23rd Pauree
The Twenty-third Pauree dispels darkness and elevates the self.
Artwork by Sewa Singh – sikhphotos.com
Excerpted from the book Guru Nanak’s Call of the Soul: Japji Sahib:
After describing the vastness of the cosmos in the 22nd pauree, Guru Nanak addresses the importance of remembering God with devotion and developing surat, the intuitive consciousness.
Nanak tells us, Saalaahee saalaa-eh aytee surat na paa-ee-aa. Nadee-aa atai vaah paveh samund na jaannee-a-eh. “The praisers praise God, yet that alone does not bring the intuitive understanding of His greatness. As streams and rivers flowing into the ocean do not understand its vastness.”
Voicing the praises of God without surat, is simply going through the motions. It does not result in the deep experience of consciousness; the experience of Divine Oneness. So important is that experience of consciousness that Guru Nanak says that all the kings and emperors, even with all their wealth piled as high as mountains, are not equal to a tiny ant who has had this experience of intuitive consciousness.
We do not understand that the most powerful thing in a human is consciousness. We don’t have the power of commitment if we do not have consciousness. We don’t have the power of conception if we do not have consciousness. We don’t have the power of deliverance if we do not have consciousness. When we do not have consciousness, we do not have basic intuition. Now the problem is that the intuition must be developed. It is there but is dormant.
~Siri Singh Sahib – March 8, 1995
23rd Pauree
Saalaahee saalaa-eh aytee surat na paa-ee-aa.
Nadee-aa atai vaah paveh samund na jaannee-a-eh.
Samund saah sultaan girhaa saytee maal dhan.
Keerree tul na hovanee jay tis manaho na veesareh. ]23]
The praisers praise the Lord, but they do not obtain intuitive understanding.
The streams and rivers flowing into the ocean do not know its vastness.
Even kings and emperors, with mountains of property and oceans of wealth.
These are not even equal to an ant, who does not forget God.
Musical Recitations
Enjoy these beautiful musical recitations of the 23rd Pauree of Japji Sahib.
By Meditative 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 paurees, 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.
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