ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BASANT K&#298 V&#256R</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279<i>BASANT K&#298 V&#256R</i>, by Gur&#363 Arjan, is the shortest of the twenty-two <i>v&#257rs</i>, i. e. holy poems composed in the style or tone of odes (<i>v&#257rs</i>, in Punjabi) or heroic ballads included in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Basant, Punjabi for spring, from which musical measure the <i>V&#257r</i> derives its title is, like Malh&#257r (the <i>r&#257ga</i> of the rainy season), an ancient seasonal <i>r&#257ga</i> - the <i>r&#257ga</i> of springtime.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Basant k&#299 V&#257r</i> comprises three <i>pau&#7771&#299s</i> or stanzas only, each <i>pau&#7771&#299</i> consisting of five lines. Like the <i>V&#257r</i> of Balva&#7751&#7693 and Satt&#257 and unlike any other <i>v&#257r</i> in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, this <i>V&#257r</i> does not have any <i>&#347lokas</i> added to the <i>pau&#7771&#299s</i>. The <i>V&#257r</i> addresses itself to the theme of the Gur&#363's grace which alone will enable man to overcome his ego or selfhood and, thus, attain, communion with the Creator. Springtime is the period of newness when vegetation stirs to life and nature comes to bloom in all its beauty and splendour. As the Gur&#363's grace occurs, man sheds the winter-born leaves of ego, lust, greed, attachment and anger and blossoms into <i>n&#257m</i>, joy in the constant remembrance of God. If Basant, i. e. spring, is the season of union, this <i>V&#257r</i> impresses upon man to submit himself to the true Gur&#363 to achieve union with the Divine. Men who meditate on the Name and surrender themselves to the Will of the Lord are <i>gurmukhs</i>. They are holy, turned towards the Gur&#363 (<i>gur=gur&#363, mukh</i>=face, i. e. face turned towards the Gur&#363). They alone overcome the five vices, companions of <i>manmukhs</i>, the self-willed. Such men succumb not to grief, nor are they beguiled by pleasures. They are freed from the cycle of birth and death. Transmigration thus annulled, the self merges in the Creator.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1">Bishan Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>B&#257&#299 V&#257r&#257&#7749 Sa&#7789&#299k</i>. Amritsar, n. d.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Harn&#257m Si&#7749gh <br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>