Origins Of Japji

As per the janamsakhi (birth stories of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, dictated by bhai bala – who was guruji’s companion, to Guru Angad Dev ji – The second sikh guru), There is a mention of one great divine event (although there were many in Guruji’s life).

One day, Guruji did not return home after his morning ablutions (religious bathe). His clothes were found on the bank of river BEIN which led everyone to think that he had been drowned in the river. The news caused gloom in the city& the population turned out on the site to see that had happened. Nawab daulat khan himself came & had his fisherman throw the nets into the water to search for the body, but in vain. Only nanki (Guruji’s elder sister) remained calm & kept repeating that her brother was unharmed & would come forth among them again. She spoke with such unflinching & unshaken faith that every heart felt deeply touched.

Guru Nanak Ji did reappear on the third day. The interval had been a crucial mystical experience. The janamsakhi describe it in terms of a direct communication with LORD. “As the lord willed, NANAK the devotee was escorted to his Presence. Then a cup filled with amrit (nectar) was given the command, ‘Nanak, this is the cup of name-adoration. Drink it … I am with you & I do bless & exalt you. Whoever remembers you will have my favour. Go, rejoice in my name & teach others to do so … I have bestowed upon you the gift of my name. Let this be your calling’.

Guru Nanak Ji made the salutation & stood up & he burst into a song of praise:

Where I to live for million of years

And could make air my food & drink;

Were to seal myself in a cave ceaselessly to meditate

Without seeing the sun or the moon & without a wink of sleep;

I would still not be able to measure thy greatness,

Nor signify the glory of thy name!

The formless one is the eternal, irreplaceable truth,

Attempt not to describe him by hearsay (rumored) knowledge.

If it pleases him, he in his grace will reveal himself.

Were I to be shredded & grounded like grain in a mill;

Were I to burnt in a fire & dissolve with ashes;

I would still not be able to measure thy greatness,

Nor signify the glory of thy name!

Were I to fly like a bird to a hundred heavens;

Were I to vanish from the human form at will

And could live without food & drink;

I would still not be able to measure thy greatness,

Nor signify the glory of thy name!

Had there been ton upon ton of paper,

And had I absorbed the wisdom of volumes without count;

If I had supply of ink inexhaustible & I could write

With the speed of the wind;

I would still not be able to measure thy greatness,

Nor signify the glory of thy name!

Thereupon, the voice spoke: “Nanak, you are my will”. Nanak ji recited what became the preamble of the first sikh prayer – JAPJI SAHEB JI.

The voice was heard again: “Who is just in his (nanak’s) eyes, shall so be in mine. He, who received his grace, shall abide in me. My name is the SUPREME LORD; his name is the DIVINE GURU”

Then says the janamsakhi , the order was given to the ministers that they should take Guru Nanak back to the ferry. Guruji took abode in the jungle & continued in unbroken silence. When he spoke the following day, the first words he uttered were, “There is no Hindu & there is no Musalman”

This is how Japji Saheb ji originated.