Japji Sahib Pauree 26

Japji Sahib Pauree 26

Original Gurmukhi

ਆਖਣ ਜੋਰੁ ਚੁਪੈ ਨਹ ਜੋਰੁ ॥

ਜੋਰੁ ਨ ਮੰਗਣਿ ਦੇਣਿ ਨ ਜੋਰੁ ॥

ਜੋਰੁ ਨ ਜੀਵਣਿ ਮਰਨਿ ਨਹ ਜੋਰੁ ॥

ਜੋਰੁ ਨ ਰਾਜਿ ਮਾਲਿ ਮਨਿ ਸੋਰੁ ॥

ਜੋਰੁ ਨ ਸੁਰਤੀ ਗਿਆਨਿ ਵੀਚਾਰਿ ॥

ਜੋਰੁ ਨ ਜੁਗਤੀ ਛੁਟੈ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ॥

ਜਿਸੁ ਹਥਿ ਜੋਰੁ ਕਰਿ ਵੇਖੈ ਸੋਇ ॥

ਨਾਨਕ ਉਤਮੁ ਨੀਚੁ ਨ ਕੋਇ ॥੨੬॥

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Transliteration

Ākhaṇ jor chupai nah jor.

Jor na mangaṇ deṇ na jor.

Jor na jīvaṇ maraṇ nah jor.

Jor na rāj māl man sor.

Jor na surtī giān vīchār.

Jor na jugtī chutai sansār.

Jis hath jor kar vekhai soe.

Nanak utam nīch na koe.

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Straight Meaning (Sikh-accurate)

Guru Nanak teaches:

No one has the power to speak by their own strength,

nor the power to keep silent

No one has the power to ask or to give.

No one has the power over life or death.

No one has power over kingdoms, wealth, or influence.

No one has power over awareness, wisdom, or even deep contemplation.

No one has the power to escape the world by their own methods.

The One who holds all power, only That One sees everything as it truly is.

Nanak says: in this truth, no one is high or low.

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Sacred Commentary

This pauree is a humbling jewel, sharp, tender, and clarifying.

Guru Nanak is not stripping you of dignity.

He is freeing you from the burden of believing you must hold the universe together.

Every line is a gentle unhooking:

You cannot force your voice.

You cannot force your silence.

You cannot force giving or receiving, life or death, wisdom or transcendence.

Not because you are weak,

but because the ego was never meant to carry what only the Infinite can hold.

This teaching is not about helplessness;

it is about alignment.

When Nanak says “No one has the power,”

he is dissolving the illusion that spiritual progress, control, or worthiness come from effort.

The Divine current is the source of movement, rest, breath, awakening, everything.

And the final line is the release:

When all power belongs to the One,

hierarchy collapses.

No one stands above or below anyone else.

All are equally held, equally dependent, equally loved.

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FS Lens

In IFS, this pauree mirrors the moment when protectors realize:

They are not responsible for running the whole system.

Parts often believe they must control speech, silence, giving, receiving, safety, survival, success, failure, awakening.

Nanak’s words speak directly to those protectors:

• You do not have to force anything.

• You were never meant to carry this alone.

• Your job is not to manufacture wisdom or transcendence.

  
  

When parts understand that Self-energy — the Divine-like center within — is the natural holder of power, they soften.

They stop gripping.

They let breath back in.

And the final line, “no one is high or low,” reflects what happens inside

when protectors and exiles feel equally valued,

hierarchy dissolves, and the system becomes cooperative rather than competitive.

The pauree becomes a song of relief.

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Trauma-Informed Practice (Curiosity Only)

As you sit with Pauree 26, explore gently:

• Is there a part of me that feels it must stay in control at all times?

• Is there a part that feels afraid of letting go of power?

• How does it land to hear that I don’t have to force speaking, silence, wisdom, or escape?

• Is there a part that feels relief at this?

• Is there a part that feels threatened or skeptical?

  
  

Allow whatever comes, sensation, story, resistance, nothing at all.

Your system knows how to respond in its own rhythm.

This is the practice.

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Closing Reflection

Pauree 26 is the soft dismantling of spiritual strain.

It reminds you that you do not rise by effort,

you rise by alignment.

You do not speak by force,y

ou speak when the inner winds move you.

You do not awaken by grasping,

you awaken by being open to what already holds you.

May this pauree ease the protectors who try to carry galaxies.

May it give breath to the parts that fear losing control.

And may you feel the quiet liberation of knowing:

You were never meant to be the source,

only the vessel through which the Source flows.