The Food of the Mind is Knowledge, The Distributor is Compassion – Japji Sahib (Paurī 29)

Based on Maskeen Ji’s Discourse on Japji Sahib

The Gradual Lifting of Consciousness

Japji Sahib is not a collection of random spiritual sayings—it is a carefully constructed path of elevation. Each of its 38 paurīs is like a step that gradually lifts human consciousness higher and higher. By the end of this journey, Guru Nanak Dev Ji takes the seeker to Sachkhaṇḍ—the realm of the Formless One.

In this 29th paurī, Guru Nanak Dev Ji focuses on the difference between outer rituals and inner discipline. He addresses the yogis, who in his time held great influence in India. They displayed external symbols—earrings, begging bowls, patched garments, ashes on the body, staffs in hand, and lived by strict communal rules. Their assemblies had unique practices: they prepared thick rotis mixed with ghee, ground into choormā, and shared it after blowing a horn. Eating together was considered part of their spiritual discipline.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji, in his deep wisdom, accepts their practice but gives it new direction. He tells them: “Yes, eat your choormā—but let your real food be knowledge.”

The Food of the Body and the Food of the Mind

The human being has two levels—body and mind. The body is material, made of the five elements, and it requires food made of matter—grain, lentils, water. The mind, however, is conscious, subtle, and luminous. Its nourishment is not grain but wisdom.

Maskeen Ji explains with clarity: Grain will never satisfy the hunger of the mind. And knowledge will never satisfy the hunger of the body. Each has its own sustenance. Just as the stormy waves of an ocean settle back into the calm sea, the restless mind too must settle back into the soul. Until then, it seeks fulfillment, and its true fulfillment is knowledge.

That is why Guru Nanak Dev Ji says:
“Bhugat giān – the real food is knowledge.”

Without grain, the body cannot live. Without wisdom, the mind cannot be content. A person who lacks inner contentment often tries to fill the emptiness with excessive eating. But food cannot fill the void of the spirit. Only knowledge can.

Joy as Nourishment

Maskeen Ji beautifully illustrates this with an example. Imagine a mother at her child’s wedding. Overjoyed, she runs about serving everyone, urging friends to eat. When someone asks her to sit and eat herself, she replies, “No, I am not hungry.” Why is she not hungry? Because joy itself has become her nourishment.

This is the secret: bliss reduces the need for food. Saints sitting in meditation for fifteen days or more emerge not weakened, but radiant. Their joy itself sustains them. Bliss is strength. Happiness is energy. Just as food brings satisfaction, wisdom brings a higher satisfaction that carries with it deep joy.

Thus, Guru Nanak Dev Ji teaches: The true feast is knowledge.

Compassion as the Distributor

But who distributes this food of wisdom? Guru Nanak answers: Compassion (daiā).

Knowledge locked within oneself is not true knowledge. True wisdom is shared. An artist shares art, a musician shares music, a wealthy person shares wealth, and a saint shares wisdom. The impulse to share arises only from compassion.

A miserly person may hoard his wealth, talent, or learning. But when compassion awakens, one feels that what one has must uplift others as well. That is why the highest charity is the gift of spiritual wisdom, known as nām-dān. Sharing wisdom is only possible when compassion flows.

Thus, Guru Nanak says: “Daiā bhaṇḍāraṇ – compassion is the distributor.”

The Inner Sound – Anāhad Nāad

In yogic assemblies, food was distributed after blowing a horn. Guru Nanak turns this image inward. He says: The true sound is not the horn outside, but the eternal sound resonating within every being—the anāhad nād.

This sound is the Divine voice itself. All tongues—human, animal, bird, insect—speak only through the One speaking within them. As Guru Gobind Singh Ji also expressed: “O Lord, You are the tongue of all tongues.”

When one hears this inner sound, one realizes the Divine pervades every heart. The entire creation vibrates with His melody.

The True Master – Āp Nāth

Among yogis, one was given the title Nāth (master), and others became disciples. Guru Nanak Dev Ji redirects their devotion: “O yogi, your true Master should be none other than the Divine Himself.”

Āp Nāth – the Self-Master, the One who holds all creation under His command.

The real Nāth is not a human leader but the Perfect One, in whose grasp the whole universe rests. To bow to Him alone is true surrender.

The Illusion of Powers

Many yogis sought supernatural powers—ṛiddhīs and siddhīs. These included becoming invisible, taking different forms, reading minds, or controlling others. Guru Nanak warns that these are not the fruit of spiritual practice but mere distractions.

Just as a scientist misuses knowledge to create destructive weapons, so too can a seeker misuse spiritual powers for ego and control. Guru Nanak reminds: “Ṛiddhīs and siddhīs are another flavor—they are not the taste of God.”

The true seeker must not be trapped in them. The real fruit of practice is remembrance of the Divine, not powers that inflate the ego.

Destiny: Union and Separation

Guru Nanak then gives deep insight into destiny. He says: Union and separation, gain and loss, joy and sorrow—all occur by Divine command. Families meet, friendships form, relationships arise, and later they break apart. This is not in human hands; it unfolds according to past actions and destiny.

“Sanjog vijog dui kār calāvah, lekhe āvah bhāg – Union and separation are the workings of destiny, governed by the Divine, according to the account of fate.”

Thus, one must see both union and separation as the will of the One.

The Final Obeisance

The paurī ends with a profound salutation:

Ādes tisai ādes – Obeisance, obeisance to That One.

Who is this One?

• Ād – the Primal beginning
• Anīl – stainless, untouched
• Anād – without origin, yet the origin of all
• Anāhat – beyond destruction
• Jug jug eko ves – through all ages, the same One form

To such an Eternal One alone should we bow.

Conclusion

Paurī 29 dismantles external ritualism and brings the seeker to inner realization. Guru Nanak Dev Ji tells the yogis:

• The true food is not choormā but knowledge.
• The true distributor is not ritual but compassion.
• The true sound is not the horn but the anāhad nād within every heart.
• The true master is not a yogi leader but the Divine Himself.
• The true fruit is not powers but union with God.
• The true understanding is that destiny governs union and separation.
• And the true obeisance is to the One Eternal Lord, unchanged through all ages.

In this way, Guru Nanak Dev Ji transforms the path of outer discipline into the inner discipline of the mind, directing humanity towards the eternal Truth.