Opening Text of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Understanding The Mool Mantar

The Mool Mantar is the opening composition of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, encapsulated by Guru Nanak Dev Ji upon enlightenment. It expresses the foundational belief in One Supreme Reality that permeates all of creation.

Each word of the Mool Mantar reveals an attribute of the Divine Consciousness, guiding humanity toward spiritual awareness, truth, and universal brotherhood.

Ik

There is ONE (Ik) reality, the origin and the source of everything. The creation did not come out of nothing. When there was nothing, there was ONE, Ik.

Onkaar

When Ik becomes the creative principle it becomes Onkaar. Onkaar manifests as visible and invisible phenomenon. The creative principle is not separated from the created, it is present throughout the creation in an unbroken form, 'kaar'.

Satnaam

The sustaining principle of Ik is Satnaam, the True Name, True Name.

Kartaa Purakh

Ik Onkaar is Creator and Doer (Kartaa) of everything, all the seen and unseen phenomenon. It is not just a law or a system, it is a Purakh, a Person.

Nirbhau

That Ik Onkaar is devoid of any fear, because there is nothing but itself.

Nirvair

That Ik Onkaar is devoid of any enmity because there is nothing but itself.

Akaal Moorat

That Ik Onkaar is beyond Time (Akaal) and yet it is existing. It's a Form (Moorat) which does not exist in Time.

Ajooni

That Ik Onkaar does not condense and come into any birth. All the phenomenon of birth and death of forms are within it.

Saibhang

That Ik Onkaar exists on its own, by its own. It is not caused by anything before it or beyond it.

Gurprasaad

That Ik Onkaar expresses itself through a channel known as Guru and it is only its own Grace and Mercy (Prasaad) that this happens.

About the Mool Mantar

The Mool Mantar is the most important composition in Sikhism, reflected in the fact that it is the opening text of the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs believe that the Guru Granth Sahib is the word of Waheguru and is infallible.

The word "Mool" means "main", "root" or "chief", and "Mantar" means "magic chant" or "sacred verse". Together, they mean "Main chant" or "root verse".

The Mool Mantar is the first composition uttered by Guru Nanak Dev upon enlightenment at the age of about 30. It encapsulates the entire theology of Sikhism in a brief form.

It has religious, social, political, logical, martial, and eternal implications for human existence. It is a truly humanitarian and global concept of the Supreme power for all to understand and appreciate.

The rest of Japji Sahib is an elaboration of this main mantar, and the entire Guru Granth Sahib, spanning 1430 pages, is a detailed amplification of the Mool Mantar.