Mantra · Sikh practice
Waheguru
Wondrous is the Guru — an exclamation of awe at the divine, not a name with a translation
ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ
Vāhigurū
The word Sikhs remember God by. It is the gurmantar — the word given at initiation — and the whole substance of simran, the practice of remembrance.
Source: Bhai Gurdas, Vārān; the gurmantar of Sikh practice
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ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ
Vāhigurū
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What the words say
Vāhigurū is commonly rendered as “Wondrous Guru”, an expression of wonder at the divine. Sikh commentaries explain the name in different ways, including the symbolic account of its syllables in Bhai Gurdas’s Vār 1.49. These devotional explanations should not be confused with a single literal translation.
Where it comes from
The word appears in the Vārān of Bhai Gurdas, the early seventeenth-century writer whose work Guru Arjan called the key to the Guru Granth Sahib. It is the mantar conferred at the Amrit Sanchar.
How it is practised
Repeated aloud, under the breath, or silently with the breath — in on Vāhi, out on Gurū, in one common form. A mala is not required and is not the usual Sikh practice; the count and the beads offered here are this app's framing, not a prescription.
References
- Bhai Gurdas, Vārān 1.49
- Sikh Rehat Maryada (SGPC)
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