Ten savaiye from Guru Gobind Singh's Akal Ustat: the shortest of the morning banis, and the sharpest rejection of ritual performed without love.
Tav-Prasad Savaiye is a composition of ten savaiye by Guru Gobind Singh, drawn from stanzas 21 to 30 of the Akal Ustat in the Dasam Granth. It is the third bani of the Sikh morning, recited after Japji Sahib and Jaap Sahib, and it is one of the five banis recited at the Amrit Sanchar. Its subject throughout is the futility of religious practice undertaken without love of the Divine.
| Composed by | Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the tenth Guru |
|---|---|
| Where it sits | The Dasam Granth, stanzas 21 to 30 of the Akal Ustat |
| Structure | Ten savaiye, a single poetic meter held throughout. No raag heading, so recited rather than sung |
| When recited | Amrit Vela, the hours before dawn, after Japji Sahib and Jaap Sahib |
| How long | About 5 minutes, the shortest of the morning banis |
| In Nitnem | The third morning bani in every Sikh tradition, and one of the five banis of the Amrit Sanchar |
A savaiya is a poetic meter, and Tav-Prasad Savaiye takes its name from the ten of them that Guru Gobind Singh set inside a longer composition called Akal Ustat, the praise of the Timeless. The Nitnem bani is that extract specifically: stanzas 21 to 30, and not the whole of Akal Ustat. Devotees also identify it by its opening words, Sravag Sudh, which is the surest way to tell it apart from other passages in the Dasam Granth carrying the phrase Tav Prasad in their headings.
The argument is unusually direct for a devotional composition. The savaiye run through the religious specialists of the Guru's world, ascetics and celibates and forest-dwellers, those who bathe at pilgrimage sites, those who master breath and posture, those who fast and give and wander, and the verdict on each is the same: without love of the Divine, none of it lands. The bani is not attacking any one tradition. It applies the same standard to all of them, including the reciter's own.
That directness is why the bani sits where it does in the morning. Japji Sahib sets out what the Divine is and Jaap Sahib names it at length; Tav-Prasad Savaiye turns on the person reciting and asks what their practice is actually worth. Ten stanzas take about five minutes, which makes it the shortest bani of the morning order and the one most often recited from memory.
Guru Gobind Singh placed it among the five banis recited at the founding of the Khalsa in 1699, and it has been recited at every Amrit Sanchar since. The SGPC's Sikh Rehat Maryada names it as the third of the morning banis, one of only three the SGPC lists for the morning at all.
The SGPC lists three banis for the morning. Other traditions add to this order rather than replacing it.
| Bani | Composed by | Length | Approximate time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japji Sahib | Guru Nanak | 38 pauris | 15 to 25 minutes |
| Jaap Sahib | Guru Gobind Singh | 199 chhands | 20 to 30 minutes |
| Tav-Prasad Savaiye | Guru Gobind Singh | 10 savaiye | About 5 minutes |
Recited at the Khalsa initiation. Tav-Prasad Savaiye is the third of them.
| Bani | Composed by | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Japji Sahib | Guru Nanak | Guru Granth Sahib, angs 1–8 |
| Jaap Sahib | Guru Gobind Singh | Dasam Granth |
| Tav-Prasad Savaiye | Guru Gobind Singh | Dasam Granth, Akal Ustat 21–30 |
| Chaupai Sahib | Guru Gobind Singh | Dasam Granth, Charitropakhyan 405 |
| Anand Sahib | Guru Amar Das | Guru Granth Sahib, Raag Ramkali |
Two things are worth separating here. Tav-Prasad Savaiye's place in Sikh practice is not in dispute: all traditions recite it in the morning, the SGPC names it as one of only three morning banis, and it is used at every Amrit Sanchar. The Dasam Granth it comes from is a different matter, and the compilation and authorship of parts of that volume have been debated within the Panth since the nineteenth century without resolution by any body all Sikhs accept. Separately, the name causes genuine confusion rather than disagreement: several passages in the Dasam Granth carry Tav Prasad in their headings, and the Nitnem bani is specifically the ten savaiye at Akal Ustat 21 to 30.
Sevahey does not perform paths. No Sevak recites Tav-Prasad Savaiye for you, and this page carries no text, transliteration or recording of the bani. For the words, read the Akal Ustat in the Dasam Granth or use your gurudwara's own resource. What Sevahey arranges is an ardas at a gurudwara, which is a different thing and described below.
There is a plain reading of Tav-Prasad Savaiye that says a prayer bought and delegated is exactly the empty practice the bani rejects, and the point deserves a straight answer rather than avoidance. An ardas is not a substitute for anyone's own recitation, and Sevahey does not present it as one. What it is, is the request a family makes when they cannot stand at the gurudwara themselves: the granthi speaks a named person's request aloud before the Guru Granth Sahib, as gurudwaras have always done for the absent, the ill and the distant. The reciting stays with you.
Tav-Prasad Savaiye is a composition of ten savaiye by Guru Gobind Singh, drawn from stanzas 21 to 30 of the Akal Ustat in the Dasam Granth. It is the third bani of the Sikh morning, recited after Japji Sahib and Jaap Sahib, and its subject is the futility of religious practice undertaken without love of the Divine.
Ten. A savaiya is a poetic meter, and the bani holds that single meter across all ten stanzas rather than shifting between forms as Jaap Sahib does. Ten stanzas take about five minutes to recite, which makes Tav-Prasad Savaiye the shortest bani of the Sikh morning order.
Tav-Prasad Savaiye is an extract from the Akal Ustat, the praise of the Timeless, occupying stanzas 21 to 30 of that longer composition. Devotees also identify it by its opening words, Sravag Sudh, which distinguishes it from other passages in the Dasam Granth that carry Tav Prasad in their headings.
The emptiness of ritual performed without love. The ten savaiye run through the religious specialists of Guru Gobind Singh's world, including ascetics, celibates, forest-dwellers, those who bathe at pilgrimage sites, those who master breath and posture, and those who fast and give, and reach the same verdict on each. The bani applies that standard to every tradition rather than singling one out.
Guru Gobind Singh (1666 to 1708), the tenth Guru, as part of his Akal Ustat. Two of the other four banis of the Amrit Sanchar are also his, namely Jaap Sahib and Chaupai Sahib, while Japji Sahib is Guru Nanak's and Anand Sahib is Guru Amar Das's.
Yes, and its place is one of the few that is not disputed. The SGPC's Sikh Rehat Maryada lists only three banis for the morning, and Tav-Prasad Savaiye is the third of them after Japji Sahib and Jaap Sahib. Traditions such as the Damdami Taksal and the Akhand Kirtani Jatha add further banis to that order rather than removing any.
About five minutes, making it the shortest of the morning banis by a wide margin against Jaap Sahib's 20 to 30. Its brevity is one reason it is commonly held from memory, and why devotees who cannot keep a full Nitnem often still recite it.
Yes. Tav-Prasad Savaiye is the third of the five banis recited at the Khalsa initiation, alongside Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, Chaupai Sahib and Anand Sahib. It has been recited at every Amrit Sanchar since the founding of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699.
No. Sevahey does not perform paths and no Sevak recites a bani on anyone's behalf. What a verified Sevak can do is request an ardas in your name and gotra at the gurudwara you choose, receive the hukamnama read after it, and send you same-day proof. The recitation of a bani stays with the devotee.
In the Akal Ustat within the Dasam Granth, at stanzas 21 to 30, or through a gurudwara's own resources. Sevahey publishes no scripture text, transliteration or recording, so this page explains the bani rather than carrying it.
Choose the gurudwara, name your sankalp, receive the proof.
* Sevahey does not perform paths. A full seva is ₹899; sevas start from ₹251. Sevahey is a service platform and does not promise a spiritual, medical, financial, legal, or personal outcome from any prayer or ritual.