Guru Amar Das Quotes

Guru Amar Das became the third Sikh guru in 1552 at the age of 73. Goindwal became an important center for Sikhism during the Guruship of Guru Amar Das. He continued to preach the principle of equality for women, the prohibition of Sati, and the practice of Langar.

In 1567, Emperor Akbar sat with the ordinary and poor people of Punjab to have Langar. Guru Amar Das also trained 140 apostles, of which 52 were women, to manage the rapid expansion of the religion. Before he died in 1574 aged 95, he appointed his son-in-law Jetha as the fourth Sikh Guru.

Guru Ji strengthened the tradition of ‘Guru ka Langar‘ and made it compulsory for the visitor to the Guru to eat first, saying that ‘Pehle Pangat Phir Sangat‘ (first visit the Langar then go to the Guru). Once the emperor Akbar came to see Guru Sahib and he had to eat the coarse rice in the Langar before he could have an interview with Guru Sahib. He was so much impressed with this system that he expressed his desire to grant some royal property for ‘Guru ka Langar’, but Guru Sahib declined it with respect.

He introduced new birth, marriage, and death ceremonies. Thus he raised the status of women and protected the rights of female infants who were killed without question as they were deemed to have no status. These teachings met with stiff resistance from the Orthodox Hindus. He fixed three Gurpurbs for Sikh celebrations: Diwali, Vaisakhi, and Maghi.

Guru Amar Das not only preached the equality of people irrespective of their caste but also fostered the idea of women’s equality. He preaching strongly against the practice of Sati (a Hindu wife burning on her husband’s funeral pyre). Guru Amar Das also disapproved of a young widow remaining unmarried for the rest of her life.

Guru Amar Das constructed “Baoli” at Goindwal Sahib having eighty-four steps and made it a Sikh pilgrimage center for the first time in the history of Sikhism. He reproduced more copies of the hymns of Guru Nanak and Guru Angad. He also composed 869 (according to some chronicles these were 709) verses (stanzas) including Anand Sahib, and then later on Guru Arjan (fifth Guru) made all the Shabads part of Guru Granth Sahib.

• When the mind is filthy, everything is filthy; by washing the body, the mind is not cleaned. – Guru Amar Das

• They are not said to be husband and wife, who merely sit together. Rather they alone are called husband and wife, who have one soul in two bodies. – Guru Amar Das

• You are the Creator, all-powerful, able to do anything. Without You, there is no other at all. – Guru Amar Das

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• They who quarrel with others, instead of quarreling with their own hearts, waste their lives. – Guru Amar Das

• Like a lamp lit in the darkness, the spiritual wisdom of the Guru dispels ignorance. – Guru Amar Das

• The world is polluted with the filth of egotism, suffering in pain. This filth sticks to them because of their love of duality. – Guru Amar Das

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• By Guru’s Grace, the Lord comes to abide in the mind, and the filth of egotism is dispelled. – Guru Amar Das

• There is no pain as great as the pain of Maya; it drives people to wander all around the world until they become exhausted. – Guru Amar Das

• Only a fool listens to the words of the fool. – Guru Amar Das

• “I have done this, and I will do that”-I am an idiotic fool for saying this! I have forgotten the Doer of all; I am caught in the love of duality. – Guru Amar Das

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• One person brings a full bottle and another fills his cup. Drinking the wine, his intelligence departs, and madness enters his mind. He cannot distinguish between his own and others, he is struck down by His Lord and Master. Drinking it, He forgets His Lord and Master, He is punished in the Court of the Lord. – Guru Amar Das

• O my mind, coming to the Sanctuary of the Guru, you shall become immaculate and pure. – Guru Amar Das

• By Guru’s grace, I am addicted to the favor of the Naam, (The name of the Lord). Why waste your life in hatred, vengeance, and conflict? – Guru Amar Das

• This world is deluded by doubt; how rare are those who understand this. – Guru Amar Das

• He Himself makes the mortals anxious, and He Himself takes the anxiety away. – Guru Amar Das

• Egotism, possessiveness, evil-mindedness, and suffering depart, when the Lord’s Name, the Ocean of Virtue, comes to dwell within the heart. – Guru Amar Das

• Loaded with so many stones of sin, how can the boat cross over? Those who are attuned to the Lord’s devotional worship night and day, are carried across. – Guru Amar Das