Was Guru Angad Dev Ji the incarnation of King Janak?

In Gurbani the following line appears:

ਤੂ ਤਾ ਜਨਿਕ ਰਾਜਾ ਅਉਤਾਰੁ ਸਬਦੁ ਸੰਸਾਰਿ ਸਾਰੁ ਰਹਹਿ ਜਗਤ੍ਰ ਜਲ ਪਦਮ ਬੀਚਾਰ ॥

If we take the conventional translation of this line it looks like this:

You are the incarnation of King Janak; the contemplation of Your Shabad is sublime throughout the universe. You abide in the world like the lotus on the water.

Therefore, many people come to the conclusion that the Second Guru was the incarnation of Raja Janak or King Janak.

Who was Raja Janak?

Raja Janak is recognized in history as being a spiritual and just king. He is the father of Sita, the wife of the Hindu god Raam. According to Bhai Gurdas Ji, King Janak was a great Bhagat and within Maya he remained free of its influence:

ਭਗਤੁ ਵਡਾ ਰਾਜਾ ਜਨਕੁ ਹੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਮਾਇਆ ਵਿਚਿ ਉਦਾਸੀ ।

The story goes that when Raja Janak died, on his way to Dev Lok (the world of the gods) he heard the cries of people in hell. He asked Dharam Raj to free them from hell. Dharam Raj told him that he could not do that as he was just a servant of Akaal Purakh. Raja Janak then offered part of his own Bhagti to free as many people from hell that he could. When Dharam Raj took a small part of his Bhagti, the scales weighed so heavily that the entire population of hell was saved. Bhai Gurdas Ji mentions this in his Vaars:

ਪਾਸੰਗਿ ਪਾਪੁ ਨ ਪੁਜਨੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਉ ਅਤੁਲ ਨ ਤੁਲਾਸੀ ।

So one can conclude that Raja Janak was a great Bhagat and a very compassionate person, who offered his own good karams to free the people of hell, not being able to tolerate their pain.

Gurbani however, mentions that Gursikhs of Guru Nanak Sahib are superior even to the likes of Raja Janak. This is not meant to be an insult to Raja Janak who no doubt was a great being. This is meant to show the greatness of Guru Nanak Sahib and Gurmat.

Gurbani says:

ਹਰਿ ਕੇ ਸੰਤ ਜਨਾ ਮਹਿ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਤੇ ਜਨ ਊਤਮ ਜਨਕ ਜਨਾਕ ॥

Within the Sants (Gursikhs) of Hari, there is Har Har Gurmat Naam and for this reason, they are superior to Janak and likes of Janak.

So if the Gursikhs of Guru Angad Dev Ji are higher than King Janak, then Guru Sahib cannot be the incarnation of Raja Janak.

What does the above line mean then, if not to say that Guru Angad Dev Ji is the incarnation of Raja Janak? In order to properly translate this line we need to understand what the word Janak means.

Gurbani tells us what the word Janak means:

ਜਨਕੁ ਸੋਇ ਜਿਨਿ ਜਾਣਿਆ ਉਨਮਨਿ ਰਥੁ ਧਰਿਆ ॥

That person is considered ‘Janak’ who has recognized Vaheguru Akaal Purakh through Unman Smadhi.

So if we use this definition for the word Janak as it appears in the Gurbani line in question, the translation totally changes:

ਤੂ ਤਾ ਜਨਿਕ ਰਾਜਾ ਅਉਤਾਰੁ ਸਬਦੁ ਸੰਸਾਰਿ ਸਾਰੁ ਰਹਹਿ ਜਗਤ੍ਰ ਜਲ ਪਦਮ ਬੀਚਾਰ ॥

Guru Angad Dev Ji! Your Avtar is such that you are Janak (i.e. fully knowledgeable of Vaheguru). Your Shabad is supreme in the world. You live like a lotus in this world i.e. not influenced by the world.

The word Janak in this line cannot mean the King, because the there is no aunkar at the end of the word Janak. Whenever a noun (person, place or thing) appears in Gurbani, there will be an aunkar at the end of the name. In fact, the word Janak is an adjective for Raja in this line. Understanding Gurbani through grammar is important to ensure the correct translation of the Shabad is done.

References:

Singh, Bhai Kubir Singh, Gurmat Bibek

Singh, Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh, Gurbani dian Lagamatran