"Mul Mantar is the name of these twelve words. A mantar (mantra) is an empowering formula for repetition; mul {pronounced to rhyme with English ‘pool’) means a root (it is etymologically akin to the muli, or white radish). It is as if the whole of the Guru’s teaching (and of Sikh spirituality) grows from and draws sustenance from this statement. His longer compositions develop this theme, and provide the basis for Sikh theology."