Aasaa Kee Vaar
In Plain Words
Aasaa means hope. A vaar is a ballad — the loud, marching kind. People once sang vaars about kings and their battles. Guru Nanak wrote this one, with some verses by Guru Angad, the second Guru. It is one of the most sung songs in the whole book, and people sing it together. Guru Nanak keeps the big brave tune and changes who it is about. The hero is not a king who wins a war. It is the One, and the bravest thing here is a heart that changes.
Contents
- Pauri 1A Good Teacher Makes Ordinary People Bright
- Pauri 2The Light That Matters Clears the Fog Inside
- Pauri 3Relying on Cleverness Leaves You Empty Inside
- Pauri 4The One Didn't Make the World and Leave
- Pauri 5Hold What's Real and You Become Real Yourself
- Pauri 6The One Is Great in the Ways That Comfort You
- Pauri 7The Whole World Is the One's Home
- Pauri 8Honesty Stands Firm Where Pretending Falls Apart
- Pauri 9Wonder Isn't Just for Pretty Things
- Pauri 10No Single Faith Owns the One
- Pauri 11A Life Chasing Only Pleasures Leaves You Empty
- Pauri 12The Universe Moves in Reverence; the One Is Fearless
- Pauri 13Real Wisdom Can't Be Bought; It's a Gift
- Pauri 14The Teacher's Best Gift Is Helping You Set Down Pride
- Pauri 15The Grandest Show Is Empty Without Understanding
- Pauri 16Real Devotion Isn't a Show but Quiet Love
- Pauri 17You're Already Given Life; So Use It Well
- Pauri 18Every Sincere Heart, of Any Faith, Longs to Love
- Pauri 19Every Body Returns to the Same Earth
- Pauri 20The One Is Reachable in the Light of Wisdom
- Pauri 21The Me-First Feeling Quietly Colors Everything
- Pauri 22Ego Is an Illness With Its Cure Hidden Inside
- Pauri 23Rest in a Forgiving One and Grow Forgiving
- Pauri 24No Outward Badge Matters Without Love in the Heart
- Pauri 25You Can't Earn Being Loved; Love Comes First
- Pauri 26The Deepest Truths Are Received, Then Lived
- Pauri 27Read a Library and Still Miss the One Thing
- Pauri 28Making Life Hard Doesn't Make You Good
- Pauri 29What Makes a Person Shine Is Love, Not Rank
- Pauri 30Don't Anchor Your Heart to What Washes Away
- Pauri 31Real Truth Is Lived, Not Won in Argument
- Pauri 32A Generous Heart Keeps the Quiet Joy of Helping
- Pauri 33Even in Hard Times, a Whole Seed Still Sprouts
- Pauri 34Everyone Thinks They're Right; Real Worth Is Weighed
- Pauri 35Rank and Power Count for Nothing in the End
- Pauri 36Why Some Hearts Turn Is a Mystery; the Door Is Open
- Pauri 37Hard Times Can Wake Us; Comfort Can Lull Us
- Pauri 38The Creative Power Has No Edge You Could Reach
- Pauri 39The One's Light Shines Inside Every Creature
- Pauri 40Goodness Is One Road, Open to Everyone Equally
- Pauri 41The One That Fills the Universe Is the Life in You
- Pauri 42Wisdom Steadies the Mind, but Wisdom Is Given First
- Pauri 43Being Smart Never Substitutes for Being Good
- Pauri 44Notice What's Holding Your Reins
- Pauri 45The Real Path in Every Age Is Devotion and Humility
- Pauri 46True Guidance Heals Your Sight and Carries You Across
- Pauri 47Better Sweet and Humble Than Tall and Impressive
- Pauri 48All the Holy Marks Are Empty Without the One Within
- Pauri 49Fine Things Get Left Behind; Only Actions Travel
- Pauri 50The Only Thread Worth Wearing Never Breaks
- Pauri 51A Symbol Can't Make You Good; Only Character Can
- Pauri 52The Thread of Real Honor Is Love and Truth
- Pauri 53Goodness Can't Be a Badge Given Only to Some
- Pauri 54The Good Life Starts With Grace Touching You
- Pauri 55Be the Same Person Inside and Out
- Pauri 56Fussing Over Rules Means Nothing If You're Unkind
- Pauri 57Even the Mightiest King Is Small Before the One
- Pauri 58You Can't Do Real Good With What You Took Wrongly
- Pauri 59Scrubbing the Outside Doesn't Make You Clean
- Pauri 60Nice Things Aren't the Problem; Forgetting Is
- Pauri 61The Idea That Things Defile You Collapses
- Pauri 62Real Impurity Is Greed, Lying, Envy, and Gossip
- Pauri 63The Only Real Impurity Is Forgetting the One
- Pauri 64Welcome Wisdom and the Unkind Things Leave
- Pauri 65What Comes Out of Your Mouth Matters More
- Pauri 66Every Person Is Born From a Woman; Honor Her
- Pauri 67Don't Call Anyone Bad, and Don't Puff Up
- Pauri 68The Words You Speak Shape You, Not Just Others
- Pauri 69Don't Judge Outside; the Plainest May Be Silk Within
- Pauri 70Life Is a Game; Play Your Turn Wisely
- Pauri 71Loving Only When Pleased Isn't Really Love
- Pauri 72Sweet to the Face, Rude Behind: False All Through
- Pauri 73Choose the Moves You Won't Regret
- Pauri 74The Same Deed: Spoiled by Show, Beautified by Humility
- Pauri 75What's Inside You Comes Out Anyway
- Pauri 76Closeness Comes When the Wall of Me-Versus-You Falls
- Pauri 77Closeness With the Shallow Is a Line Drawn in Water
- Pauri 78Wisdom in How You Do Things Makes Results Last
- Pauri 79Humility Multiplies Your Worth; Pride Throws It Away
- Pauri 80The Finest Gift Is Given Freely, Before You Ask
- Pauri 81Being Good Out of Fear Is Shallow
- Pauri 82Lives Differ; and the Maker Cares for Each
- Pauri 83Grace Can Make Any Life Beautiful
- Pauri 84When the One Is Everything, You Can Simply Rest
- Pauri 85After All the Words, the One Overflows Them All
Deeper
A Vaar is a heroic ballad — in Nanak's day, the genre sung to celebrate warrior-kings and their battles, to a martial tune (this one is set "to the tune of Tunda-Asraaja"). Guru Nanak takes that popular, rousing form and turns it on its head: the hero praised here is not a conqueror but the One and the True Guru, and the great victory is the transformation of a human heart ("He made angels out of men," P0).
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