Japji Sahib Pauree 35

Japji Sahib Pauree 35

Original Gurmukhi

ਪਵਣੁ ਗੁਰੂ ਪਾਣੀ ਪਿਤਾ ਮਾਤਾ ਧਰਤਿ ਮਹਤੁ ॥

ਦਿਵਸੁ ਰਾਤਿ ਦੁਇ ਦਾਈ ਦਾਇਆ ਖੇਲੈ ਸਗਲ ਜਗਤੁ ॥

ਚੰਗਿਆਈਆ ਬੁਰਿਆਈਆ ਵਾਚੈ ਧਰਮੁ ਹਦੂਰਿ ॥

ਕਰਮੀ ਆਪੋ ਆਪਣੀ ਕੇ ਨੇੜੈ ਕੇ ਦੂਰਿ ॥

ਜਿਨੀ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਇਆ ਗਏ ਮਸਕਤਿ ਘਾਲਿ ॥

ਨਾਨਕ ਤੇ ਮੁਖ ਉਜਲੇ ਕੇਤੀ ਛੁਟੀ ਨਾਲਿ ॥੩੫॥

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Transliteration

Pavaṇ gurū pāṇī piṯā māṯā ḏẖaraṯ mahaṯ.

Ḏivas rāṯ ḏu▫e ḏā▫ī ḏā▫iā kẖelai sagal jagaṯ.

Cẖangā▫ī▫ā buri▫ā▫ī▫ā vācẖai ḏẖaram haḏūr.

Karmī āpo āpṇī ke neṛai ke ḏūr.

Jinī nām ḏẖi▫ā▫i▫ā ga▫e maskaṯ gẖāl.

Nānak ṯe mukẖ ujle keṯī cẖẖutī nāl.

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Straight Meaning (Sikh-accurate)

Guru Nanak teaches:

Air is the Guru.

Water is the Father.

Earth is the Great Mother.

Day and night act as nurses

under whose care the whole world plays.

Our good and bad deeds are read

in the presence of Dharma.

Through our actions, we draw near or fall far away.

Those who meditate on the Name,

who labor with love and effort,

depart with radiant faces.

Nanak says:

many others are liberated along with them.

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Sacred Commentary

Pauree 35 is cosmic ecology and intimate spirituality woven into one.

Guru Nanak places the seeker inside a sacred family:

Air is the Guru.

Breath itself becomes the teacher.

Each inhale is wisdom,

each exhale is release.

Water is the Father.

Sustaining.

Steady.

Foundational.

Earth is the Mother.

Holding every step.

Feeding every body.

Bearing all without complaint.

This is not metaphor.

It is worldview.

You live inside a temple made of elements.

Then Nanak names a deeper truth:

Day and night are the nurses.

Time itself tends to the soul.

Life is not punishment.

It is learning, growing, ripening.

The next lines shift:

“Good and bad are read before Dharma.”

Not as moral judgment,

but as natural consequence.

The way a seed yields according to its nature.

“Through actions we come near or go far.”

Distance from the Divine is not imposed.

It is felt internally,

based on whether we are moving with

or against our own soul’s truth.

Then comes the blessing:

Those who remember the Name,

who apply themselves with sincerity,

leave the world shining.

And not just alone.

Their radiance frees others.

Spiritual work is never solitary.

Awakening ripples.

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IFS Lens

Through the IFS lens, Pauree 35 reveals a map of inner ecology:

• Air as Guru → Breath regulates the nervous system and soothes protectors.

• Water as Father → Flow, nourishment, emotional movement.

• Earth as Mother → Stability, grounding, containment for overwhelmed parts.

In IFS terms, the body becomes the healing environment.

Day and night as nurses reflect the nervous system’s cycles, activation and rest,

sympathetic and parasympathetic, each shaping the inner landscape.

“Good and bad counted in the presence of Dharma” mirrors Self-energy’s quiet witnessing.

Parts enact burdens, not sins.

Their actions bring closeness or distance, not to God, but to Self.

“Near or far by one’s own actions” becomes the emotional truth:

When parts harden, we feel far.

When parts soften, we feel near.

Meditating on the Name aligns with Self-led presence:

turning inward with reverence,

bearing difficulty with compassion,

laboring with care.

And the final blessing, that the radiant liberate others, reflects what happens when Self

leads.

Protectors soften.

Exiles unburden.

And the entire internal family rises together.

No part is left behind.

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Trauma-Informed Practice (Curiosity Only)

As you sit with this pauree, you might explore gently:

• How does my system respond to the idea that the elements are my teachers and caregivers?

• Is there a part that feels comforted by breath as Guru?

• Is there a part that feels far or near, and what does that distance feel like?

• What arises when I imagine my efforts leaving my system “radiant”?

• Is there a part that hopes others inside me might be freed when one part softens?

Let each response be valid.

Allow your inner world to guide its own pace.

This is the practice.

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Closing Reflection

Pauree 35 reminds you

that you are not alone on this path.

The air teaches you.

Water steadies you.

Earth holds you.

Time itself nurses you.

Your actions weave the distance or closeness you feel.

Your sincerity becomes light.

Your awakening becomes medicine,

not just for you

but for the entire constellation of parts within you.

May this pauree root you in the family of creation.

May your breath feel like a teacher,

your body like a home,

your effort like devotion.

And may your radiance free more than just yourself.