The devotees approached the third Teacher, Guru Amar Das, and asked for a set of holy stanzas that could be chanted at various life events like birth, marriages, or death. The Guru told them that all events happen as ordained, and must be accepted by the devotee with happiness every time. There was no need for different verses to be sung at different occasions, and he recited the Anand Sahib – the verses of Ecstasy. The Anand Sahib thereafter became the standard verses to be recited at the end of all ceremonies celebrating every life event, from birth to death.
The verse is set to the musical meter of Rag Ramkali, and is also one of the five verses that are chanted every day by devotees. As it celebrates happiness in every action of the Lord, it makes the devotee question his own existence too:
O my body, why have you come into this world? What actions have you committed?
The Lord who formed your form—you have not enshrined that Lord in your mind.
As the devotee contemplates, individual organs are addressed. The eyes are spoken to:
O my eyes, the Lord has infused His Light into you; do not look upon any other than the Lord.
This whole world which you see is the image of the Lord; only the image of the Lord is seen.
The ears are advised:
O my ears, you were created only to hear the Truth.
To hear the Truth, you were created and attached to the body;//Hearing it, the mind and body are rejuvenated, and the tongue is absorbed in Ambrosial Nectar.
The Anand Sahib is a gentle and daily reminder to accept all events as part of His plan. In the final
stanza, we are blessed in these words:
Listen to the song of bliss, O most fortunate ones; all your longings shall be fulfilled. //Pain, illness and suffering have departed, listening to the True Word.