The Indescribable State of Faith — Japji Sahib (Paurī 12)

Based on Maskeen Ji’s Discourse on Japji Sahib

Introduction

In the Japji Sahib, Guru Nanak Dev Ji unveils step by step the path of spiritual awakening. After four pauris on suṇīai (listening), he now turns to four pauris on manne (acceptance, faith, surrender).

Listening is the doorway, but it is not the destination. Words enter the ears of all, yet not everyone is transformed. The difference lies in acceptance—when what is heard is received into the heart, trusted, and lived.

Pauri 12, the first of the manne series, begins with an astonishing declaration: the state of the faithful cannot be described. Neither words, nor writing, nor even oceans of ink can capture it. Faith connects us to the Formless, the Inexpressible, the Infinite—and thus, the fruit of faith is also beyond expression.

Maskeen Ji’s commentary on this pauri draws from Gurbani, the writings of saints, and his own insight to reveal why manne (faith) is so central and why its greatness defies language.

From Listening to Acceptance

Guru Nanak Dev Ji structures Japji Sahib with deep precision. After four pauris on listening, he now offers four on acceptance. Why? Because listening without acceptance is incomplete.

Maskeen Ji says: listening is fruitful only when it leads to acceptance. “Jinī suṇ ke mannīā, hau tin balhāre jāu” — I am a sacrifice to those who listened and then accepted. Singing and listening to the Divine Word is accepted only when it is received into the heart. Otherwise, listening remains empty noise, like words floating in the air without taking root.

Thus, Guru Ji now shifts our attention: from hearing to surrender, from exposure to assimilation.

The Indescribable State of the Faithful

manne kī gat kahī na jāi
The state of the faithful cannot be described.

Maskeen Ji reflects: acceptance of God requires tremendous courage. God is without form, caste, lineage, or worldly evidence. His presence has no visible proof, no shape, no color. To accept such a Being demands not logic but deep faith.

In worldly life, we first see and then believe. But in the spiritual realm, the order is reversed: first comes listening and believing, and only then does vision appear. Faith precedes sight.

Bhagat Kabir says: “Bin dekhe upjai na āsa” — without seeing, no desire arises. Our worldly desires are tied to visible things: we see beauty and long for it, we see wealth and desire it, we see food and hunger for it. But to long for the Invisible, to yearn for the Formless—this requires profound inner devotion.

That is why Guru Nanak declares: the state of one who accepts cannot be described. It is beyond human language. The faithful one has stepped into a mystery words cannot contain.

The Futility of Description

je ko kahai pichai pachuṭāi
Whoever tries to describe it later regrets, for it cannot be fully expressed.

If anyone attempts to describe the greatness of one who accepts, he later realizes the inadequacy of his words. The true state of faith slips away from language, leaving the speaker unsatisfied.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji echoes this in Jaap Sahib: “Kahaa nām tā ko kahā kai kahāvae, kahā mai bakhāno kahe moh na āvae” — His greatness does not come into my speech, nor into my description. Words are too small to hold Him.

Faith connects us to the Infinite, and the Infinite cannot be confined to human categories. The attempt to describe it reveals its depth but also exposes the limitations of language.

No Pen, Paper, or Writer Can Capture It

kāgad kalam na likhaṇhār
No paper, pen, or writer can record its depth.

manne kā bah karan vīcār
Even if all writers sit together to describe the faithful, they cannot express it.

Writers and scholars hold high honor in the world. With pen and paper, they preserve ideas, arrange philosophies, and express visions. Yet Guru Nanak declares: there is no paper vast enough, no pen capable enough, no writer skilled enough to describe the state of one who accepts.

Maskeen Ji recalls Bhagat Kabir’s verse:
“Kabir sāṭ samund mas karū, kalam karū ban rāi, basadā kāgad jo karū, to har jas likhan na jāi.”
If the seven oceans were ink, all the forests pens, and the earth paper, still the glory of God cannot be written.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji extends this image: even if all continents became paper, seven seas ink, all vegetation pens, Saraswati the goddess of speech the speaker, and Ganesh the writer—still not even a fraction of God’s greatness could be expressed.

If the Infinite cannot be described, then how can the greatness of the one who accepts the Infinite be captured? Even accepting a mustard seed’s worth of the Divine—“Kinakā ek jis jīa basāva-e, tā kī mahimā ganī na āva-e” — cannot be measured.

Thus, Guru Ji says, even if writers gather and reflect, they cannot capture it. The faithful dwell in a reality beyond words, beyond books, beyond the grasp of intellect.

The Stainless, Unstained One

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

Niranjan comes from anjan (kohl, dark stain). Nir-anjan means free of stain, untouched by impurity. God is present in all places, yet remains unstained.

Maskeen Ji illustrates: God dwells even in the thief but is not a thief; in the liar but is not a liar; in the corrupt but is not corrupt. He pervades all, yet is detached.

The sun’s rays touch fragrant flowers and foul filth alike, yet they do not become fragrant or foul. The sun remains untouched, pure. So too, God is everywhere but remains beyond all.

Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji says: “Sarab nivāsi sadā alepā” — He resides in all, yet remains detached. Guru Gobind Singh Ji compares Him to fragrance in a flower—pervading every petal, yet not visible—or to a reflection in a mirror—fully present, yet intangible.

Thus, the Divine Name is pure, stainless, untouched.

Known Only Through Acceptance

je ko mann jāṇai man koi
Only that rare one who accepts it with faith can truly know it.

The secret of God’s stainless presence cannot be grasped by reasoning or writing—it can only be known through acceptance. Faith opens the heart to the Formless. Without faith, all attempts to understand remain external. With faith, knowledge becomes direct, living, experiential.

Maskeen Ji concludes: this is why Guru Nanak says the state of one who accepts cannot be described, for it belongs to the realm of realization, not explanation. Only the one who accepts can truly know.

Reflections on Faith in Daily Life

The teaching of Pauri 12 is not abstract; it has deep implications for our daily lives. Faith here is not blind belief, but courageous trust. It is the willingness to accept what the eyes cannot see but the soul feels.

• In relationships, faith allows us to trust and love beyond appearances.
• In struggle, faith allows us to walk without seeing the entire path.
• In spirituality, faith allows us to accept the formless Presence and be transformed by it.

Listening prepares us, but acceptance roots us. Listening is exposure; acceptance is surrender. And it is in surrender that transformation blossoms.

Conclusion

Pauri 12 of Japji Sahib is Guru Nanak’s declaration that the fruit of acceptance (manne) lies beyond the reach of words. The faithful one’s state is indescribable, immeasurable, untouched by pen or paper.

Why? Because faith connects us to the Infinite, the Niranjan, the stainless One who pervades all yet remains untouched. Such a mystery cannot be captured—it can only be lived.

Thus Guru Ji affirms: only the one who accepts truly knows. The call of this pauri is an invitation to move beyond mere hearing into trusting, beyond information into transformation. To accept God is to step into a bliss, purity, and mystery that no words can contain.