bilāvalu mahalā 3 vār sat gharu 10
ikoaṅkār satigur prasādi.
āditvāri ādi purakhu hai soī.
āpe vartai avaru na koī.
otipoti jagu rahiā paroī.
āpe kartā karai su hoī.
nāmi rate sadā sukhu hoī.
gurmukhi virlā būjhai koī.1.
hirdai japnī japaü guṇtāsā.
hari agam agocaru aparampar suāmī jan pagi lagi dhiāvaü hoi dāsani dāsā.1. rahāu.
-Guru Granth Sahib 841
This composition, revealed by Guru Amardas Sahib (1479-1574 CE), is based on the seven days of the week. In it, the Guru imparts a distinct teaching for each day of the week. Through Sunday, the being is inspired to recite the Nam of IkOankar (the Divine). Through Monday, it is conveyed that Nam is received through the Wisdom (Guru), and it is through Nam that the being experiences IkOankar. Through Tuesday, it is expressed that IkOankar Own-Self creates worldly attachment, and Own-Self bestows awareness to the being. Through Wednesday, it is informed that the being receives honor by immersing in the Nam. Through Thursday, it is stated that all beings are created and supported by IkOankar. Through Friday, it is explained that without remembering the Nam, all ritual practices like observance of fasts lead to worldly attachment. Through Saturday, it is conveyed that self-centered beings deliberate on “auspicious” and “inauspicious” deeds and continue to live in illusion. At the end, it is concluded that only the beings who reflect on the eternal Wisdom are imbued with the love of IkOankar.
Commentary
Literal Translation
Interpretive Transcreation
Poetical Dimension
Calligraphy
This composition is set in the rag or musical mode of Bilaval. Bilaval is a rag of auspiciousness, happiness, accomplishment, and determination. In the compositions revealed under this rag in the Guru Granth Sahib, there is an ample description of the distinctive happiness experienced through union with IkOankar (One Creative and Pervasive Force, 1Force, the One), bringing ecstasy, joy, and bliss in life. The title of this composition, Var Sat, refers to its structure and form, a folk genre based on the seven days of the week. Guru Amardas challenges the widespread understanding that certain days are ‘auspicious’ or ‘inauspicious.’ Instead, he uses the calendar week to describe what we can practice, what habits we can make, and what deeds we can do.
In the first stanza, Guru Amardas says, Recite the Treasure of virtues within the heart. This alone is the rosary. The imagery of a rosary is common across religious traditions as paraphernalia used to practice remembrance, to recite the name of the One, and to pray. These rosaries are often seen as physical markers of ‘auspiciousness’ or religious piety and accomplishment. Here, the recitation of the virtues itself acts as the rosary. We are being asked to recite the virtues of the One. To practice this is to cultivate a kind of true auspiciousness within. We all have particular ideas about how to do recitations, chantings, or meditations, but things are simplified here. The internal rosary is not rote, nor physical or mechanical. We are pointed to the One as the Treasure of virtues and invited to think about whether we are actually treasuring those virtues within. Guru Amardas continues by invoking two more divine synonymous names: Hari and Suami. We can understand Hari as the all-pervasive One and Suami as the Owner—both refer to the unreachable, imperceivable, and boundless One. Hari points to the positionality of the One, the vastness of the One, and the things that cannot be fully understood, fixed, or evaluated. Suami points to an intimate relationship between the being and the One as the beloved Owner of all. It is as if Guru Amardas is asking us to hold both things in our hands—the vastness of the One, the incomprehensible One, and the One with whom we are intimately tied, the One with whom we are in constant relationship. The devotees of that One serve that One, whose feet we are urged to fall at. This stanza continues, I will become a servant of those servants! Whatever the cultural understanding of what to do on particular days is, Guru Amardas shows us that it is really about treasuring the virtues in our hearts. It is the virtues of the One that matter most.
Through Sunday, the first day of the week, Guru Amardas reminds us that IkOankar, the Creator alone, is the Primal Being. IkOankar, the Creator, is actively weaving the world’s warp and weft. It is not that the Creator created the world and abandoned it. Our world is constantly being created and permeated by the Creator. Whatever the Creator does, that is what happens. This is important because it subverts all notions of particular days or times of ‘auspiciousness’—regardless of the day, the time, the ritual—whatever the all-pervasive One does is what happens. What does this mean when we are going through hard times? When things are not going the way we had hoped they would? We learn that if we are imbued with the Nam (Identification with IkOankar), we always experience comfort. This is because when we Identify with the all-pervasive One, especially in difficult times, we find a kind of sweet steadiness. We also learn that it is the rare and Wisdom-oriented one who understands this. We cannot understand this intellectually. We cannot comprehend this through anything other than experience and emotion.
At the end of the stanza, Guru Amardas makes it clear—if we are going to do something personally or collectively, let it be developing this internal remembrance of divine virtues. Let us turn those virtues within our hearts like a rosary. Let us resolve the mystery of the all-pervasive One as both vast and intimately present within us. Let us start from the One, from the Creator. Will we treasure the virtues of the Treasure of Virtues as our rosary? Will we practice this recitation? Will we, through the guidance of the Wisdom, drench ourselves in the Identification?
In the first stanza, Guru Amardas says, Recite the Treasure of virtues within the heart. This alone is the rosary. The imagery of a rosary is common across religious traditions as paraphernalia used to practice remembrance, to recite the name of the One, and to pray. These rosaries are often seen as physical markers of ‘auspiciousness’ or religious piety and accomplishment. Here, the recitation of the virtues itself acts as the rosary. We are being asked to recite the virtues of the One. To practice this is to cultivate a kind of true auspiciousness within. We all have particular ideas about how to do recitations, chantings, or meditations, but things are simplified here. The internal rosary is not rote, nor physical or mechanical. We are pointed to the One as the Treasure of virtues and invited to think about whether we are actually treasuring those virtues within. Guru Amardas continues by invoking two more divine synonymous names: Hari and Suami. We can understand Hari as the all-pervasive One and Suami as the Owner—both refer to the unreachable, imperceivable, and boundless One. Hari points to the positionality of the One, the vastness of the One, and the things that cannot be fully understood, fixed, or evaluated. Suami points to an intimate relationship between the being and the One as the beloved Owner of all. It is as if Guru Amardas is asking us to hold both things in our hands—the vastness of the One, the incomprehensible One, and the One with whom we are intimately tied, the One with whom we are in constant relationship. The devotees of that One serve that One, whose feet we are urged to fall at. This stanza continues, I will become a servant of those servants! Whatever the cultural understanding of what to do on particular days is, Guru Amardas shows us that it is really about treasuring the virtues in our hearts. It is the virtues of the One that matter most.
Through Sunday, the first day of the week, Guru Amardas reminds us that IkOankar, the Creator alone, is the Primal Being. IkOankar, the Creator, is actively weaving the world’s warp and weft. It is not that the Creator created the world and abandoned it. Our world is constantly being created and permeated by the Creator. Whatever the Creator does, that is what happens. This is important because it subverts all notions of particular days or times of ‘auspiciousness’—regardless of the day, the time, the ritual—whatever the all-pervasive One does is what happens. What does this mean when we are going through hard times? When things are not going the way we had hoped they would? We learn that if we are imbued with the Nam (Identification with IkOankar), we always experience comfort. This is because when we Identify with the all-pervasive One, especially in difficult times, we find a kind of sweet steadiness. We also learn that it is the rare and Wisdom-oriented one who understands this. We cannot understand this intellectually. We cannot comprehend this through anything other than experience and emotion.
At the end of the stanza, Guru Amardas makes it clear—if we are going to do something personally or collectively, let it be developing this internal remembrance of divine virtues. Let us turn those virtues within our hearts like a rosary. Let us resolve the mystery of the all-pervasive One as both vast and intimately present within us. Let us start from the One, from the Creator. Will we treasure the virtues of the Treasure of Virtues as our rosary? Will we practice this recitation? Will we, through the guidance of the Wisdom, drench ourselves in the Identification?
