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Library Guru Nanak

Written work · Essential works

Asa di Var (Ballad in raga Asa)

ਆਸਾ ਦੀ ਵਾਰ

Guru Nanak en un mural del gurdwara Baba Atal Rai
byGuru Nanak

A var or heroic ballad in twenty-four stanzas by Nanak, interspersed with saloks by him and by Guru Angad, sung every dawn in gurdwaras. It criticises the religious hypocrisy of brahmins and qadis, the sacred thread, the notion of impurity and the arrogance of power; in one of its saloks it defends the dignity of woman, from whom kings are born. It is one of the central pieces of Sikh liturgy.

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Editions and translations · 4

Englishpa

Authorship note

A composition by Guru Nanak preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604 from manuscript books handed down by the gurus; the attribution is marked by the heading "Mahala 1" ("first guru"). It is among the most secure attributions in Indian devotional literature.

Editions and translations

Editions in your language first, without hiding the others. Each with its cover and its store.

English

  • Āsā dī vār

    Prakash Books, 2009

    Translation: Maneshwar S. Chahal

    ISBN 9788172342968

  • Guru Nanak's Asa di Var

    South Asia Books, 1997

    Translation: G. S. Randhawa

    ISBN 9780836459548

  • Sacred Asa Di Var

    South Asia Books, 1992

    Translation: H. S. Doabia

    ISBN 9788172050689

pa

Other works by Guru Nanak

Sources

  • Srī Gurū Granth Sāhib (Ādi Granth). Compilado por Guru Arjan en 1604; recensión de Damdama, 1706. Edición estándar de 1.430 páginas (ang). Trad. inglesa de Manmohan Singh, 8 vols. Amritsar: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, 1962-1969.

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