Japji Sahib Pauree 36
- Jan 20
- 3 min read
Japji Sahib Pauree 36
Tisai Tisai: Singing the One Who Is Beyond Song
Original Gurmukhi
ਤੀਰਥੁ ਤਪੁ ਦਇਆ ਦਤੁ ਦਾਨੁ ॥
ਜੇ ਕੋ ਪਾਵੈ ਤਿਲ ਕਾ ਮਾਨੁ ॥
ਸੁਣਿਐ ਮੰਨਿਐ ਮਨਿ ਕੀਤਿ ਭਾਉ ॥
ਅੰਤੁ ਨ ਪਾਵੈ ਕਥਨਿ ਨ ਜਾਉ ॥
ਜੇ ਕੋ ਕਹੈ ਕਰੈ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ॥
ਕਰਤੇ ਕੈ ਕਰਣੈ ਨਾਹੀ ਸੁਮਾਰੁ ॥
ਧੌਲੁ ਧਰਮੁ ਦਇਆ ਕਾ ਪੂਤੁ ॥
ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਥਾਪਿ ਰਖਿਆ ਜਿਨਿ ਸੂਤਿ ॥
ਜੇ ਕੋ ਬੁਝੈ ਹੋਵੈ ਸਚਿਆਰੁ ॥
ਧੌਲੁ ਧਰਮੁ ਦਇਆ ਕਾ ਪੂਤੁ ॥
ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਥਾਪਿ ਰਖਿਆ ਜਿਨਿ ਸੂਤਿ ॥੩੬॥
Transliteration
Tirath tap ḏa▫iā ḏaṯ ḏān.
Je ko pāvai ṯil kā mān.
Suṇi▫ai manni▫ai man kīṯ bẖāo.
Anṯ na pāvai kathan na jāo.
Je ko kahai karai vīcẖār.
Karṯe kai karṇai nāhī sumār.
Dhaul ḏẖaram ḏa▫iā kā pūṯ.
Sanṯokẖ thāp rakẖi▫ā jin sūṯ.
Je ko bujhai hovai saciār.
Dhaul ḏẖaram ḏa▫iā kā pūṯ.
Sanṯokẖ thāp rakẖi▫ā jin sūṯ.
Straight Meaning (Sikh-accurate)
Guru Nanak teaches:
Pilgrimage, austerity, compassion, charity
if someone earns even a grain of true honor from these, it is rare.
Listening, trusting, letting the heart fill with devotion
even then, the Divine cannot be fully reached or spoken.
Whoever tries to explain or reason it out
finds that the Creator’s works are beyond measure.
Dharma stands on the pillar of compassion,
held steady by the thread of contentment.
Whoever understands this becomes aligned with Truth.
Sacred Commentary
Devotional, clear, non-didactic
Pauree 36 is a return.
A gathering.
A deepening echo of the teachings already spoken.
Guru Nanak begins by puncturing spiritual pride.
Pilgrimages, austerities, charity, compassion,,
even these, he says, rarely yield true honor.
He is not dismissing them.
He is dismantling the illusion that spiritual effort automatically produces spiritual depth.
Then he returns to the living heart of the path:
Listening.
Trusting.
Letting the heart soften into devotion.
And even here, the Divine remains beyond grasp.
No one reaches the end
.No one captures the fullness
.No language completes the song.
This is not despair.
It is wonder.
It is the humility of standing before an Infinite that will never fit inside the mind.
Then Nanak speaks directly to the seeker’s impulse to analyze:
Whoever reasons, calculates, or measures
will still never contain the Creator.
Inquiry is sacred.
Thought is a gift.
But Reality exceeds all mental boundaries.
And then he names the architecture of existence:
Dharma is born of compassion.
Contentment is the thread that stabilizes all things.
He repeats this line like a heartbeat,
so it settles into the bones.
This repetition is the teaching itself:
Compassion and contentment are not virtues added to life.
They are the very structure of life.
Whoever understands this, not intellectually,
but inwardly, begins to live in Truth.
The IFS Lens
Where Sikh wisdom meets inner systems
Through an IFS lens, Pauree 36 mirrors the inner healing journey.
Pilgrimage, austerity, charity reflect the efforts parts make to earn worth, safety, or spiritual legitimacy.
Guru Nanak gently reveals that effort alone rarely brings true inner dignity.
Listening and trusting describe protectors softening enough to allow Self-energy forward.
Devotion arising in the heart mirrors what happens when parts finally feel safe enough to rest into connection.
“The Divine cannot be reached or spoken” reflects a core IFS truth:
Self-energy cannot be fully explained.
No part, no theory, no analysis contains it.
“Dharma is the child of compassion” mirrors how healing arises in IFS through compassionate presence, not force.
“Contentment holds everything together” reflects what happens when parts trust Self and the system stabilizes.
Pauree 36 becomes a map of inner transformation:
humility, compassion, contentment, trust, and the quiet emergence of coherence.
Trauma-Informed Practice
Curiosity only, non-directive
As you sit with this pauree, you might gently explore:
Is there a part of me that tries to earn worth through effort?
Is there a part that doubts listening and trust are enough?
What happens inside when I imagine that the Divine is beyond explanation, and that this is okay?
Is there a part that longs for compassion and contentment as guiding forces?
Is there a part that tightens around repetition, or one that feels soothed by it?
Whatever arises, hope, resistance, confusion, stillness, is welcome.
This is the practice.
Closing Reflection
Pauree 36 gathers many threads.
Effort is not the path, humility is.
Pride is not the offering, presence is.
Understanding is not the destination, alignment is.
And beneath everything, like the ground beneath our feet:
Compassion.
Contentment.
The quiet structure of Reality itself.
May this pauree help your parts release the pressure to perform.
May it remind them that sincerity matters more than mastery.
And may compassion and contentment become the ground on which your whole inner world learns to rest.
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