GŪJARĪ KĪ VĀR, a composition in the form of folk balladry or a vār, by Gurū Arjan included in the Gurū Granth Sāhib under Gūjarī rāga, one of the thirty-one musical measures into which hymns in the Scripture are cast. The poem comprises twenty-one pauṛīs or stanzas, with two ślokas preceding each. The pauṛīs as well as the ślokas are of the composition of Gurū Arjan. Whereas all the pauṛīs, except the 20th which comprises five lines, are of eight lines each, the ślokas except those preceding pauṛī 1 and 20 and the first of the two ślokas added to pauṛī 2, are of two lines each. Unlike most of the other Vārs in the Gurū Granth Sāhib which were composed in pauṛīs alone and to which ślokas by different Gurūs were added by Gurū Arjan at the time of compilation of the Scripture, this Vār seems to have been composed originally in its present order.

         The Vār lauds the God Almighty who is the Creator of all that exists. This universe is not only His creation, but also true like its Creator (1). All beings, all gods and goddesses and all scriptures sing His praises (2). Man must not forget even for a moment the Supreme Lord (4). A person whom He makes the object of His grace lives under the guidance of the true Gurū, thereby annulling his duality. All his doubts and sorrows cease and he so attunes himself to His will that he attains liberation while still living in this world. He overcomes his ego and remembers Him in the company of the holy under the guidance of the Gurū. But this becomes possible for man only through His grace (6). Man must seek the protection of the True Lord whose Will is supreme in the world. Men are prey to the Five Evils which not even ascetics and yogīs are able to repel. It is only the True Lord who helps one overcome these (15). Those who remember Him will be saved. The ego-ridden suffer on the wheel of transmigration (20). He who meditates on His Name attunes himself to His Will and attains liberation (21).