by SS Tera Kaur Khalsa, Espanola NM
Winter 2012
Basant Ki Var, by Guru Arjan Dev, is the shortest of the 22 Vars (holy poems composed in the style or tone of odes) included in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Basant is the Punjabi word for spring, from which the musical measure (raga) of this Var derives its title. Basant Ki Var is an ancient seasonal raga of springtime and denotes prosperity. For this article, Tera Kaur shared her experiences of daily chanting this shabad.
1. How long have you been reciting the Basant Ki Var shabad? How often do you do it?
I have been practicing daily since January 1, 2011.
2. What inspired you to start this practice?
First, I always listen to whatever meditation or prayer comes to me. Maybe taking a course and a specific meditation is recommended or I’m reading the teachings or someone will speak of something they are practicing. For this one, SS Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur was sharing it as a New Years’ gift from the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanology. She had already been practicing it for two years.
In speaking with her, I felt its bounty and ability to have profound effects for the Guru Ram Das Center and anyone who practiced it. I wondered how it would affect the Guru Ram Das Center if many people recited it and how it would serve them individually. It felt right for me.
3. What experiences can you share doing this bani, specifically in relationship to prosperity and abundance in your life?
Siri Singh Sahib’s quote: “Anyone who sings this shabad will become rich beyond his dreams, even if it’s not in his destiny.”
When I began reciting the bani, I had no expectations of its effects. I was enjoying its beauty, the sound of its words and the flow of its rhythm. It felt good, sweet and easy. I enjoyed it. As with other prayers that I recite daily, I read the translation regularly to give me greater depth of its meaning. I will reread the translation over and over until I can focus on it and feel it. It’s an enjoyable process to me.
Eventually, the understanding and depth unfolds itself to you, for you. You also feel it, see it, and know it on many subtle levels. The subtleties are the many-faceted jewels, which each of us perceives in our own perfect frequency: acknowledgement of Self, of my Being, patience, clarity, seeing the cycle of a situation, seeing the history of a being, the connectivity within us all. For me, this is the “wealth beyond my dreams.”
Bringing Forth Abundance
“Meditate upon the Lord’s Name and blossom forth in green abundance.
By your high destiny, you have been blessed with this wondrous spring of the soul.
See all the three worlds in bloom, and obtain the Fruit of Ambrosial Nectar.”—Basant Ki Var
Meditate and focus; be mindful of the vibration of the Infinite Being, through which everything comes. All is known. Guru then grants me the gift. I have earned this gift, here it is, the opening of my being, my consciousness.
When I am graced to meditate beyond my mind on the wondrous Infinite Being, I do exist in abundance, as I am in that state of being. I can experience the complete consciousness of the creation through the three worlds of the negative, positive and neutral minds and I am granted the place of Bliss.
There is so much to enjoy in this bani. Guru Arjan tells us all of what there is and how the Infinite works. Living in the sangat, I obtain peace, my mind rests. I am surrounded by the consciousness of those committed souls who trust in the Infinite and in the words of the Gurus. He speaks of what is granted, the gifts, the blessings. Take yourself to that space and feel it, accept it and know it. It’s yours. Guru speaks of “those who meditate, listen and chant, those devotees are blessed and beautified.”
This is the prosperity. It’s granted in this bani. The wealth of consciousness is always there in the past, present, future. I see it as accepting the gift of consciousness, awareness, knowledge and experience of being me. The Siri Singh Sahib said, “Some day the day shall come when all the glory shall be Thine. People will say it is yours; I shall deny, not mine.”
Basant Ki Var (mP3)
Basant Ki Var Shabad (PDF)
About the Author
SS Tera Kaur Khalsa is an ordained Sikh Dharma Minister. She is an Associate Trainer in the Aquarian Teacher Academy with more than 40 years living a Sikh Dharma and yogic lifestyle. She is on the staff of Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanology. She is a mother, wife and grandmother living, teaching, and serving in the Espanola, New Mexico sangat.
