each step guides the soul’s flight ,
spurred by yearning and devotion
the soul ascends to Lord’s Mansion.
It’s the True Arc of Grace,
the Beacon Star for human race,
the Sole Saviour That never fails
in the darkest hour of the soul.
Of its Thirty Eight Steps of Eternal Light
each step guides the soul’s flight ,
spurred by yearning and devotion
the soul ascends to Lord’s Mansion.
Mool Mantra has the Seed
of Truth’s Revelation,
Light- Bliss-Consciousness,
the Garland of God’s Attributes.
Mool Mantra is a vibrant string,
each word or phrase a swirling sling,
Nad-Shabad vibrating Order Supreme
within the Earth, Heaven and Space in-between.
Standing at the head of Jap
Eternal Truth crowns the top,
recited it is at initiation time,
on each auspicious time.
None but He is Absolute True,
Eternal, Source of Light
In every form Imageless,
Self-Existing , self-Effulgent too.
No sage, no scripture can His glory fathom,
Author is He of grand illusion,
Far above Wheel of Time
far above Timeless Chime.
To awake He shakes a soul
but reveals not His face.
Inscrutable mystique is Divine Grace,
Himself knowing how fetters break.
Path to Divine Grace is arduous long,
but if He Willeth, it becomes a song,
the fruit of everything is in Divine Hand,
upto Him, who shall perish, or who shall land.
Guru’s Word is His Visible Form,
Its meaning dawns through His Naam,
Way to God realization is Word,
that unveils all illusions.
If you seek the Guru’s Sight
bow before the Book for Light,
dwell on its Text with pious heart
and commune with Guru’s Thought.
"The Word is the Guru’ and you the disciple
hearing best", so say the text.
As the Word is revealed,
World’s wounds are healed.
Seeker soars on sound-light wings
to Heaven-of-Truth’s eternal spring,
Unstruck Melody guides his flight
blazed by Word, informed by Light.
within the Earth, Heaven and Space in-between.
Standing at the head of Jap
Eternal Truth crowns the top,
recited it is at initiation time,
on each auspicious time.
None but He is Absolute True,
Eternal, Source of Light
In every form Imageless,
Self-Existing , self-Effulgent too.
No sage, no scripture can His glory fathom,
Author is He of grand illusion,
Far above Wheel of Time
far above Timeless Chime.
To awake He shakes a soul
but reveals not His face.
Inscrutable mystique is Divine Grace,
Himself knowing how fetters break.
Path to Divine Grace is arduous long,
but if He Willeth, it becomes a song,
the fruit of everything is in Divine Hand,
upto Him, who shall perish, or who shall land.
Guru’s Word is His Visible Form,
Its meaning dawns through His Naam,
Way to God realization is Word,
that unveils all illusions.
If you seek the Guru’s Sight
bow before the Book for Light,
dwell on its Text with pious heart
and commune with Guru’s Thought.
"The Word is the Guru’ and you the disciple
hearing best", so say the text.
As the Word is revealed,
World’s wounds are healed.
Seeker soars on sound-light wings
to Heaven-of-Truth’s eternal spring,
Unstruck Melody guides his flight
blazed by Word, informed by Light.
Naam is the Ultimate Reality,
Naam is the Highest Truth,
Naam is the Almighty,
Naam is the Formless First.
Freed from world–wheel of shame,
steeped in Harmony of Holy Name,
the spirit soars to its Original Home
where God abides as Formless Om.
Freed from world–wheel of shame,
steeped in Harmony of Holy Name,
the spirit soars to its Original Home
where God abides as Formless Om.
Shabad pervades Lord’s creation infinite,
Shabad monitors manifestation of Light,
through Shabad universe comes into being,
through Shabad it would vanish.
through Shabad universe comes into being,
through Shabad it would vanish.
Shabad is vesture that Creator wears,
the Mystic Sound is what seeker hears,
Shabad is Light of Truth That unveils
the Meaning of Meaning Eternal.
While Communing with Word Divine
Your other channels lose,
and you return to the origin
from where the journey was begun.
Man’s destiny is cast not in erratic fashion,
inexorable is law of Karmic retribution,
Karma is seed we sow for the preferred harvest to reap,
all choice is ours, of bed of roses or of thorns to sleep.
To law of Karma every one is bound,
no one is immune from worldly rounds ,
each one reaps what he sows,
and to hell or heaven he goes.
In Guru’s Law of Karma is the solid base,
devotion being prelude to Divine Grace,
if Karma is highway for a pilgrim to ply
Grace is skyway for His soul to fly.
Though law of karma inexorably operates
Divine Grace, still remains great,
predestination or free will, what is true state?
why are some liberated ,others on Wheel gyrate?
No one can translate or transcreate
the Word which is Immaculate,
its rhythm intricate, its poetry sublime,
no one can recreate its mystique divine.
the Meaning of Meaning Eternal.
While Communing with Word Divine
Your other channels lose,
and you return to the origin
from where the journey was begun.
Man’s destiny is cast not in erratic fashion,
inexorable is law of Karmic retribution,
Karma is seed we sow for the preferred harvest to reap,
all choice is ours, of bed of roses or of thorns to sleep.
To law of Karma every one is bound,
no one is immune from worldly rounds ,
each one reaps what he sows,
and to hell or heaven he goes.
In Guru’s Law of Karma is the solid base,
devotion being prelude to Divine Grace,
if Karma is highway for a pilgrim to ply
Grace is skyway for His soul to fly.
Though law of karma inexorably operates
Divine Grace, still remains great,
predestination or free will, what is true state?
why are some liberated ,others on Wheel gyrate?
No one can translate or transcreate
the Word which is Immaculate,
its rhythm intricate, its poetry sublime,
no one can recreate its mystique divine.
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