Understanding Japjee Sahib: The Essence of Guru Granth Sahib

Satjit Wadva

It is said that if you want to understand the whole of Guru Granth Sahib, you can do so by understanding Japjee alone, because Guru Nanak’s message was complete in Japjee itself. The rest of the Guru Granth Sahib is an interpretation, elaboration and explanation of Japjee Sahib. Japjee, the first composition of Guru Nanak, contains the most valuable and authentic expression of the divine experience he had when he went missing for three days. Japjee was his first utterance when he returned after his encounter with the divine. Japjee contains the gist of his entire journey through which he was transformed from a seeker to the enlightened master. It is a roadmap for those who wish to walk this path.

Satjit Wadva Understanding Japjee Sahib is an attempt to capture the essence of Guru Granth Sahib. The original script is presented in three languages to cater to the readers who do not know the Gurmukhi script. The translation is given in the poetic form to highlight the meaning rather than present a word-for-word translation. In addition, it is an attempt to dive deep into some very profound concepts to make it easy for the readers to grasp them and imbibe them in their day-to-day life.