Asa Ki Var

Guru Nanak Sahib

This pauri (stanza), revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib, is accompanied by two saloks. The first salok, comprising four lines, describes the Divine-play (ras) in creation. This salok suggests that nature performs in the Divine-play in which parts of time and natural elements are characters. The second salok, comprising twenty-six lines, contains four parts. The first part constitutes a satirical narrative of a theatrical performance (ras lila) carried out by actors, performers, or street artists. The second part contrasts the life-play of servants of IkOankar (the Divine) and those of performers entangled in materialistic lifestyles. In the third part, the Guru contrasts desperate performers’ narratives with those doing service out of love for IkOankar. The fourth part satirically compares street artists’ dance rotations to repetitive devices rotating endlessly on their axis to demonstrate how many are trapped in seemingly endless cycles of earthly plays. This pauri reaffirms that to remember Nam in complete love and surrender is to be imbued with IkOankar.