12th Pauree
Excerpted from the book Guru Nanak’s Call of the Soul: Japji Sahib:
Mannai are those awakened spiritual beings who have subdued their ego and are profoundly in tune with the One. In the twelfth pauree, Guru Nanak very lovingly, and with an element of adoration, explains the greatness of those who have that awakened spirituality and surrendered their ego to the Will of the Divine. Guru Nanak reveals that the Gat, the state, of one who surrenders their ego is so great that it cannot be described. There are no words for this spiritual state, so no matter how hard you try to explain it, there will be such a wide gap in understanding you will regret even trying. He tells us that there is not the paper, nor the pen, nor even the writer who has the words to describe the extraordinary state of the one who surrenders his ego. This can only be understood through “veechar,” which is to contemplate deeply, as a philosopher would.
Mannai kee gat kehee na jaa-ei. Jay ko kehai pichhai pachhutaa-ei. So great is the game of God, the one who accepts it become the greatest. Accept it, it’s a reality! God is a reality. God is every time a reality, it cannot change. God is a security and God is a real security, it cannot change. God is a beauty and is a real beauty, it cannot change. You may be old, wrinkled without facelift, and totally look like it is a skeleton only covered with flesh but if you are wise and divine people will bow to you. You need to understand there is no more beautiful, charming, and loving thing in this world than the God in you. But don’t bottle it up, let it flow, let people know. Standardize the behavior into divinity and nobility and it is Divinity forever.
~Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan – December 21, 1986
The Siri Singh Sahib often referred to the word Mannai as the one who obeys. As a student of a difficult teacher and then as a military man, the virtue of obeying orders was proven to him time and time again. This state of obedience in a strong and intuitive person results in setting aside the ego and dedicating your efforts to the greater good. As the Greek statesman and sage Solon famously said, “He who has learned how to obey will know how to command.”Nanak says, Mannai Kee Gat Kehee Na Jaa-ei. Jay Ko Kahai Pichhai Pachhutaaei. One who obeys shall command and the description cannot be explained. Because whosoever try to explain the description, will be sorry in the end. Listening [sunni-ai] is very important. Obeying [mannai] is very important. These are the faculties of commitment. Challenges we all have, every day. But when we have a challenge, if we accept it as a challenge and challenge the challenge, we always can win. But if you do not accept the challenge then there is nothing to win.
~Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan – March 1, 1999
Musical Recitation
Enjoy this beautiful musical recitation of the “Mannai” Paurees of Japji Sahib by Sat Purkh Kaur.
Enjoy this beautiful musical recitation of the 12th Pauree of Japji Sahib by Meditative Mind.
12th Pauree
Mannay kee gat kehee na jaa-ei.
Jay ko kehai pichhai pachhutaa-ei.
Kaagad kalam na likhannahaar.
Mannay kaa beh karan veechaar.
Aisaa naam niranjan ho-ei.
Jay ko mann jaannai man ko-ei. ]12]
The state of the faithful cannot be described.
One who tries to describe this shall regret the attempt.
No paper, no pen, no scribe can record the state of the faithful.
Such is the Name of the Immaculate True One.
Only one who has faith
comes to know such a state of mind.
Need to practice your pronunciation of Japji Sahib?
One of the best ways to learn how to recite Japji is to listen to and read along with someone else reciting it.
To help with that, we have a FREE Japji for the Aquarian Age App for IOS and Android. Once you download it, you can use it to recite the complete Japji Sahib in your daily practice, or you can choose the “Repeat Paurees” feature and follow along with the recitation of each section of Japji Sahib.
A special 40 week practice of reciting Japji Sahib is to recite one section 11x a day for one week and then do the same for the next section and so on, until over 40 weeks, you’ve completed a practice of reciting each of the 40 sections of Japji Sahib 11x a day for a week.
Here are instructions for downloading the Japji for the Aquarian Age App
In Guru Nanak’s Call of the Soul: Japji Sahib, by Gurutej Singh Khalsa with Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Based on the teachings of Siri Singh Sahib Yogi Bhajan:
In Japji Sahib, Guru Nanak touches the deepest essence of individual consciousness, elevating one to the universal consciousness. Japji is made up of 40 remarkable segments where Guru Nanak not only explains the mysteries of the cosmos, but also gives us spiritual instruction that we can follow to achieve the same experience of higher consciousness that Guru Nanak embodied. In this book the Mul Mantra and each of the 38 paurees of Japji, plus the Slok, are explained from a spiritual as well as historical perspective, enhanced by the teachings of Siri Singh Sahib Yogi Bhajan. It is our sincere prayer that this book will open up to you the miraculous wonder of Japji Sahib.
194 pages including an in-depth exploration of the 40 sections of Japji Sahib, 48 full color illustrations, 15 meditations that enhance the effects of the pauris, pronunciation guide and glossary and a foreword by Bhai Sahiba, Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, PhD. Includes beautiful full-color paintings by Sewa Singh and Sewa Kaur.
Visit our Marketplace if you are interested in purchasing this book.
Leave a Reply