Asa di Var is a bani written by Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru. It is a collection of 24 paurees or stanzas and 59 sloks. It appears in the living Guru of the Sikhs, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib on pages 462-475. Asa Di Var is typically sung by Sikhs at Gurdwara in the early ambrosial hours of the morning. This hymn focuses on being eternally one with God. It is written with very simple wording so anyone can understand it, and recite it to praise God.
When Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Sikh Guru, was compiling Asa di Var, he added a few Sloks of Guru Nanak and some from Guru Angad, the second Sikh Guru. These Sloks are tied together in a way that they relate to the same theme as highlighted in the stanza (pauree). In its present form, Asa di Var contains a few more shabads, recited by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru.
Sikhs typically recite Asa di Var kirtan in the early morning hours in a very melodious musical style, as described by Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru—called “Tunde Asraje Ki Dhuni” after the name of the contemporary brave and pious king Asraj.
One Shabad often played from Asa Di Var is “Bhand Jameeai,” which honors women.
The theme of Asa di Var is “how to become a spiritual person”- a devta, “a spiritual being.” In it, Guru Nanak also warns against [religious] rituals. . . The most important thing is how to build up one’s character, and how to remove the obstacles that lay in the path of a disciple, the most important of which is the ego, selfishness or conceit.
In Asa Di Vaar, the Guru condemns pilgrimages to holy places as the way to find God. Instead Guru urges us to find God at home or within one’s own heart.
Sikhs believe that singing or listening to Asa Di Vaar brings clarity, peace and a state of bliss. Guru Nanak Dev enlightens us to give up lust, anger, greed, pride, and attachment by immersing themselves in the nectar, the Name of God.
Access Asa di Var in Gurmukhi and Transliteration and English
Listen to Asa di Var on YouTube
~Resources: Living Reality (1994) by Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, “Asa di Var” (SikhiWiki) and “Asa di Var” (Sikh Dharma International).
