'ballads of gems of knowledge'),[1] is the name given to the 40 vars (a form of Punjabi poetry) which is traditionally attributed to Bhai Gurdas.

[4]: 7–8  Bhai Gurdas is claimed to have been the amanuensis of the original Kartarpur Pothi, which itself would be copied multiple times in the early 17th century.

[4]: 6  Gurdas did not consult the knowledge of Baba Buddha (whom had been alive when Guru Nanak was around) when he compiled the work.

[4]: 10–11  He bases this dating on the fact that the vaars were not incorporated into the Adi Granth, that some events referenced in them took place in the early 17th century, and some of them were written partly to combat the nascent Mina sect.

"[1] Another manuscript (dated to at-least 1732 or earlier) is titled simply as: Bani Bhai Gurdas Bhalley ji ki.

[1] Each of the 40 chapters of Varan Bhai Gurdas consists of a differing number of Pauris (sections, paragraphs).

[citation needed] The composition is a collection of detailed commentary and explanation of theology and the ethics of Sikh beliefs as outlined by the Gurus.

[citation needed] The 40 vars maintain a high-degree of similarity in nearly all manuscriptural versions of the work, barring a few variations and discrepancies.

[4]: 2  According to Bhai Mani Singh, the first Var of the work is the only genuine and attestable janamsakhi tradition covering the life of Guru Nanak.

[5][4]: 2  Kahn Singh Nabha's 1898 work Ham Hindu Nahin references Bhai Gurdas' Varan over forty times.