Japji Sahib Pauree 2
- Jan 22
- 3 min read
Japji Sahib Pauree 2
The One Who Gives — The One Who Withholds Nothing • An IFS-Aligned Teaching
Original Gurmukhi
ਹਥਿ ਕਰਿ ਚਲਾਈ ਬਾਹੜਾ ਹਥਿ ਲੇਈ ਚੋਟ ॥
ਦਾਤਾ ਕਰੇ ਦਾਤਿ ਅਪਾਰੁ ॥
ਦਰਿ ਘਰਿ ਦਾਤਿ ਪਾਈਐ ਖਾਇ ਖਰਚਿ ਰਹਾਈਐ ॥
ਹੁਕਮੀ ਬਹਿ ਕਰੇ ਬਹੁਰਿਆ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਏਵੈ ਜਾਣੀਐ ਜੇ ਕਰਤੇ ਲਿਖਿਆ ॥੨॥
Transliteration
Hath kar chalaa-ee baaharraa hath lay-ee chot
Daataa karay daat apaar.
Dar ghar daat paa-ee-ai, khay kharach rahaa-ee-ai.
Hukmee beh karay bahuri-aa.
Nanak evai jaan-ee-ai je kartay likhi-aa.
English Translation (Sikh-Accurate)
By the One’s command, the winds and waters move.
By the One’s command, life is given and taken.
The Giver gives endlessly, beyond measure.
In the Divine Home, gifts are received, to be lived with, shared, and sustained.
All beings sit according to Hukam,
acting again and again as written into their nature.
O Nanak, know this:
everything unfolds as the Creator has inscribed.
Sacred Commentary
Devotional, Clear, Non-Didactic
Pauree 2 invites us deeper into the nature of Hukam, the cosmic rhythm introduced in Pauree 1.
If Pauree 1 dismantles the illusion of effort,
Pauree 2 dismantles the illusion of control.
Here Guru Nanak reveals a world that is not random,
not chaotic,
not cruel
but driven by an infinite generosity that pours through all things.
“Daataa karay daat apaar.”
The Giver gives endlessly.
This is not a metaphor.
It is a worldview.
Life itself is an act of generosity.
The breath that enters you,
the water that sustains you,
the abilities you carry,
he insights that arrive unbidden,
these are not achievements.
They are gifts.
Pauree 2 also speaks of the great truth no one wants to say aloud:
We receive what is given,
and we release what is taken.
Not because God is transactional,
but because life has a rhythm deeper than desire.
“Hukmee beh karay bahuri-aa.”
We sit where Hukam seats us,
we rise where Hukam moves us,
we act as our nature unfolds.
This is not fatalism.
This is devotional realism.
Your worth is not determined by how much you control.
Your life’s unfolding is not a punishment or reward system.
You are part of a cosmic choreography.
Pauree 2 is the balm for the parts of us that think they must earn every blessing,
deserve every suffering,
justify every moment.
Guru Nanak says:
The Giver gives because giving is Its nature.
You exist within generosity, not scarcity.
The IFS Lens
Self-Energy Without Forcing Belief
Different parts will hear Pauree 2 with different hearts:
A striving part may say: “If gifts are given, have I failed to earn them?”
A wounded part may whisper: “If everything unfolds by Hukam, why did I suffer?
A grateful part may soften: “I don’t have to fight for every breath.”
A skeptical part may tense: “I can’t accept a worldview that takes away my agency.”
All are valid.
All are welcome.
IFS teaches something that mirrors Pauree 2 beautifully:
Self does not perform.
Self receives.
Self does not grasp.
Self participates.
Self does not force outcomes.
Self flows with what arises.
Pauree 2 reframes the world as gift.
IFS reframes the psyche as inherently whole.
When these two stand beside each other, a deeper knowing appears:
You are not meant to wrestle life into submission.
You are meant to meet life with presence, receiving, responding, releasing.
────────────────────
Trauma-Informed Practice
Curiosity-Only, Non-Directive
If it feels comfortable, let your eyes soften or remain open.
There is no correct way for your body to be here.
Bring the heart of Pauree 2 into the room:
"Life unfolds through a rhythm of giving and receiving.”
Allow these words to simply exist beside you.
Notice what arises, a belief, a sensation, an emotion, or nothing at all.
Some people feel softness or gratitude.
Others feel resistance, confusion, or grief.
All responses are welcome.
Turn toward whichever part responds first.
Not to change it, only to be with it.
You may softly ask:
“How do you feel hearing this teaching?”
“What feels close, and what feels far away?”
If it feels safe, allow the part to express whatever is true,
through words, sensations, images, silence, or simple presence.
You may also explore gently:
“What is it like to imagine receiving without earning?”
No answers need to appear.
This is not a belief test.
It is an invitation to curiosity.
This is the practice.
────────────────────
Closing Reflection
Poetic, Grounded, Inclusive
Pauree 2 is the reminder
that you are not abandoned in a barren world.
You are held within a vast generosity
that flows through every breath.
Your life is not a ledger.
Your worth is not negotiated.
Your path is not punishment or reward.
You are a participant in a living, breathing Hukam,
a rhythm older than your fears
and wiser than your striving.
Let this Pauree rest in you like an ember:
You do not walk through scarcity.
You walk through gift.
Comments