Japji Sahib Pauree 32
- Jan 22
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 27
Japji Sahib Pauree 32
Original Gurmukhi
ਭਉਤਾ ਕਰਮੁ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਨ ਜਾਇ ॥
ਵਡਾ ਦਾਤਾ ਤਿਲੁ ਨ ਤਮਾਇ ॥
ਕੇਤੇ ਮੰਗਹਿ ਜੋਧ ਅਪਾਰ ॥
ਕੇਤਿਆ ਗਣਤ ਨਹੀ ਵੀਚਾਰ ॥
ਕੇਤੇ ਖਪਿ ਤੁਟਹਿ ਵੇਕਾਰ ॥
ਕੇਤੇ ਲੈ ਲੈ ਮੁਕਰੁ ਪਾਇ ॥
ਕੇਤੇ ਮੂਰਖ ਖਾਹਿ ਖਾਇ ॥
ਕੇਤਿਆ ਦੂਖ ਭੂਖ ਸਦਿ ਮਾਰ ॥
ਏਹਿ ਭਿ ਦਾਤਿ ਤੇਰੀ ਦਾਤਾਰ ॥
ਬੰਧਿ ਖਲਾਸੀ ਭਾਣੈ ਹੋਇ ॥
ਹੋਰੁ ਆਖਿ ਨ ਸਕੈ ਕੋਇ ॥
ਜੇ ਕੋ ਖਾਇ ਕਹੈ ਪਿਛੈ ਪਛੁਤਾਇ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਕਰਤੇ ਕੇ ਕਣਿ ਨ ਪਾਇ ॥੩੨॥
Transliteration
Bahutā karam likẖiā na jāe.
aḏā ḏāṯā ṯil na ṯamāe.
Keṯe mangaḥ joḏẖ apār.
Keṯiā gaṇat nahī vīcār.
Keṯe khap ṯuṭeh vekār.
Keṯe lai lai mukar pāe.
Keṯe mūrakẖ khāhi khāe.
Keṯiā ḏūkẖ bẖūkẖ saḏ mār.
Ehi bẖi ḏāṯ ṯerī ḏāṯār.
Banḏẖ kẖalāsī bẖāṇai hoe.
Hor ākh na sakai koe.
Je ko khāe kahai pichhai pachhṯāe.
Nānak karṯe ke kaṇ na pāe.
Straight Meaning (Sikh-accurate)
Guru Nanak teaches:
The Divine generosity is so vast it cannot be recorded.
The Great Giver does not hold back even a grain.
Countless warriors ask endlessly.
Countless beings cannot even calculate or reflect on these gifts.
Countless waste themselves in corruption.
Countless take and take and then deny receiving.
Countless fools consume endlessly.
Countless suffer hunger and pain without relief.
Yet all of this, too, happens within the Giver’s domain.
Freedom and bondage occur only by Divine Will.
No one else can declare otherwise.
Whoever tries to explain this will regret it.
Nanak says: no one can fathom even a particle of the Creator.
Sacred Commentary
Pauree 32 opens the doorway into Divine Vastness, not as a concept, but as an overwhelming, humbling recognition that existence unfolds inside a generosity too immense to comprehend.
“The Divine generosity cannot be written.”
This is not exaggeration.
Nanak is pointing to the infinite flow of life, breath, beauty, opportunity, and existence itself.
“The Great Giver holds back nothing.”
Creation is lavish.
Every moment is saturated with provision, seen or unseen.
Then Guru Nanak turns to the human condition:
Some ask endlessly.
Some cannot reflect.
Some waste themselves.
Some deny what they receive.
Some consume mindlessly.
Some suffer unbearably.
He is not judging.
He is naming reality with clarity and compassion.
And then the fierce line:
“This too is within the Giver’s domain.”
Meaning:
Life’s complexity, suffering, distortion, and imbalance
do not exist outside the Divine field.
They are still held, still contained.
This is not dismissal of suffering.
It is reassurance that nothing falls outside awareness or care.
Finally:
“Freedom and bondage occur within Divine Will.”
A reminder that control is an illusion,
and surrender is not defeat, but alignment.
“No one can fathom even a particle of the Creator.”
The mind bows.
The heart softens.
The ego loosens.
This pauree is the exhale of humility.
IFS Lens
Through the IFS lens, Pauree 32 illuminates the vast variety of inner parts:
Some ask and ask, protectors seeking safety.
Some cannot reflect, dissociated or overwhelmed parts.
Some waste themselves, burdened parts stuck in hopeless roles.
Some deny what they receive, mistrustful protectors.
Some consume endlessly, parts coping through distraction.
Some suffer relentlessly, exiles carrying old wounds.
Guru Nanak’s message mirrors the IFS truth:
All these parts exist within one system.
None are outside Self’s domain.
None are beyond compassion.
None are inherently “bad.”
Just as Divine generosity contains all these states,
Self-energy can hold every part without judgment.
“Freedom and bondage by Divine Will” resonates with:
And “no one can fathom even a particle” reflects
the mystery of transformation.
When a part softens, it feels miraculous
because the shift cannot be engineered, only welcomed.
Trauma-Informed Practice (Curiosity Only)
As you rest with this pauree, explore gently:
Is there a part of me that feels unseen in its suffering?
Is there a part that feels ashamed of taking and denying?
Is there a part that feels lost, wasted, or exhausted?
Is there a part that cannot reflect right now, and needs patience?
What happens when I imagine that all of this is still held with compassion?
Let all responses be valid, softening, tightening, confusion, stillness, nothing.
This is the practice.
Closing Reflection
Pauree 32 bows before the immensity of existence, its generosity, its contradictions, its sorrows, its abundance.
Nothing in you is outside this vastness.
No part is too confused, too hungry, too ashamed, too exhausted, too numb, or too wounded.
All of it is held.
All of it belongs.
May this pauree widen your inner sky.
May it soften the parts that feel small against life’s enormity.
And may it remind you
that you live inside a generosity
that is far greater than anything the mind can measure.
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