You are my waves and I am Your fish — my life, my support, my strength; beholding You, my heart-lotus blossoms, and night and day I chant the Name.
The Arc
Pauri 0: You are my waves, I am Your fish; I wait at Your door. The Pause (Pauri 1): You are my Creator, I Your servant, sheltered in You. Pauri 2: You are my life and support; beholding You, my heart-lotus blossoms. Pauri 3: my freedom, honor, and strength are all Yours. Pauri 4: night and day I chant the Name — Nanak's prayer.
Key Vocabulary
waves and fish: the soul living wholly within the One (a love-simile; cf. Shabad 86, Shabad 90)
the heart-lotus blossoming: beholding the Beloved makes the heart-lotus blossom (vigaas)
all is the One's gift: freedom, honor, strength conferred, not earned
the Name night and day: the practice that keeps the soul in its element
Themes and Cross-Connections
The fish-and-waves continues Mehl 4's and Mehl 5's love-similes (Shabad 86's fish, Shabad 90's swan). "My heart-lotus blossoms" is vigaas (blossoming) — beholding the Beloved is what opens the heart. Freedom, honor, and strength as gifts is Gurprasad.
For Raag Aasaa
Aasaa's hope is total, restful dependence — a fish at home in its water, a heart opening at the sight of the Beloved. The mood is tender and complete.
You are my waves and I am Your fish — my life, my support, my strength; beholding You, my heart-lotus blossoms, and night and day I chant the Name.
The Arc
Pauri 0: You are my waves, I am Your fish; I wait at Your door. The Pause (Pauri 1): You are my Creator, I Your servant, sheltered in You. Pauri 2: You are my life and support; beholding You, my heart-lotus blossoms. Pauri 3: my freedom, honor, and strength are all Yours. Pauri 4: night and day I chant the Name — Nanak's prayer.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The fish-and-waves continues Mehl 4's and Mehl 5's love-similes (Shabad 86's fish, Shabad 90's swan). "My heart-lotus blossoms" is vigaas (blossoming) — beholding the Beloved is what opens the heart. Freedom, honor, and strength as gifts is Gurprasad.
For Raag Aasaa
Aasaa's hope is total, restful dependence — a fish at home in its water, a heart opening at the sight of the Beloved. The mood is tender and complete.