Avtar Bani

The Avtar Bani outlines the key philosophy of the Sant Nirankari Mission. It may in fact be considered the Bible or Quran of the Mission. It is named after its author Shahenshan Baba Avtar Singh.

Its initial version was first published in 1957. Its “Big Brother”, the ‘Sampuran Avtar Bani ‘ (meaning – the complete Avtar Bani) was published in 1965. The Avtar Bani was originally written in easy Punjabi verse, but some stanzas were in the Urdu and Sindhi Language.

It contains 376 hymns which describe the qualities of Formless God (Nirankar), the important role of a True Spiritual Guide in attaining God realisation, the kindness and grace of the True Master, the purpose of human life, the five fundamental principles, true devotion and how a man can lead a saintly life.

The Avtar Bani is not worshipped as a holy religious book like the Quran or the Bible, but it is highly regarded by the Nirankari devotees for its authenticity.

It has been published in Gurumukhi, Devnagari, Urdu and Roman scripts. It has also been translated and published in English (verse and prose), Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Telgu, Nepali and Marathi verse. The full online versions of the Avtar Bani may be accessed through the main Nirankari Website, via the Literature and the E-books links.

Normally, a verse from the Avtar Bani is read out before every discourse in most congregations (except when His Holiness Himself is giving the discourse). The verses are also read out at the beginning of each congregation. Devotees are however free to sing/read these verses as hymns anytime they prefer for personal spiritual enlightenment. In fact, many Nirankari households keep a copy of it. Of course, Avtar Bani may also be available from the Publications Department found in each Satsang Bhavan (congregation hall).

Source: Nirankari