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Jaap Sahib is the morning prayer of the Sikhs. The Prayer or Bani was composed by the tenth Sikh Master, Guru Gobind Singh. This Bani is one of 5 Banis that a Sikh must recite everyday and is recited by the Panj Pyare while preparing Amrit on the occasion of Amrit Sanchar (initiation), a ceremony held to admit initiates into the Khalsa Brotherhood. The Jaap Sahib is chronogically the first Bani (holy hymn of Guru ) in the Dasam Granth, which is said to have been compiled by Bhai Mani Singh around the year 1734.(Cole, Singh 1995, p. 55). The Jaap Sahib is reminiscent of Japji Sahib, and is chronogically recited at second, in the daily morning prayer of a Sikh.
Jaap Sahib is made up of 199 verses and is the first Bani of the Dasam Granth (p. 1-10). The Jaap Sahib begins with "Sri Mukhwakh Patshahi Dasvee," "By the holy mouth of the Tenth King." This appears to be a specific saying to authenticate the writings of Guru Gobind Singh himself.
Macauliffe says, "The Hindus have a work enitled Vishnu Sahasar Nam, 'Vishnu's Thousand Names.' The Jaapji was composed to supply the Sikhs with a similar number of epithets of the Creator."
Jap is a Sanskrit word which means "to utter in a low voice, whisper, mutter (especially prayers or incantations); to invoke or call upon in a low voice.; ." The form of the word here is Japu, which makes it a noun, "meditation."
The immortal One is for Guru Gobind Singh sometimes the 'wholly Other,' far above human comprehension, before whom man can but bow again and again. As the succeeding waves of negative attributes roll on one may well wonder how there can be any communication with this inscrutable Being. The answer is, of course, that He of his grace has offered companionship to man, so that man does not have to understand, but only to accept and adore. Sikhism offers a new path of salvation in addition to the traditional paths of knowledge, work and devotion - the path of the Name, Naam. Meditation on the Name produces Wismad, wonder; and the object of such poetry as the Japp Sahib is the creation of the mood of aesthetic ecstasy: Sher Singh in the Philosophy of Sikhism writes: "It is the poetry and the music of the contents of the Granth revealing simple and direct truths which charm a reader of Gurbani...and can bring peace to the soul." "It is the aesthetical insight leading man through appearance to reality." Meditation on the Name is fundamental to Sikhism, and so in this opening hymn of the Dasam Granth, men are given a thousand names on which to meditate.
Jaap Sahib is made up of 199 verses and is the first Bani of the Dasam Granth (p. 1-10). The Jaap Sahib begins with "Sri Mukhwakh Patshahi Dasvee," "By the holy mouth of the Tenth King." This appears to be a specific saying to authenticate the writings of Guru Gobind Singh himself.
Macauliffe says, "The Hindus have a work enitled Vishnu Sahasar Nam, 'Vishnu's Thousand Names.' The Jaapji was composed to supply the Sikhs with a similar number of epithets of the Creator."
Jap is a Sanskrit word which means "to utter in a low voice, whisper, mutter (especially prayers or incantations); to invoke or call upon in a low voice.; ." The form of the word here is Japu, which makes it a noun, "meditation."
The immortal One is for Guru Gobind Singh sometimes the 'wholly Other,' far above human comprehension, before whom man can but bow again and again. As the succeeding waves of negative attributes roll on one may well wonder how there can be any communication with this inscrutable Being. The answer is, of course, that He of his grace has offered companionship to man, so that man does not have to understand, but only to accept and adore. Sikhism offers a new path of salvation in addition to the traditional paths of knowledge, work and devotion - the path of the Name, Naam. Meditation on the Name produces Wismad, wonder; and the object of such poetry as the Japp Sahib is the creation of the mood of aesthetic ecstasy: Sher Singh in the Philosophy of Sikhism writes: "It is the poetry and the music of the contents of the Granth revealing simple and direct truths which charm a reader of Gurbani...and can bring peace to the soul." "It is the aesthetical insight leading man through appearance to reality." Meditation on the Name is fundamental to Sikhism, and so in this opening hymn of the Dasam Granth, men are given a thousand names on which to meditate.
