Kaur was also active in social and environmental causes while in high school, serving as president of the Social Action Club, which started a campus recycling program and organized environmenal awareness programs. The Club also led the effort to change the school mascot and sports team names from the Indians to the Red Tailed Hawk in 1990 and 1991.
After graduating from Tam, Kaur attended Mills College in Oakland, California, receiving a bachelors degree in biochemistry. She then returned to India, to study kirtan under her mother's teacher, Bhai Hari Singh. She lived near the Golden Temple. In 1997, Kaur began a career as a food technologist with Peace Cereals in Eugene, Oregon.
A Sikh and Kundalini Yoga teacher, Snatam Kaur is a singer and musician, gaining a growing fame in the world of spiritual music.
After a few years as the singer of the spiritual music group The Peace Family, she started a solo career. Her music mixes western melodies with Indian sounds, mantras from the Kundalini yoga tradition, words of Harbhajan Singh Yogi and personal lyrics.
She often tours in the United States and Canada, and within Sikh communities worldwide (India, Singapore) among which she is more and more renowned as a talented kirtan singer.
Spiritual music artists such as Deva Premal now sing her compositions.
Anand
Snatam Kaur Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I am in bliss, Oh my mother, for I have found my True Guru.
Satigur ta paa-iaa sahej saytee, man vajee-aa vaadhaa-i-aa.
I have found my True Guru with intuitive ease, and my mind resounds with the music of bliss.
Raag rattan paarvaar paree-aa Shabad gaavan aa-ee-aa.
The jeweled melodies and the celestial harmonies have come to sing the Shabad (the sacred sound current of the Guru).
Shabado ta gaavaho Haree kayree man jinee vasaa-i-aa.
Those who sing the Shabad - the Lord dwells within their minds.
Kahai Naanak, anand ho-aa, Satiguroo mai paa-i-aa.
Says Nanak, I am in ecstasy, for I have found my True Guru.
The lyrics to Snatam Kaur's song Anand express the spiritual experience of finding the True Guru, and the bliss that comes with it. The singer begins by declaring their joy and describing it as being "in bliss," addressing their mother figuratively as a way of speaking to the divine mother. They then state that they have found their True Guru, and therefore are experiencing even more profound joy. The singer uses the word "satiguru" to invoke the idea of a spiritual teacher who embodies truth and authenticity.
The second stanza elaborates on the ease with which the singer found their True Guru, utilizing the phrase "sahej saytee" to describe the intuitive process of discovery. The singer's mind is described as resonating with "the music of bliss," which conveys the idea that the singer has found a sense of harmony and completeness that is reflected in the state of their mind.
The third stanza describes the experience of the shabad, which is the sound current of the Guru thought to be capable of elevating consciousness. The singer refers to the "jeweled melodies and the celestial harmonies" as a way of depicting the transformative power of the shabad. The final line of the stanza serves as a reminder that the shabad is a tool for revealing the divine presence within oneself.
The last stanza concludes the song by reinforcing the idea that the experience of finding the True Guru brings about a deep sense of joy and fulfillment. Nanak, who is often considered the founder of the Sikh faith, is invoked as a way of lending authority the claim that finding the True Guru is a profound spiritual experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Anand bha-i-aa, mayree maa-ay, Satiguroo mai paa-i-aa.
I am experiencing pure joy, my divine mother, as I have found my True Guru.
Satigur ta paa-iaa sahej saytee, man vajee-aa vaadhaa-i-aa.
I found my True Guru effortlessly, and my mind is filled with the resonance of pure love.
Raag rattan paarvaar paree-aa Shabad gaavan aa-ee-aa.
The celestial harmonies and melodies have come to sing the Shabad (the sacred sound current of the Guru).
Shabado ta gaavaho Haree kayree man jinee vasaa-i-aa.
Those who sing the Shabad have the Lord dwelling within their minds.
Kahai Naanak, anand ho-aa, Satiguroo mai paa-i-aa.
Naanak proclaims that he is filled with bliss, having found his True Guru.
Contributed by John H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.