Acceptance Beyond Obstacles — A Commentary on Paurī 14 of Japji Sahib

Based on Maskeen Ji’s Discourse on Japji Sahib

Introduction

In Japji Sahib, Guru Nanak Dev Ji presents the journey of the soul in systematic steps: first suṇīai (listening), then manne (acceptance), then bhakhia (articulation), and finally saram (discipline). After the four pauris on listening (8–11), Guru Ji gives four pauris on acceptance (12–15). These reveal what happens when listening matures into inner faith.

Pauri 14 is the third pauri on manne. Guru Ji here explains that acceptance of the Divine Name makes the seeker unstoppable: no obstacle can block the path, dignity becomes manifest, sectarian entrapments fall away, and true connection to Dharma is established.

Giani Sant Singh Ji Maskeen’s commentary on this pauri emphasizes the bravery of acceptance — to accept the invisible, formless, colorless God who cannot be seen by the senses or captured by imagination. Such acceptance requires courage, trust, and surrender, and its fruit is liberation in this very life.

The Courage of Acceptance

Maskeen Ji stresses that the act of acceptance (manne) is itself an act of immense bravery. To accept something that is unseen, without worldly proof, is a leap of trust.

• We easily accept what we can see: the sun, moon, earth, stars.
• But when told “God exists,” doubt arises: Hai ki nahīn? (Is He there or not?).

This hesitation shows that the human mind is quick to trust the world but slow to trust the Eternal. Doubts are like dust (mail) that settles on the heart, blinding it to truth. Guru Amar Das Ji explains:

“Sanse jiu malīn hai, kit sanjam dhotā jāe.”
(Doubts pollute the heart; with what discipline can they be washed away?)

Faith (manne) is the washing away of doubt. It is saying “yes” to the Divine even without proof. This leap transforms the seeker’s life.

No Obstacle Can Block the Path

manne mārag ṭhāk na pāi
By acceptance, obstacles and blockages do not hinder the seeker.

Maskeen Ji explains that once the Divine is accepted fully in the heart, the seeker walks with such strength that no inner or outer obstruction can permanently block progress.

What are these obstacles? They are both inner vices (anger, lust, greed, ego, attachment) and outer tests (criticism, failures, hardships). Normally, these block a person’s path. But to one who has accepted the Divine Name, these lose their power.

• Inner vices no longer enslave the mind.
• Outer events cannot derail faith.
• Even suffering becomes a passageway, not a blockade.

Guru Arjan Dev Ji writes:

“Bighan bināsan sabh dukh nāsan, satgur nām driṛāiā.”
(The Satguru implants the Name, which destroys obstacles and removes sorrows.)

Faith does not promise a life without problems, but it gives a soul-state where problems cannot stop progress. The Name clears the road, like sunlight dispersing fog.

Dignity Becomes Manifest

manne pat siu pargaṭ jāi
By acceptance, one’s dignity is revealed and one departs with honor.

“Pat” here means honor, integrity, spiritual dignity. When faith ripens in the heart, a person’s true worth becomes visible.

This is not worldly prestige but inner nobility:

• The way one speaks, others sense truth and calm.
• The way one acts, others perceive integrity and selflessness.
• The way one lives, others see sincerity without show.

Maskeen Ji explains that such dignity is not something one earns through manipulation or cleverness; it is the natural fragrance of a soul that has surrendered to God. Just as a flower does not announce its fragrance but still fills the air, so the faithful one’s dignity shines quietly but unmistakably.

In the ultimate sense, “pat siu pargat jāe” means that when the soul departs the world, it goes to the Divine Court (darbar) with honor, not in shame. A life of acceptance ensures a dignified exit.

Freedom from Sectarian Entrapments

manne mag na calai panth
By acceptance, one does not follow narrow sectarian ways.

This line strikes at the heart of ritualism and sectarianism. Maskeen Ji emphasizes: when a person accepts the Divine Name, he or she no longer gets caught in the rigidities of small groups, sects, or cults.

“Mag” means the broad spiritual path; “panth” here refers to small, exclusive, sectarian roads. A person of true faith does not reduce religion to labels or boundaries. Instead, their path becomes wide like a highway (shāh-rāh), open to all, big enough for diversity.

Guru Nanak condemned narrowness repeatedly:

“Panthā prem na jāṇīai, bhūlī phirē gavār.”
(The fool does not understand the path of love and wanders lost.)

True acceptance (manne) places a seeker on the path of universal love — beyond the limits of caste, creed, or sect.

Connection with True Dharma

manne dharam setī sanbandh
By acceptance, one’s life connects with the true Dharma.

Here Guru Ji explains that acceptance links the soul with the eternal Dharma — the cosmic moral order, the hukam (Divine command) that governs creation.

Without acceptance, human beings are driven by whim, ego, or sectarian rules. With acceptance, their lives align with the cosmic rhythm of truth, compassion, and justice.

Maskeen Ji says: a person rooted in faith does not constantly need to adjust or revise their values, because their choices are connected to what is eternal. Worldly laws need amendments; Divine Dharma stands timeless and unchanging.

The fruit of acceptance is therefore an anchored life — steady, ethical, consistent, and just.

The Stainless Nature of the Name

aisā nām nirañjan hoi
Such is the pure, stainless, unattached Name of the Lord.

The Divine Name is niranjan — unstained, free of darkness (anjan), untouched by corruption.

Maskeen Ji explains with examples:

• God is present in the thief but not a thief;
• present in the liar but not a liar;
• present in filth but not filthy.

Just as sunlight touches fragrant flowers and heaps of garbage alike without being polluted, so the Divine is in all but remains pure.

Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji declared:

“sarab nivāsi sadā alepā”
(God dwells in all, yet remains ever detached.)

This is the mystery of God’s immanence and transcendence — He pervades everything yet is stained by nothing.

Known Only Through Personal Faith

je ko mann jāṇai man koi
Only the one who accepts in the heart can truly know this.

Divine truth cannot be borrowed. Just as one cannot drink water through another’s mouth or see through another’s eyes, so one cannot know God through another’s faith.

Maskeen Ji explains: outward wealth is visible — a mansion, clothes, lifestyle. Everyone recognizes it. But inward Divine wealth is invisible. Even close family may not see when God manifests within someone.

Examples:

• Guru Nanak’s father misunderstood him and even rebuked him.
• Lord Rama was sent to exile by those closest to him.
• Krishna’s uncle Kansa turned against him.

The treasures of inner acceptance are hidden; they are known only by the one who has tasted them.

Practical Relevance Today

This pauri is timeless but deeply relevant for modern life:

1. Obstacles and Stress: In a world full of anxieties, acceptance gives an unshakeable inner anchor. Problems no longer feel like final blockages.
2. Dignity and Integrity: In a society chasing image, acceptance grows inner honor that no slander can destroy.
3. Sectarian Divides: In an age of religious fragmentation, acceptance draws us beyond narrow “isms” into the universality of Dharma.
4. Ethical Anchoring: In a time where moral relativism confuses, acceptance ties us to eternal principles of truth and compassion.
5. Invisible Richness: In a culture obsessed with visible wealth, acceptance shifts the focus to invisible Divine wealth — peace, contentment, wisdom.

Conclusion

Pauri 14 of Japji Sahib is a hymn to the fearless dignity of faith. Acceptance (manne) is not passive belief but courageous trust in the unseen, formless Divine. Guru Nanak teaches that when the heart truly accepts:

• no obstacle can stop the seeker;
• dignity shines forth naturally;
• sectarian narrowness falls away;
• the soul connects directly with Dharma;
• and the stainless, pure Name becomes real within.

This reality cannot be borrowed, imitated, or faked. It can only be known by the one who truly accepts.

Maskeen Ji reminds us that acceptance is the leap of trust that transforms a listener into a knower, a knower into a lover, and a lover into one who walks free, unstoppable, and radiant with Divine dignity.