Sikhism is one of the world’s youngest major religions. Founded in the 16th century, there were 10 human gurus starting with Guru NanakThe young Nanak had God realization at an early age and did not want to accept the custom of the sacred thread given in childhood ceremonies. He spent his life trying to spread the message of One God among both Hindus and Muslims. and ending with Guru Gobind Singh. After Guru Gobind Singh, the words of the Gurus live on in the sacred book of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib.

The Guru Granth Sahib primarily includes the writing of the Sikh gurus as well as other spiritual contempories of the time such as Kabir and other Hindu and Muslim saints. Japji Sahib is the primary prayer and summarizes the philosophy of the Sikhs.

The compilation itself was begun by Guru Arjan DevThe 5th Guru and completed by Guru Gobind SinghThe 10th and final Guru.. Many of the other Sikh writings on yoga, etc. were lost after a battle, but the Guru Granth Sahib was preserved.

Though Guru Nanak was not a scholar and may not have known of various scriptures, it extolls the key pointsPauri 4 and Bhagavad Purana 12.3.52, wake up at the ambrosial hour (2 hours before dawn) and worship/praise the Divine. Pauri 21 and Bhagavad Purana 12.3.48 - pilgrimmage, austerities, compassion, and charity give less merit than cleansing the heart. of many previous works of sanātana dharma.

It is one of the only religious texts that was directly composed and curatedFor instance, the Bible was not composed by Jesus nor the Quran by Muhammad. by the founders, so it is a direct lineage of the words and teaching given that we can understand the meaning of the poetry.There are words from urdu, sanskrit, and punjabi. Not only has language changed in 400 years, it is written as poetry and could allude to multiple meanings.

The author has attempted an independent translation while preserving both the meaning and the rhyme. Any errors are their own. For those interested, the following synopsisOriginally found at kundalini-khalsa. has other translations of Japji Sahib.