The Warrior’s Song - The Extraordinary Jaap of Guru Gobind Singh ji

[Guest guest]

(or Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Jaap Sahib, But Were

Afraid to Ask)

 

A Great article by Shanti Kaur Khalsa!

http://www.mrsikhnet.com/index.php/2007/04/10/the-warriors-song-the-extraordinar\

y-jaap-of-guru-gobind-singh-ji/

 

 

The Warrior’s Song - The Extraordinary Jaap of Guru Gobind Singh ji

<http://www.mrsikhnet.com/index.php/2007/04/10/the-warriors-song-the-extraordina\

ry-jaap-of-guru-gobind-singh-ji/>

 

April 10th, 2007

<http://www.mrsikhnet.com/index.php/2007/04/10/the-warriors-song-the-extraordina\

ry-jaap-of-guru-gobind-singh-ji/email/>

 

by Shanti Kaur Khalsa

 

In 1685, the young Guru Gobind Rai sat on the banks of the river Jamuna

at Paonta and contemplated the glory of the One God in an ecstasy that

could not be contained. Having left the city of Anandpur Sahib a few

months earlier, his exalted mind found the gentle peace of Paonta Sahib

<http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Paonta_Sahib> to his liking. At

nineteen years old, he was the undisputed leader of the Sikhs. Still

unproven in battle, he was soon to face his first test of the sword.

 

The 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, was born Gobind Rai in

the village of Patna in the eastern province of Bihar. He was the only

child of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri

<http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Mata_Gujri> was born on the 7th

night after the new moon, December 22nd, 1666. Just as all children are

reared in the laps of their mothers, the Tenth Guru grew up kicking and

playing in the lap of Mata Gujri. His grandmother, Mata Nanaki and his

uncle, Kirpal Chand loved and protected him in the early days of his

infancy. However his youth was short lived, and he shouldered the

responsibility of the Sikh nation when his father was martyred at the

hands of the Mughal Emperor in Delhi when he was only nine years old.

 

Guru Gobind Singh writes in his autobiography, the Bachitar Natik, that

he was born into this world with a mission to protect the good and

saintly people, and to uproot the tyrants and evil doers. This could

only be done by living a life of action, courage, and leadership. As

the Guru matured into a man, he exemplified these aspects. He lived

amongst his people, not separate from them - a saint and solider, a man

of the world yet a master of the divine. He lead them every step of the

way, protecting them from aggression and oppression and sacrificing

every facet of his life for the common good. He created the glorious

order of the Khalsa out of the common people of the Punjab with unique

form that made them stand apart in a crowd of millions.

 

But in 1685, Guru Gobind Rai was still a youth of nineteen, and that

hard road of destiny was a few years away from unfolding. He spent his

days in Paonta Sahib as a poet and a scholar - teaching, learning and

sharing his love for the One Lord. It was during this time that the

Guru wrote his powerful prayer - Jaap Sahib.

 

The Jaap Sahib is 199 verses composed in five languages, in rhymed

couplets of defined and sophisticated meter. It does not narrate a

story, and does not depart philosophical wisdom. Instead, it calls out

950 names of the unformed and limitless Creator. Some couplets speak of

what God is, and others speak of what God is not. Together the words

and rhythm create an experience of God that supersedes mere intellectual

understanding.

 

The rhythm of Jaap Sahib is like that of a horse at the gallop, and the

beat of the hooves drum martial spirit into the heart. The cadence of

the Jaap Sahib is used for marching, martial practice, and dance of the

pantra. The Jaap Sahib is written in ten distinct meters, or Chands,

that weave into the experience of the practitioner. A chand is a verse

in which the syllables and the rhythm are arranged in a precisely

controlled pattern. Chhapai Chand, Rual Chand, Rasaawal Chand,

Harbolmana Chand and Ek Acchhri Chand are used just once, Charpat Chand,

Madhubhar Chand and Bhagwati Chand are used twice, Chachri Chand five

times, and Bhajang Prayat Chand six times.

 

The construction of the chands is complex. For example, Madhubhar Chand

is defined as four " feet " , or lines, with 16 syllables and a pause after

every 8 syllables. Rasaawal Chand has four feet with each foot

consisting of 24 syllables and pauses after the 11th and 13th

syllables. So although the phrases roll easily off the tongue, they are

sophisticated in design, disciplined in nature, and produce a consistent

impact on the consciousness. More than the outpouring of ecstasy from

an enlightened personality, the Jaap Sahib is a complex, precise,

mathematical composition from a brilliant mind designed to evoke a

specific response from the human psyche. All this came from the

phenomenal Tenth Guru as a teenager about to embark on the journey of life.

 

The Jaap Sahib is now the opening bani, or verse, of the holy Dasam

Granth <http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Dasam_Granth> Sahib - the

collected writings of Guru Gobind Singh It begins with the Mangla Charan

which introduces and sets the stage for the bani. Unlike other bani of

the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, the Jaap Sahib starts with " Siri Mukhvak

Patishai Dasavee - from the Great Mouth of the Tenth King. " In the Siri

Guru Granth Sahib, we read Mehela Pela - which refers to the First Guru

Nanak Dev ji, Mehela Duja - referring to the second Guru Angad Dev ji,

etc. This is a feminine reference - mehela - acknowledging that all

beings take the posture of the feminine before the One God. " Nowhere

has Mehela Dasavaa been used because tradition, conception, and

experience had changed. That is the combined character of a Sikh, to be

a solider and a saint in one person. Shastra and Shaaster - the

spiritual knowledge and the technology of self-defense - have to be

together in one person. That is what Guru Gobind Singh gave us with

absolute flawless detail " In the Dasam Granth Sahib, the Sikh stands as

a soldier saint before God.

 

In the Mangla Charan, Guru Gobind Singh promises - " Who can ever recite

all Your Names! By your Grace, describing your actions we come to know

You. " Karam Nam - Naming the actions of the One God - is the essence of

the Jaap Sahib. By reciting Karam Nam, Guru Gobind Singh gives his

Sikhs into an experience of the transcendental far beyond the rational

faculty of man. The Jaap Sahib is a self-manifestation of God that

delivers the listener, as well as the speaker, to a level deeper than

intellectual understanding.

 

As described by Dr. Jaspreet Kaur, " In the opening of Jaap Sahib, [Guru

Gobind Singh says that] God had no physical appearance, no caste, no

garb or signs of palm-lines which are the sign that help man recognize

or distinguish anybody. He is perpetual, self illuminated, and

measureless in power. God is the king of kings and God of millions of

Indras. He is sovereign of three worlds, demigods, men and demons; and

the woods and dales proclaim Him as indescribable.

 

In the ending verses Guru says that God is a creator, preserver and

destroyer of all. He is the enemy of miscreants and strikes down the

tyrannous. Yet out of his infinite mercy. He provides daily bread to

all. He redeems man from hell and births and deaths. He is present

with all and His grandeur will never vanish. God [as described by] Guru

Gobind is no particular entity giving rise to social particularism. He

is ‘all in all and for all. "

 

The power and mystery of Jaap Sahib gives us an active and dynamic

relationship with God within us and without us. As told by Yogi Bhajan,

" Once there were five holy men who appeared before God. The first one

bowed and said, ‘You are Almighty God, my only God, I bow before you.’

God turned his head; it didn’t work. The second one sat down and

beautifully sang the praises of God. God put plugs in his ears. It

didn’t work either. The third started reciting poetry in praise of

God. God looked at him and looked at him and did not utter a word. The

fourth was very appreciative, delightful, singing beautiful hymns, in

absolute perfect bhaktee but God just sat down and closed his eyes. The

fifth looked at God, raised his arms and made a gesture of beckoning as

if to say, ‘come here’. God got up and walked over to embrace him. You

ask me why? Because God is God. Those who dwell in Him know it well.

Those who don’t can talk the rest of their life without making sense. "

 

When we recite the Jaap Sahib, we raise our arms to irresistibly beckon

the Formless Supreme One to us. And without fail, He rises to embrace

us when we sing this song of the warrior- saint.