Ardas
The Sikh congregational petition that closes every service and marks every undertaking.
Ardas is said standing, with hands folded, at the end of every service and at the start and finish of almost any undertaking: a journey, a wedding, a move, a new business. It is a petition, and it is offered by the congregation together rather than by an individual.
Its structure is fixed at both ends and open in the middle. It opens by recalling the Gurus in order, and closes with a request for the welfare of all; between those, the person leading may name what this particular gathering is asking for.
The closing line asks for the wellbeing of everyone, which is why it is said as readily after a funeral as after a wedding.
Why the words are not here
Sikh material is the hardest case on this site. The recensions differ, so a published version has to state which one it follows, and the only public-domain English translation identified is Trumpp's, which is both a shorter recension and the translation the community itself rejects. Publishing it would be worse than publishing nothing.
Every text on this site names the edition it came from and was checked against it twice. A prayer nobody can cite an edition for does not get printed here, however well known it is. The verification record lists what was held back and why, and how rights are established explains the test.
When people look for this
The moments this prayer is associated with. Each page carries cited guidance on how different traditions meet that moment.
Where it belongs
This page describes a prayer and, where we hold one, prints a named edition of it. It does not tell you whether to say it, or when. That judgment belongs to someone credentialed in the tradition, and nobody has signed anything here.