INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

eading of the Sikh supplication. The kirtan of Asa di Var usually starts at 6 in the
morning and takes up to two hours to complete, depending upon how the main ragi
will punctuate the singing with verbal expositions of the ballad. As one performer
emphasized, it is the ragis duty to explicate the semantic content of Asa di Var to the
audience and simultaneously sing the stanzas in a mode that will generate enthusiastic
moods:
Through Asa di Var Guru ji has given us a teaching. We try to make the
sangat realize that they are lucky that they have come to the shelter of
the Guru and the benefits they gain from the being a congregation of
the Guru. We try to sing Asa di Var in a challenging way, give people
the feeling of excitement (josh ras) that will make them understand the
Guru’s teaching.
To satisfy the semantic and aesthetic aspects in performance the ragi will divide the
compositions into six “sets” or sextets (chakkas) in each of which four stanzas of Asa di
Var is melodiously sung. In addition the performer will prelude each stanza with a
separate quatrain in the metre of chhand, written by Guru Ramdas and derived from
another location in Guru Granth Sahib. Chhand is a popular folk metre which means
“praise” and thus signifies sacred hymns which carries praises of God. 511 The twentyfour
quatrains of Guru Ramdas are used to glorify and epitomize the essence of the
twenty-four stanzas of Asa di Var in which Guru Nanak teaches on the state of humans
and how to conquer vices and seek liberation and union with God. The first
“set” of a performance will therefore begin with the first quatrain by Ramdas and the
first stanza of Asa di Var, followed by the second quatrain and stanza, in the same
order until four sets of verses are completed. He will follow this pattern of stratifying
singing sets of four quatrains and stanzas until all of the twenty-four stanzas are
completed. To optimize and illustrate central ideas and meanings of Asa di Var the
ragi will further interpose the singing with other shorter hymns from the Guru
Granth Sahib after each completed set (See Figure 19). These accompanying hymns
are chosen freely and provide the performer an opportunity for exegesis. A local ragi
said he often selected gurbani verses which praise the grandeur (mahima) of God and
treat the theme of darshan, or auspicious sight, which in this context was explicated as
the favourable appropriation of knowledge through the Gurus’ teaching that will
grant success. In a similar fashion, the ragi may bring into focus a specific topic for
interpretation of Asa di Var in order to clarify subtler meanings and generate an expanding
process of change in the thoughts of listeners. The musical components may
also vary. Although Asa di Var is based on Rag Asa, the composition can be performed
in other ragas ascribed the capacity to evoke the right mood in the morning hours.
The ragis in Varanasi used to alternate the morning ragas Asa, Bilawal, Todi and Bhairo.
511
The quatrains used for Asa di Var performances are written in Rag Asa on page 448 ‒ 451 in the
Guru Granth Sahib.
294
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008