Raag Aasaa
Commentary

Raag Aasaa, Mehl 5 (Guru Arjan)

Since You are my Master, what is there to fear? — the world is poison, but You know my whole mind, You made all that exists, and Your Name is my only support, hope, and strength.

The Arc

Pauri 0: with the One as Master, what is there to fear? The Pause (Pauri 1): the world is poison — save me, Your Name my only support. Pauri 2: You know my whole mind; who else could I tell? Without the Name the world is mad. Pauri 3: whatever I say, I say to God, my hope forever. Pauri 4: any greatness is Yours; Your Name my only strength.

Key Vocabulary

  • fearlessness from belonging: with the highest One yours, nothing lesser frightens (Nirbhau)
  • the world as poison: Maya's sweetness that slowly harms
  • the only confidant: the One who already knows the whole mind
  • the One as hope and strength: all power borrowed from the Giver

Themes and Cross-Connections

Fearlessness from belonging is Nirbhau (B00C746, B00C755). "The world is poison" is Maya (the poison neutralized in B00C772). The One as the only confidant ("who else could I tell?") is the heart-searching nearness of B00C747. "Any greatness is Yours" is Gurprasad; "You are my hope" names the very meaning of Aasaa.

For Raag Aasaa

Aasaa — hope — is grounded here in a One who is Master, confidant, maker, and strength all at once. The mood is intimate and unafraid: a soul that has nowhere else to turn and needs nowhere else.


Last updated: 2026-06-28

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