Sacred texts · Sikhism
55 Guru Nanak quotes from the Japji and his hymns
Guru Nanak (1469–1539) is the founder of Sikhism and the first of its ten Gurus. Born in the Punjab, he traveled widely, taught that there is one God beyond the divisions of religion and caste, and expressed that teaching in hymns, nearly a thousand of which are in the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs recite several of them every day.
This page gathers lines from the Japji, which opens the scripture, from the Mool Mantar and the Asa di Var, from the evening hymns and from his compositions in various ragas. They are quoted in Max Arthur Macauliffe’s English translation, from the first volume of The Sikh Religion (1909), now in the public domain, and each was checked word for word against scans of that edition. The references name the composition and the stanza, since Macauliffe gives no page (ang) numbers. Hymns by the later Gurus are on the Guru Granth Sahib quotes page.
Guru Nanak quotes from the Japji Sahib
The Japji, Guru Nanak’s great morning prayer, opens the Guru Granth Sahib and is recited by Sikhs at dawn. Its stanzas (pauris) praise the Name, the endless gifts of the Giver and the virtues to cultivate: contentment, modesty, divine knowledge, and the morning hour of meditation.
At the ambrosial hour of morning meditate on the true Name and God’s greatness.
The Giver giveth; the receiver groweth weary of receiving. In every age man subsisteth by His bounty.
Sing and hear and put His love into your hearts. Thus shall your sorrows be removed, and you shall be absorbed in Him who is the abode of happiness.
My Guru hath explained one thing to me — That there is but one Bestower on all living beings; may I not forget Him!
Precious stones, jewels, and gems shall be treasured up in thy heart if thou hearken to even one word of the Guru.
By hearing the Name truth, contentment, and divine knowledge are obtained.
So pure is God’s name — Whoever obeyeth God knoweth the pleasure of it in his own heart.
What power have I to describe Thee? So lowly am I, that I cannot even once be a sacrifice unto Thee. Whatever pleaseth Thee is good. O Formless One, Thou art ever secure.
Numberless Thy names, and numberless Thy places. Completely beyond reach are Thy numberless worlds.
Men do not become saints or sinners by merely calling themselves so.
All virtues are Thine, O Lord; none are mine. There is no devotion without virtue.
There is no limit to His mercy, and to His gifts there is no limit.
Make contentment and modesty thine earrings, self-respect thy wallet, meditation the ashes to smear on thy body.
Make continence thy furnace, resignation thy goldsmith, Understanding thine anvil, divine knowledge thy tools, The fear of God thy bellows, austerities thy fire, Divine love thy crucible, and melt God’s name therein.
The Mool Mantar and the Asa di Var
The Mool Mantar, the creed that opens the scripture and recurs at the head of many sections, is quoted here as it stands before the Asa di Var. That morning ballad mixes stanzas and couplets on humility, mercy toward living things and honest work: make mercy your cotton, contentment your thread.
There is but one God whose name is true, the Creator, devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent, great and beneficent.
O man, if thou desire thine advantage, do good acts and be lowly.
Nanak, God having created animals taketh care of them all. The Creator who created the world hath to take thought for it also.
Let man show mercy to living things and perform some works of charity.
Pain is medicine, worldly pleasure a disease; where there is such pleasure, there is no desire for God.
Thou art the Doer, I do nothing; if I try to do anything, it cometh to nothing.
The tree which yieldeth sweet fruit is lowly, O Nanak, but its qualities and virtues are exquisite.
Make mercy thy cotton, contentment thy thread, continence its knot, truth its twist.
Nanak, it is only the fruit of what man giveth from his earnings and toil that shall be obtained in the next world.
Evening hymns: Sodar, Sohila and Arati
Sikhs recite Sodar in the evening and the Sohila before sleep. These hymns of Guru Nanak include his Arati, a vision of the whole sky as a ceremony of light: the sun and moon as lamps, the stars as pearls, the wind as a fan and the forests as flowers.
If I repeat the Name, I live; if I forget it, I die; It is difficult to repeat the true Name.
God dieth not, neither is there any mourning for Him; He continueth to give us our daily bread which never faileth.
They who eat the fruit of their labour and bestow some portion, O Nanak, recognize the right way.
In the house in which God’s praise is sung and He is meditated on, Sing the Sohila and remember the Creator.
Ever and ever living things are watched over; the Giver regardeth their wants.
So O Nanak, there is but one God, although His forms are many.
The sun and moon, O Lord, are Thy lamps; the firmament Thy salver; the orbs of the stars the pearls enchased in it.
The perfume of the sandal is Thine incense, the wind is Thy fan, all the forests are Thy flowers, O Lord of light.
One God in every heart, beyond caste
Guru Nanak rejected caste and outward show: God does not ask a person’s caste, and all creatures share one shelter. He also turned the seeker inward, saying the True One is not far away but in every heart, and the water of life is in the heart at home.
High or low caste influenceth not God when He maketh any one great. Greatness is in the hands of the Great One; He giveth to whom He pleaseth.
Castes are folly, names are folly: All creatures have one shelter, that of God.
What difference is there between a swan and a crane, if God look kindly on the latter? Nanak, if it please Him, He can change a raven into a swan.
Nanak, utter God’s name with a pure heart regardless of thy dress.
If a beggar at God’s gate cry aloud, God heareth him in His palace.
God knoweth man’s virtues and inquireth not his caste; in the next world there is no caste.
Search not for the True One afar off; He is in every heart, and is known by the Guru’s instruction.
Behold Him without thee as He is within thee; there is none other. Under the Guru’s instruction regard all men as equal, since God’s light is contained in the heart of each.
By searching abroad thou shalt suffer much affliction; the water of life is in thy heart at home.
Wherever I look there is God; no one else is seen.
Why should I go searching in the wood? My heart is a verdant forest.
Love, truth and contentment
The last group gathers Guru Nanak’s images of devotion: love like the lotus’s for the water, a heart that sings God’s name with every breath, birds that carry no money and still are fed. Truth stands above everything, and true living above truth spoken.
Inform God, with whom resteth happiness, of thine unhappiness. Why forget Him who owneth thy soul and life?
They in whose hearts God dwelleth are without fear, and great shall be their gain by repeating His name.
Persuade thy heart to sing God’s name with every breath thou drawest.
They who consider happiness and misery the same, and know the secret of the Word shall be happy.
O man, entertain such love for God as the lotus hath for the water. Such love doth it bear it, that it bloometh even when dashed down by the waves.
Everything is inferior to truth; the practice of truth is superior to all else. Call every one exalted; let no one appear to thee low.
Birds have no money in their possession: They only depend on trees and water. God is their Giver.
Make wisdom thy mother, contentment thy father, Truth thy brother — this is best.
The precious jewel, for which men go on pilgrimages, Dwelleth within the heart.
Were I to become a fish and dwell in the water, I should still remember Him who watcheth over all animals.
As Thou keepest me so I live; I endure woe and weal as Thou bestowest them.
God is near, think Him not distant; He ever careth for and remembereth us. Eat what He giveth, said Nanak verily.
I have searched in every direction, but found no friend. If it please Thee, O Lord, Thou art mine and I am Thine.
How to read Guru Nanak’s hymns
The Japji is traditionally recited in the early morning, and its first group of lines works well as a start to the day: read one stanza slowly, or keep a single line, such as the one on the ambrosial hour. The evening hymns suit the end of the day, the Arati especially, if you can read it outside under the sky.
Macauliffe’s English is archaic, and “Nanak” often appears in a line because the Guru signed his hymns with his name. For the full meaning, Sikhs read and sing the Gurmukhi original; a translation is a door, not a substitute.
In the Selfia app, the Sikhism path (Settings › Spirituality) adds passages from the Guru Granth Sahib in a separate section.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Mool Mantar?
The Mool Mantar, the “root formula,” is the opening statement of the Guru Granth Sahib, composed by Guru Nanak. It sums up the Sikh understanding of God: one, whose name is true, the Creator, without fear and without enmity, timeless, unborn and self-existent, known by the Guru’s grace. Macauliffe’s rendering is the first line of the second group on this page.
What is the Japji Sahib?
The Japji is Guru Nanak’s best-known composition and the first text of the Guru Granth Sahib: an opening, thirty-eight stanzas (pauris) and a closing couplet. Sikhs recite it every morning as part of their daily prayers. It speaks of the Name, divine order, grace and the stages of the spiritual life.
What were Guru Nanak’s main teachings?
He taught that there is one God, present in every heart and beyond religious labels; that caste and outward ritual count for nothing before God; and that a good life joins remembrance of the Name, honest work and sharing with others. Those three are often summed up in Punjabi as naam japna, kirat karni and vand chhakna.